Chapter 20: Blood Moon Rising
The Blood Moon had risen
It painted the forest in a ghostly crimson, casting long shadows and bathing every branch in a dark, ethereal glow. The air was thick, humming with primal energy. Magic vibrated in Tyler's bones, pushing, pulsing the wolf prowled just beneath his skin, hungry for release.
Opposite him, Ralf and Jacob who had just a few moments ago emerged from the trees, their own forms trembling with the Blood Moon's influence. They were bigger now and more feral, more monstrous. Veins bulged under thickened skin, their claws longer, their eyes burning a brighter red.
Selene stepped forward, blades gleaming in the red haze.
"You," she growled at Jacob. "You're mine."
Jacob grinned, his razor sharp teeth glinting. "I was hoping you'd say that."
Ralf raised his hands in mock surrender toward Tyler. "That leaves me and you, big guy."
Tyler's heart pounded.
He didn't shift immediately. He didn't speak. He simply dropped to all fours and let go.
Bones snapped and lengthened. His grey Fur rippled across his body. His teeth stretched into deadly fangs. Claws erupted from his fingertips. His werewolf form exploded outward in a rush of strength and raw instinct but his mind remained clear, focused. His bright yellow eyes piercing
The transformation was smooth. Controlled.
He rose to full height, nearly eight feet tall, eyes glowing gold beneath the Blood Moon.
Across the clearing, Selene moved first fast, efficient. She ducked under Jacob's initial strike, silver blades flashing. He snarled as one of them nicked his thigh, steam rising from the burning wound.
Jacob roared and slammed his massive arm down. Selene rolled under it, drew her side arm and shot twice the silver-tipped rounds embedding into his side, she then switched back to her blades. He howled but kept coming, eyes wild with bloodlust.
Tyler didn't have time to watch.
Ralf lunged, and the fight exploded.
Claw met claw, teeth snapped, fists collided with ribcages. Tyler dodged, blocked, and countered, his instincts sharpened by training and survival. Ralf was fast, vicious, more experienced than the rabid Feral Tyler had fought before. He struck with practiced blows, aiming for tendon and throat.
Tyler ducked one swipe and drove his claws across Ralf's ribs, drawing blood. Ralf yelped and leapt back but the Blood Moon healed him fast. Within seconds, the wounds had started to close.
"You hit harder than I expected," Ralf growled, circling. "Let's see how long you last."
Selene was holding her own barely. Jacob was relentless, overwhelming. She dodged and rolled, sliced and fired, but he kept closing the distance. One blow caught her shoulder, sending her staggering.
Jacob Taunted her doing a villainous laugh "If this was any other night you might have had a chance... but tonight you would need a entire army to take me down."
Tyler caught a glimpse of it and that moment's distraction cost him. Ralf slammed into him from the side, throwing him against a tree hard enough to splinter bark.
"Focus, pup!" Ralf spat, charging again.
Tyler shook off the daze and met Ralf's next charge head-on. They clashed in a storm of claws and teeth, grappling, slamming into the ground, rolling through dirt and leaves. Tyler got under Ralf's arm and drove his claws into his side, twisting hard.
Ralf screamed, staggering back.
Nearby, Selene cried out a flash of motion as Jacob slammed her into a tree. Her head whipped back and hit bark. She dropped to her knees, dazed.
"Selene!" Tyler roared.
Something in him broke.
Ralf took advantage of the distraction and knocked Tyler again and again, blood splattering. Tyler's healing kicked in immediately.
A system message pinged in his head
[System Message]
You've suffered a major blow HP 50/ 100
Ralf was relentless in his attack trying to finish the fight quick
In Tylers head a barrage of system messages went off
HP 40 /100
HP 30/100
HP 25/100
HP 15/100
Tyler lay there, Ralf thought it was over and stopped attacking.
Jacob looked over and growled "you weren't ment to kill him."
Tyler's eyes opened the yellow in his eyes turned to a red glow thay was intensifying. His form surged, expanding his frame thickened, his muscles swelled growing three times his current size. The earth trembled beneath him as he began to get back on his feet.
Tyler let out a howl that tore through the clearing like a siren from hell.
A system message chimed in his head
[System Message]
HP Critical Healing in progress
New Form unlocked!
Ralf froze, eyes wide. "What the?"
But Tyler wasn't done.
He launched forward with newfound speed, tackling Ralf with a roar. Claws raked across Ralf's chest, tearing through flesh and bone. Blood sprayed. Tyler didn't stop. He slammed Ralf down, one paw pressing into his throat, the other raised to strike again. And again.
Tyler knocked him around like a play thing, Jacob looked in Horror at his friend being thrown around like a rag doll.
Ralf tried everything to get away but Tyler was too fast and too monstrous, saliva and blood dripped from his mouth.
Ralf's eyes flashed with panic and then something else. Tyler gripped Ralf by the throat his elongated nails piercing into Ralfs skin
"Yield." Tyler demanded with unsettling growl
Ralf didn't speak it, but Tyler saw it in the way Ralf stopped fighting. In the way his head turned, baring his neck ever so slightly.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Opponent Ralf has yielded. Pack Link established.
Tyler snarled, his claws inches from finishing the job.
But he pulled back and smashed Ralf into the ground.
Ralf lay panting, his chest a mess of blood and claw marks, but alive.
Behind him, Selene cried out again, Jacob had slashed her arm and sent her tumbling across the dirt.
Tyler's head whipped toward the sound, something ancient and terrible rising inside him.
Jacob turned and looked at Ralf laying battered on the floor "So. You've got fire in you after all."
He cracked his neck, his own form growing as rage and Blood Moon power flooded his body. "Let's see if you can handle the real fight."