🩸 Crimson Moon Oath
Chapter Two – Shadows at the Edge of Dawn
Avaline's cottage sat at the edge of Thornewood, a humble stone dwelling pressed between forest and field. By the time she and Kael reached it, dawn had begun to thin the darkness, smearing silver light across the trees.
Kael stumbled once near the gate. She tightened her hold beneath his arm, guiding him through the door.
"Sit here," she said, helping him onto the narrow bed. "Don't move."
He looked at her with faint amusement. "You command like royalty."
"I command like someone who doesn't want blood on her floor," she replied, fetching clean cloth and water.
He almost smiled again, though the motion looked foreign on his face.
Avaline worked in silence, washing the blood away. His wounds were deep, but they were healing faster than any human's should. The gash across his chest had already drawn thin pale lines, as though time itself obeyed him.
"You heal… strangely," she murmured.
He said nothing. Only watched her, eyes glowing faintly even in the morning light.
When she brushed the cloth across his shoulder, his hand shot up, fingers wrapping around her wrist again — not in warning this time, but in reflex, as if her touch burned him.
"Forgive me," he said quickly, releasing her. "Old habits."
"You mean survival," she said softly.
He looked away. "Yes. That."
Avaline finished cleaning the wound, then covered it with linen. The scent of herbs filled the small room — rosemary, sage, dried petals. He inhaled faintly.
"You live alone?"
She nodded. "My parents died in the Fever years ago. I stayed to help the villagers."
"Help them," he echoed, studying her. "Even when the world takes from you."
She shrugged, busying herself with her basket. "If I stop helping, I stop being myself."
The silence that followed wasn't empty. It hummed with something she couldn't name — not fear, not safety, but a fragile in-between.
Outside, a sound broke the moment.
A long, low howl rolled across the valley — nearer than the one before.
Kael's head lifted instantly. His entire body stilled, predator-sharp.
"They've tracked me," he said quietly. "Wolves."
Avaline's heart lurched. "To my home?"
He stood, ignoring her warning glare. "They smell my blood. Your scent is on me now too."
"That's hardly my fault."
"No," he said, meeting her gaze, "but it means they'll hunt you as well."
A chill ran through her. "Then what do we do?"
Kael's eyes darkened. "We survive."
He crossed to the window, drawing the curtain aside. The light made him flinch slightly, though not enough to burn. His fangs glimmered when he spoke again, low and sure.
"They won't attack until nightfall. They prefer the dark. You have until then to decide whether to stay here—or trust me enough to run."
Avaline stared at him. "Trust you? I don't even know what you are."
He smiled faintly, but it didn't reach his eyes. "A dying man you saved, remember?"
She folded her arms. "You're not dying anymore."
"Because of you," he said, voice softer now. "And that is a dangerous thing, Avaline. When a creature owes life to a human, it creates a bond that neither heaven nor hell easily breaks."
Her breath caught. There was no threat in his tone, but something in it made her pulse quicken.
"Then I suppose we're both trapped," she said quietly.
Kael turned back toward the window. "Yes," he murmured. "Until the moon decides otherwise."
Outside, the forest rustled. Birds took flight all at once, scattering into the pale dawn sky.
Somewhere beyond the trees, the howl rose again — closer this time, fierce and haunting.
Avaline didn't realize she had stepped nearer to him until she saw his reflection in the glass, crimson eyes burning faintly in the fading dark.
For the first time, she wondered if saving him had been a mistake… or the beginning of her undoing.
End of Chapter Two
By chizzy