Derek pov
My hands are shaking as I run through the forest.
I'm a scout, assigned to patrol the eastern border tonight. It wasn't suppose to be a big deal I Just have to walk the perimeter and report back before dawn.
But then the moon turned red.
And I saw them by the river, a wolf and a vampire. Fighting. They were tearing each other apart.
And before the fight, they were having sex, a wolf and a vampire someone has betray us
My face burns even thinking about it. I saw what they were doing. I saw the exact moment the moon turned red.
I crash through the pack house doors, breathing hard.
"Alpha!" I shout. "Alpha Dante! Emergency!"
Beta Marcus appears from the main hall. "What the hell are you screaming about, boy?"
"The moon," I gasp. "The moon turned red. And the river. The river is boiling."
Marcus goes very still. "What did you say?"
"The forbidden river. It's boiling. Steam everywhere. And I saw them. I saw a wolf and a vampire. They were fighting by the water."
"You're sure it was a vampire?" Marcus demands.
"Yes, sir. Pale skin, Red eyes, and Fangs. Definitely vampire."
"And the wolf?"
I hesitate. "I couldn't see clearly. Too much steam. But it was one of ours."
Marcus's face goes pale. "Stay here, don't leave I'll be back."
He disappears into the Alpha's private chambers. I can hear shouting inside. Then Alpha Dante emerges, his face dark with rage.
"Gather everyone," Dante orders. "Every pack member, every elder. Gather everyone, Now."
"Yes, Alpha." Marcus runs off, shouting orders.
Within minutes, the pack house is in chaos. Wolves stumble out of their rooms, children cry, adults demand to know what's happening.
I stand against the wall, trying to be invisible. But Alpha Dante's eyes find me.
"You," Dante points. "Come here."
I walk forward on shaking legs.
"Tell me exactly what you saw," Dante orders. "Every detail. Don't leave anything out."
I swallow hard. "I was patrolling the eastern border like you ordered. Everything was normal. Then around midnight, I heard noises from the forbidden river. So I went to investigate."
"What kind of noises?" an elder asks. Old Gregory, who's been with the pack for sixty years.
"Splashing. And voices talking." My face burns again. "Then other sounds. Like... like people being together."
"Being together how?" another elder demands. This is Margaret, gray haired and sharp eyed.
"Intimately," I say quietly. "They were being intimate."
Gasps ripple through the crowd.
"A wolf and a vampire?" someone shouts. "That's impossible!"
"It's disgusting!" another voice adds.
"Silence!" Dante roars. The room goes quiet instantly. "Continue, Derek."
"I was about to leave," I say. "I didn't want to interrupt. But then the moon changed suddenly. One second it was normal, the next it was bloody red. Like someone had painted it."
"And the river?" Gregory asks urgently.
"Started boiling, there were Steam everywhere, and I heard the wolf was screaming, follow by a horrible cracking sound, I guess it's was bones breaking. Fur sprouts on the wolf body and she shifted."
"Could you see who it was?" Dante's voice is dangerously quiet.
"No, Alpha. The steam was just too much. But after the shift, the wolf attacked the vampire. It was a vicious clash they were trying to kill each other."
Margaret steps forward. "What happened to the sky?"
"Dark clouds came from nowhere, lightning flashes while thunder rumble. The whole sky just... changed.
The elders look at each other. I can see fear in their eyes.
"Get the scrolls," Gregory says to Margaret. "The ancient ones. From the vault."
"Are you sure?" she asks.
"Now!" Gregory snaps.
Margaret hurries away. The crowd is murmuring now. Everyone talking at once.
"What's happening?" a young mother asks, clutching her child. "What does the red moon mean?"
"Is it a curse?" someone else shouts.
"Are we under attack?"
"Quiet!" Dante commands. "No one speaks until the elders have consulted the prophecies."
"Prophecies?" I say before I can stop myself. "What prophecies?"
Dante's eyes cut to me. "Prophecies that should never have come true. Prophecies we hoped were just stories."
Margaret returns carrying a large wooden box. It's covered in dust and strange symbols. She sets it on the central table and opens it carefully.
Inside is a scroll with crumbling edges.
Gregory lifts it with shaking hands. "I haven't looked at this in forty years. Prayed I'd never have to."
"What is it?" Beta Marcus asks.
"A warning," Gregory says. He unrolls the scroll slowly, the room holds its breath.
"Read it," Dante orders.
Gregory's voice is grave as he begins. "When the wolfless one finds love in the fangs of darkness, the blood moon shall rise, and the continent shall burn in eternal night. Only death can break the curse."
The room explodes.
"The wolfless one!" someone shouts. "It's talking about Roselyn!"
My stomach drops. Roselyn. The servant girl. The one who failed to shift at eighteen.
"She's not wolfless anymore," another voice says. "Derek just said the wolf shifted."
"Fangs of darkness means vampire," Margaret says. "The prophecy is about a wolfless werewolf and a vampire falling in love."
"But Roselyn would never," someone protests weakly.
"Wouldn't she?" Dante's voice cuts through the noise. "She's been sneaking out for months. We all knew it. I punished her for it. But I thought she was just being defiant. I didn't think..."
"You didn't think she was meeting a vampire," Gregory finishes.
"This is her fault!" a woman screams. "That wolfless freak is going to destroy us all!"
"She is a traitor we need to execute her."
"We need to find her!" another voice adds. "Find her and kill her before it's too late!"
"And the vampire!" someone else shouts. "We hunt them both!"
"Wait!" I speak up without thinking. Everyone turns to stare at me. "We don't know for sure it was Roselyn. I didn't see the wolf's face. It could have been anyone."
"Who else would it be?" Beta Marcus says coldly. "Who else in this pack is wolfless? Who else has been sneaking to the forbidden river?"
I have no answer.
"Send scouts to her quarters," Dante orders. "See if she's there. If she's not, we have our answer."
Two warriors run off. The wait feels like forever. Finally, they return.
"Her room is empty, Alpha," one reports. "Bed hasn't been slept in. And there's blood on the floor. A trail leading to the forest."
"It's her," Dante says. His voice is flat. Final. "It's Roselyn."
The pack erupts again. Voices shouting over each other. Demanding action. Demanding blood.
"We will contact the vampire kingdom," Gregory says loudly. "Immediately. This isn't just our problem. If the prophecy is real, it affects everyone on the continent."
"The vampires will want blood," Margaret warns. "They'll blame us for not controlling our own."
"We'll blame them for not controlling theirs," Dante shoots back. "Their prince or noble or whoever he is crossed into our territory. Started this whole mess."
"We don't know if it was a prince," I say.
"Doesn't matter," Dante replies. "High born or low, he's dead when we find him. And so is Roselyn."
"What if we're wrong?" My voice is desperate. "What if the prophecy doesn't mean what we think?"
"Then we'll apologize to their corpses," Dante says coldly. "But I'm not risking the entire continent on a maybe, send word to the vampire kingdom, request an emergency council meeting, on a neutral ground, tomorrow night."
"That's not much time," Marcus says.
"The blood moon doesn't wait," Gregory replies. "Neither can we."
The meeting dissolves into chaos. Orders are shouted. Warriors are assembled. Search parties are formed.
I slip away. I head outside, staring up at the sky.
The moon is still red. And somewhere out there, Roselyn is must be running for her life.
I think about her. The quiet servant girl who never bothered anyone, who took her beatings without complaint.
And now the entire pack wants her dead.
"I'm sorry," I whisper to the red moon. "I'm so sorry."
Behind me, I hear Alpha Dante giving final orders.
"Find them both, bring them back alive if possible. Dead if necessary. But bring them back, the fate of the continent depends on it."
And I realize with cold certainty that by tomorrow night, everything will change.
Either Roselyn and her vampire lover will be executed.
Or the world will burn.
There's no third option.