The blood moon rose, fat and crimson, bleeding across the sky like a warning.
Crimson Hollow held its breath.
In the forest clearing, the Nightfang Pack prepared for the oldest ritual of all—The Mating Howl. Performed once every blood moon, it was a night of transformation, raw hunger, and soul-binding for those brave enough to face the wildness inside them.
And tonight… Kael and Selene would complete the bond.
But this time, it wasn't just about desire.
It was about power.
About identity.
About a woman no longer simply human, and a man no longer simply Alpha.
---
Selene stood at the edge of the sacred spring, bare feet sinking into soft moss, her reflection wavering in the blood-tinged water. Her hair, now longer, fuller, glistened with hints of silver in the moonlight. Her pupils were sharp, almost feline. Her heartbeat echoed like a drum inside her ears.
She was changing.
The wolf inside her—if that's what it was—stirred like it had been waiting centuries to wake.
And tonight, under the blood moon, it would.
Kael approached her slowly, barefoot, shirtless, a ceremonial fur cloak hanging from his shoulders. His torso was marked in tribal ink, the story of his bloodline scrawled across muscle and skin. His golden eyes burned when he saw her.
"Selene," he breathed, "You are…"
She turned.
Naked.
Unashamed.
Glowing in the crimson light.
"Yours," she finished.
His jaw flexed.
He dropped the cloak.
And in one powerful stride, he took her into his arms.
---
Around them, the pack circled—wolves howling to the sky, some still human, some mid-shift, lost in frenzy. But Kael and Selene saw only each other.
He laid her down in the center of the sacred circle, where the grass had been flattened by centuries of rituals.
"Tonight," Kael whispered against her throat, "we finish what the moon began."
She pulled him down to her. "Then take me, Alpha."
He growled.
And then there were no more words.
Only mouths.
Teeth.
Hands.
Bodies colliding in slow, rhythmic violence.
---
Kael worshipped her with every kiss, every stroke, dragging her toward the edge of something primal. His tongue moved down her belly, his fingers claiming her thighs, coaxing moans from her lips like music. When he entered her, it wasn't fast—it was deliberate.
Slow.
Powerful.
Like the earth itself taking form between her legs.
She arched, gasped, met him stroke for stroke, her body trembling from the sheer intimacy of it. The fire. The fury. The oneness.
And when he sank his teeth into the spot beneath her neck—not to hurt, but to seal the bond—she cried out in ecstasy and completion.
A blinding flash exploded around them.
The earth shook.
Wolves howled louder.
And the bond snapped fully into place.
Not just mating.
Melding.
Her mind opened to his. Her pain became his. Her lust surged through his veins. And then—
Shift.
Bones cracked. Her skin ignited. Her eyes burned white—
And Selene changed.
Not into a full wolf.
Not yet.
But into something between.
Her skin shimmered with silver markings. Her hands clawed. Her spine curved with supernatural grace. Her voice, when she screamed his name again, echoed like a goddess through the trees.
Kael collapsed beside her, chest heaving.
"Selene," he gasped, trembling. "You… shifted."
She looked down at her hands.
At her glowing, claw-tipped fingers.
"I didn't mean to."
"You didn't need to," he whispered. "It was always inside you."
---
Far from the circle, in the deepest caves of Crimson Hollow, something ancient stirred.
A whisper.
A heartbeat.
A name long forgotten by most.
Lunari.
The bloodline Selene carried.
The one buried to protect the world.
But now… awakened by mating fire.
And hungry.
---
Back at the clearing, Selene and Kael stood slowly, their bodies bare, marked, and bound.
The pack watched in silence.
Kael raised his head to the sky and let out a long, wild howl.
Selene followed—her voice now laced with power.
Together, their song echoed across the mountains, a warning to any who dared challenge them.
The Alpha and his Luna had claimed each other.
And now, nothing would be the same.
---