Luna’s Bane

Ophelia's eyes fluttered open, her vision blurry as she gazed up at the moon hanging low in the night sky.

She had a million questions running through her mind as she lay on a cold,damp earth,her body aching all over. The smell of the damp earth assaulted her nose and the coldness made it prickly against her skin..A wave of dizziness and nausea hit her so hard as she struggled to sit up..

Her hand instinctively shot to her throat and the memories from last night flooded her mind like a tidal wave,her previous life... all gone.

With bile threatening to force itself up her throat and the bitterness lingering in her mouth,she remembered the betrayal that led to her death, Ryker, her former Alpha and Astrid, her former best friend,had betrayed her, murdering her in cold blood.

But wait...how was she alive??

Ophelia's hand trembled as she touched her throat,with her eyes sharpening and darting around for hidden threats,she felt the scar where Ryker delivered his fatal blow.. She could still feel the searing pain she felt when his claws ripped away her flesh and the feeling of her life force ebbed away..

And yet,here she was, breathing,alive.

“How did I survive something as horrible as that?” Ophelia thought to herself.

“Or maybe I'm just naturally strong. Because that's the only reasonable explanation for this sudden resurrection. Or, did the Queen of the scarlet moon grant me supernatural powers?” She mused

It wasn't long before she realised that she spoke too soon. Instead of additional powers, she had her initial powers striped off her.

She winced as she massaged the back of her head. Her eyes darted back and forth, as if she was practically chasing the thoughts racing through her mind. Her brows furrowed, deep in thoughts, trying to arrange her thoughts perfectly, but to no avail.

“Maybe I'm still dead and this is just a phase of delusion or maybe I'm interacting with myself in the spirit world and my environment was adapted to where I died” Ophelia decided.

That was not a solid reason, but she wondered why she was given an opportunity to go through a second life. If she was that special, why take her powers away completely?

“This is really unfair. Isn't being dead the same as being alive and having zero powers?” She questioned the air

She was losing focus and she was talking to herself too. Could the day get any worse than this?

A rustling in the underbrush made her turn her head sharply,wincing in pain and looking around,her eyes clashes with his,she saw him - a towering figure with the most piercing red eyes and jet black fur,brooding and watching her with an intensity that unsettled her heart.

Kieran,the mysterious outcast who had been rumoured to possess powers beyond the understanding of their kind.His presence suffocated her and also made her feel a strange sense of warmth.

He was rumoured to be a myth,so she was shocked to see that the folktale was real.

Ophelia stared at him with her mouth wide open and wondered if she was transported to another universe.

“Could I possibly be hallucinating? Why on earth am I seeing a wolf that has completely gone extinct?” “ You cannot be real, I can swear on the lady of the Wolf's that I'm probably hallucinating” Ophelia thought to herself.

She was having an extremely hard ime calming her taut nerves down and still trying to convince herself that the majestic wolf prowling majestically towards her is fake and she was probably hallucinating.

Unfortunately, the latter was the result. He was very very real and she was definitely not hallucinating. Her eyes twitched as she stared at him wide eyed and watched him walk closer and closer to her, shortening the distance between them.

Her eyes widened and the hairs on her body stood on end, she was trying so hard to change into her wolf form, but apparently her resurrection took her power and made her a complete weakling.

Her whole hard years of keeping fit were gone and she felt like an ultimate failure.

Ophelia wondered if she was given a second chance to have it forcefully taken away from her once more, worse from a wolf she had believed all her life that he was only a folktale and not real.

Ophelia's legs twitched,urging her to flee with all her might,flee away from this monster,but her body betrayed her,too weak to move. She could only whimper and watch as he approaches her,his immense power suffocating her till her breath came out in puffs.

Kieran looked at her and noticed the battle of emotions behind her eyes. He saw the fear, the urge to flee or rather melt into the ground. He also noticed the initial surprise he saw in her eyes when she saw him at the start.

He knew he was almost like an extinct wolf, but he was tired of watching by the sidelines. It was time to be known once more.

Kieran approached her,his eyes burning with an inner fire and Ophelia felt a shiver run down her spine.. She could see the blatant distrust in his piercing red eyes.. Still,he reached out a hand to touch her face and she could clearly hear the low rumble of a building growl from his chest