Page 20 of Ravaging Red
“We cannot let new creatures cross without heed,” she continued. “They come hungry, and they are known to claim land that is not theirs. If we stand together, they will not cross the Veil.” Her eyes flicked over the assembly.
A Wolf-kin behind me shifted. “What oflust?” he growled. “It’s said that the Blood Moon doesn’t just pull at blood and madness. It’s carnal and it holds a purpose. What are we todowhen it consumes us all?”
No one answered. Eyes were lowered to the ground. They all feared the unknown. Only those of us who'd been called understood it.
The witch’s staff glowed. “We offer ritual and restraint. The Old Ones seek to reinforce the Veil. To seal the fracture. We must obey, but I agree. The pull is strong and will not be resisted forever. I can tell that a few of you have already had the calling.”
Her eyes locked on me and I did not move an inch, for it would give me away. “I can feel it burning you alive.”
A raven took the stage then, taking her eyes off me. Obsidian wings fluttered and midnight blue feathers glittered beneath the firelight.
“Fellow kin,” his voice was gravelly. “We do not kill humans, not unless forced. They take what is not theirs, but we do not become what they fear. We must become what theyrespect.”
“They already fear us!” Someone called out.
“At the cost of the Veil?” Another monster spoke, a Fae.
“We must protect the Veil!” Was shouted out among the crowd.
A chill spread across the square, and I felt the pull in my own blood, black and bitter. My fists clenched, and my muscles flexed.
One by one, others spoke. Vampires pounded their chests. Fae murmured charms. Beasts roared in their concerns. At the end, we were all in agreement, the Blood Moon was going to destroy everything we’d ever built by exposing us.
When it was over, and all had dispersed, I stayed behind. Walking up to the stage, I pressed my palms to the rune-engraved stone floor. Its power simmered beneath the cracks, and I breathed it in, asking it for a semblance of control.
The Monsters would plan rituals. They’d chant, they’d bind, they’d bleed. They’d attempt to control the frenzy and try to close the Veil again. But in the end, they could not fight the Blood Moon and its calling.
I wouldnot. I couldn’t. It called out to me to do its bidding.
I would claim.
Because in my chest, the knot was pulsing. My mind fought it and the Old Ones had spoken but I was too far gone, and I knew it. I couldn’t give up what was meant for me to take.
NO TOUCHING HUMANS. NO CLAIMING. CONSEQUENCES.
But the Blood Moon had other plans. It chose me. It demanded for me to take what was being offered.
I turned away from the square, retraced my steps through crooked alleys and drunken Ogres. The bones beneath the lanterns seemed to whisper,Traitor.
I closed my eyes. My cock throbbing as I returned home, the first gray fingers of dawn bled into the sky. My hands shook from the pull of what I’d learned, what I’dfeltin the last few nights without her.
I knew, in every cell of me, that I would defy their laws again. I could never resist the pull.
Iwouldmark her and make her mine.
Chapter 8
When the Blood Stirs
RED
Iwoke up with sweat clinging to every inch of my body, the taste of him still thick in my mouth. In the cold light of morning, I could still feel the pull, guiding me back toward the woods. It had been non-stop since I left him a month ago. I knew now that it was a feeling of hunger, and it came fromhim. And whatever was happening to me now, I was sure that I wasn’t going to be able to pretend I was still human for much longer.
Because things had changed.
It all happened a few weeks ago when I went to visit my mom. I stepped into the kitchen and was slicing carrots for my Nana’s soup. The blade suddenly slipped from my hand and the sharp steel stabbed me. When I looked down, bright red blood was gushing from the palm of my hand. I rushed to get a dish towel, but as I glanced back down to look at it, I froze from the sock of what I was seeing. I watched as the blood beads receded back into the wound, then sealed itself. I somehow healed. My breath quickened as I checked my hand, but the wound was gone. No scar, just a faint pink line remained.
As I stood there, listening to my heart beating in my ears, I was suddenly startled by te noise coming from the other room. As I stepped through, the sound became clearer and soon enough I was listening to the neighbors’ conversation, playing out just outside the front door. Shocked, I ripped the front door open, but they were nowhere in sight. Our neighbors lived a mile down the road. Then I heard the tap of water coming from a sink upstairs, my grandmother’s cough in the other room echoed in my ears. I took a deep breath, shaking as I tried to concentrate, forcing the sounds out.
