CHAPTER 86: CHAPTER 86: BLOOD MOON RISING

The trees felt wrong. Celeste knew it the moment her group stepped past the third mile sign.

The trees were too quiet. No birds sang. No insects buzzed.

Even the wind had stopped blowing.

"Maybe we should go back," whispered Janet, one of the younger dogs who had followed her. "Never," Celeste snapped.

"We’re better off without that omega pretending to be Luna." But deep down, fear crawled up her spine like ice water.

Twenty wolves had seemed like a good amount when they left.

Now, surrounded by silent trees and strange shadows, they felt tiny. A branch cracked behind them.

Everyone spun around, but nothing was there. Just more empty forest. "Keep moving," Celeste directed, though her voice shook slightly.

That’s when the howl came. It wasn’t like any wolf sound she’d ever heard. It was older.

Hungrier. It made her bones quiver and her wolf whimper deep inside her mind. "What was that?" asked Harold’s son, Marcus Junior.

Before anyone could answer, another howl answered from their left. Then another from their right. They were being trapped. "Run," Celeste breathed.

"What?" Janet asked. "RUN!" Celeste screamed. Twenty wolves scattered like leaves in a storm.

But the howls followed them, getting closer with each passing second. Celeste’s wolf burst forward, carrying her faster than she’d ever run before. Branches whipped her face. Roots tried to trip her feet.

Behind her, she heard screams starting and then cutting off too fast. She didn’t look back. A shadow leaped from her right. Massive. Wrong-shaped.

She dodged, but claws raked across her shoulder, cutting through shirt and skin. Pain burst through her body, but she kept running. Blood ran down her arm, leaving a trail. Another shadow. This time from above.

She threw herself sideways, rolling behind a fallen log just as something huge crashed where she’d been standing. In the moonlight, she saw it clearly for the first time.

It looked like a dog, but wrong. Too big. Too many teeth. Eyes that glowed red instead of gold. And when it moved, reality seemed to blur around it.

A First Pack hunter. The stories were true. More screams echoed through the forest.

Her pack members were being picked off one by one. Celeste pressed herself against the log, trying not to breathe too loud. The thing sniffed the air, following her blood trail. This is it, she thought.

I’m going to die because I was too proud to accept change. The monster stepped closer. Its claws scraped against stone.

Then a silver arrow grew from its neck. The thing roared and spun around. Another arrow hit its chest. Then another.

Three figures emerged from the trees, moving like dangerous dancers. Celeste had never seen them before, but their smell told her they were wolves. Different wolves. Stronger wolves. The boss was a woman with midnight-black hair and eyes like winter storms.

She drew her bow again, silver arrow sparkling. "Stay down," she called to Celeste without looking at her. "We’ve got this." The First Pack hunter charged.

The woman rolled sideways, shooting as she moved. Her two friends flanked the creature, weapons flashing in the moonlight.

It was over in seconds. The monster fell, dissolving into shadow and bad smells. "Clear!" called one of the friends, a tall man with scars covering his arms.

The woman turned to Celeste, offering a hand. "Luna Sage Nightfall, Crimson Peak Pack. You picked a bad night for a walk."

Celeste took the offered hand, letting Sage pull her to her feet. "Celeste Rivers. Former Blackwood Pack." Something flickered in Sage’s storm-gray eyes. "Former?" "I... we left. Tonight." Celeste’s voice cracked.

"There were twenty of us." Sage’s face darkened. "Were?" As if called by her words, sobbing came from deeper in the forest.

Then Janet stumbled into view, covered in blood and shaking. "They’re all dead," Janet gasped. "All of them. Those things... they were playing with us." Sage grabbed her radio.

"Base, this is Luna Sage. We need rapid extraction.

Two survivors, multiple First Pack hunters in the area." "Copy that, Luna. Ravens en route." "Ravens?" Celeste asked.

"Our rescue team," explained the scarred man. "I’m Beta Cole, by the way. That’s Gamma Phoenix." He nodded toward the third attacker, a woman with red hair and fierce eyes.

"Why did you save us?" Celeste asked suspiciously. "You don’t even know us." Sage studied her with those winter-storm eyes.

"Because twenty minutes ago, we got a message from Alpha Kael Blackwood.

He said his pack had been invaded by First Pack scouts, and that a group of his people might be in danger." Celeste’s mouth fell open. "He... what?" "Apparently your Luna Elara had a vision.

She saw you walking into a trap." Sage’s speech was neutral, but Celeste caught the message. Elara had saved her life.

Even after everything Celeste had done. Shame burned in her chest worse than her claw wounds.

The sound of helicopter blades filled the air. Three black planes descended through the trees, landing in a nearby clearing. "Let’s move," Sage ordered.

As they ran toward the helicopters, more howls echoed through the bush. Closer now. Angry. "They know we took their prey," Phoenix called over the noise.

They reached the clearing just as the first helicopter’s door slid open. A medic jumped out, going straight for Janet, who was still bleeding from multiple wounds. "Get them aboard!" Sage shouted.

Celeste found herself pushed toward the second helicopter. But as she reached for the door handle, she stopped.

"Wait," she called to Sage. "Why were you in these woods? How did you get here so fast?" Sage paused, one foot already on the airplane step. A slow smile spread across her face.

"Because, Celeste Rivers, the Crimson Peak Pack has been hunting First Pack creatures for three generations. We knew they were coming back."

"But how—" "My mate is a prophet," Sage said simply. "He’s been tracking their return for months. Tonight was supposed to be a scouting trip."

Her face grew serious. "Instead, it became a rescue." The helicopter lifted off just as shadows started pouring into the clearing below them.

Dozens of First Pack hunts, their red eyes glowing like angry stars. Celeste pressed her face to the window, watching the horror forest shrink away. "Where are you taking us?" she asked.

"Crimson Peak territory," Sage replied. "It’s warded against the First Pack. You’ll be safe there." "Safe to do what?" Sage’s storm-gray eyes met hers.

"To choose. You can stay with us, find a new pack, or..." She paused. "Return to the Blackwoods and beg forgiveness."

Heat flushed Celeste’s face. "I can’t go back. Not after what I said. What I did." "Can’t, or won’t?" Before Celeste could answer, the radio crackled to life. "Luna Sage, this is Prophet Marcus. Emergency update." Sage grabbed the radio. "Go ahead, love."

"The First Pack isn’t just hunting refugees. They’re surrounding Blackwood land. Completely. The Quad Bond is powerful, but..." His voice faded with static. "Marcus? Marcus, respond!" Nothing but white noise.

Phoenix leaned forward from the pilot’s seat. "Luna, we’re getting reports from all sectors. The First Pack has split into different hunting parties.

They’re attacking every supernatural group within a hundred miles." Sage’s face went pale. "How many?" "Hundreds. Maybe thousands." Celeste felt the blood drain from her face.

"My family. My younger brother is still with the Blackwoods." "Along with three hundred other pack members," Sage said grimly. The helicopter turned sharply, changing direction.

"Where are we going?" Phoenix called. Sage’s eyes were steel. "Back to Blackwood country. If the First Pack wants a war, they’re about to get one." But as they flew through the night sky, Celeste saw something that made her heart stop.

The moon was changing color. From silver to deep, blood red. And according to every legend she’d ever heard, a blood moon meant only one thing: the barriers between worlds were about to collapse totally. "Sage," she whispered, pointing at the sky.

The Luna followed her eyes and cursed in three different languages. "Phoenix, get us there faster. Whatever’s happening tonight, we’re already too late to stop it." Below them, the forest was burning. Not with normal fire, but with strange flames that cast no light.

And in that darkness, thousands of red eyes were moving toward Blackwood land like a tide of death. Celeste closed her eyes and did something she hadn’t done since youth. She prayed.