The Blood Moon

Welcome

"I'm not sure about this move."

Move? What move? Was I moved?

I tried to command my fingers to probe my surroundings and determine my location, but nothing in me moved except the steady beat of my heart and subtle rise of my chest as I drank in the musty air around me.

Then, I tasted it.

I couldn't force myself to move, but I could breathe and with it was access to my sense of smell. I inhaled deeply, allowing the fragrance of the room to drip down my throat and coat the back of my tongue.

And the scent was wrong. I wasn't home, but something familiar lingered around me. His scent embraced me like a protective blanket which eased my rising fear and whispered reassurances in my ear. Then, I truly heard his voice.

"You said her wounds were healed and..."

Everett!

My heart rang out at the sound of his low rumbling voice and a spark of life jolted through my body. I felt the tingle of blood flow spreading through my extremities, pricking the nerves in my skin. Images flitted through my mind, piecing together the series of events that landed me in such an immobile position.

"Physical wounds, but not emotional."

I recognized this other voice, though a face came through a haze that marred his finer features. I sighed, tired of the limitations my weakened body placed on me. However, with the deep inhale came a fresh wave of smells. It was not nearly as strong as Everett's, but the moment I distinguished its pattern from the rest, I knew in an instant who the other was — Whisper Valley's only human-centric doctor, Gregory Fair.

"She is exhausted in every sense of the word. This move..."

"Will have its own consequences," confirmed Everett with a reluctant sigh. "I know that, but this is where she needs to be."

"Is it?" retorted the doctor with some fire in his words. Most wouldn't be so bold to snap at the town's alpha, but Gregory had the benefit of being Kyra's one and only feeder. He had the license to be assertive and I felt gratitude for his loyalty to my wellbeing. "Kyra says..."

"I know what Kyra says," growled Everett. "And I know that you've been around her long enough to know she states facts and rarely voices theories. Despite how Delilah may or may not smell, the fact of the matter is that all the clan leaders have agreed that she is now under my purview as alpha and I say this move is necessary."

Heat and power radiated in his words and though I still felt the bite of anger lingering in the back of my mind, another part of me purred with approval of his assertion. Though, nothing in me knew why I would feel that way.

"And the move has already happened," replied Gregory with forcefulness, but also resignation. "However, you asked me how I felt her progress was and so I wanted to remind you that whatever healing she has made only covers her physical wounds. Yes, she was physically able to make the move, but emotionally, you need to be ready to manage those on your own."

"I am ready."

"Are you? Do you understand the full weight of what she's experienced and of what she's about to go through?"

"More than you know." Though the reply was firm in its confidence, it did not have the fire that had sizzled in Everett's earlier assertions. Instead, sorrow and disappointment lowered his words.

"Look," Everett continued with a sigh, "we've had this argument before, and I imagine we'll have it again, but right now, Delilah is awake and I think she's heard enough of this out of context. It's time I go prove to you that she's in good hands."