Moonstruck ✔️

chapter 21

Shay Kingsley

I woke up in the middle of the night, my throat begging for water and my lips drying out from lack of moisture. I carefully got out of bed, careful not to wake Dom, putting on a pair of socks for my cold feet and exiting the room. The door clicked close behind me quietly as I made my way through the house in the dark, the only light source lighting my way was the moonlight coming through the windows. While the only sounds heard were the creaks of the floorboards and the padding of my feet as I walked.

I thought back to the earlier events that happened. Today went a lot better than I had ever hoped for.

It was surprisingly peaceful and I didn't see either of my parents. Which was both a massive relief and also slightly disappointing. On one hand, I wanted to see my mother and thank her for her help the other day but on the other, it would've probably sent me into a full-blown panic attack.

The afterparty we had with a close-knit group of family members was exhausting but interesting, to say the least. Dom's family were all welcoming and friendly and welcomed me as part of their family with open arms.

The food was excellent and there was so much of it you didn't know where to start. Not to mention the wine was probably the best I had ever tasted in my entire life. I tell you now, it is a wholeeee different experience to witness a seventy-year-old woman being half-drunk.

I entered the kitchen, deciding to keep the light off as to not wake up the whole house, but instead, turned my phone flashlight on and place it on the counter to light up the room. I grabbed a cup from a cupboard and filled it with cold tap water, chugging the whole thing down.

I was out of breath by the time I finished drinking the cup but my mouth was feeling a lot less dry. I headed to fill the cup up again and grabbed a few snacks from one of the draws to snack on.

I started munching on one of the bags of crisps I grabbed, my back leaning against the countertops in the middle of the kitchen.

A scurrying noise came from the darkness behind me and I whipped around, pointing my phone in the direction of the noise.

"Hello?"

No answer.

Just complete silence.

I frowned but turned back around and continued eating the small snacks I had prepared. That was at least until I spotted a dark figure behind me in the reflection of the microwave. Before I had time to move or turn I gasped as something around my neck pulled me back.

My back was now against the figure and I grabbed hold of whatever was around my neck while I desperately gasped for air. The pressure was becoming too much. My lungs screaming for oxygen.

I raised my arm and jabbed my elbow into my attacker's ribs, successfully knocking them away from me and releasing the foreign object around my neck. I grasped my neck, surprised that I still even had a neck while gasping for air and trying my best to recover quickly.

Once my vision started coming back I spun on my heels just in time to see my attacker begin charging at me. I couldn't make out who it was, their scent was unfamiliar, their face was covered and they won't all black clothes with a hood over their head. What I did notice was that it was definitely a man from their muscular build, broad shoulders and height.

I dodged their attack, swinging myself over the counter I was previously leaning against and dashing towards the back door to the house. I could distinctly hear the man's heavy footsteps not far behind me as I rushed outside and into the woods behind our house.

I ran for my fucking life, my heartbeat racing wildly as the adrenaline coursed through my veins and urged my legs to run even faster. My feet hurt from my sock being the little protection I had against my feet and the hard soil ground beneath me. Silas begged to take control of the situation and face our attacker head-on but I refused to let him take over. The last thing we need is bloodshed. If I keep running either he'll lose interest or he'll chase me for so long that someone will be bound to appear and detain him.

After all, his scent was one not from our pack so realistically it shouldn't take more than a mere few minutes for people to find us. We just needed to hold out long enough to not be ripped apart by this dude.

We were now nearing the border of our pack, just metres away from exiting our perimeter. I calculated all my options carefully. Either I let him chase me out and potentially let him get away or I do a quick U-turn and tackle the bastard. I didn't have enough time to figure out which option was the better one so I went with the latter.

I tackled him by the waist, sending the both of us spiralling to the ground with a heavy thud, my sorry ass, unfortunately, landing underneath the bastard. It took him no time at all to have his hands at my throat but before he gripped on I kicked his chest with all my might, sending him back with another thud. Distant yelling was heard coming closer from the direction we had just come from, they had finally been alerted of the intruder.

A frustrated growl came from the guy trying to kill me and glanced over at me, hesitating in his next moves. Before I had time to react he rushed away and out of the pack territory. I sighed in relief, my back hitting the ground in exhaustion.

More footsteps came out from between the trees, revealing none other than Dom and a small group of pack members.

"What the fuck happened?" Dom asked, rushing over to my side.

"Dude tried to kill me in the kitchen and chased me out of the house," I explained through pants. "He went that way."

Dom looked over his shoulder, nodding to his small group who immediately shifted and headed in the direction where I motioned.

"Can you stand?"

"I think so," I nodded.

With some help from Dom, I shakily stood up on two feet, my legs barely being able to support my weight from all the adrenaline. We made our way back to the house where the majority of the pack was standing outside their houses, concern and confusion over the faces.

"Not even a few hours have passed and we're already being targeted huh?" I chuckled nervously.