Half-Blooded | The Dark Child Prophecy Series [✔️]

Chapter Eight: Hunger of the Pine

The next night, the full moon woke me up before the sun had set fully. I waited until it retreated beneath the horizon and then crawled out of my bed. I pushed the curtains aside, hoping to see the wolves out and about as I had the night before. But it was quiet. I sighed, disappointed.

I stepped away from the window, leaving the curtain open to let the low-hanging moon's light come in. My whole body itched with the need to change and I had to shake myself all over before stepping into my closet. I found a new white dress and changed from my borrowed t-shirt again. I drank the last of the blood from the night before and then headed for the back terrace.

Where are you?, I reached out, hoping Jason would hear me like he had before. Once I was dressed, I headed down to the outdoor terrace and waited for him to come back to me.

For over an hour, I sat and listened to the sounds of the pack in the distance, howling and yipping. I wanted to be out in the woods with them, but my fear had chained me to the porch. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the dual instincts again, slowly feeling the shimmering euphoria fill me again. I leaned back to rest on my elbows, my head dropping back naturally with its weight. I sighed heavily, letting the throbbing need fill me.

I felt the meadow darken in my mind and I immediately focused in on my rapid heartbeat. I breathed deeply, smelling the pack's lingering scents. As my pulse evened out, the wildness crept through me, and I held a firm grip on my human form. I gasped softly as the pleasure rebounded through me. It was stronger than the bloodlust. I reveled in it, soaking it up. My muscles no longer felt stiff and heavy.

As the moon high returned, I got to my feet. I wanted to race into the woods, throw off my clothes and change, melt onto my paws and feel the dirt beneath my feet. I stood still for several seconds, my body leaning forward to push my weight onto the balls of my feet. More howls erupted in the distance that sounded like singing.

Just go, my thoughts whispered, making me feel intoxicated.

I ran through the grass and felt my feet slap against the earth, breathing deeply through my nose. The smell of wolf musk, decaying leaves, and moonflowers filled my lungs. Once I broke through the tree line, I slowed up just enough to yank the dress over my head and cast it into the brush. I pushed myself into a sprint and then took a flying leap.

My paws hit the dirt and crunched the leaves beneath them. Wind rippled through my blonde fur. I made it up the slope and atop the ridge, skidding to a halt. My ears rotated, listening to the howls that drifted through the woods, hanging over the trees like a blanket of song. I turned my head, focusing. I could hear them just above the pounding pulse in my chest. Their voices were echoing through the hills.

Without regard, I tossed my head back and howled. The air slid over my tongue and through my teeth, filling the air with one, long note. I held it until my lungs emptied. I perked my ears, listening. They had grown quiet.

Then, off to my right, a deep note that warbled on the edge of a melody replied before being joined by a harmonized higher voice. My mind immediately identified the lower song being Jason's. I waited a moment, listening as a few more voices joined in. In seconds, I was off in another headlong dash down the saddle back of the knoll, dodging around trees and brush to stick to a deer trail. Everything seemed to blur over, my vision fuzzy as colors continued to mutate into deeper, darker shades.

I broke free of the brush into a thicket. On the opposite side from the tree line, the pack moved together in their ranked formation like a flock of birds. I banked off to the left so I was going in the same direction, running diagonally across the open ground. A black wolf broke rank and came even with me. Jason.