The True Luna

Seven. In Which Teeth Dig Into Throats.

For once I do not regain consciousness to the thump of his heart.

I am underground. My earth surrounds me, I can smell her. She is stronger now, strong enough to help me control the shadows.

I open my eyes to find myself in a room full of darkness. They must have captured me; I seem to be in a cellar of sorts. A prison.

I am not chained. No silver grips my muscles.

My earth shudders. She can feel my life force, my blood, sinking into her soil. The cut is gone now, the back of my head beginning to heal from the trauma it has been through recently.

The ground tenses as it feels footsteps outside of my small room. The door creaks as it opens, a lantern's light forcing away the shadows. I sit up, lifting my head to look at the Alpha. He has no guards, he does not need them, sure of his own strength.

"Joti." His tone is sharp, crisp. Perhaps he realised I was a threat when I broke through silver?

"Alpha." I do not speak his name with respect. He is in my world now, underground, and he will play by my rules or the darkness will tear him apart. The monster dislikes the sound of my voice, but she dares not question it when we are here. She knows who is in control. Does the man in front of me?

He steps closer, the lantern forcing my darkness away from me. His feet make a clear sound, echoing through my earth. "You almost sound like you think you have the upper hand."

I do.

"Tell me," he says.

I tilt my head to the side, feigning ignorance. "Tell you what?"

"Tell me why you were found so close to those two rogues. Tell me why you had hit your head the same way both times. Tell me why that black wolf came to your rescue. Tell me why silver doesn't work on you."

I look down at his knees. "I don't know what you're talking about." Liar.

"Then you will stay here. In the dark. No food. No nothing. You will die here unless you tell me." His voice remains even, his heartbeat steady.

I push myself up to a stand, his eyes following my movement. He is taller than I am. "I won't."

"You will."

"I don't think you understand. I won't."

I draw on my earth's strength, pull on the life given by my blood on the floor, and drag the shadows of the room together. They become thicker, blacker, darker, swirling together until a creature can take form in the corner of the room. It growls lowly, my earth rumbling in harmony with it, and the man in front of me turns sharply, dropping his lantern. As darkness plunges, the wolf made from shadows feeds on it, its snarling growing into a cacophany of anger.

The man's heartbeat remains steady. Is he not afraid? He should be. Shadows have a tendency to consume people.

The wolf crouches low, tendrils of shadows swirling around its paws. Muscles tense as it prepares to leap.

The man is surrounded by my darkness, surrounded by my earth, surrounded by my magic.

He will not leave this room alive.

His muscles shift and he pushes against my earth, throwing his weight against the dark beast that stands before him. It leaps too, slightly afterwards, teeth snapping towards the intruder before it.

I watch as it buries its teeth into his throat.

They hit the ground together, one body thumping onto the floor and one evaporating, returning itself to the darkness of the room, its purpose filled.