Blood on the Moon

Rose

We set our bags down, happy as can be, as we return home.

“Home at last,” Asher exclaims, plopping down on the couch, patting the cushion beside him as I collapse next to him. “I hate flying.”

“Same,” I mumble into his chest, stretching my tired legs.

We just arrived home from our week-long honeymoon in Silvania. We spent three days in Paris, then we went to Crete for the last four. We consumed copious amounts of wine, ate fantastic food, and had so much sex in so many places. It was incredible.

Asher surprised me with a gorgeous ruby necklace with one of the rose petals the pack threw from our Induction Ceremony encrusted within it. It’s a circle gem with a bunch of tiny diamonds bordering it. It must’ve cost a pretty penny, but I think he was happy to spend it. He hasn’t been able to spend his money in years, so he was glad to splurge on me.

I still have to give him his gift, which he doesn’t know about yet. I’m excited to tell him, though. I think he’ll love it.

“Did you have fun?” He asks.

“Of course I did,” I reply. “First time I’ve been out of the region, let alone Lupania.”

“I’m glad,” he replies, rubbing my knee. “I had an amazing time, too.”

“What was your favorite part?” I ask.

“Probably when we had sex in the cabana,” he says, and I howl in laughter, smacking him playfully.

“Wow! That’s your favorite part? Do you only love me for my body, Asher?”

“Okay, fine, my favorite part was actually when we had sex in the literal ocean.”

“Such a dirty mind!” I chastise as he winks at me, snickering.

“I guess my favorite part was when we had sex in the winery bathroom,” I admit. “We were so drunk, and that poor man definitely knew what we were doing. But he was a real one for not interrupting.”

“Oh, what you don’t know is I slipped him a crisp hundred-dollar bill before I followed you there,” he says, his cheeks flushed in a devilish grin.

“Asher!” I cry. “Terrible!”

“Oh, come on! How did you think nobody visited the cabana for a whole hour to check on us?” he asks incredulously. “I tipped each of those waiters a hundred and told them to fuck off until the curtains were open again. And they delivered. That’s some top-notch service, in my opinion.”

“Did you bribe the ocean, too?” I ask, crawling onto him and tickling his neck. “What other things do I not know?”

He laughs, falling onto his back as I lie on him, my hair draped over his face. He blows it off of him, and I giggle.

“Okay, for real, my favorite part of the trip was night two in Paris, lying in the hotel room bed and gorging ourselves on wine and cheese, laughing and watching movies. That’s the top three best moments of my life, for sure. So simple, but, fuck, it was perfect. Eiffel Tower visible through our window, clear night, gorgeous mate in the fluffy bathrobe she got so excited about.”

I giggle, resting my head on his chest. “I must’ve talked about that bathrobe at least five times a day. I confess I snuck it into my bag and brought it home.”

“You stole!” He gasps, pinching my butt. “Little miss!”

“Oh, it’s not stealing if we paid for the room! I bet people take those home all the time,” I protest, biting my lip. “Plus, I know you like it when I’m a little bad.”

“Guilty as charged, sweetheart,” he answers with a wink. “What was your favorite part? For real, this time.”

“Hmm,” I hum, thinking for a moment. There are a few contenders for the prize, but one moment stands clear in my mind. “The dinner on the pier in Crete. Watching the sunset and holding hands. Not only was that baklava insane, the wine even better, but I enjoyed how we were able to sit in silence together. The music from the restaurant band in the background, the waves rolling, and the salty breeze whispering. Gosh, it was perfect. So perfect to sit with you, not needing to say anything to communicate everything. That was also when you gave me this necklace, and I absolutely love it.”

“That was a beautiful moment,” he replies. “It’s always a good sign of a healthy relationship when you can sit in comfortable silence. I’m glad you love the gift, too. It looks amazing on you.”

I blush, kissing his cheek as I sit up. “This reminds me, though, I still have to give you your gift!”

“I have been anxiously awaiting it ever since you told me I’d have to wait til we were home!” He exclaims as he sits up, eyes like a kid in a candy store.

“Okay, so…” I begin, unable to hide my smile as I grab my computer, pulling up the plans. “I started putting this together last month.”

I show him the screen, which is the floor plan for the rebuild of his family cabin.

“It’ll be the same layout with the same materials. I added a few upgrades such as electricity and insulation and all that jazz, so it’ll be a little bit more useable,” I tell him with a grin, watching his face. “But, it’ll be your cabin again. I know it won’t have the same sentimentality as building it with your siblings, but I think it’ll have a new meaning now. Y’know? It’ll be our little sanctuary. A place we can get away, just the two of us, when life gets too busy. So we can always have time set aside for one another.”

He covers his mouth with his fingers, eyes wide as he sits forward.

“Do you like it?” I ask, rubbing his back gently. “I know it’s a big project that I didn’t consult you about, but I-”

“I love it, Rose,” he finally squeaks, wiping the tears from his eyes. “So thoughtful of you. Really… I don’t even know what to say. This is so sweet of you.”

“Aww, baby,” I coo, hugging him tightly as I kiss his cheek. “You deserve it, baby. We deserve it.”

“Yes, we do,” he replies. “I can’t wait to see it standing again. Back and better than ever!”

“Back and better than ever!” I affirm, kissing his cheek again.

Knock, knock, knock.

Asher arches his eyebrow. “Could that be Vic?” He asks. “What could’ve gone down while we were gone that he had to tell us right when we got back?”

“I don’t know,” I answer, sniffing the air but not recognizing Victor’s scent.

Asher and I walk to the door and open it.

It’s Evander and Margaery. But they don’t look happy.

“Hey,” I greet, immediately nervous. “What’s going on? You guys are acting weird?”

“I’m really sorry to be doing this when you’ve just gotten back from your honeymoon,” Evander says with a sigh as they walk in. “But it can’t wait.”

Evander and Margaery file into the room, and a third person follows them.

Dante.

“What’re you doing here?” I exclaim. “How do you know Evander?”

“You know him?” Asher asks.

“Yeah, this is the warlock that healed you after the flogging incident,” I explain. “He’s someone who owed me a favor.”

Dante sighs, closing the door behind him. “There’s a lot you don’t know, Rose.”

“What is going on?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest. “Why is he here?”

“I wasn’t aware he knew you?” Evander says, glancing at Dante.

“She’s another one of my father’s schemes,” Dante explains, which makes no sense. “He asked me to pretend to be her brother to get information out of her after she rose to power so quickly.”

“So you took advantage of my mate?” Asher growls, standing at my side protectively.

“That’s unnecessary, Asher,” Margaery soothes, stepping between the two men. “We’re here because River Run is in danger.”

“Adelaide is in danger,” Dante adds, his eyes sad and pleading.

“Adelaid Poniria? Your witch?” I ask Evander.

“Yes,” he replies. “She’s been taken.”

“Taken?” Asher exclaims. “What do you mean? By who?”

“The Night God,” Margaery says. “He twisted her mind to join Him. It turns out she’s the Moon Goddess’s daughter.”

“What?” I gasp, shocked as my jaw hits the floor. “H-How? How did he twist her mind? How is that possible?”

“Because He put me up to pretending to fall in love with her. He told me I was getting information on Evander from her, but He was setting me up. I fell in love with her, pulled by our mate bond. Then… Then He revealed the truth and took advantage of her heartache to make her join Him.”

“Woah, woah, woah, slow down. I thought you said that you were put up to this bullshit by your dad?” I ask, confused.

“That’s the thing…” He mutters. “The Night God is my father.”

“Are you kidding?” I cry. “The Night God?”

“Yes, I know, it’s a lot,” Evander says. “Turns out, he’s the son my mother lost after the Night God took her. He’s the child she conceived with him. My half-brother.”

“Wow,” I whisper, sitting down at the kitchen table. The rest of them join me. “So, you lied to Adelaide, and your father used that to get you to His side?” I ask.

“Yes, and he’s going to use her to destroy my pack,” Evander says. “He couldn’t use Genevieve anymore, so he’s using Adelaide. Gen was just a distraction while He did His real work with her.”

“Wow, the pain Asher and I experienced was just a distraction?” I snap.

“He didn’t mean it like that,” Margaery soothes. “He only means that Genevieve was bad, but what’s coming is worse. That’s unless we can stop it.”

“We?” Asher asks. “How could we help you?”

“The Night God has turned Adelaide against Evander and me,” Dante explains. “If we try to get her back ourselves, it might anger her more and push her further in His grasp. And we need to do that, or the fate of our pack, if not the world, rests in the balance.”

“How could we help?” I ask. “W-We can’t go up against a God!”

“There’s something special about you, Rose,” Margaery insists. “We just have to figure out how to unlock it, and you, with Dante, can help save Adelaide. Please,” she pauses, grabbing Asher and my hands. “You’re the only people we can turn to for this. We don’t have any other options and can’t do it ourselves. We need your help.”

“But we…” I start, practically whimpering the words.

But we just got back. We just settled down. We have a house being built to hold our family—a cabin for our romantic getaways. We are creating a new form of government to meld a Clan and Pack together that’s never been done before.

We were finally ready to be happy. To relax into the routine of the rest of our lives.

Now this? Another wrench in our plans?

“Your fire was purple, black, and red,” Margaery adds. “This could be the final quest. The final tribulation that you have to face. The purple flame is the magic you have yet to uncover, Rose.”

“The purple was for Asher, too,” I whisper, knitting my brows together, remembering the war I saw.

And how magic seemed to emanate from not just me but also him.

“What did you see when you looked into the black mirror?” I ask Asher.

“I saw you pregnant,” he replies quickly.

“Anything else?”

He pauses for a second as if contemplating the same thing I am. We are under no obligation to help. We deserve a break. We deserve to spend our time together, to rest. To enjoy.

“I saw us both at war, wielding powerful magic,” he admits.

“So there must be something inside you, too, Asher,” Evander says. “We just need to figure out what it is, and maybe we can use that to stop the Night God. Once and for all.”

“And save Adelaide,” Dante adds, his tone sad and mournful.

He must’ve really loved her.

“But what about our Pack and Clan?” I ask Asher. “We just gave our vows to be their leaders. We can abandon them now when there’s so much work to be done!”

“If the Night God is planning to use a child of the Moon Goddess to do Goddess knows what, then that’s the most pressing issue our people face,” Asher says. “They’ll understand that. The War of Saemel is fresh in the minds of your Clan members, many of whom found the Night God through him.”

“I know,” I consider, pinching my lip between my fingers. “I could leave Victor in charge, ruling remotely when necessary. Depending on where this mission takes us.”

“I’ll stay back and run Black Opal,” Margaery says. “Seamus, Evander’s brother, can step in as Alpha. Seamus will consult you, Evander, and I’ll keep you in the loop as well, Asher.”

I look at Asher, my heart aching. “We just got back.”

“I know,” he mumbles, stroking my cheek. “But what other choice do we have? How long will we have left if the Night God gets what He wants? Who knows what world order He may bring about with Adelaide’s help? How much blood could be shed? Our people’s blood.”

I sigh, fighting back the tears threatening to spill, gripping Asher’s hand tightly.

“We’ll do it together,” Asher assures me, whispering it in my ear. “Forever, mate.”

I nod, taking a deep breath, mouthing back to him, “Forever, mate.”

Asher faces the three pleading faces before us and says, “We’ll do it.”

I nod, gulping down the lump in my throat, wiping my eyes as my jaw clenches. I have to be strong, even if it means making personal sacrifices. If the Night God is making a grab at power as bold as this, the consequences for my Clan and Pack could be apocalyptic.

I must stand up for them, even if it costs me everything.

“We will help you defeat the Night God.”