BLOOD OAT:THE LUNAR LEGACY

The scent of blood hit Aria before she saw it. Coppery, raw, and far too familiar.

She stood at the edge of the woods behind Hollow Creek High, where the trees whispered secrets to the wind, and the moon loomed overhead like an unblinking eye.

Something was wrong. It wasn't just the scent it was the hum in the air.

Like static before a storm, except it wasn't thunder she feared.

It was herself.

Aria clutched her denim jacket tighter around her frame and stepped further into the shadows.

Her boots crunched fallen leaves, each step loud in the silence.

The hairs on her arms stood erect. Every instinct screamed at her to run, to get out-but something deeper, primal, rooted her there.

Then she saw it.

A deer.

Or what had once been a deer. Its body was torn open, ribs cracked like splintered wood. Blood soaked the earth beneath it.

Its eyes, wide and glassy, stared at Aria as though asking why.

She staggered backward, bile rising in her throat.

Not a normal animal attack. No mountain lion did this.

Not with such precision.

She should scream.

She should call the sheriff. Instead, she crouched.

Why did this feel familiar?

A low growl shattered the silence.

She spun, heart hammering, and found nothing but trees and moonlight.

The growl hadn't come from behind her it came from within.

Pain split her chest.

It was like fire running through her veins, a liquid flame pulsing beneath her skin. She gasped, clutched her sides, and fell to her knees.

The world tilted.

Her vision flickered. Her bones screamed.

She didn't know how long she lay there, convulsing, her mind unraveling like thread.

But when she opened her eyes, everything had changed.

The world was sharper.

The wind carried scents-pinesap, moss, the lingering musk of fear.

She heard a rabbit's heartbeat in the distance. She felt the moon's gaze.

And she wasn't in her skin anymore, She was a wolf.

The transformation lasted seconds or hours-she couldn't tell.

The mind of the wolf merged with hers, thoughts primal and raw.

Hunger. Fear. Territory.

But Aria's human mind screamed behind the amber eyes.

This isn't real. She stumbled no, bounded through the trees.

Her paws pounded the ground, her body unfamiliar and yet exhilarating.

Power coursed through her. Then she saw another, a black wolf, tall as a horse, eyes silver-bright, standing among the trees. He didn't move, Neither did she.

Their eyes locked.

Then he growled-low and warning-and vanished into the forest.

Aria's instincts said chase. Her human fear said run.

But before she could choose, the pain returned.

Everything went black.

She woke in her bed.

Drenched in sweat, breath ragged, her muscles aching as though she'd run a marathon.

Her phone buzzed. 6:02 a.m.

"Just a dream,"

she whispered.

But the dirt under her nails and the shredded remains of her jacket on the floor told a different story Later that day, Hollow Creek buzzed with news of a new animal attack.

Another deer.

Same wounds. Same spot. Aria skipped school.

Instead, she found herself back in the woods, drawn by a pull she couldn't name.

She stood where it happened, the memories vivid and terrifying.

And she wasn't alone. "I thought I'd find you here," a voice said.

She turned, startled.

A boy stepped from the trees. Tall, dark curls, eyes like storm clouds.

He wore a leather jacket like armor, and something in his presence screamed danger.

"Who are you?"

she asked.

He tilted his head.

"Name's Luca.

You shifted last night, didn't you?"

Aria's heart skipped.

"Shifted?" "

You're one of us."

"I'm not one of you.

I don't even know what that means." Luca stepped closer.

"You turned on the blood moon.

That hasn't happened in generations. You're not just a wolf, Aria.

You're a legacy."

She backed away. "How do you know my name?" "Because I've been watching you." That should've terrified her. And maybe it did. But more than fear, she felt a surge of recognition.

As if part of her had always known. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

Luca's eyes flicked to the trees.

"You don't have a choice. The Council knows you shifted.

They'll come for you."

"Why?" "

Because you're dangerous." And in that moment, Aria believed him That night, she dreamed of fire. Flames licking the walls of a house.

A woman screaming. A man's voice yelling her name.

And a wolf-a white wolf-standing in the flames, eyes glowing.

She woke with a scream. Her phone buzzed. A blocked number.

"Aria Moonstone," the voice on the other end hissed. "Run."

Then silence.

She looked out her window.

Three figures in black stood beneath the trees, watching.

The hunt had begun She confronted her mother the next morning.

"You lied to me,"

she said, trembling.

Her adoptive mother, Grace, looked up from her tea, eyes tired.

"I was protecting you."

"From what?"

Grace hesitated, then whispered,

"From yourself."

"Who were my real parents?"

A long silence followed.

Then,

"Your father was Alpha of the Silverfang Pack. He died protecting you during the Moon Massacre."

Aria's legs buckled.

She sat, the words hitting her like a storm.

"So it's true.

I'm a werewolf."

Grace nodded.

"But more than that-you're the last of his bloodline.

And that bloodline is both blessed... and cursed."

Before Aria could ask more, a window shattered.

Smoke filled the room.

A dart hit Grace in the neck.

Figures in black stormed in, and Aria did the only thing she could.

She ran.

Branches whipped her face as she sprinted into the woods.

Her lungs burned.

She didn't look back.

Then, out of nowhere Luca.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a thick tree trunk.

"They found you faster than I thought."

"What do they want?"

she gasped.

"To control you. Or kill you.

Whichever comes first."

"Why me?"

"Because you're the key. The prophecy"

"I don't care about a prophecy!" He leaned close.

"You will.

Because the next blood moon rises in thirty nights. And when it does, you'll either awaken as the High Alpha... or the destroyer." Footsteps neared.

Luca grabbed her hand. "We have to go. Now." And as they vanished into the shadows, Aria knew: nothing would ever be the same.