BENEATH THE MOON'S BITE

LUCA'S POV

The cell was not what I thought it would be.

It was a round room, like a stone well, with a trail of moonlight slipping down from high above.

I woke up on a thin mattress, my body was still hurting from the dart, and my head felt thick with pain. But the bond in my chest was still there, a quiet signal linked to Rafe.

I pushed up to sit alright, when I heard a very familiar voice that I thought was dead.

"You're awake."

I scrambled back forcefully, scared that I was hallucinating, when she stepped into the light. She was skinny, her clothes hanging loose. Her hair was a mess of black and silver.

But her eyes... they were my eyes. Grey, and glowing faintly, eyes that I never forget anyway.

My breath seized, and my sight blurred with disbelief. "But you're dead...." I stammered.

Her smile was sad. "I know."

"Mom?" The word sounded strange in my mouth.

She nodded, a tear flowing through the dirt on her cheek, she didn't come closer.

"How?" I whispered.

"The rogues didn't kill me, they took me." She murmured.

"Cain let the pack think I was dead, it was easier for him." Her voice was flat, like she'd told this story too many times in her head.

"Why?"

She sat on a stool. "What do you smell on me, Luca?"

I breathed in. Beneath the dust and herbs, beneath the soft, familiar scent of her, was something else, something powerful. It was like my new scent, but stronger.

"You're an Omega!" I exclaimed shockstricken

"So are you." Her gaze locked knowingly on mine.

"But we're not the same as the others."

My skin went cold and rigid. "Caleb called me a Lunar Omega."

"It's an old word that means your wolf is touched by the moon in a different way." She snorted.

Your power isn't about fighting, it's about... feeling and connecting."

"You can feel the bonds between wolves, sometimes, if you feel something strong enough, you can change them." She explained quietly.

The forest flashed in my mind. The wolf flying back. My scream.

"I did that?"

"Your fear for Rafe woke it up." she said softly.

The door bolt slammed open.

Caleb stood there, two big rogues behind him, a bruise colored his jaw. He looked at me, then my mother, and smiled.

"Talking about the family curse?"

I stood up roughly, putting myself between him and her. A low growl brewing in my throat.

Caleb laughed arrogantly. "Still got some fight omega! Good." He walked in, his smell of leather and arrogance filling the room.

"Let's talk. My father's world is ending. I'm going to take his place, I could use someone like you." He prodded proudly.

"Use me how?"

"You have power, I have a plan. Together we could tear it all down."

You wouldn't be a nobody Omega, you'd be at my side. You could fix everything."

It was a lie. I could see it in his eyes. He didn't want to fix anything. He just wanted my power for himself.

My mother spoke from behind me, her voice hard. "He'll drain you dry and leave you in a ditch."

Caleb's smile vanished. He turned his Alpha command on her, his voice like a whip. "Shut up, witch."

She flinched like she'd been hit, going pale.

Rage, clean and sharp, shot through me. I stepped right up to him. "Get out."

He stared, surprised, then he smirked. "Fine but tomorrow, the rogues are putting you through a test. A Moon Trial."

If you pass, you're their precious prophecy. If you fail..." He leaned close, his breath on my face. "They give you to me and guess what pretty boy, you don't need to be conscious to be useful."

He left. The bolt slid shut.

I turned to my mother. She looked frail, shaking.

"The trial." she said, her voice urgent and worried.

"They'll force your power out, right now it's wild and panicked. To pass, you have to control it. You have to find the calm inside it."

"How?" My voice cracked.

"It's tied to what connects you. What you feel deepest." Her eyes dropped to my chest, where the bond lies.

"Right now that's him, that bond is your anchor. I can try to show you how to use it. But it's dangerous. If you lose focus..."

She didn't finish. She didn't need to.

"Show me." I said.

She placed her cool hands on my temples. "Close your eyes. Breathe. Don't reach for the power. Reach for him."

I did. I shut out the cell, the fear, my mother's face. I focused on the bond. On the feeling of Rafe.

The power inside me stirred, but softly. Like it was listening.

"Good." she whispered.

"Now, gently, ask it to show you."

I didn't ask. I just thought of Rafe. A silver light began to glow behind my eyelids. It was warm. Safe.

And then I saw him.

Rafe. In a dark cell, chained to a wall. His face was bloody, one eye swollen shut. But he was fighting, straining against the metal, roaring my name.

The vision sharpened. I saw a rogue guard outside his door, laughing. I saw the corridor. I saw the path from my cell to his. A left, then a right, then down a set of wet stone stairs.

It was a map. The bond was showing me exactly where he was.

My eyes flew open. The silver glow was in the room now, clinging to my skin.

My mother gasped, pulling her hands back like she'd been burned. "You found the connection... but it's a two-way street. If you can see him...."

I tried seeing if I could connect with Rafe, perhaps I could send him a telepathic message. But I was met with a dead end. Silence, the bond was silent, everything faded, I couldn't even see Rafe anymore.

It was all silent.....

The silence was the worst part.

Since I was held down by the rogues, the bond had been a comfort in my chest. Warm. Alive. A steady beat of Rafe, Rafe, Rafe.

Now, it is gone.

Not quiet. Gone.

A hollow, cold vacuum where his presence had been. It felt like someone had reached into my ribs and ripped out my heart, my lungs, everything that kept me breathing.

I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, I sat on the mattress, my hands pressed to the center of my chest, trying to feel something, anything.

"Luca." My mother's voice sound desperate amd distant.

"Luca, Luca, please breathe." She pleaded nervously

But I couldn't, my body had forgotten how to breath, all it wanted was Rafe.

"The bond." I finally choked out. My voice sounded strained and fragile.

"It's... empty." I cried tears pouring down, my eyes like petals.

Her face, already pale, went sheet-white, she understood what that meant, bonds don't just go quiet.

They break for two reasons death, or a severing so violent it might as well be death.

"No," she said, sharp. Firm. She grabbed my shoulders. "Listen to me. You are a Lunar Omega. Your bond is not a normal one. It's stronger. Deeper. They cannot break it so easily."

"They just did!" The words tore out of me, raw and furious.

"Or they blocked it." she insisted, her fingers digging into my arms.

"Wolfsbane. Silver cuffs. Magic. There are ways to mute a bond, to make it go dormant. It would feel like this, like a void." She explained.

"You're lying to make me feel better." I resorted, scared of being hopeful.

"I am telling you what I know." she said her grey eyes holding mine, blazing with a fierceness that belied her frail body.

"If they wanted him dead, they would have done it quietly. That cry was a message. For you."

"Caleb will be back."