Chapter 19: The Night Before
The stars were brighter than usual. They shimmered against the black velvet of the sky like the world was holding its breath. The moon had begun to swell with crimson light still pale, but bleeding color like a wound that hadn't yet scabbed over.
Tyler sat on the porch roof of Conny's cottage, legs pulled in, arms resting on his knees. The pine trees around the clearing whispered in the wind, but it was the kind of quiet that came before a storm. The kind you could feel in your bones.
He sensed her before he heard her. Selene's presence always announced itself in subtle ways calm steadiness, like a heartbeat that matched his own. She climbed up beside him in silence, settling next to him without needing an invitation.
For a long while, they just watched the moon crawl across the sky.
"Still feel like yourself?" she asked softly.
Tyler nodded. "Mostly."
He didn't elaborate. He didn't have to. She knew what he meant.
"You ever think about… what comes next?" she asked.
He turned toward her. "After the Blood Moon?"
She shook her head. "After all of it. The factions. The fighting. What if this ends up becoming a war, Ty?"
He was quiet. "I try not to think that far ahead. Feels like cheating fate to imagine peace when we don't even know if we'll survive tomorrow."
Selene leaned into him, shoulder brushing his. "You always do that."
"Do what?"
"Take the weight of everything and carry it alone."
He started to protest, but she caught his hand, threading her fingers through his.
"Let me carry some of it too."
Her eyes glowed faintly in the moonlight sharp, fierce, and unshakable.
Tyler let out a slow breath. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."
"You won't," she whispered. "Not tonight. Not ever."
They kissed slow, deep, and full of unspoken promises.
Selene moved into his lap, straddling him gently. Her hands framed his face, thumbs brushing his cheekbones.
"Let me remind you of what's worth protecting," she said, her voice like fire and velvet.
Clothes slipped away in the hush of night. Every kiss lingered. Every movement felt like a tether grounding them to the moment as if the world had stilled just for them.
Under the light rising blood-hued moon, skin to skin, they found peace. For a while, there was No magic. No fear. Only them.
Later, wrapped in a blanket, Selene rested her head on Tyler's chest, her breathing deep and slow. Tyler traced lazy patterns on her back, eyes locked on the moon as it bled deeper into red.
[SYSTEM MESSAGE]
Blood Moon Approaches
Estimated Time: 21 Hours, 12 Minutes
Warning: Magical Instability Expected
All Stats Temporarily Boosted
+10 to All Attributes
+100 Mana
+100 Health
Tyler stared at the message until it faded.
Almost time.
Selene stirred. Her hand curled into his shirt. "You're scared," she murmured, eyes still closed.
"Yeah," he admitted quietly. "But not of them."
She blinked up at him. "Then what?"
He looked out at the treeline, into the darkness. "Of what I might become."
By early afternoon, the mood had shifted. Final preparations began.
Tyler, Mason, Selene, and Sonique stood at the edge of the clearing, tension crackling in the air. After the Blood Moon, they'd return to Hollow Pines. Sonique had errands to run before leaving, and she wasn't sure when she'd be back.
"I'll be back first thing in the morning," she promised. "Watch each other's backs until then."
"We will," Mason replied.
She lingered a moment, locking eyes with Tyler, then disappeared down the forest path.
Tyler turned to Mason. "About the bite… I'll do it. But not tonight. I need to understand it better before I put you at risk."
Mason nodded. "I trust you."
Before he could say more, Selene cut in, arms crossed. "You expect me to just sit this out?"
Tyler raised a brow. "I didn't say that."
"You're not stopping me," she snapped. "If you're going out there tonight, I'm going with you."
He exhaled. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
Selene's expression softened. "And I don't want you going in alone."
Mason stepped in to mediate. "I'll stay here, help Conny if anything happens. But don't forget we're mages now. We're not helpless anymore."
That evening, they trained one last time. Mason worked with Conny, refining his elemental channeling. Selene focused on stealth and close combat. Tyler ran through the elemental forms Sonique had drilled into him, flames swirling around his limbs, wind sharpening his footwork.
The sun dipped low.
Six hours to moonrise.
Tyler and Selene packed light and left the cottage, making their way through the trees to a quiet clearing. A stone circle ringed the space, old and ancient. They lit a small fire and sat close beside it.
Selene had been unusually quiet.
"You okay?" Tyler asked.
She nodded, eyes on the fire.
He pulled her gently to him. "Hey."
She looked up, and he kissed her, slow and sincere.
"I thought you needed to get out of your head," she said, surprised and smiling.
"Maybe," he said. "But I also needed to remind you how much you mean to me."
They sat, shoulder to shoulder, firelight flickering across their faces.
"Did you ever think," he asked, "you'd be sitting by a campfire with a werewolf on the night of a full moon?"
Selene chuckled. "Not in a million years."
"Meeting you," he said, "has been one of the most important things in my life."
She rested her head on his shoulder. "Same."
They sat in the hush of the woods, waiting.
A twig snapped.
"Well, well, well. Look what we have here," came a low voice from the trees.
Selene sat up instantly. Tyler stood.
From the shadows, Jacob emerged. A beat later, Ralf followed, laughing to himself.
"Decided yet?" Jacob asked.
Tyler squared his shoulders. "Decided? There is no decision. I'm not joining you two."
Ralf tilted his head. "C'mon. Think about it. No Alpha. No chains. Just a brotherhood."
"I don't need your protection," Tyler growled.
Jacob narrowed his eyes. "Who turned you? What pack?"
"I'm not from any pack," Tyler said. "A bald man did this to me. I've never seen him again."
Jacob blinked. "A bald man... That has to be Lucien."
Ralf paled. "Lucien? If he finds out we're interfering—"
Jacob cut him off. "Lucien doesn't leave wolves unclaimed. If he bit this one and hasn't claimed him... maybe he doesn't care."
"He can't be that careless," Ralf muttered.
Jacob's tone darkened. "Doesn't matter. If he's unclaimed, he's fair game. Join us, or you're against us."
Tyler scoffed. "Do you think I'm that stupid?"
Jacob's smirk twisted. "Then she becomes ours." He nodded toward Selene.
Selene stepped forward, silver blades glinting. "Do I look like anyone's plaything?"
Jacob sneered. "Careful, hunter."
"I've killed more of your kind than I can count."
Tyler's voice boomed suddenly, shaking the clearing, the fire guttering under the force of his aura. "Do you really think I'd let anything happen to her?!"
The ground cracked beneath his feet as he launched forward, the first strike of the coming storm...