Hades' Cursed Luna novel Chapter 1

Chapter 1: What Have I Become?

Eve~

I tore through the pack outskirts, my heart beating out of my chest. The glow of streetlights barely visible beyond the pack's borders. The foliage scratched at my body as I ran deeper into the trees, away from the concrete jungle, but I knew that if they caught me, I was as good as dead.

"Let me take over," my wolf urged. "They will kill you."

But I couldn't do it. I couldn't give my wolf complete control. Could I even call it a wolf? It was because of it that I was being hunted like an animal.

I tore recklessly at the red ball gown I was wearing, the expensive fabric catching on tree branches. But I got distracted and tripped on a tree root, flying forward and falling on my face. Pain tore through my already exhausted body.

I forced myself up, glancing back. But it was too late. They had already come too close, and my ankle twisted painfully during the fall. I couldn't run.

"The Alpha said we must find her. She couldn't have gone far," one of the Gammas tasked with capturing me said to his subordinates.

I pressed my back against a tree, hiding in the shadows cast by the moon filtering through the towering buildings in the distance, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest. I tried to hold my breath so they couldn't find me. They could use their wolves' senses to track me. _{frёeweɓηovel.coɱ}

"Let me save you," my wolf insisted. "You can escape."

But no matter how tempting it was, I couldn't do it. My wolf was the enemy; it was the reason the Alpha wanted me dead. James's face flashed in my mind, his soft brown eyes filled with love. He would be worried. I only hoped that he would not be implicated in this. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if it happened.

Soon, silence fell over the woods, but I could hear the distant sounds of sirens from the pack behind me. I knew the Gammas were changing tactics.

"Eve?" The captain called for me. "The Alpha will be merciful if you just follow us back."

"Lies," my wolf growled, and I agreed with it. Even if the Alpha were the kindest man, my fate wouldn't change.

"Come with us now, Eve." The captain's voice grew harsher, his tone more authoritative.

If I proved too stubborn, he wouldn't hesitate to shot me down.

"Eve!" he growled now. "You should take the Alpha's mercy after what you did."

My heart shattered. They really believed that I had done that. I still remembered the way Ellen had vomited blood at the ball, the gleaming lights of the party blinding me. I couldn't get the memory out of my mind; I would never be able to.

"It seems you have made your choice," the captain said into the air, knowing I could hear.

"Oscar, turn," he ordered his subordinate. "The Alpha said we can bring the cursed one in dead or alive. So when you catch her scent, kill her."

My blood chilled, and fear gripped my heart.

My wolf grew more agitated. "Run, Eve," it urged. "Or I will kill them," it growled in my head, and I knew it would because today, on my eighteenth birthday, I found not an ordinary wolf but a Lycan. They were forbidden creatures. I was the cursed twin the prophecy had foretold, the one who would bring ruin to my pack.

My tears fell as I waited for my death. It was better than living in a world where I was the one thing that was an enemy to my own kind. But my wolf had another idea.

Suddenly, a surge of power tore through me, and I gasped as my body involuntarily responded to my wolf's call. My senses heightened; the air around me felt electric, even the distant hum of the pack beyond vibrating in my ears, and my muscles tensed as if preparing for battle.

"Run!" My Lycan's voice thundered in my mind, pushing me toward survival, not submission.

But I resisted again, my body shaking from the internal war I was fighting. My fingers dug into the dirt beneath me as I struggled to maintain control. If I let my Lycan take over, it would be a bloodbath. They would all die, and I would become exactly what they believed I was—a monster.

Footsteps approached. I could hear the Gamma's heartbeat, smell the faint scent of gasoline from the pack streets on his clothing. He was close, too close.

My twisted ankle throbbed, but the adrenaline dulled the pain. I bit my lip hard, trying to focus, trying to think of something—anything—to escape without unleashing the darkness inside me.

Then, the captain's voice cut through the night. "I know you're there, Eve. You can't hide forever. You can't outrun what you are."

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. He wasn't wrong. I couldn't outrun it. My fate had already been sealed the moment my Lycan awakened.

I held my breath as he grew closer. I could hear the crunch of debris—distant discarded bottles or wrappers—under his boots as he stalked toward me, the slight growl in his throat. He was shifting, preparing to finish what he started.

Suddenly, a twig snapped under my foot as I tried to move, and his head snapped in my direction. There was no more hiding.

"Found you," he hissed, his eyes glowing as his wolf half began to emerge. He turned fully, my heart lurching.

Time seemed to slow down as sharp claws grabbed for me. My heart raced, but I was prepared to go this way. Yet, my wolf, my Lycan, roared inside, the beast's fury vibrating through every cell in my body.

"I warned you," my Lycan snarled. "Now, it's my turn."

Before I could protest, my vision blurred, and my skin burned as the transformation began. Claws ripped through my fingers, and I could feel my bones shifting, cracking. It was agonizing, but it was also power—raw, undeniable power.

The captain's eyes widened in shock as my Lycan form stood before him, towering and menacing. His wolf retreated, a whimper escaping his throat. He had underestimated the monster beneath my skin. They all had.

"End him," It commanded.

"Stop," I begged, gripping my own arms as if holding myself together would somehow keep the monster at bay. "Please, stop."

"You are exactly like me," my Lycan hissed, its voice thick with malice. "You've already tasted what we can do. Why fight it?"

"Run," my Lycan urged again. "Or they will kill you."

"Then you'll die," it snapped back.