Page 1 of Cursed (Blood Moon Pack #1)

A ylin flicks her ears back, catching the sounds of the Rogue Wolf thrashing through the trees behind her. His deep, guttural growls echo through the otherwise silent woods.

The Rogue has been chasing her through the dense forest for at least twenty minutes. Her paws pound the snow-covered ground; her breath streams in sharp white bursts through the freezing air. Even covered in thick fur, she feels the cold seeping in.

With the heavy snowfall the last two days, Aylin hasn’t had much luck hunting for food, and her stamina is waning. She’ll have to turn and fight him soon .

She’s been traipsing around in these never-ending woods for weeks. Her once silky, white fur is now brown and matted with mud. She reeks of every smelly, rancid thing she could find in the forest to mask her wolf scent.

Aylin’s human half, Nori, suddenly shouts in her mind, “ LOG! ”

“ Damn, Nori. I see it. Sometimes, it’s a pain having you constantly in my head. ” Gracefully, Aylin jumps over the log, though her back paw slips on the landing. She stumbles but recovers quickly.

“ Sorry, just trying to help. ” Hoping to encourage Aylin, Nori adds, “ You’re doing great! ”

Aylin resumes her pace with a huff. She is doing great avoiding the trees, but the damn underbrush of tangled roots and frozen bushes is slowing her down. She’s grateful the snow let up this evening, and the clouds have separated enough to let in the moonlight.

The Rogue’s foul stench intensifies; he must be gaining on her. Rogues are driven into a frenzy the moment they smell a she-wolf. Now that he has her scent, Aylin knows he will never stop hunting her.

Startled, Aylin gasps with a mixture of worry and relief. “ I see a Pack boundary in the distance! ”

A shimmering boundary that only shifters can see surrounds all wolf shifter Packlands. The boundaries serve as a warning. If a wolf shifter crosses a foreign boundary unannounced, they are generally greeted by Guards or Enforcers and arrested for questioning.

Nori’s voice echoes in Aylin’s mind, buzzing with excitement. “ Well, this is what we’ve been searching for all these weeks, right? ”

“ I know. I know, but — ,” Aylin looks around nervously, her tongue hanging out from exertion. “ Our shitty plan was to find a friendly Packland where we could hide. We were supposed to proceed cautiously, not barrel in there with a Rogue hot on our heels. ”

“ Time for a new shitty plan! ” Nori cheers. “ I mean, we’ve been on the run with no idea where we are going because I neglected to grab a map before we fled. We are filthy, we’re freezing, and we are literally starving. This is the first boundary we’ve come across in a month. ”

Aylin’s voice softens. “ What if this Pack is worse than ours? ”

“ Not possible! Even if they throw us in the dungeon or jail, it will be far better than our last Pack. ”

Reluctantly agreeing, Aylin sighs, “ Alright. New shitty plan. I’ll run through the boundary, stop, and turn around a couple of hundred feet inside, waiting for the Rogue to pass through after me. ”

“ Agreed. Then, either their Guards will come running and take down the Rogue, or you’ll kill it like you did the other two. ”

Aylin shifts her path to the left to run slightly parallel to the boundary. “ If their Guards take it out, I’ll shift as slowly as possible, just like any other wolf shifter. As soon as you have fully transformed into your human form, you beg for mercy and sanctuary. ”

“ Agreed. It’s a fabulous new shitty plan. What could possibly go wrong? ” Nori asks sarcastically.

Aylin mentally laughs. “ We die a horrible death? ”

Nori tries to instill some confidence in both of them. “ OK. Let’s do this! We will not die today! ”

Aylin repeats the mantra. “ We will not die today! ”

Turning directly at the boundary, Aylin's tone changes from lighthearted to determined, concentrating on their new plan. “ Coming up on the boundary in five, four, three, two, one! ”

They feel the air thicken as they pass through the unknown Pack boundary. Exactly as planned, Aylin executes a U-turn about two hundred feet inside, waiting for the Rogue to catch up.

She hears the Guards running toward her before she sees them. It’ll be a race between the Guards and the Rogue as to who gets to her first. Aylin lets loose a loud yip of what she hopes is a warning to the Guards.

The moment she sees the Rogue approach the boundary, Aylin hears the whoosh of an arrow. She watches the arrow hit the Rogue in the heart, sending him crumpling to the ground with a thud. She’s flooded with relief, but there’s no time to celebrate.

Aylin shifts from her wolf form to Nori’s human form, dragging out the metamorphosis so they appear normal. Now, it’s Nori’s turn to save them.

Nori falls to her knees and raises her trembling hands, her teeth chattering as the freezing air hits her naked body. She yells to the Guards, “Please! Please don’t kill me! I need help!”

Nori’s pulse spikes as she watches the Guards swiftly surround her.

Six very large males, and one mean-looking female—all armed with a variety of weapons, swords, crossbows, and guns.

And all dressed in black. There’s an insignia on the shoulder of their jackets, but she can’t quite make it out.

These are definitely not Guards; they are the elite Enforcers.

She’s not sure if that’s a good or a bad sign, so she assumes a submissive pose with her head down.

“I seek asylum! Please! I am begging you! Please don’t kill me!” Her pleas grow more frantic.

While she continues to beg the Enforcers, Nori tries to soothe Aylin. “ We’ll be OK. ”

Aylin’s voice, now speaking in Nori’s mind, repeats, “ We’ll be OK. ” Although Nori can tell, her wolf doesn’t really believe it.

The Enforcers waste no time, pushing her to the frozen ground. They bind her wrists behind her back and her ankles together. All the while, Nori continues to beg, “Please, please, please. I seek asylum.”

Nori, face down on the wet, snowy ground, suddenly feels the sharp sting of a needle, and then nothing else.

The female Enforcer covers her mouth and nose. “Wow, what is that gods-awful smell?”

A blond male Enforcer leans down and takes a big whiff. “She smells like death and Rogue Wolves. And something I can’t quite place, but it is wretched.”

The female turns to the Enforcer next to her, looking confused. “How the hell is she still alive? These forests have Rogues running all over.”

Another male across from her cocks his head and says, “Lucky she ran through the boundary so we could take it out for her.”

The Beta of the Pack walks up, and the Enforcers step aside.

Hands on his hips, frowning, his eyes roam over the unconscious she-wolf, inspecting every inch of her.

“One of you, take her to the dungeons. I’ll question her later.

Find out what she knows about the Rogues and what the hell she’s doing here. ”

He looks around at his team. “The rest of you, with me for a perimeter sweep. We need to make sure there are no more of these abominations trailing her. Also, see if you can scent who else was with her. She’s too small to be on her own. ”

One of the males lifts the she-wolf and throws her over his shoulder. “Man, she doesn’t weigh anything. She must be starving.”

The Beta is mildly concerned about the state she’s in. Although if he’s honest, he’s more concerned about why she has entered his territory without permission. “Throw a blanket in the cell with her. Maybe the promise of food will loosen her tongue when she wakes up. Let’s go.”