The Awakening: Book 1 of The Bloodmoon Wars (A Paranormal Shifter Series Prequel to Luna Rising)

by Sara Snow

  I did it . . . I did it!

  “Elinor Blackwood wins!” Noela yelled. “She moves on to the final elimination process!”

  A witch quickly ran forward and fell at Ramsy’s side. A glowing orb appeared around his body, and I watched as the small wounds on his face began to heal. I walked over to him as I started to return to my human form. My name was still being chanted, and I frowned at the odd sensation of my clothing gliding back onto my body from within my ring.

  “Will he be okay?” I asked the witch. She looked up at me, her violet eyes laced with confusion.

  “A few bones were broken, including three ribs, but he’ll be okay,” she finally answered, and Ramsy groaned.

  “What are you doing? They are chanting your name, and you’re checking on me.” He coughed a little before his eyes cracked open.

  “Of course, I want to know if you’re okay. You’re not my enemy. Even if you are terrible at fighting,” I said with a grin.

  His eyes opened a little more, and I frowned as he stared at me for a moment. Then he started to smile, shocking me. "A word of advice, firstborn? Stop holding back."

  “What do you mean? Do you not see yourself broken in the dirt right now? I did that.”

  He started to laugh. "Okay, don't get cocky. I started this fight knowing I'd be facing a firstborn and gave everything I had from the start. I even thought I stood a chance at winning because I could see the doubt in your eyes.” I frowned as he continued. “I could see how much you were overthinking. You're a firstborn, and your strength can only be matched by a few. Remember that always. And no matter how strong your opponent looks, don't show them that you've acknowledged that."

  “Why are you telling me this?” I asked.

  He merely smiled, and the intimating man I had seen at the beginning of our duel was no more. “You remind me of my younger sister. You’re as determined as she is, but neither one of you trusts your abilities,” he answered as the orb around him vanished, and the witch stood up. “I like a little attitude and a challenge.” He winked at me.

  “I’ve healed just enough of your wounds for you to be moved.” She then looked at me. “You need to be looked at as well.”

  I stood up as three men came over to carry him away.

  “Thank you,” I said as I watched them take Ramsy away. His words echoed in my mind. I was Alpha-born, and I couldn’t forget that.

  10

  Elinor

  I stared up at the ceiling, at the shadows from outside that were cast there. I sighed and reached up, opening and closing my hand slowly.

  My fight with Ramsy yesterday during the second elimination process had been brutal. Although my wounds had already healed, my body still ached from the physical exertion.

  The moment Ramsy and I had shifted, the crowd that had been cheering for him had fallen silent. I had tried not to be distracted by it—I knew people in the stands were shocked to see my white coat of fur.

  Ramsy hadn’t been stunned for long. A mere second had passed where he’d been as surprised as everyone else, and then he had attacked. After our fight, several wolves had approached me, asking the most absurd questions.

  “Is it true the Goddess visits you every full moon?”

  “Can you speak to the Goddess right now?”

  “Can you see her? Is she here with us now?”

  The looks on their faces when I told them none of that was true was pretty hilarious. I was not connected to the Goddess. Other than being a firstborn, I was just a normal she-wolf. Nothing out of the ordinary had ever happened to me.

  It always struck me funny that Enchanteds never got much attention, especially since they were the ones known to be connected to the Goddess. They were the ones with true special abilities, but because they couldn’t shift, they were treated like a lesser race.

  Ione, my pack’s young Enchanted, was only fourteen years old and had to deal daily with sly comments made by other werewolves. Within my pack, my father made it clear that no one was to disrespect her, but many still whispered that she was not a real werewolf because she was unable to shift.

  I’d known Ione since she was a baby. From the time she was ten years old and had her first vision, she’d had a rough time bonding with kids her age. That was the reason her mother, Nurse Hilary, kept her so close.

  I simply couldn’t understand why anyone would mistreat a child for being different. Ione was special, more so than many of us. In the end, all I could conclude was that such behavior was based on jealousy.

  I knew what that felt like. I’d dealt with plenty of jealousy aimed towards me because of my fur and for simply being a female firstborn. But what I’d faced was nothing compared to what Ione and other Enchanteds had to get through on a daily basis.

  My mind wandered back to my fight with Ramsy. He’d been my strongest opponent ever, and yet I hadn’t felt an ounce of anger or jealousy coming from him for winning our fight.

  Our battle replayed within my mind as if it had only just happened. A burning began behind my eyes. Tears I didn’t want to shed were trying to force their way out, but I bit down on my lip to keep them at bay. I rolled onto my side and looked at Skye softly snoring across the room.

  I wish my father could have been there to see it.

  He would have seen my strength yet again and realized that there was nothing to fear if—no when—I became a Guard. I made it through the first day. As my eyes grew heavy, I vowed that come tomorrow, the final day, I wasn’t going to hold anything back.

  Elinor

  We were all told to arrive at the arena before dawn. I made my way through town, the chilly night air making me more alert. The thick fog filling the streets and the silence created an eerie atmosphere.

  Out of the two hundred applicants, only one hundred and forty-three were left. From the whispers I’d heard, a lot more applicants than usual had made it to the final elimination process.

  After the final duel yesterday, Noela had announced that outsiders would not be allowed to watch the final elimination process. That was unusual. I took it to mean the examiners planned to throw something really tough our way for the final test.

  I came to a stop in front of the arena, and Meeka made her way over to me. I had noticed Raven and two others from my pack made it through as well. While Raven nodded my way when she saw me, the others just ignored me. I didn’t care. Their dislike for me was the least of my troubles.

  I noticed Council Member Levi, a silent onlooker for the entire day yesterday, standing beside Noela at the entrance to the arena. And his eyes . . . I frowned when I realized he was staring directly at me.

  I should have expected his attention to fall on me after what everyone saw yesterday. Still, it bothered me that while my duel with Ramsy was competitive and brutal, everyone's attention had been on my white fur instead of the duel itself.

  “Congratulations on making it to the final elimination process,” Noela announced, and all who were speaking fell silent. “You’ve all proven yourself to be strong contenders. This final test will focus on your individual skill and ability to survive even in the darkest nights when evil creatures walk the lands. Although Guards are usually stationed in pairs during a mission or raid, things can happen.” She paused as she looked at each of us. “Make no mistake, you will become separated at some point, and you will have to fight for your survival on your own. This job isn’t for the weak or faint of heart.” She pointed behind her. “The arena has been spelled and made into a forest. Inside the arena right now, there are dark creatures that were captured for this examination.” A few people gasped. “This elimination process will determine if you return to your pack dead or alive. Anyone that wishes to walk away now is free to do so at this time.”

  We all stood in silence, staring at each other to see who would quit. A woman with a red swirl going up her arm stepped forward, and Noela nodded.

  “You did well to make it this far, and I wish you all the best. Thank you for coming forward.”


  The woman nodded, her eyes teary with disappointment. She began walking away and was joined by two men, one with a green swirl on his arm and another with a pink one. The rest of us stood in silence, watching them as they were swallowed up by the fog.

  “Now, for those of you remaining, Council Member Levi, myself, and a few others overseeing the tests will be watching from the outside. You will all have to survive the forest and the creatures within it for two hours. If at any point you wish to quit, look up and howl your surrender. You’ll be pulled from the test. Are there any questions?”

  “Why weren’t we told the final elimination process might cost us our lives?” a young man asked.

  “That is a valid question. If this information had been given from the start, many of you standing before me now, despite making it this far, might not have even applied. You were all given months to prepare for this. Trust yourself and survive.”

  She stepped aside, and we all walked into the arena, now an endless forest thick with trees and fog. I reached out and touched a leaf. Sure enough, it was real.

  “Those witches are something else, aren’t they?” I heard a man whisper from behind me.

  “So, are we supposed to split up or wait? She explained that this was to test our individual skill,” one of the girls from my pack asked. Her heart was hammering loudly in her chest.

  “We don’t have to wait. They didn’t give us any rules other than we have to survive for two hours. I’m sure the way we handle ourselves in here will tell them everything they need to know.”

  A few people had already vanished into the forest, but the majority of us hung back.

  “Alright,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Let’s do this.”

  The moment I took my first step forward, a woman’s piercing scream echoed through the forest. Around me, a few people had already started to shift into their wolves, but Meeka and I only stepped closer together, on guard. The most disgusting odor I’d ever smelt suddenly hit my nostrils, making them burn.

  “Vampires,” Meeka hissed beside me.

  I grabbed her arm. “Come on!” We started running, and a few wolves followed our lead.

  I could hear the growls and snarls of wolves in battle coupled with the hisses of vampires, and I clenched my fists. This wasn’t just a test—this was life and death. The sooner that sunk in for each of us, the better. We could die here tonight if we weren’t careful.

  Beside me, Meeka began to shift, but I stopped her quickly. “Don’t! Don’t fully shift just yet! We need to get as far away from here as we can. And we’d make too much noise in our wolf forms. Besides, vampires are harder to fight in our first form.” I looked behind me at some of the panicked faces looking at me. “Can all of you transform into a final form?” Some nodded, though most shook their heads. “Do a partial shift and move as quickly and quietly as possible.”

  Suddenly, a vampire suddenly dropped from a tree above us and fell onto a man. I watched as the vampire ripped into his throat within seconds, and I acted without thinking. My body moved on its own accord as I grabbed the vampire and tackled the thin creature to the ground.

  My hand sank into its chest, my claws piercing its flesh so easily. I used those claws to slit its throat three times in rapid succession before ripping its head from its body.

  I got off the lifeless creature and turned to the man it had attacked. He was already dead, his heart silent and his skin pale. I clenched my jaw, a gut-wrenching loss settling within my chest. I didn’t know him, but I felt like it was my fault that he died.

  The others were staring at me with wide eyes, all of them having now done what I’d said. Partially shifted, their fangs and claws were ready to rip and tear into anything that attacked them.

  “Let’s go,” I commanded as the forest echoed with cries and screams.

  We ran as fast as we could until the stench of the vampires faded. Finally, we stopped and listened to the forest. Thankfully, we heard nothing but silence.

  “Goddess, what kind of test is this?” one of two men with us grumbled.

  I exhaled with relief, but it was too soon because a clay hand shot out of the ground, grabbing the man around the ankle. He fell forward.

  A golem—an animated human-looking creature made of clay—began to crawl out of the ground.

  The other man and woman who had been with us took off, leaving Meeka and me behind. Meeka rushed forward and used her claw to sever the golem’s hand from the man’s foot.

  “Let’s go!” she yelled as she pulled him to his feet, and we started running. Around us, more Golems started bursting from the earth.

  “How do we kill them?” I yelled to Meeka.

  “These are clay Golems. They usually have some kind of marking on them that shows where a witch has animated them. We’d have to find the mark and wipe it away.” She fell forward, tripping over a Golem that was just digging its way out of the ground. “We can’t do that right now, but removing their heads should slow them down a bit.”

  A Golem barreled into me and then tackled Meeka. It was then I realized we were alone—the man who had been running with us had vanished. My face twisted with disgust as the Golem’s clay body began to latch itself on to me, trying to pull me into its body.

  “Get off me!” I clawed at the clay that had stuck to me and then at the Golem’s head, removing it easily.

  I looked around. “Meeka?” I called as I turned in a circle. “Meeka!”

  She had vanished without a trace.

  Elinor

  I exhaled and slumped to the ground before wiping my bloody hand on the grass beneath me.

  The second vampire I’d killed so far was on the ground in front of me. He had long since stopped moving, his head lying a few feet away. I was not sure how much time had passed since this test began, but I was ready for it to be over. I’d now transformed into my final form, but I wouldn’t be able to hold it much longer.

  Three wolves had howled their surrender, their cry echoing through the forest. But despite being exhausted, there was no way in hell I was going to give up. I would fight to the bitter end. There was no turning back.

  I’d had no idea it would be like this. We’d all been just thrown in here, with no idea of what to expect. Before I ran into this vampire, I was chased by a massive spider. Even now, the memory of its red eyes sent chills down my spine. Still, now I had an idea of how hard a Guard’s job was, and while I was sure it was not always like this—hunting or being hunted—it was still brutal.

  Knowing that if I slipped up, I’d never return home did nothing to deter me from my dream. These were the creatures lurking in the dark and hurting those too weak to defend themselves. I wanted to do what I could to protect people.

  I stood up slowly and stepped over the vampire’s body, my body slowly shifting into my human form. I watched for a moment as my uniform slid over my body. At first, it had been so uncomfortable, as if bugs were crawling over my skin, but I had become numb to the feeling.

  My eyes were wide and watchful, my steps slow and precise as I tried to listen to the world around me. I faltered for a second as a gut-wrenching howl pierced the silence.

  “Meeka,” I said under my breath, running in the direction her howl had come from.

  I had prayed to the Goddess, hoping Meeka was okay. That howl hadn’t been one of surrender—she was in pain. The pungent odor of vampires hit me, and I started to shift mid-run, my steps faltering as my bones broke and readjusted.

  Another howl echoed through the night, and I howled in response.

  I’m coming. Hold on. I’m coming.

  I emerged in a small clearing and found Meeka in her final form on one knee, a large chunk of her right arm missing. Two vampires were standing before her, their fangs bathed in blood.

  Meeka’s wolf whimpered, and I ran forward without hesitation. One of the vampires blurred from my vision and then reappeared before me. In my final form, I towered over the contorted creature’s body easily. I grabbed
its face and twisted its head as its claws sliced at my arms.

  I allowed the pain to roll through me, refusing to lose my focus as I saw the other vampire jump on Meeka, knocking her to the ground. I bit down on the vampire’s throat and ripped its head off before charging at the other vampire still wrestling with Meeka.

  I had noticed the exhaustion on her face the moment I saw her. She was covered in blood, and her right arm looked as if she couldn’t move it.

  I grabbed the vampire, and both of us rolled on the ground. Its putrid scent burned my eyes and for a second, the red eyes of the handson vampire I’d met not so long ago flashed in my mind, and I lost focus.

  He hadn’t smelled like this, had he?

  I cried out as the vampire's claws sank into my abdomen, and I lashed out and clawed it across the face. Flipping us over, I straddled the creature, pinning it with my weight as I grabbed the top of its mouth with one hand and the lower with my other hand.

  Its deafening shriek of pain didn’t stop me from ripping its head clean off.

  I fell off it, a snarl escaping my lips as I touched the wound on my shoulder.

  “You have amazing reflexes.” Meeka’s voice met my ears.

  I looked around to see that she had shifted back into her human form. I shifted and rushed to her side. My eyes darted back and forth over her body that was riddled with wounds.

  “I suppose so,” I mumbled in response. “Why aren’t you healing?”

  She placed her hand on my shoulder, blood still pouring from her right shoulder.

  “That could have gone worse,” she said, patting my shoulder.

  My frown deepened. “Why aren’t you healing, damn it? You’re losing too much . . .” My head tilted to the side as her wounds finally began to heal. I sighed. “Okay, thank the Goddess.”

  “Don’t thank her yet,” she replied. Then she began to slowly bend her knee and I saw it.

  The breeches on her right leg were ripped, but it was the bite mark and the horrifying black veins spreading from it that had a stone forming in my throat.