Chapter II—Blood Moon Pt. 1
10 years later…
Voices all around her screamed as chaos broke out and sobs shook her body.
"Hayley do you know who did this?" A man harshly questioned her. "ANSWER ME!"
"Let her be, she is only a child!" Another voice defended. Hayley continued crying, her eyes tender and her heart broken, she wanted her parents.
"It's clear what's happened here, look at their throats, it was vampires!" Accused another voice, a voice that caused Hayleys stomach to sink even further and a gasp to leave her weary body.
"No…" she whimpered under the voices of adults.
"Only monsters such as vampires would ever be capable of such a thing!" That same voice spat.
"N0…" Cried Haley, "Vampires are our friends!" She cried. A deafening slap silenced the room followed by multiple gasps as the youngest wolf fell to the floor holding her cheek.
"Watch your tongue girl, that is blasphemy you speak punishable by far worse than my hand." Growled David Kenner, her friends Oliver and Jackson's father.
"Get away from her!" A female voice came forward.
"This doest involve you Eve."
"Like hell it doesn't, she is to be my moon child if anything were to happen to her parents which makes her mine now and so help me if you ever touch her again-"
"You'll what Eve, you and what family, you pathetic lone wolf, the Labonair's were just murdered by vampires and the child claims them as friends as if she's ever even met one!"
"Be that as it may, Hayley is mine." She growled at the new tyrant alpha.
"Fine then, take her, I doubt anyone else will."
~Labonair~
Gasping awake, Hayley bolted upright as her intrusive nightmare neè memory left her in a cold sheen of sweat; a nightmare she was all too familiar with unfortunately. The night that shattered her world and stole her parents from her, the night vampires stole her parents from her, or so she was led to believe. As Hayley reached for the glass of water on her nightstand and brought it to her lips, her mind wandered to the questions she used to beg her Aunt Eve to answer those ten 10 years ago: "Did vampires really kill her parents?" "Why were their deaths never avenged?" "How did the vampires know where they lived?" "Why her parents?" "Why her?" And so many more questions no one could or even attempt to answer for her.
Life after her parents death seemed to have trapped her in slow motion and no matter how hard her Aunt Eve worked to give her a normal life, Hayley felt nothing but emptiness as she went through the tasks of everyday life.
She was twenty-one now and had no purpose, she woke up, completed her daily chores, ran errands with her moon mother, a.k.a her aunt Eve, and prepared to do the same the next day, and today would be no different. Well, technically that's not true, tonight was a blood moon and now that she was twenty-one she would be expected to pledge into the Kenner pack, the same pack that was built and had been led by her family, the Labonair'
"Hayley, honey are you awake?" Her moon mother gently knocked, startling her out of her thoughts.
"Uh-yea auntie I'll be down in sec."
"Great, I made you waffles for your special day." Her aunt beamed through her bedroom door.
The last thing she wanted to do was disappoint her moon-mother, the Lycan version of a godmother, Eve has been so good to her raising her as her own against a pack that spent the better of the last 10 years treating her like the orphan she was forced to be. It was like the moment her parents died the pack no longer wanted her or saw her as one of their-own and if it wasn't for Eve, Hayley had a sick feeling they would have abandoned her the first chance they got.
"Happy Blood Moon my beautiful moon daughter!" Her aunt Eve sing-sang with a plate full of waffles artfully placed on the bar top in only a way she could achieve.
"Happy Blood Moon auntie this all looks amazing." Hayley complimented as she took her seat at the bar top and eagerly began scarfing down her special breakfast.
"Are you excited for tonight?" Her aunt began as she refilled her glass of orange juice.
"Honestly, no." She admitted as she continued eating.
"Hayle-"
"Look I know what you're gonna say but I won't apologize for not wanting to pledge my loyalty to a pack that has done nothing but treat us as pariahs for the last decade and you shouldn't either."
"Bite your tongue Hayley…your parents spent their entire lives building this pack."
"And look where it got them."
"Hayley Andrea…you know as well as I do who took your parents from you." Her aunt whispered cautiously . Placing her fork down on the table while rising to her feet, Hayley's heart began to race.
"I hate them so much auntie, all of them, I don't understand why we didn't go after the vampires?"
"Because sweet girl…" her aunt stepped forward and embraced her, "a war is never the answer and that isn't what your parents would have wanted, they were in love with the idea of peace between our kind and those belonging to the night and I believe us not going to war with is the best way to honor the memory of them."
"I just miss them so much" Hayley sniffled as she fought the tears threatening to spill.
"I know…but tonight you will partake in the Blood Moon and carry on the Lebonair legacy as your parents intended."
~Labonair~
"What up Hales!" Jackson Kenner greeted her as she approached the other Blood Moon participants. She could feel the looks of disdain from the other wolves, even from the elders as she took her place in the camp ground center.
"Hey Jackson." She greeted him back. Jackson was one of the few that treated her with some kindness but she hasn't trusted him or his family since they fell out when they were about fifteen and he told her that his father said they were to be betrothed; when she refused him, the pack shunned her even more.
"You here for the Blood Moon?" He asked.
"I am a wolf, aren't I?" She asked sarcastically.
"I don't know, are you?" One of the female wolves from Jacksons clique piped up.
"Come on Heather…"Jackson tried to defend.
"She looks more like an orphan to me." Heather hissed, followed by a rumble of laughs from the other wolves.
"Heather, what's the matter with you?" Jackson snapped.
"Oh come on Jacks, you don't gotta pretend you're hard up for the little orphan Annie, our dad said she's all ours…I mean yours as long as she completes the Blood Moon." Oliver, Jackson's brother, laughed.
"Shut the hell up Oliver!" Jackson yelled.
"Ugh, you two actually want her?" Heather frowned.
"Hayley…" Jackson panicked, "…I swear it's not like that."
"Not like what, how it sounds?" Hayley snapped.
"No…it's just, you know my dads alpha now and he thinks it's what's best for the pack if w-"
"If we what, have a bonding ritual, have a few pups, and grow old together as you take over the pack my parents built and protected until they were murdered!" Hayley growled in disgust.
"It's what's right, my family's alpha now Hayley when are you gonna accept that?" Jackson yelled.
"We're not even mates Jackson!"
"You don't know that!"
"Trust me, I do." Hayley said with a sudden calmness washing over her.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jackson stepped towards her angrily.
"A wolf knows their instincts and every instinct in my body tells me to stay the hell away from you and your family." She partially admitted.
"HEY…who do you think you're talking to bitch?" Growled Oliver.
"You mean the same instincts that made you cry, 'but vampires are our friends' when your mommy and daddy died?" Another girl mocked in a high pitched voice.
"It's not like they didn't have it coming" Heather sneered. "Marcus and Diana Labonair betrayed their pack for blood suck-"
"THAT'S ENOUGH" A booming voice echoed throughout the forest, interrupting the verbal beatdown Hayley was taking.
"What the hell did you just say?" Hayley growled at Heather, stepping forward.
"You hear-"
"I SAID ENOUGH!" David Kenner stepped forward into the circle.
"What is she talking about?" Hayley turned her anger towards the man she's grown to loath over the years. David Kenner, turned alpha, the man who slapped her the night her parents died, announced to a room full of elders that no one else would want her, the man who advised other parents to not let their children play with her, the man she despised.
"Things have clearly been said in the spirit of anger so I suggest you forget what you think you heard." Glared David.
"The hell I will!" Hayley pushed back.
"That is enough Labonair, I am your alpha and you will be silent." David growled. With a flushed face and a heaving chest, Hayley backed down reluctantly knowing it was her against…well, everyone. "Now…" David continued, "…the Blood Moon is upon us and the obstacles shall begin shortly." Excited howls echoed the forest but Hayley's was not amongst them. Her blood simmered to a boil as Heather's words echoed in her head and the only thing she wanted in that moment was to rip that bitches throat out. "Now the rules…" David Kenner announced interrupting her fuming. "Anyone caught cheating will be banned until the next Blood Moon, there will be no shortcuts, everyone must make it to the border of the woods but under no circumstances will any of you cross over into the French Quarter. That is blood sucker territory."
"It's not like we can't take them pops" laughed Oliver, riling up the other wolves with him.
"How can you defeat an enemy you've never even met." Hissed Hayley before she could stop herself, causing the hoorah to die down.
"Like you've ever been face to face with one, orphan bitch?" Oliver growled lurching forward defensively, causing the men in his clique to restrain him.
"I'd probably last longer than you daddy's boy." She shot back as flashes of sparkly dance shoes, flutes of champagne, rustling party dresses, and kind faces invaded her thoughts. Kind vampire faces, one so kind her cheeks turned hot. 'NO, Hayley, stop it, vampires killed your parents!' She chanted to her inner self as a familiar warmth spread across her face.
"Ah, that's the spirit I want to see…bonding over our enemies." David laughed jovially as he patted his blonde son on the back as Oliver continued to glare daggers at her. "Now, for the rest of the rules: the first one back will have tomorrow's festivities dedicated to them and of course bragging rights, once you complete your first kill and your transition begins you must bring back your prey, and lastly…remember you will be outside of bayou territory which means at anytime, although unlikely, you may encounter one of them…" David warned seriously, "…if at any time this happens, you fall back immediately and get back here as quickly as possible or seek out one of your pack members. You will also howl in warning so that the other know to retreat as well."
"I thought we're supposed to be the monsters in the woods?" Oliver grumbled pathetically, knocking shoulders with Jackson who nodded in agreement.
"If you feel that you have the upper hand in the situation and there are at least two of you, then you may fight." David huffed in annoyance.
"Hell yea!" The wolf clique cheered as they high-fived each other like some high-hoped sports team on their first game day.
"BUT…" David Kenner bellowed. "…under no circumstances and I mean NO. CIRCUMSTANCES. Are any of you to engage with… an Original."
"Scared we might hurt one?" Heather teased confidently, earning a lustful look from Oliver and slap on the ass, in which she grinned at.
"The opposite." The alpha snapped harshly, drawing a pause. Hayley gulped in anticipation of the elder wolf's next words, " They are faster than you, stronger than you, and are not to be trifled with by new wolves. The Originals are over a thousand years old…and they're over protective siblings, if you come across one, you can guarantee there's another close by."
"But there's more of us?" A voice questioned.
"Are you prepared to take that chance with an indestructible vampire clan family of six?" The alpha argued roughly. "More than anything, tonight is a test of your instincts, the decisions you make will either get you through tonight or get you killed and tonight is only a small taste of what the elders and I go through to protect the Kenner Pack. Is that understood?"
"Aye alpha!" We agreed hastily.
"Good. Now, to the trees!" He barked. Ready to sprint forward, Hayley paused when a hand grasped her arm.
"Hayley!" Her aunt Eve whispered harshly while pulling her off to the side.
"Auntie, what ar-"
"Let me talk, there isn't enough time so just listen. No matter what happens tonight under the blood moon I need you to follow your instincts."
"I know auntie wh-"
"You're not listening!" Her aunt hissed quietly while pulling her into a hug as she looked around frantically. "Make your kill, transition, stronger instincts will take over but you'll be in some pain from your new heightened senses so make sure you're alone and no one else is around. Do you understand me?"
"I know, watch out for vam-"
"No, not them!" Her aunt whispered, hugging her even tighter.
"HAYLEY LETS GO!" Someone called from afar.
"You're not making any sense." Hayley whispered back in confusion.
"I don't believe vampires killed your parents, don't be alone with the pack, keep to yourself and follow your instincts, I love you." Her moon-mother whispered almost inaudibly only to shove Hayley away from her roughly. Tears sprung to Hayleys eyes as her heart dropped to the bayou floor and she stumbled backwards from the force of her aunt's words and violent push. 'What was happening?' Her mind raced with new fears and questions."Go. Run." Her aunt mouthed to her with threatening tears. With trembling feet, Hayley ran away from her aunt and towards the others up ahead just in time for the Kenner pack alpha to fire the starting gun. The Blood Moon had started.