Blood on the Moon - serialised EXCLUSIVE for Steemit! - 113

Blood On The Moon Cover

Amazon link

My third novel was finished and published in time for Halloween 2016 and I had a launch at Waterstone's at Sheffield.

The full book cover, done by the wonderful, talented, brilliant Paul Mudie

Other Images from Pixabay or Google (Free Usage)

To read from the beginning: Here

Then change the number in the address bar from 1 to 2 (https://steemit.com/writing/@michelle.gent/blood-on-the-moon-serialised-exclusive-for-steemit-2) and so on for the next episodes.

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Red realised that the amulet was still a vital part of Wolf lore and it was the very foundations that their society was based upon.

It couldn’t be destroyed but neither could it be allowed the influence it had once held over their lives.

It was clear that if a Wolf was not strong enough, the amulet would rule her rather than just enhance her.

The Wolf Witch that wore the amulet at this time was not expert enough and the amulet was the one exerting control over her actions.

Red saw Selene’s eyes and they were not yellow, they glowed amber.

Red realised one other thing.

She had watched as an Ancient and powerful Wolf, Vladimir, had been overwhelmed and slaughtered with an ease that was terrifying to comprehend, and Red knew that though she was Sentinel Exemplar, she had neither the skill nor the strength to best Selene under the influence of the amulet.

Red decided what she must do.

Selene was calm and almost in a daze of slaked bloodlust and the amulet seemed to glow more crimson than amber.

It was absorbing her bloodlust and Red chose her moment.

She reached up with one clawed hand and in a deft and swift motion, severed Selene’s head and took the amulet from her neck even as the body dropped - twitching - to the floor.

The amassed Wolves gasped in utter shock and horror at her action and were left speechless for a moment.

Red grasped the amulet that was still flushed with colour and enclosed it in her hand.

When the amulet was no longer visible in the moonlight, a hush descended over the crowd that was different to the noiselessness of the shocked silence of before.

“Is there any Wolf here that would deny that I gave fair and adequate warning to the Wolf Witch Selene?” She spoke loud enough so that the majority of those gathered could hear.

They were now within earshot because they had all pressed that much closer when they were watching Selene fighting Vladimir.

Red gave enough time after her question that any who objected could have said so.

Anton watched as she turned her back on the Wolves and left them in what seemed like an anti-climax, but as far as Red was concerned, there was one other task that she had to complete.

There was the matter of a ‘new’ Prophesised One.

Darius and Anton were speaking in an animated fashion.

Entwistle was in shock it would seem, but Jessica and Etienne were nowhere to be seen.

Red approached the two Wolves that were still arguing. She could hear what they were saying but didn’t really take much notice. She had a few jobs on her ‘to do’ list and Darius was one of them.

As she approached, Darius turned to face her and he was angry.

“That was disgraceful!” he said to her. “You took her completely unawares and she wasn’t prepared for your attack!”

Red sneered at him and gave him a look that made him cringe, she was still in Sentinel Exemplar mode and would take a while to come down from that. Until she did, her arrogance and surety of her own ability was paramount and Darius was a non-entity as far as her position was concerned.

“Is that what you think too, Anton?” She didn’t elevate Darius’s present position by directly responding to him.

“No, I don’t think anything of that sort. You are Sentinel Exemplar and your right to slay those Wolves that have broken First Laws is incontestable by any save the Lycaeon herself. You could not have allowed Selene to live, I saw that and I saw the hold that the amulet had over her. She would have killed you if you had not have killed her first. What would be the point in going back to the old ways when the old ways are no longer effective?" Anton said.

"The whole point of keeping our heads down in Hume society is so that we can exist and go undetected and live off those Humes who would surely, if they ever suspected that we are real and not imaginary creatures, wage a war on us that would wipe our species from this planet. I happen to enjoy my life and have no wish for it to be ended. No, Sentinel Exemplar, I do not object to the execution of one that would have brought us all to our doom and that is what I was arguing with Darius about.”

Red nodded and then glared at Darius.

“Now you. I have good reason to kill you here and now, too. Have you any reason why I shouldn’t?”

“Only that you would be best not to, I am the only one that knows where Jessica, the next contender to the position of Prophesised One and therefore, to Sentinel Exemplar is, and though I know you would like to kill her too, I also know that you can’t because she has committed no crime against Wolf and so First laws apply. You can’t kill her because you would be breaking those First Laws that you hold so dear.”