EPISODE 1: THE PACT UNDER THE BLOOD MOON

Scene 1: Neon City’s Underbelly

The skyline of Neon City bled into the horizon, skyscrapers clawing at a swollen blood-red moon. Far below the glittering corporate towers, in a chamber hidden beneath Volt Industries, Adrian Volt stood rigid as a statue. His amber eyes burned like molten gold in the dim light, fixed on the golden contract that glowed ominously atop a marble table. The air reeked of iron and betrayal.

“Explain this again, Viktor,” Adrian growled, his voice low enough to make the armed guards at the door flinch. “The Silverthorne Mafia demands a marriage. Not a merger. Not a ceasefire. A wedding.”

Viktor, his lieutenant and the only human allowed in the Alpha’s inner circle, wiped sweat from his brow. “The truce terms are clear, sir. Marry their heir, or they reveal your… condition to the board. The media. The world. Your pack won’t survive the scandal.”

Adrian’s fist slammed onto the table, cracks spiderwebbing across the polished surface. “They think to leash me with their human games? The Silverthornes forget who they’re dealing with.” A low, inhuman snarl rippled through the room. The guards exchanged nervous glances.

“They haven’t forgotten,” Viktor said carefully, tapping the contract. “That’s why they sent her. Elena Silverthorne. Their ‘heiress.’”

The name struck Adrian like a silver bullet. His gaze snapped to a faded photograph tucked beneath the contract—a woman with Elena’s defiant eyes, lying lifeless in a moonlit forest. “She dies the moment this farce ends,” he hissed.

“Not if the Blood Moon Pact holds,” Viktor countered. “Sign, and the mafia keeps your secret. Refuse…” He didn’t need to finish. The distant howl of a Lunaire Pack scout echoed through the vents—a reminder that Adrian’s enemies circled closer every night.

Scene 2: Elena’s Captive Dawn

Elena Silverthorne stared at her reflection in a gilded mirror, her wrists raw from the ropes her uncle’s men had used to drag her here. The ivory wedding dress they’d forced her into itched like a burial shroud.

“A bride sold to a monster,” she whispered, clutching the locket at her throat—her mother’s last gift. Inside, a faded photo showed her parents smiling under a crescent moon. The inscription beneath read: “The moon remembers what the mind forgets.”

The door burst open. Two mafia enforcers, their faces masked by shadows, gripped her arms.

“Time to meet your beast, princess,” one sneered, his breath reeking of cigars and cruelty. “Pray he’s in a merciful mood tonight.”

Elena’s nails dug into her palms as they shoved her into a black limousine. The city blurred past—neon signs advertising Volt Industries’ latest tech, homeless veterans huddled in alleyways, and everywhere, the mafia’s crimson rose sigils graffitied on walls.

“Why me?” Elena demanded, her voice steadier than she felt. “Uncle Marcus has daughters. Real Silverthornes.”

The guard laughed. “You’re the only one expendable enough. Besides…” He leaned closer, his grin revealing a gold-capped tooth. “Rumor says the Alpha doesn’t play gentle with his toys.”

Scene 3: The Blood Moon Chamber

The limo descended into an underground garage beneath Volt Tower. Elena was hauled into a cavernous hall lit by torches that cast writhing shadows on walls carved with ancient runes. At the far end, backlit by a stained-glass window of wolves devouring the moon, stood Adrian Volt.

“Do you understand what you’re signing, Miss Silverthorne?” His voice was ice wrapped in velvet. “This isn’t a romance. It’s a tombstone in ink.”

Elena wrenched free from the guards. “I understand I’m your prisoner either way. At least this way, I get to watch you choke on your own hypocrisy, Alpha.”

Adrian turned slowly. For a heartbeat, his cold mask slipped—Elena’s defiance mirrored her eyes, her stance. The woman he’d failed.

Viktor hurried forward, a dagger etched with wolf sigils in hand. “The moon reaches its apex. The vows must be sealed now.”

Adrian closed the distance between them in three strides. His hand clamped around Elena’s wrist, burning like brands. Her vision exploded—a younger Adrian, tears cutting through blood on his cheeks, cradling a woman’s corpse under a full moon.

“What the hell was that?!” Elena gasped, yanking back.

“Stay. Out. Of. My. Head,” Adrian snarled, his canines elongating. He dragged her to the contract, pressing her palm against the parchment. Her locket flared white-hot as the runes ignited.

Scene 4: Vows and Veiled Threats

The torches guttered as the blood moon glared through the window. Adrian and Elena stood face-to-face, hands forced over the crackling contract.

Viktor chanted in a dead language, the dagger drawing blood from their joined palms. “By claw and coin, by shadow and steel—let this union bind until death or betrayal!”

The room shook. Adrian’s eyes blazed fully gold, his shirt ripping as fur erupted across his shoulders. Elena’s locket seared her skin, but she refused to scream.

“I vow to protect this alliance,” Adrian growled, “even from you.”

“And I vow to survive your temper,” Elena shot back. “Seems fair.”

The contract erupted in black flames. Ashes coiled around their wrists, branding Adrian’s neck with a wolf’s head and Elena’s arm with a blood-red rose.

A guard crashed through the door, reeking of gunpowder. “Boss! The Lunaire Pack is here—they’re demanding the girl’s head!”

Adrian shoved Elena behind him. “Get her to the safe room. Now.”

As guards dragged her away, Elena glimpsed Adrian’s transformation—fur rippling over muscle, claws shredding his human skin, a roar that shook dust from the ceiling.

Scene 5: Echoes of a Forgotten Storm

The safe room was a steel coffin. Elena slumped against the wall, her rose mark throbbing in time with distant snarls. The locket froze against her chest, triggering another vision—herself at seven years old, hiding in a closet while voices shrieked about “purifying half-breeds.” A woman’s dying whisper: “Find the Alpha. He’ll protect you…”

“What am I?” Elena whispered.

A deafening howl pierced the walls—Adrian’s voice, laced with pain. Her mark blazed. Against all reason, she slammed the emergency release.

The hall was a warzone. Lunaire wolves—massive, silver-pelted beasts—tore through Adrian’s men. At the center, Adrian fought half-transformed, his left arm human and gripping a pistol, his right a clawed monstrosity.

A lupine titan pinned him, silver claws at his throat. “She’s the one from the prophecy! Kill her, or the curse consumes us all!”

Adrian froze. His glowing eyes met Elena’s across the carnage. For the first time, fear flickered in those golden depths.

“Run,” he mouthed.

But Elena stepped forward, her locket blazing like a star. “Let him go.”

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***