Chapter 2: Blood on the Moon

My hand moved faster than thought. I reached out and crushed the skull of my youngest son, Jamie Blackwell. His smile froze on his face, and hot blood splattered all over me.

Time seemed to slow.

The warmth of Jamie’s blood soaked into my shirt, his body crumpling at my feet. I saw the disbelief in his eyes, the betrayal, and then nothing at all. The world tilted, and a primal howl built in my chest, but I swallowed it down. There was no turning back.

In that instant, the power that had stagnated in me tore past its ceiling.

It surged through me, raw and wild—a storm breaking open inside my bones. My senses sharpened, the world going brighter and sharper, every heartbeat in the lodge thundering in my ears. The taste of blood was electric, and I could feel the moon’s power threading through me, remaking me from the inside out.

This is what the Path of Ruthlessness gives you.

It was intoxicating and sickening all at once. The cost was everything, but the reward was undeniable. I could feel the old laws of the pack breaking apart, replaced by something colder and more absolute.

"Alpha, you..."

The old pack Beta was the first to react, his face instantly tightening with alarm. His hand went to his throat, and I could see his eyes darting to the others, fear taking hold.

He staggered back, eyes wide with horror. His hands trembled as he reached for the silver locket at his throat—a reflex born of a thousand dangers faced together. The others looked to him for guidance, panic rising like a tide. For a second, I felt a twist of regret—but only for a second.

He was my right hand, my shadow on every hunt. I remembered the time we’d bled together, cornered by hunters in the old timber mill. He’d taken a bullet meant for me. Loyalty like that was rare—and now, it meant nothing.

But before he could finish, my claws tore through his chest.

There was a wet, tearing sound as bone and flesh parted. He gasped, mouth working soundlessly, blood bubbling on his lips. I saw the betrayal in his eyes as he fell, and for a split second, I almost faltered. But the hunger for power pushed me on.

I knew he kept a silver locket on him, one that could stave off death and decay. So I used my power to shatter it inside him.

I reached inside his chest, fingers curling around the locket, and poured my power into it. The silver burned my skin, but I didn’t flinch. The charm cracked, then shattered, the light inside it winking out. He slumped forward, dead before he hit the ground.

If he’d been on full alert, I wouldn’t have succeeded so easily.

But he trusted me. That was his mistake. Loyalty was a double-edged sword—deadly when pointed the wrong way.

The look in his eyes as he died would haunt me, if I let it.

Marshall, my second-in-command, was always the cautious one. Seeing this, he immediately tried to slip away using his earth-burrow trick, while howling to the whole pack:

Marshall’s instincts kicked in. He darted for the treeline, body low and tense, his voice rising in a panicked howl. The sound cut through the night like a siren, waking every wolf in the lodge.

"The Alpha failed his moon trial and has gone mad! All pack members, run for your lives!"

His warning echoed off the lodge walls, sending a ripple of panic through the pack. I could hear doors slamming, feet pounding on the wooden floors. Marshall always did have a knack for survival—too bad it wouldn’t save him tonight.

He was quicker than I expected.

I almost smiled. He’d always been the clever one, always a step ahead. But not tonight.

But this pack was built by me—how could he slip my net so easily?

Every inch of this land, every hidden passage and secret tunnel, was mine. I built this place.

I let out a howl of my own, echoing through the woods:

My voice rose above the chaos, deep and commanding. It was the kind of sound that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up—a voice that brooked no argument.

"Marshall is spreading lies—I’ve already killed him."

The words were a death sentence, and the pack froze, caught between fear and confusion. In a world ruled by the Alpha’s word, truth bent to my will.

A surge of earth blew Marshall out of his burrow and flung him into the night air.

I felt the ground tremble beneath my feet, then watched as Marshall’s body was hurled skyward, his earth-running trick undone by my power. He landed with a sickening crunch, bones shattering, blood pooling beneath him.

With a sickening thud, Marshall was reduced to a bloody pulp—gone, nothing left to save.

There was no dignity in his end—just raw violence and finality. The pack watched in horror, their faith in me shattering with every heartbeat.

"Marcus, what are you doing?!"

My wife, tears streaming down her face, clutched Jamie’s body and screamed at me.

Her voice cracked, raw and desperate. She knelt beside Jamie, hands shaking as she tried to will him back to life. Her grief hit me like a punch to the gut. I forced myself to look away.