Rejected by Moonlight: Second Moon, Second Chance

Lila's sleeve ripped free from the tree with a sharp tear that rang in her ears. The hunter's silver bolt trembled in the bark as she stumbled back and gripped Kade's blood-drenched form tightly. Rain whipped her face as a frigid downpour blurred her sight, but the thud of hooves grew louder, a relentless rhythm shaking the muddy forest floor. Her heart hammered against her chest while terror coursed through her veins. Three hunters appeared now, their shapes emerging through the mist while crossbows flashed in the dim dawn light. She dragged Kade deeper into the trees since his weight pressed heavily on her battered body and his shallow breaths rasped against her neck. The bolt in his ribs bled freely because silver sapped his shifter strength. Her tears fell hot and fast onto his face. "Hold on," she pleaded. Her voice quaked as a promise fractured under fear's weight. "We're not dying here, not yet."

Kade's gray eyes flickered and stayed half-shut with agony. His hand slipped from her wrist as he slumped against her while mud clung to his boots. "Run," he croaked. Blood speckled his lips while his voice came as a faint growl that pierced her heart. "Leave me and save the kid." His words struck hard and ignited a blaze in her chest. She wouldn't leave him, not after he'd fought through fire and river for her, not when her baby's shimmer had claimed him too. She tightened her hold while her blistered hands went slick with his blood and shook her head as tears streamed down her face. "No," she snapped. Her tone sounded fierce as a mother's resolve cut through her despair. "You're not giving up, and I won't let you."

A hunter's shout sliced through the rain. "She's there! Pin her!" Lila's head jerked around while her breath snagged as the scarred rider spurred his horse forward with his crossbow leveled. She dove and yanked Kade into a shallow gully while mud splashed as they hit the ground. His pained groan stabbed through her core. The bolt whizzed overhead and embedded in a pine with a solid thunk that rattled her nerves. She pressed herself over him and shielded his body with hers while her hands fumbled for the broken branch she'd dropped earlier. It lay close, rough and jagged. She grabbed it while her pulse raced and her green eyes blazed with a fury she hadn't known she could summon.

"Stay down," she whispered. Her voice trembled yet stayed firm as she pressed a hand to Kade's chest and felt his weak heartbeat under her palm. She stood with the branch shaking in her grip and faced the riders as they closed in. Three figures on horseback appeared with their leather-patched coats dark against the mist while their faces twisted with cruel purpose. The scarred leader grinned with his crossbow steady while the second, a stocky man with a beard, brandished a silver-tipped spear. The third, lean and wiry, reloaded his bow while his eyes gleamed with a hunter's eagerness. "Pregnant rogue," the leader barked. His voice cracked through the storm like a lash. "Worth triple dead, so shoot her!"

Lila's stomach sank as terror clawed up her throat, but she held her ground with the branch raised like a shield. Her baby was their prize, the hybrid power Kade had named, a treasure they'd kill to take. She couldn't shift or match their might, but she'd fight with all she had, a mother's love and a survivor's wrath honed in this night's bloody forge. The spearman urged his horse forward while the silver tip shone as it thrust toward her chest. She swung the branch while a scream ripped from her throat. It smashed against the spear's shaft and knocked it into the mud while the impact jarred her arms and her thigh bled fresh from Tara's claw.

The horse reared while the spearman swore as he wrestled for control. Lila ducked and scrambled back to Kade while her hands hovered over him and tears clouded her sight. "Kade, please," she sobbed. Her voice broke, but his growl rose as a deep, primal rumble that shook the air. He surged up and shifted mid-motion into his gray wolf form with fur matted with blood and claws slashing as he lunged at the spearman's leg. His jaws sank into the man's calf and tore through leather and flesh. The hunter screamed with a shrill, frantic cry as he fell from the saddle while blood sprayed across the muddy trail.

Lila's breath caught as relief flooded her since Kade fought, alive and ferocious despite the silver draining him, but the scarred leader fired while a bolt streaked toward him. She swung the branch again while a desperate roar burst from her chest. It intercepted the bolt's path and sent it spinning into a tree while bark shattered under the force. Kade faltered and shifted back to human while his hand clutched his ribs as blood flowed faster now since silver gnawed at his vitality. The bowman advanced while his horse snorted. Lila seized a rock from the gully and hurled it with all her strength. It struck the man's shoulder with a crack and knocked him off balance while his shot veered wild into the rain.

"Kade!" she shouted and dropped beside him while her hands pressed to his wound, slick with blood and mud, as tears splashed onto his chest. He grunted while his gray eyes met hers, wild with pain and defiance. "Keep fighting," he rasped. His hand gripped her arm, weak but resolute, as a lifeline she grasped, a tether anchoring her to this brutal fight. She nodded while sobbing. Her will solidified as she rose with the branch in hand and faced the hunters with a fire that burned through her exhaustion. She'd kill them all if it meant he'd live, if it meant her baby would survive.

The spearman lurched up while blood poured from his leg and charged her with the spear stabbing low for her belly. She twisted while the tip grazed her side and drew a hot streak of blood. She swung the branch and smashed it against his skull with a thud that rang in her ears. He collapsed while his eyes glazed over, dead before he hit the ground. Lila's chest heaved while her hands shook with the weight of it, another life ended, another mark on her soul, but for Kade and for her child, she'd carry it.

The scarred leader bellowed and urged his horse straight at her with the crossbow aimed at her heart. Lila braced herself with the branch raised as tears were swallowed by the rain. She couldn't dodge or flee, not with Kade bleeding out behind her. But he moved as a streak of gray fur while he lunged again with claws raking the horse's flank and sent it rearing with a scream. The bolt fired off course and thudded into the mud. Kade fell while his wolf form faded to human and his body sprawled beside her while blood pooled beneath him in a dark, widening stain.

"Kade, no!" she cried and dropped the branch as she fell beside him while her hands pressed to his chest, slick with his life, as sobs wracked her frame. The leader wheeled away and shouted. "She's got fight! Call the others!" The bowman retreated while his horse bolted into the mist and left two corpses behind. Lila's tears washed streaks through the blood and dirt on Kade's face while her voice came as a fractured plea. "You're not leaving me, not now, not ever."

His eyes fluttered open, gray and dimming, and met hers with a spark of tenacity that cut through her heart. "Not done yet," he rasped. His hand twitched toward hers while blood soaked the mud beneath him. She clung to him while her hands trembled. Then she felt it, a sharp kick beneath her ribs, sudden and strong. Her breath hitched while tears slowed as she pressed a hand to her belly, the first real stir of her baby, a pulse of life, a flare of hope amid the slaughter. "You're strong already," she whispered. Her voice quaked with awe while a shaky smile broke through her sobs as she looked at Kade while her heart swelled with fierce, boundless love.

The rain eased and softened to a gentle patter while it rinsed blood from her hands. The trail stayed a muddy grave strewn with hunters and hope. Kade's breathing steadied slightly while his eyes locked on hers. She saw it, recognition, a bond, a silent oath between them. She'd killed again and fought with a strength she hadn't known. Her baby had moved as a sign, a light in the shadows, a power Jaxon feared and hunters coveted. Her tears fell anew, not from despair but from a rising determination. She'd protect them both, no matter what lay ahead.

The forest creaked around them as branches swayed in the waning storm. Then she heard it, a howl, faint but piercing, mingling with human cries through the trees. Jaxon's wolves and hunters converged and were drawn by the blood, the fight, and the shimmer they couldn't name. Lila's head snapped up while her pulse raced and her hands tightened on Kade as she rose and pulled him with her. His weight was a burden she'd bear forever. "We're not safe," she said. Her voice sounded fierce as a mother's steel forged in this bloody dawn. "We keep going together."