Seduced by Moonlight
(Okay yall we're about to meet Rihanna. She's going to be important to this series, but she is just a minor character. I think I'm gonna skip to Kayden's chapter next time so we can meet him.)
Only the hunter remained. Sighing, he returned to the circle and the trapped woman. Unfortunately, she lay in the dirt, unconscious. But at least she was breathing. Maybe she’d have the answers to his questions.
Ward kneeled beside the woman, retracted his claws, and brushed away the debris. Clear bruises encircled her wrists. Someone had restrained her before bringing her here.
It’d be a simple task to snap her neck too, and maybe, for everyone’s sake, that’d be the best thing to do. But he hesitated because he knew perfectly well that Lennox and Nox had kidnapped many humans and forcibly mutated their DNA.
His home loomed in the distance, and as he stepped inside, the ancient smell of stone mingled with the faint scent of fireplace smoke.
After laying the woman on a gurney, he summoned his trusted healer with a quick message sent by text. Within moments, Celine entered, bringing with her a refreshing burst of peppermint and eucalyptus.
“What have you brought me this time, Ward?” Celine asked as she glanced at the at the sleeping woman.
“A hunter, or so I believe,” Ward replied, his gaze fixed on the unconscious woman.
“By the goddess, really? A hunter? Here? Ward!”
“I think she was one of the ones forced.” Ward quickly explained how he came to find her.
“Well, hell. That’s not good, not at all,” Celine said, glancing at the bruises.
“No, it really isn’t. Plus, this hunter has traits I’ve never seen combined before. None of us have.”
“I know. I can smell what she is.”
“Gods.” Ward rubbed his forehead, his tail whipping behind him. “Would you look at her?”
Celine blew out a breath. “If that’s what you wish.”
“If you don’t mind. I’ll be here to make sure you’re safe.”
Celine approached the gurney where the woman lay. With a flick of her wrist, she summoned a glowing orb of light to hover above the patient, illuminating her features.
Ward gazed at the hunter’s face, which was pale and drawn, with sharp features and dark hair that cascaded over the gurney. Her body was lean and appeared to be muscular, giving off an air of strength and agility despite her current state.
“She’s definitely not human,” Celine declared as she checked vital signs and scanned for internal injuries. “I’m picking up a magical presence, so maybe a witch. You’re right about the mixed traits—there’s strong magical resonance from multiple races. It’s... unprecedented.”
Ward paced, his mind jumping from one through to the next. “As I said, those witches were trying to sacrifice her in a ritual. I stopped them, but not before they mentioned something about her having an ancient power and wanting it for themselves.”
“Ancient power, huh?” Celine echoed. “Why am I not surprised? Anyway, that suggests she’s not just a mutated experiment, but potentially something much more.”
Her scanner beeped intermittently as she ran it over the woman’s body. After a moment, Celine looked up, her eyes wide. “Ward, this woman.... There are latent energies here that are unlike anything I’ve seen before. Ever.”
“Are Lennox and Nox responsible for that?” Ward mumbled, finally coming to a stop in front of Celine. A sense of awe and fear flooded him at the implications.
“Maybe? Who knows with those two. Or maybe they stumbled upon something or someone much older than any of us realize. I don’t know what to make of her.”
Ward ran a hand through his hair. “We must awaken her safely and find out who she truly is.”
“First, I should treat her injuries,” Celine said. “Pain can impair judgment, if you know what I mean, and we do not want this being’s judgment impaired.”
As his healer examined the hunter, Ward stepped back, his gaze lingering on the unconscious figure. She was a puzzle wrapped in an enigma—her scent alone was a tangled web of paranormal entities that should not coexist harmoniously within one being.
Who was she?
Yet here she was, breathing and very much alive despite the myths and rumors suggesting such a combination should be lethal.
Celine glanced up from her examination. “Her physical injuries are not fatal—bruises, cuts, minor concussion—but it’s what I can’t see that worries me. There’s magic in her blood... something powerful, Ward.”
