The Heir Who Hides Her Vengeance

MAEVE

"Run, and don't let them catch you."

My mother’s voice trembled, words thorned from her throat. Luna Minerva Bloodmoon, displayed a smile on her face, yet her eyes burned with fear and worry as she clung to my father's arms.

I took a step forward, ignoring my brother's grip around my wrist. "I won't leave you!" I shouted through my lungs, wrenching myself free.

Scream tore through the throne room. The sound of blades hitting flesh echoed in my ears. The closer the sounds became, the tighter my heart squeezed.

My hand shot out to reach my parents, but an invisible force slammed into me, pushing me back to my brother’s arms.

"Hercules," my father spoke, his voice shaky but firm. Hunter Bloodmon raised his palm towards us. “Get your sister out. Now."

I barely had time to breathe when my brother lifted me, my legs wrapped around his hips as he ran. My hand reached out towards my parents, their figures fading in my eyes.

"I love you,” they mouthed.

My mouth opened to speak, yet the sight of the attackers flooding the hall made my tongue freeze. Terror covered my whole body, and I knew Hercules felt it too. Yet he didn’t slow down. His legs moved with desperation to leave this wretched place.

And then, I heard it.

My mother's scream—sound of raw pain mixed with the petrifying echoes of ripping flesh—pierced in my ears loudly, drowning every sound until I could not hear anything else.

My hands flew to my ears, and at that moment, the ground shook with a booming eruption. Our home—once filled with joy and laughter of a happy family—burst into flames. Fire, stone, and ash scattered around, swallowing everything that was once ours.

"Haa... " my mouth hung open. In the middle of the flaming debris, lay the bodies of the two most important people in my life, burning to crisps.

"AAAAHHHHH!" my voice erupted into a devastating scream, hoarse and broken.

The flames reflected in my violet eyes, my parents' last words echoing in my ears. Deep in the forest, my sight of the blast slowly faded, with the trees swallowing the sight behind us.

"Maeve," my brother huffed as he started shifting. "Hold yourself together," his breath fanned against my skin, mixing with the tears of losing our loved ones. "You need to stay alive."

His wolf surged forward, faster, harder. My hand gripped on his fur as I pushed myself to his back. My face buried on his fur as I stopped myself from looking back, because I knew that it would just shatter me more.

How did things even come to this? Earlier, we were just celebrating my sixteenth birthday. I was having the best moment of my life, spending it with everyone that I cherished.

Yet now, everything turned upside down. The moment I blew my candle, the growls of these wolves surrounded our pack, finishing off everyone they laid their hands on.

In just a snap, our pack that was once respectable was reduced into ruins. The towering buildings and painted decorations were destroyed, leaving them filthy with blood of our pack members.

"We're near the border," my brother announced, making me look up ahead of us. And there, I saw the lights coming from the distance. It shone above the roads connecting packs and oceans together. Our safety net. Just a few more steps and we will be saved.

But a piece of arrow slammed to my brother's neck dissolving every hope for survival I have left. It pierced his skin, the arrow head stabbing through the other side.

A gasp escaped from my lips and the two of us collapsed to the ground. My brother's groan echoed in my ears, the sound of his heartbeat starting to get slower.

"Hercules!" I rushed to his side. My mind was torn between removing the arrow or leaving it lodged, and before I could even decide for myself, a familiar voice spoke behind me.

"Looks like the Bloodmoon family has fallen."

My body froze. The voice of someone I had trusted was now laced with mockery. My hands trembled as I turned around to see him.

The person I thought would protect me from everything. The man who promised loyalty to me until the very end. The love of my life. The Alpha King's son.

He crouched in front of me. His eyes that were once filled with adoration now only scream victory for destroying my pack. His hand brushed the blood on my cheek.

"Why?" my voice trembled as my eyes glued on his hazel ones. I needed an answer, but words were rendered useless when his smirk already gave me everything I have to know.

He tilted his head to the side, amusement filling his eyes. "Why?" he echoed. "Easy question, little wolf,” a chuckle escaped from his lips. “It's my father's order."

I shook my head, the denial cracking the rational part of me. I already knew that this was bound to happen. His promises of going against his father for me were just empty words, manipulating me into believing that he is on my side. When in fact, he has just been using me for his plans.

"Your brother must be in pain," he slowly stood up, his hand grabbing the handle of his sword, attempting to unsheathe it. "I'll do the honor of ending his suffering."

Without a second thought, I stepped in front of my brother, extending my one arm to the side, acting like a shield while my other hand reached out for the dagger on my side. "I won't let you." I screamed in his face. "You'll have to kill me first."

My knees curled, and with a single force, I launched myself into the air. My right hand gripped tightly on the dagger, while the left formed into a fist. He ripped his sword out of his scabbard, placing it right in front of his face for cover.

The dagger’s tip scraped against his sword. In that block, my legs whipped and rotated towards him, locked his neck and lifted my dagger once more. In desperation, I slashed through his face, ripping the skin on his left cheek.

With blood spraying from his face, he swayed the sword towards me, almost hitting my torso. I jumped away, yet before I could go far, his strong hand grabbed my ankle. The world spun in my eyes as he threw me in the air, and I crashed back on the ground where my brother was lying still.

Pain shot through my core. The feeling of breaking a bone threatened to send me to tears, but I didn’t dare to cry. Not in front of him.

I saw a shift in his eyes, but he immediately wiped it with a blink before going back to his cruel expression. "Kill you first? Is that so?" his brows arched. "Then how about we play a little game for my little wolf?"

He walked forward, making me take a step back. "Ten minutes," he placed the tip of the sword under my chin, making me look up at his face lit up by the moonlight. "Run and don't let me catch you."

Without wasting any chances, I combined my wolf's strength and mine to pick up my brother's bleeding body. I didn't look back, my eyes were just up ahead, thinking of where we can be safe and where to get help. If help is still an option.

I don't know how long I have been running, and I don't know where I am going. My legs just gave up.

"Maeve," my brother's voice caressed my ear. His body shifted back to his human form. His blood soaked the ground as I tried to use a little bit of healing magic I know to stop the bleeding.

But it wasn’t enough.

"Maeve, listen to me," his hand went up to my face, coughing with pain after every sentence. "Hide. No one should know that you're alive," blood spilled from his mouth. "From now on, Maeve Bloodmoon is dead. Forget everything that happened."

I shook my head as he placed the small book he had been hiding all along. "Live peacefully. Get married and have kids. Live long until you're old," a smile formed on his face, like a final smile before saying goodbye. "I just want you to be happy, Maeve. Please, forget about us. Forget the Bloodmoon family. Forget the Aetherveil Pack."

"NO!" I screamed as my fist hit the hard ground. "How can I leave peacefully?! How can I have a family?! How can I be happy?! How can I forget everything?!"

My face filled with tears looked at him, my eyes blurry with tears and rain. "If I have to live my life avenging you, I will do it," I announced, my voice firm and determined, drowning under the sound of the furious sky. "I, Maeve Bloodmoon, will do anything to destroy the Alpha King."

Hercules shook his head slowly. "I don't want you to live with madness and revenge, Maeve," his heart started slowing down, his eyes threatening to close. "My only wish for you...is to be happy."

Silence. There's nothing scarier than silence. The end of his breaths and the last beat of his heart. I heard it all, and the realization fell onto me like a boulder on my shoulder.

The sky roared, masking my loud screams as I held my brother's lifeless body under the cold drops of rain. Pain layered over pain until I couldn’t tell them apart.

And nothing could be compared to the hatred I have in my heart.

"I'm sorry," I muttered under my breath as I placed my last forehead kiss. "I can't grant your last wish."

They stole blood, so I'll make them bleed. Every single sword that killed my pack members will turn into dust.

And I, Maeve Bloodmoon, will be the blade full of vengeance.