The Human Luna

1880

The night burned.

Panic rippled through the air as the Eldridge mansion collapsed into roaring flames. This was not a slow, creeping blaze. It was ravenous. It devoured stone, screamed through timber, and raged as though the world itself was being punished.

At the front of the estate, people fought the inferno in vain.

A carriage rolled to a halt at the gates. A man stared through the window, firelight carved his face in two, one half swallowed by shadow, and the other bathed in furious orange.

He watched the chaos with an empty stare.

“Is anyone still inside the mansion?”

“The alpha and the Luna! They aren’t here yet!”

Horror filled the faces of the servants and pack members as the truth sank in. The alpha and Luna were missing, which meant they were still in the burning house.

They were all fucked.

There would be no mercy from old Master Eldridge if his beloved son and daughter-in-law perished in a mysterious midnight fire after the annual ball. They would hang as conspirators. Every last one of them.

“We have to stop the fire!”

“S-someone find the alpha!”

After a heartbeat of hesitation, men hurled themselves into the flames, desperation overpowering fear. Saving the alpha was a priority. Nothing else mattered.

The man in the carriage raised a brow, silent as he watched them vanish into the fire.

“Should I warn them, or is it too late?” He muttered to himself.

While chaos consumed the front of the mansion, something far worse unfolded at the back.

Groans of agony were swallowed by the roar of the blaze as a woman crawled from the inferno, her body blackened and scorched. The fire burned her skin, only for her flesh to knit itself back together and be consumed again.

It was a torturous circle. Burn. Heal. Burn.

Behind her, another figure emerged from the fire, standing upright, unperturbed by the flames. His skin was deathly pale. His fingers twitched as though betraying him, and blood trickled from his nose and ears, as if something inside him was tearing its way out.

But his red eyes never left the woman.

“You did this,” he said, his voice not quite human, not quite beast.

The woman dragged herself forward, then turned to face him.

She wasn’t surprised to see the man standing despite walking out of a burning house. Truth be told, she had never expected the fire to kill him or his kind. It had been nothing more than an afterthought.

She laughed, or perhaps she coughed. With blood flooding her mouth, it was hard to tell. Her teeth were stained crimson when she smiled at him, lips split, vision swimming.

“What’s it like,” she rasped, “having a taste of your own medicine? All around the world, your kind will die, poisoned by the same people you trampled beneath your feet.”

“T-trampled…?” He gritted out, swaying unsteadily.

Whatever poison she had fed him was killing him fast. She had fed the same poison to every member of the pack who attended the ball today. It was only a matter of time before they felt the effects.

“I was kind to you,” he spat. “I made you the Luna of my pack. I gave you everything you asked. So… why?”

The woman laughed loudly, gazing at the sky with mad glee. Her wounds no longer healed.

Tears gathered along the rims of her eyes as she replied, “Don’t you remember what you did? Is the poison fogging your memory already? Or perhaps you are simply too lost in your own delusions?”

His eyes narrowed as he stumbled to his knees, his body finally giving out. Blood spilled from his mouth as he coughed. She smiled at the sight.

“You supernaturals have brought nothing but destruction into this world,” she continued. “You toy with humans, crush them when you’re bored, all while living at the peak of existence. Did you truly believe we would never fight back?”

She scoffed.

“You’re not as clever as they claim, alpha. In fact, I find your kind painfully foolish. So easy to deceive.” Her lips curled. “Like dogs.”

His eyes flashed with fury. He longed to tear her apart, but he couldn’t, not just because of his failing strength but because he couldn’t bring himself to.

Watching her smoking, burned flesh, rage twisted inside him.

Did she truly hate him so much that she was willing to die just to kill him?

And still, she laughed through the pain.

Was he that despicable to her?

Ah. How foolish of him. If only he had been more ruthless, perhaps he would never have been fooled by her pretty eyes and blond hair.

“You won’t get away with this,” he growled weakly.

The woman sneered.

“What are you going to do?” She mocked. “Find me in hell?”

His vision blurred. Before he could answer, his body collapsed, surrendering at last to the poison gnawing through his veins. He felt life slip away, breath by breath.

Soon, they lay still, side by side, bleeding out together.

From the carriage, the young man let out a quiet sigh and told the driver, his voice devoid of emotion.

“Let’s go. There’s nothing left here.”

The carriage lurched forward and disappeared into the night.

Outside, the servants and pack members began to collapse, blood spilling from their mouths and ears as they fell lifeless to the ground.

It was a grotesque sight, one that would reshape history.

That night marked the beginning of the war between humans and supernaturals.