Black Moon

chapter two

Anna landed in Milan 11:43. A werewolf sent by the local Alpha stopped her outside of the airport by 12:11.

"Are you Daniella Maurice?"

"Yes, I am. And I suppose that you are here to escort me to your pack?" Anna said, a sly smile fixed on her face. The man who she had bought her passport and tickets from had believed her little lie about her fake alias, the one that Kataleen and Simon knew about. A third alias was printed on her ticket and passport, but Anna knew that she needed at least three other identities to travel under the radar.

The man nodded, "Will you be coming willingly, or unwillingly? We all know the easiest and most sane choice. To struggle will only make you look more guilty."

"Guilty of what, exactly? Being at the wrong place in the wrong time?" Anna countered. "You have no right to hold me here. According to the rules set by the Alpha of Monsoon Pack, the Alpha over your Alpha, I have the right to be on your territory for forty-eight hours undisturbed unless you find evidence that I have interrupted the peace. During the brief time that I have been here, I can tell you that you won't be finding any dead bodies around me. Yet."

He looked at her with interest. Not many rogues had knowledge about the rules set by the ruler of all the European packs, even though it would have given them advantages.

"You are on Monsoon territory, and the Alpha that set those rules is also the one that ordered me here. You disturbed the peace in the Paris pack, and therefore I have the authority to detain you."

Anna didn't break eye contact as she challenged him, "And where is the evidence?"

The werewolf was the first to look away.

"There is none." He conceded with a snarl. To come back to his Alpha without anyone with him would be a disgrace. "But be sure that when those forty-eight hours are over or another dead body shows up, we'll be waiting. This is not a time for mistakes."

Anna shrugged. She had outrun Alphas', killed, and hid for the most part of her life. She was sure that she would be out of their sight before her grace period was over. She had seen a large part of Europe already, and after Milan her next destination would be the middle east. The countries were like a safe haven for rogues – the packs small and the larger cities without a ruling Alpha. That did not mean that werewolves ran amok, but it rather forced them to behave more than usual. The rogues wanted to be discovered as little as the pack wolves, and when they had no rules to abide by they made up their own. Anna wanted to visit a friend she had met when Colin, Kataleen and her had run through the American packs. She knew she was welcome to live with Natasha anytime, since Anna had saved her from a couple of hunters some years ago. It was not a fun story to share, and it involved her first human kill.

The hunters had seen a wolf running through the woods and decided that deers didn't satisfy their bloodlust anymore, not when a much more dangerous animal could be hunted. Natasha had, in her wolf form, run into one of the traps the hunters had set up and only when a gun had been pointed toward her muzzle and she had been seconds from death, help had come. With three swipes of her claws, Anna had killed the two hunters and saved the lone rogue. They had kept in contact since then, and Anna had never felt remorse for what she had been pushed to do. For the humans, it had only been two idiot hunters who had though they could take on a wolf.

Before leaving she turned to him, "If any killings happen in Milan, you are welcome to arrest me. But if I am the killer, why would I risk it when I know you are after me?"

She walked away, but not before she heard his last comment.

"Because your sense of justice will overpower any rationality."

Anna almost turned to him again, to argue, but she resisted. She knew that she wasn't the killer and she knew that she wouldn't be so careless if she had been. The fact that the killer seemed to be wherever she was troubled her mind, and all the way to the hotel room she had booked, it occupied her thoughts. Was someone trying to frame her?

Anna couldn't even count everyone who would want to harm her, but she could count how many would go through the lengths of following her path across Europe. The names that worried her the most were those associated with her Uncle. Ever since his attack on Moon pack and her... kidnapping, Anna had been afraid of those associated to Roger Gatley. Roger had not only managed to control a large group of rogues tethering on the edge of madness, he had also made them worship him. To them, he had been an Alpha betrayed by a neighbouring pack whilst trying to take his rightful place as top of the hierarchy on his territory. Roger had twisted the truth and made them trust in him, but Anna knew who he really was. A monster.

Anna closed her eyes and took a deep breathe. She was falling down the hole again – the hole of self loathing and weakness. Pursing her lips, she steeled herself. She was strong, and she would overcome what he had put her through. But it was hard. So, so, hard.

As a tear tickled down her cheek, she furiously wiped it away. Dropping her bags onto the hotel room floor, she went to the mirror. Her eyes weren't red and her hair still looked fine in her pony tail. But there was an underlying sadness in her gaze – a look that could only be found in those who had suffered from immense pain. No matter how striking her green eyes were, they wouldn't distract from the bags under her eyes and the coldness that could be found swirling behind the iris. Her fiery red hair was tightly pulled back, only accentuating the hollows of her cheeks and abnormally pale skin. She tightly shut her eyes.

Even though it was only slightly over three pm, Anna decided to call room service and go to bed early. She knew she wouldn't get much rest, but a little was better than none.

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It had found its target. The human was panting and the other one screaming. It could smell the fear, adrenalin, and sweat in the chilly air. It looked at them with interest first. They were playing no game and there was no point to it. He or she did not own the territory. Why would he give her pain?

Her fear was the strongest scent it had felt in a while. There were more like the woman out on the streets, but she had drawn it to her the most. It didn't like the soft screams and the scents. It needed to end it.

It was almost confused about who it would kill, just wanting to stop the overbearing feelings. But something in it, a sense of recognition, told it to end the man. It hated the man with all it had in it, and as it watched the man press the woman against the brick wall, hell broke lose. The kill would have to be known, or else it wouldn't win.

Seconds later, blood was splattered against pavement and pouring out of the man's chest. It walked away with a quiet howl, happy.

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;-) please tell me your thoughts! who is the killer? what do they want with Anna?

don't forget to vote <3

- emma