I am the Moon Spirit

One simple mistake

‘Danielle,’ his soft voice called for the fourth time. ‘Hey, stop making things difficult for me. Get up already.’

She heard him even before he actually called her name. Claude couldn’t be sneaky to save his life, even after training for more than ten years.

‘Please, Dani...’ he shook her shoulder softly. ‘Ugh! For f***s sake, are you dead or something!?’

Danielle snickered internally. It was always fun to annoy her older brother. Mostly because he liked her too much and spoiled her to the point she was sure he would never get mad at her for anything.

‘I know you’re awake, you little devil. Get dressed and go find something for lunch, before mom comes and bites both our heads off.’ Claude got up from the bed and slowly walked back to the door of the room, Danielle heard his soft footsteps. ‘When you come back I’ll give you your birthday gift.’

She waited until the door closed before opening her eyes and jumping to her feet.

Claude was always the first one to remember her birthday even if none of them really knew the true date of her birth. In fact it was Claude who found her lying under a tree in the snow fifteen years before. And they decided that should be the day they’d celebrate.

He was seven then. He was the one who saved her life and also the one who convinced his parents to let her stay.

To Danielle he was more than just a brother, he was-

“My hero...” Danielle mumbled quietly as she slowly woke up from her rest.

She felt a tug in her chest as she remembered the dream she just had. She felt strangely empty; lonely.

Those had been alien feelings to her before; before she lost everything she thought she would have forever. But now they never went away. They never stopped hurting.

Danielle grabbed a small folded paper from the front pocket of her bag. She carefully unfolded it and took a long solemn look at the picture.

John was kissing Alice’s cheek and had one hand on Claude’s shoulder. The boy was laughing while he pulled at Danielle's cheeks from behind. Forcing her to smile to the camera.

She was ten years then, eight years had already passed. That had been the last time she went to the city because she felt too uncomfortable around people. And, even though John and Alice said she had to go to school, Danielle would always cry and run away.

At some point the couple gave up and decided to teach her all she needed to know at home. It would already be troublesome enough to forge fake documents for her. They didn’t have the time, nor the stamina to force and make sure she was going to school. If not even Claude was able to make up her mind they both knew they had no chance.

Still, they had been the best parents Danielle could ever wish for. And Claude was everything a big brother had to be. He was always there for her. Even when she did something wrong he would stand by her side while she was lectured, and hug her until she stopped crying. Then he would explain why she was being reprimanded. He was the best.

Danielle let out a small sigh. She gave one last look at the photo before carefully folding it and putting it back where it had been before.

To think that small, crumpled, old piece of paper was her biggest treasure always put a sad smile on her face. It was such a simple thing, yet it meant the world to her.

That photo was the only thing keeping her going.

“I won’t ever let that happen again,” she said; to no one in particular. “I promised. No one should suffer like this, Claude.”

I’m sorry. Danielle let a single tear escape, but was quick in wiping it away with the back of her hand.

She knew that what she was doing didn’t change the fact they were all gone. But she hoped it was enough to redeem herself for leaving them alone for so long. It was all my fault. I should have been there.

And in a way it really was her fault. If she had woken up earlier to hunt she would be back before the attack - she would’ve been there to help. Then maybe they could all still be alive-

The sound of a twig breaking near the tree where she had been sleeping took her away from her thoughts. And she immediately looked down to inspect.

Exactly as she predicted a tall muscular guy with just a pair of old jeans was rushing away with an unconscious guy over his shoulder. She could smell the scent of blood, sweat and filth even from meters away. Finally found you.

She narrowed her eyes as she quietly observed him stop and toss the unconscious guy onto the hard ground of a nearby clearing. She had been tracking that same rogue for almost four days and was just waiting for the right moment to take action.

Rogues were very predictable.

Well, at least for her they were. Maybe since she had dealt with them for most of her life. That was what she was trained for from the beginning anyway; to kill rogues who were out of control.

Her first kill had been when she was just eleven years old. A crazy fairy was luring teenagers into a river and drowning them before eating them. She didn’t even leave their bones behind. Then there had been vampires and many types of shapeshifters. But mostly she just dealt with crazy ass werewolves, since their kind mostly lived in packs and were all neurotic about their marked territory. Which leads us back to her current target: the tall, stinky, very strong looking rogue.

Danielle licked her dry lips as she silently pulled her bow from behind her back. She heard several footsteps coming from the same way that guy had just come, but didn’t really mind. She had rubbed enough wolfsbane on her body and clothes to make herself unnoticeable even to a werewolf with extremely enhanced senses.

She took a long white arrow from her bag and a small glass bottle with a purple liquid. She put a few drops of the purple liquid on the sharp edge of the arrow, and quickly put the bottle back in the bag.

Danielle was very calm as she readied herself. Slowly and very silently placing the arrow against the bow, then pulling the cord until her fingers touched her chin as she took small breaths to focus on her target.

The footsteps became slower as they approached, until they all came to a stop at the same time. She noticed. She also noticed that whoever had arrived had ruined her current plan, because her rogue moved; really fast.

She watched the nameless tall figure move toward the unconscious person on the ground, and kneel behind them before pulling their limp body against his chest. He was quick in placing his sharp claws against the person’s throat in a threatening manner, and in that moment Danielle stiffened.

“Let. Him. Go.” The voice was dark and menacing, and it caught Danielle’s attention.

She looked down from her spot and almost gasped at the sight. Right beneath the branch she was using as a hideout was a group of five men in all their naked glory.

There was one in front of all the others and she assumed he had been the one to speak. From above all she could see was his dark hair, his large shoulders and the curve of his butt. They were all obviously very muscular.

“I said: Let him go. Didn’t you hear me?” The dark haired guy repeated, sounding very annoyed this time.

The rogue clucked his tongue sounding bored and Danielle’s eyes traveled the clearing until they found her target again. He was looking down at the person in his arms - who now that she could have a better look at their face she noticed it was just a boy. Sixteen, maybe seventeen years old? Could be a young adult like her.

She wasn't sure. He just looked young.

It didn't matter.

“Why can’t you imbeciles just leave us alone?” The rogue mumbled, still in a bored manner. “I just took away one of your kids. You have many others. And if you don’t, just make more. You have women in your pack, don’t you?”

No one spoke a word, and Danielle held in a breath. She didn’t like where that was going. And most of all, that little speech from her current target left her with a bitter taste in her mouth. She was actually afraid of what he was going to say next.

She didn’t know that guy. She knew he was a rogue and she smelled the same scent from her other targets, so she knew he was no good. But that didn’t change the fact that she hoped he was simply another one of those who were just lost. Because if that was the case she could still help him; she could heal him and make him go back to his pack like Alice taught her. She had done it before, many times. It wasn’t difficult.

As she thought Danielle almost didn’t see when the rogue bent down a little and placed his tongue against the unconscious boy’s cheek. Slowly licking his face as if to taunt the other men.

I wish you wouldn’t make me do this, she thought to herself as she got to her feet while still on the branch of the tree.

Danielle lowered her bow and put the arrow between her teeth before moving to another branch to get a better shot. She still kept her ears on high alert to make sure she didn’t miss anything from the conversation happening beneath her.

“Stay away from him, you sick bastard!” This voice was different. Softer, bot not in any way less menacing. “Let him go!”

“Why?” The rogue spat back. “He’s cute. And his skin is soft. Besides...he looks quite strong, I might be able to play with him for longer than with my past whores.”

Danielle felt a bolt of anger shoot through her body, and she immediately gritted her teeth. She slowly turned her head in the direction of the rogue, all sympathy she had tried to have for him was gone.

“Since you guys followed me all the way out here, I might as well let you watch the first round. Don’t you agree, my prince?” Danielle was already reading her bow and arrow again, and her eyes widened in horror when they landed on the scene.

In less than two seconds that monster had ripped the boy’s clothes to shreds and pinned him down.

She narrowed her eyes in sheer anger and aimed at the man. He was just unbuttoning his pants when she let go of the cord. The projectile hissed through the air until it burrowed itself in his chest with a small crack.

She heard gasps, and she heard her target suck in a sharp breath before falling back.

She watched as he gurgled and whimpered in pain as the poison made its way to his heart, with a small smirk showing on her chapped lips. She also watched as the unknown naked men made their way to the unconscious boy.

What she didn’t notice was the pair of questioning deep blue eyes staring up at her. What had been a simple, yet terrible mistake.

She was still observing the guys try to wake up the boy while dealing with the dying rogue, so she didn’t notice the dark haired man climbing up her tree.

“White arrow...” She heard one of the men say as he roughly pulled it out of the now dead rogue. He showed it to a brown haired man, that was standing right beside him. “Do you think it could be that Moon Spirit everyone’s been talking about?”

The brown haired male sniffed the arrow before turning around as if looking for someone. “Aiden-”

Danielle looked in the same direction as the brown haired man, only to suddenly find herself face to face with the broody dark haired man.

“Caught you,” he said in a dangerously low voice.

Danielle let out a small surprised breath; no sound, just a tiny sigh. And right when he reached out to grab her arm, her body acted on its own.

She found herself planting a kick in the middle of his face, one hard enough to throw him off the tree and to almost make her lose her balance.

She took a quick look down and saw him lying on his back glaring up at her.

She heard the shuffling of rushed steps, but didn’t wait to see what would happen next. Danielle put her bow on her back and skillfully jumped back to her former branch to grab her bag. Then, with one last quick peek down, she was off. Jumping from one tree to another as fast as she could, and hoping they wouldn’t follow her.