James decided to be a good boy and help out with some chores around the camp. Selene seemed like a genuinely nice woman—and come on, she'd even given him some snacks.
Granted, they were entirely fruits, but his ass was currently chomping down on some incredibly juicy apples. He absolutely loved them; they were the best.
Anyway, gourd in hand, he made his way toward the edge of the mountain along the laid-out stone pathway.
The deeper he ventured into the hidden settlement, the more lively and vibrant it became. Mystical runes pulsed softly on practically every surface, and strange, exotic animals he didn't even recognize yet scampered through the brush.
The density of the magic in the air was thick enough to taste.
While werewolves made up the vast majority of the population, James occasionally caught the distinct scent of a baseline human, meaning they were actively coexisting in this bitch.
Interestingly, some of those humans carried themselves like former slaves. How did he know that? Their tattoos.
While they all had newer, larger tattoos inked over their skin, James had noticed how Selene's own stylized phoenix tattoo was strategically covering up an older brand.
He had a sneaking suspicion about what this place really was, though he couldn't confirm it just yet.
If his guess was correct, this hidden valley was likely a sanctuary for every outcast or oppressed supernatural group in the United States—or at least the descendants of the original thirteen colonies.
He even wondered if some early Italian or Irish bloodlines were mixed in here, remembering from history class that back in the day, only certain groups qualified for full rights, and those immigrants definitely didn't qualify for that shit.
Pack members moved effortlessly about their day—some carrying massive crates of supplies with supernatural strength, others laughing outside stone-and-timber cabins.
It felt strangely normal, a stark contrast to the absolute violence he had experienced just a week ago.
Following Selene's precise directions, James finally reached the edge of the mountain where the rocky terrain jutted dramatically over the cliffside.
This was the location of the ancient oak tree where Selene said he would find Luna.
It took him a bit of climbing, but once he cleared the ridge, he stood entirely amazed.
The tree was fucking massive—a giant, ancient oak whose colossal roots anchored themselves deep into the bedrock of the cliff, its wide canopy stretching out as if trying to touch the sky.
Below, the entire sprawling valley lay on display, bathed in the crisp afternoon light.
The place looked truly beautiful. As the mountain wind blew hard against his face, James felt a sudden, profound connection to Gaia—the exact same ancient feeling he had experienced when he was surrounded by those animals back in the forest.
For just a split second, he swore he saw someone resting their back against the trunk of the massive tree.
They looked remarkably like Luna, except their hair was pitch-black. James didn't know how he could tell since they were pale as fuck, but as he blinked, the figure looked straight at him, seeming a bit surprised by his presence.
They gave him a gentle, knowing smile.
'Help her.'
The voice echoed directly inside his mind. James stood entirely frozen in his tracks, his heart hammering. What the hell was this? When he blinked a second time, the black-haired figure was completely gone.
The longer he spent in the supernatural world, the more he realized that this reality held more secrets than he could ever imagine.
He blinked again at the empty bark. Was he going coco for Cocoa Puffs again?
'Am I seeing stuff?' he questioned himself. But his heightened senses insisted he wasn't crazy.
Hell, his nose even picked up the lingering emotional trail of whatever that entity had been—a faint scent profile of initial confusion, followed by deep, maternal warmth.
He knew he should probably mind his own business... but the gentle voice echoed in his mind again, sounding exactly like a mother telling someone to look after her cub.
He calmed his senses down. He could mind his business. He really could.
'I'll just look for her first,' he decided, scanning the clearing.
Luna was nowhere in sight.
Stepping closer to the absolute edge of the cliff, he looked down and noticed a wide, dirt-packed training ground carved into the plateau below.
Distant figures were sprinting, sparring, and lifting massive boulders. 'Oh, nice,' he thought, watching the raw display of power.
"Why are you here?"
James almost jumped out of his skin. Spinning around, he found Luna standing just a couple of feet behind him.
She was sweating slightly, looking like she was right in the middle of an intense workout.
The mountain breeze caught her long, silver hair, sending it swaying gently across her shoulders.
Her gaze was entirely calm, but the striking, sharp symmetry of her face gave her an incredibly cold, unapproachable expression.
She had her hair tied back in a high ponytail, though James critically noted a bun probably would have helped keep it out of her face much better.
On pure instinct, James felt his nostrils flare up, trying to catch her emotional scent profile, but he got absolutely nothing. She was fully closed out; there was nothing to sense at all.
"Uh..." He stuttered, his mind scrambling under her cold stare. "I was told to give you this."
He reached into his pocket to pull out the delivery, but found himself momentarily stunned.
His gaze lingered on her—not in a romantic way, but more like the way a curious dog stares at something unusual.
"So, are you just going to stand there, or are you going to give it to me?" Her voice was like ice, entirely devoid of human warmth.
James got nervous, scratching the back of his head. "Sorry," he apologized, vaguely pointing at her hands.
"I just noticed your fists."
Her knuckles were heavily bruised, the skin scraped raw in several places, and the thick calluses across her palms looked fresh and severely overworked.
"Did you overwork yourself?" he questioned, his tone laced with genuine, unprompted concern.
He was genuinely asking. You see, from what he had gathered so far, werewolves could practically recover from anything.
For fuck's sake, his own ass had survived a basketball-sized hole in his chest. He probably didn't even have a heart for a full minute before his body somehow grew a new one and kept it pushing.
His system had been shocked with millions of volts of lightning magic—shit enough to utterly fry a human's nervous system—and he was fine.
Talia had been launched through solid trees and bounced back. All of this to say, the fact that Luna's hands were actively bruised meant she was pushing herself to a dangerous extreme.
Luna paused for a second. Her eyes narrowed slightly, as if she absolutely didn't expect this kind of inquiry from him.
Her nose twitched, subtly sniffing the air between them to ensure this wasn't some kind of strategic bullshit or hidden agenda.
That playbook would not work on her again.
Yet... she smelled nothing off. Apart from the heavy scent of his innocence, all she detected was genuine, unfiltered worry.
The harsh line of her frown lightly softened, though she still forced a look of slight annoyance.
"What did you have to give me?" she demanded, completely ignoring his question about her hands. It didn't matter to him how hard she was pushing her body.
James snapped out of it, remembering his errand. "Oh! Right, I almost forgot," he mumbled, holding out the heavy gourd container. "The sweet lady told me to give you this."
Luna took the vial from his hands, her eyes locking onto the glowing fluid inside. Her icy expression softened completely, looking genuinely happy. "Just in time," she murmured with a soft smile.
She popped open the cork and downed the entire contents in one go.
James heard the heavy gulps as the equivalent of four liters of fluid disappeared down her throat, his eyes watching her neck move with every single swallow.
As the liquid vanished, James caught the scent of the medicine.
It smelled heavily of Ghost Orchid nectar—a incredibly rare, numbing floral extract that immediately targeted hyper-sensitive nerve endings.
There was something else in the mix he didn't recognize that gave off roughly the same toxic signature as Wolfsbane, along with a third ingredient he couldn't parse.
Once she was finished, Luna wiped her mouth clean with the back of her bruised hand and handed him back the empty gourd.
"Tell Selene I said thank you."
Her voice was calm; the harsh coldness completely vanished whenever Selene was involved.
"Will sure do," James said, pocketing the container. Thankfully, the tactical pants Caius had given him had plenty of utility pockets.
Thanks to the heavens, Caius was such a prepared and thorough man.
Luna turned around, clenching her raw fists until her muscles bulged.
She could feel her internal power running completely unrestrained; she was at her absolute peak right now.
Without warning, she let her presence flare—just for a single, fleeting second.
The sheer force instantly stole the breath right out of James's lungs.
Behind Luna, the brilliant, shimmering aura of a massive, powerful silver wolf manifested in the air, its spectral eyes burning with ancient, crushing authority.
The power radiating off her was completely suffocating.
It didn't feel like a standard energy flare; it felt like she was channeling the absolute, crushing physical strength of her true, primal beast form while remaining entirely in her baseline human state.
"I need more," Luna muttered to herself, her voice dropping into a low, dissatisfied growl. "This isn't enough."
Even though she claimed it wasn't enough, the suffocating pressure of her aura was soul-crushing to James.
He felt like a microscopic bug standing in front of an apex predator.
It was entirely different from the time Alpha Aldric had subjected him to a power display—Aldric's pressure had been a violent, external force that almost had him puking blood from sheer physical weight.
Luna's pressure, however, felt psychological and profound.
It was the distinct, agonizing difference between a harsh boss putting pressure on you versus your own parents doing it.
Both actions achieved the same terrifying result, but one inflicted far deeper internal damage.
It wasn't because she was physically stronger than the Alpha King, or because the mathematical force was identical; it was because of who she was to him.
The emotional weight of her dominance cut straight through his defenses.
Luna suddenly glanced over, noticing that the gravity of her aura was physically crushing him.
Her eyes softened with a quick flash of regret, and she instantly reined her power back in, calming the suffocating pressure until the air grew light again.
She looked at him, her voice returning to its quiet, guarded tone. "Do you need anything else?"
James swallowed hard, his throat dry as bone. Looking at her, a crushing realization sank deep into his chest: I stand absolutely no chance against that Raze guy in two weeks.
"Can you help me?" He gathered every ounce of his remaining courage, gritting his teeth as he pressed on.
"I have to fight this guy in two weeks and I barely have any experience. The last four times I fought anyone, I always lost control. And against people stronger than me, losing control just makes me an easy prey."
Luna paused, raising a single silver eyebrow. "Four?" If she remembered the tally correctly, shouldn't it be five?
"I don't consider our second meeting a fight," James elaborated quickly, looking embarrassed. "I was one-shotted. It wasn't a contest."
Luna stared at him for a beat. Well, at least the boy possessed some self-awareness.
A/N This should be near 2k word count, a bit lower than the previous chapter but oh well, next chapter on Monday.
Got the rest of this arc set up, just need to set up the plot points for later arcs.