The True Luna's Forbidden Temptation - Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Analise.
RIIINNNGGG!!! RIIINNNGGG!!!
I see my best friend’s name on the screen. I am on my way to meet her at a local bar. Unfortunately, I slept through the afternoon. Now I’m late.
"Where the hell are you, Analise?"
"Stuck in traffic, but five minutes away."
"Hurry! They won’t hold your seat—it’s packed."
"Relax, I’m almost there."
Elise has been my best friend since I was ten. Given my overprotective, condescending father and the nightmare of a stepmother and stepsister I live with, making real friends has never been easy.
I often wonder what my life would’ve been like if my mother were still alive.
Her face is still vivid—vibrant red hair, mismatched eyes, just like mine. She built Luxe Emerald, now the country’s number-one fashion jewelry brand.
“I’m doing this all for you, my love,” she once told me, holding up an emerald necklace she had designed. “One day, this will all be yours.”
But she never saw that day.
She died when I was ten, leaving her empire in my father’s hands. Then he remarried, and my life turned into a real-life Cinderella story—complete with the evil stepmother and stepsister.
Then there was Sebastian. The most complicated person I know. Quiet. Mysterious. Like he’s hiding an entirely different identity.
“YOU’RE WRONG… YOU’RE TOTALLY WORTH IT.”
His words from last night keep replaying in my mind, refusing to let me rest.
‘What the hell does that even mean?’
I groan, gripping the steering wheel. Why do I even care?
The traffic ahead crawls. I check the time on the dashboard. Elise is going to kill me.
“Damn it!” I mutter, yanking the wheel to take a right onto a narrow side street. A shortcut.
It’s an older part of town, where the streetlights flicker, casting eerie shadows against worn brick buildings.
A chill snakes down my spine.
This is a mistake.
The buildings loom like silent sentinels, narrowing the road into a suffocating tunnel.
“Just a few more blocks,” I tell myself, pressing the gas lightly. “Then you’ll be back on the main road.”
I reach to turn up the air conditioning when I notice the temperature gauge creeping into the red.
A warning light flickers. Then another. Then—
"No, no, no. Not now."
The engine makes a high-pitched whine before steam curls from beneath the hood.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
I steer the car to the curb and kill the engine. Silence swallows the street.
I have no idea how to fix a car.
I step outside, hesitating. I could walk. But should I go forward? Or back?
Shit. I don’t even know which way is shorter.
I pull out my phone. The main road is about ten minutes away on foot.
Fine. That’s my best shot.
Grabbing my purse, I lock the car and start walking.
Above me, the streetlights flicker. My footsteps echo. The air feels too still.
A prickling sensation creeps up my spine, like unseen eyes are boring into my back.
"You’re just being paranoid, Analise,” I mutter, quickening my pace.
My skin prickles, the hairs on my neck standing at attention. I resist the urge to look over my shoulder, afraid that I will see something behind me.
A sudden rustling makes me leap, my heart almost jumping off my chest. "Hello?" I turn around. "Is someone there?"
Silence. Then—
A low growl reverberates through the air.
My breath gets hitched in my throat. I turn towards the direction of the sound. And from the inky shadows, a massive shape emerges.
“What the…”
At first, I think it's a dog, but as it steps into the dim light, I realize it's far too large.
"Oh God," I whisper, stumbling backward. The creature's eyes lock onto mine, glowing with an otherworldly intelligence.
No! It’s not a dog. ‘A wolf?’ But there aren’t wolves in this area.
And yet, there it stands. Easily the size of a bear, its brown fur bristling as it stalks towards me.
‘Fuck! What should I do? ‘
"Nice... doggy, doggy?” I croak. But all it does is make the creature’s lips curl back, revealing its fangs.
‘Shit! That did not work!’
I take another step back, my foot catching on an uneven patch of sidewalk. I fall—hard. But I don’t have time to feel the pain. I know that if this creature attacked me, I’d feel the most excruciating pain that would either kill me or scar me for life.
The creature takes a step towards me, silently, like a predator stalking its prey.
"Easy," I murmur, more to myself than the beast.
I see the creature tenses. It’s now or I’m dead meat. In one fluid motion, I scramble to my feet, feeling adrenaline crashing through me. Then I run like I’ve never run before.
"Help!" I scream, my voice shattering the eerie silence of the night. "Somebody, please!'“
Heavy paws thunder behind me.
I push harder, but my foot snags—on what, I don’t know.
I fall. Time seems to stand still.
‘This cannot be happening! I cannot die like this! No!’
The creature leaps.
I brace myself, throwing my arms up in a feeble attempt to shield myself.
"Sebastian!" I scream. I don’t know why—he’s nowhere near enough to hear me. Maybe I’m just used to calling him whenever I am in danger.
The attack never comes. Instead, I hear a thunderous growl as something suddenly jumps in front of me.
I open my eyes and see a big, black wolf standing between me and the brown one.
‘The fuck? There’s two of them?’
The black wolf looks bigger, much more powerful than the other one. It growls loudly as if asking the brown one to stand down.
If I didn’t know any better, I would say that the black creature is protecting me from the brown one. But I know they’re probably fighting over who will have me for dinner.
‘I have to get out of here!’ Now! While they’re busy fighting each other.
Every instinct screams at me to flee, but I'm frozen on my spot, unable to take my eyes off the two creatures in front of me.
Teeth bared, muscles coiled tightly—they clash. Snarls rip through the night.
The black wolf—if that's what it is—moves with grace despite its size. It's faster, stronger, each attack precisely calculated. But the brown one seems driven by a manic desperation, its eyes constantly darting towards me.
"It wants me!" I realize with a chill. "Why?”
As if it read my mind, the brown beast suddenly lunges in my direction. But the black wolf is there in an instant, shielding me. For a fleeting moment, my eyes lock with the black wolf’s. I’m stunned. There is something about those piercing blue eyes that is oddly familiar.
For a moment, the black wolf loses its focus. I see the brown wolf leap behind him.
“Watch out!” I scream.
But it’s too late. The brown wolf’s claws rake across the black wolf’s front leg. The black wolf howls in pain.
"No!" I cry out, my heart racing. But the black wolf quickly recovers. It lunges for the brown one's throat, powerful jaws clamping down. The brown wolf howls in pain, and I know it has been defeated.
I take that as a cue to leave. The black wolf seemed to have protected me, but that does not mean I’m safe from it.
I run. My legs carry me towards the main street, fueled by adrenaline and confusion.
Relief washes over me when I see the warm glow of streetlights ahead. I burst onto the wide avenue, gasping for breath.
Cars glide past, their headlights sweeping over me in rhythmic intervals. Each vehicle represents people—normal people going about their normal lives, unaware of the impossibility I've just witnessed.
I see a taxi cab pass by, I quickly hail it.
“Where to?” the cab driver asks.
“McGregor Estates down at Park Streets,” I reply.
At that moment, I forget about Elise. I forget about anything else. I just want to go home and take refuge in my room.
‘What the fuck was that?’ I ask myself. ‘Wolf? Beast?’
It doesn’t really look like it’s an animal. Those eyes… I see intelligence in them. But what kind of creatures are they? Werewolves?
A chill suddenly runs through me as I think about the word.
WEREWOLF.
A human that has the power to transform into a wolf. A wolf that disguises itself as a human.
A shiver runs through me and I wrap my arms around myself.
‘There’s no way that werewolves are real! That’s just impossible.’
The taxi stops at my house, and my father's butler opens the gate for me.
“Can you pay him, Mr. Ron? I lost my wallet and phone somewhere.”
“Understood, Ms. Analise.”
I walk up to my house in silence. As usual, the entire house is quiet. My father is probably on a business trip. And I couldn’t care less where my stepmother and stepsister are. Sebastian barely stays in this house anyway. Frequently, he stays with his grandparents from his father’s side of the family.
As I walk up to my room, I see light coming from Sebastian’s room.
‘He’s here?’
I march up to his room, but the sight that greets me stops me short. Clothes are scattered across the floor, dark stains marring the expensive fabric. My stomach turns as I realize that it’s blood.
"Oh god!" I whisper, stepping carefully around the mess. "Sebastian?"
A soft groan from the bathroom catches my attention. I push the door open, and I finally see him. Sebastian, hunched over the sink, surrounded by first aid supplies. I see an angry gash across his right shoulder that steals my breath away.
"Wh-what happened?" I gasp.
He whirls around, those piercing blue eyes locking onto mine. For a moment, I see something wild and dangerous there, before it's masked by fury.
"Analise!" he snarls, "What the hell are you doing in here?"
"You're hurt. Let me help—"
"No!" Sebastian cuts me off. His voice is sharp as a knife. "You need to leave. Now!"
"But—"
"I said get out!" His tall frame advances on me.
Before I can protest, his hands are on my shoulders, pushing me out of his room.
"Sebastian, you’re bleeding—let me help.”
"It’s none of your concern," he snaps. "Stay out of my business, Ana. And stay out of my room!"
He shoves me into the hallway, slamming the door in my face. I stand there, stunned, at a loss for words.
My mind races, trying to make sense of everything. The clothes, the blood, that wound... is it… familiar? Or just a coincidence?
I lean against the wall, my legs suddenly weak.
‘It’s impossible! Those creatures were just big dogs.’
Werewolves aren’t real!
Sebastian is just… Sebastian. He’s human. And he’s my big brother.
But as I close my eyes, I see Sebastian’s blue eyes in my head, and I cannot help feeling—it’s the same piercing blue eyes as that wolf.