PROLOGUE

Heavens shook that night, and the moon hid behind the clouds. Darkness gathered all around, and the majestic forest stood in awful stillness using all her powers and the divinity of the night, she sent up her cries in a loud howl, with a flaring rage.

“Ye mighty heavens, I beg for thy mercy. My blood and soul have been banished from my royal kingdom, barred from my utter being, they have stolen from me the essence of my being. He was betrothed, my mate, now and forever he is taken away from me, to never be mine. For the vanity of their duties, my soul will not rest, nor will my love perish. I will shed my undying grief upon them. My unquenched love will live to take its revenge. All that remains or the furs on my skin, and the flesh on my bones. I offer thee my body in a wholesome as a sacrifice for my profanity. Take them away, take away my beating heart. Take away everything I am, and in exchange, the highness of their powers and the purity in their veins will suffer under the gruesome fate, the fate that shall be similar to mine, the firstborn shall forever be crestfallen, for its love can never be attained. Never be fulfilled. In dejection shall it perish under the greatness of the kingdom.

The prophecy will live until the end of time until it is fulfilled. This curse will last till the end of time. No power on earth, or the heavens can ever revoke it.”

Her voice echoed through the skies like under and she fell to the ground.

Silence crept throughout the kingdom, that which will never be the same again.

Today, many moons later, the two clans are still reeling under the spell.

A lot has changed since, family's fallen, secrets, very deep friendships put to test. Will there ever be an end to this fate of the moon hailers?

 

Episode 1

The Awakening

Darlene was leaning out of the window, adoring the beauty that stood before her. The lush green rocky mountain forest was covered with a blanket of December snow. With her body leaning over the railing and her long hair covering her tense shoulders, she kept her gaze locked on the moon.

It was a few minutes until midnight. Phillip, her husband, called out from the bed, “Darling, it's freezing cold out there.”

He knew what was on her mind. Darlene turned back, her eyes filled with tears and her face swollen. Phillip got out of bed and went over to her with a furry shawl. He draped it around her and pulled her into his arms. She sunk into his warm embrace, resting her head right on his beating heart.

He gently stroked her hair and asked her with a calm voice, “Having a hard time falling asleep”

Tears ran down Darlene’s cheeks, even before she could speak, “She would have been 21 today.”

She kissed the top of her head and whispered, “I miss her too. So, so much.”

Darlene broke into tears. She hid her face in his chest. Philip tightened his arm around her and spoke in silent whispers into her ears,

“ She'll be alright. Don't worry. Everything will be alright.”

Darlene nodded into his chest, “Our little girl.”

He did his best to reassure her by staying strong for the both of them.

“ She'll be alright. She is no longer a little girl. She's a woman now.”

And that sent darling crying and sobbing, thinking of the fate that awaits them all. That which is getting closer and closer with every passing minute. Between her sobs, Darlene whispered,

“The prophecy,” she drilled out of his chest and looked into his eyes, “what if it all came true?”

Lost in serious thought, she could feel the fear creeping inside Philip as well though he didn't let it show. He held her tight until she calmed down a bit, then brought her inside and hugged her in the bed. Philip himself didn't know what to do, because for 21 years, they had tried everything in their power to rebuke the curse. She held him tight and cuddled into him.

As if reading into her thoughts, he said,

“She'll be fine.”

Darlene was quiet for some time. She tried holding her eyes shut, but still couldn't fall asleep. She looked over at Philip and found his gaze fixed at the ceiling. It was the same thought that troubled them both. The same thought that has been troubling them for over 21 years now. She voiced something that could prove to be troublesome,

“ It's a full moon today. Isn't that a coincidence?”

Darlene had read into his thoughts. He acknowledged her saying yes,

“I'm aware. And that's how I know she'll be alright.”

He knew he had to keep reassuring her no matter what. She held on to the little faith and his words and closed her eyes shut. As she tried drifting to sleep. She heard low howls coming in. She held her husband time to sleep.

Juliana couldn't fathom what was happening to her. She had been out with her friends. Though she hadn't been drinking or had eaten much, she felt groggy.

“How can I feel tipsy?” She questioned herself. This was something different. She realized she was feeling much worse. Her skin felt like it was on fire and somewhat itchy. In addition, she was experiencing piercing pains down her spine. Slight tremors of heat waves passed through her whole body and she considered if someone had spiked her drink.

But who would do that and why? What made it worse was she was driving home in the middle of the night. The plan was to leave in the morning, but things felt too strange that she needed a familiar soul around. Julie was driving for an hour now along the highway through Nebraska.

“ Maybe I missed a turn. I don't think I'm on the right route anymore.”

Her GPS had let her down tonight, and the engine was a little stiff because of the cold weather. The roads have been snowed in heavily, she could barely see the path. Black ice everywhere.

Ideally, Julie would have taken a halt, but the place looked haunted. With barely any cars along the narrow lanes, Julie decided against. This is the part of the woods where everything usually goes wrong in the horror movies. As she thought about it, Julie was too scared to stop in the loneliest most deserted part of the highway.

Juliana picked up her phone while trying hard to steer so she could inform someone of her whereabouts.

“Mom would be terrified if she knew, better I don't tell her,” She thought out loud, trying to juggle the wheel with one hand and operating her phone with the other.

“Dylan is no good either.”

All of a sudden, she lost control of the vehicle. The tire skid on the black ice and before she could brace herself, the car spun and rammed out of the lane directly into the trees. Her phone fell right between the pedals.

“Oh God! no, no, no! Oh God!”

Her body was aching. Her head spinning. Her vision was blowing out, yet she kept trying to save herself. With full force, she hit a pedal with her foot. Turns out it was the gas. The car accelerated to high speed. She kept screaming. Swishing through the dense forest, the car ran through, hitting the trees and the bushes. Julie had completely lost control of herself in the car. Headlights went off and she was staring through complete darkness guided by the little rays of moonlight through the trees. She hit her head against the window of the wildly riding car. She gasped.

She was writhing in pain. Completely scared and helpless, her hands and feet grew cold like ice. Her body was burning up. It felt like her body was being possessed by demonic spirits. Though she was partly unconscious, Julie kept trying to reach for the breaks.

She was deep into the woods now in the deadliest part of the forest. Suddenly, she noticed a cliff. Julie tried hard but knew she wasn't going to be able to stop the car. There was only one thing she could do now. She reached for the car door and pushed hard. She hit it with a bang and once, it opened and Julie fell out of the moving car.

She rolled over the sloping land rushing through the bushes and bumping through the trees finally landing on hard ground. She was badly hurt, had cuts and bruises. Her forehead was bleeding profusely. From the corner of her eye, she watched as the car kept moving and fell off through the cliff. It made a loud sound.

Battling her wounds, she dragged her body to the edge. She saw the car drowning in the river. Julie watched helplessly as it sank completely, leaving no trace whatsoever. She had tears in her eyes and began to cry. In a fraction of a second, her life had come to an end. She looked to the heavens.

“This is it, isn't it?” She wailed in pain knowing that there was no way she'd ever make it out alive.

Julie fell to the ground and caught her breath. She knew now this was the end. She could feel her spirits dying. With great difficulty, she glanced over at the watch on her wrist. It was almost midnight, the 13th of December.

Suddenly, she felt the strongest tremors hit her. It ran through her body like a bolt of electric current. Her senses went blank. Her body became numb her pulse began dropping rapidly. She breathed heavily trying to hold on to life. She whispered into the cold air,

“ Happy 21st birthday to me, “ and with that, she closed her eyes and she gave in. She felt nothing.

In a few seconds, her heart stopped. Her body lay lifeless on the edge of the cliff for half a minute. Her body just lay there on the snow. Julie felt a tingle in her right arm. She suddenly realized that she was somehow alive, no longer dead. The tingle on her palm grew into a rigorous itch. Her senses directed her as she lifted her arm, she saw a claw with thick fur. Before she could think straight, a long tongue jabbed out of her mouth and licked the fur on her hand. Bewildered beyond comprehension, distraught, she screamed and it came out, “Woo…”

Julie screamed. She heard echoing sounds. Not one, but many. Julie was losing her mind. But to her greatest astonishment, not only was she alive, but she was no longer human. Julie was dead scared.

Her heart was pounding hard. She could feel it pumping out from underneath her skin.

“Skin. Wait a minute.”

She tried bending her neck to have a glance at her torso. Thick white fur. Though she couldn't see it all, she peeked down. Her eyes went straight to the two big curves that ran down from her neck, covered in lush fur. The sight terrorized her. Helplessly, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Woo….woo… woo”

Every time she howled; the other animals joined in too. The forest sounded like a symphony of echoing howls. It worried Julian. She felt her teeth shiver. When she ran her tongue over it, she realized they were big, sharp-edged canines. Her mind paused and she wondered if this was true. Julie's mind was quick to analyze things as she was studying indigenous creatures, primarily focusing on forest dwellers. She had learned many unusual things which she didn't believe in. Could this actually be true?

“ That can't be It can't be,” she was shaking her head profusely, “ No,” she couldn't accept it.

It scared her. Her eyes began welling up. She shouted, “No!”

It all came out as another ‘Woo…’

As the echoes rose from the forest, she broke down in tears crying bitterly heavily wailing. Her feet were shaking. She sends the tension in her feet and filled her hind legs. Julie had four now, four legs, paws and claws. She felt a lush, fluffy tail wagging her back. She tried to turn around and look but with no luck. Her heart cringed at once she lost her balance and fell to the ground. She fell with a huge thud. Her head had a huge scar she got hurt in the car. She held into the wind with shaking.

The pain she felt was brutal. Julie cried and cried, partly because of the pain but most importantly, she wept unbearably for the creature who she had become. She was no longer human. She fell quiet for a moment, and her mind automatically comprehended.

“I am a wolf.”

Tears rushed out of her eyes like a fountain of sorrow. She looked up to the heavens in vain with tear filled eyes. The sky was full of stars and the big white moon shone directly into her eyes. She spoke to the moon sobbing and begging

“ What have you done to me?”

Sounds came from her mind, she knew what it was, though. Not everything, but she was pretty sure. Julie kept crying for a long time. She shifted her body slowly and carefully to peek around the cliff. For the first time, she looked around. Her body ached from all the wounds. She was careful to not move all the bushes. Her vision was blurry, yet she tried squinting and seeing from the corner of her eyes.

She saw a faint light coming from the mountains as she laid there looking at the moon and all its glory, she could hear the bushes rustle. Something was coming towards her, suddenly.

“No doubt it's a beast or an animal.” Not knowing what to do, she tried picking her body up to stand on all four of her legs, just in case she had to run. With great difficulty and in complete silence she got herself standing on her wobbly legs. Julie stood for just a second and felt a hard strike of the heatwave in her body. Tremors shot through her body again like bullets. The heat flashes grew stronger, like she was burning into ashes. She could feel the blood dry up in her veins. The curving of her spine was a hellish pain. She couldn't endure it anymore. She was ready to die because she knew she couldn't survive out here in the wild. Julie collapsed with alone, wailing howl.

Jack was deep in thought when he was shaken by the loud whimpering howl. Jack was sitting alone in his comfortable spot under the shade of a tall pine tree by the North Fork riverbank. He tried ignoring the weird sounds and the wailing house, but the disturbing noises had finally gotten to him. He half-heartedly rose to go check out what was really happening. As he raced up the hill to the spot of the cliff, he was prepared to give the animal a piece of his mind. When he got to the cliff, he saw nothing. On the horizon, the sun was coming up. He decided to turn back to his human self before it was too late. He took a deep breath and like magic his claws shrunken his spine straightened, tail shrunken and the features of his face came back. His velvet brown first disappeared to reveal pale white skin. He was back to his human form.

Just as he turned, he hit his leg against something on the ground and almost tripped over. What he saw aghast his soul out of him.

“She's been murdered.”

Jack reached out to touch her bruised face. The touch, though soft as butter, pricked his skin and Jack drew back just as his skin touched hers, the skies thundered with lightning flash. Unknowingly, uncontrollably Jack had imprinted on her and the curse awoke.