Blue Moon

Chapter 1
Logan felt his promised mate’s spirit trying to tell him goodbye. He knew she was in mortal danger and he was running out of time. He would guess that dawn was breaking outside of the caves based on the few glimpses of sunlight he could see behind him. That meant some of the older Oni would need to seek shelter. He would be on his own… not that it mattered to him. Logan was in the throes of blood-lust, but even with the desire to kill driving him hard, he still knew getting to Imogen was more important.
Only moments before, Imogen managed to break free from her captors and was now running wildly down a hall. Her bare feet bleeding from the rocky surface. There were over a dozen human and wolf hunters closing in on her. She screamed in frustration and fear. She couldn’t allow them to catch her. Elizabeth had already given them permission to kill her. She wasn’t ready to die. Imogen was a survivor. Nothing in her life had ever been easy but still she craved more. Maude might have been a terrible mum figure but she did manage to instil a colossal survival instinct in her. She wanted to live no matter the cost. Hell, it didn’t even matter that she’s always known that she would never find her own piece of peace and happiness. That’s why Logan’s rejection didn’t bother her. In some ways she always expected it.
Imogen glanced back at her attackers and stumbled slightly when she realised they were even closer then she thought. She needed to run faster, but with her bruised feet, and her aching skin she didn’t have anything left in her… if only she could change into her wolf... For some reason, since the day Elizabeth’s people brought her into this horrid mountain prison her wolf seemed to almost disappear. She couldn’t feel her presence at all. That scared her more than anything.
Her wolf has been her constant companion. Her only friend. If not for her wolf she would have been not only alone… but also lonely. Imogen is nearly sixteen years old and has never had a single friend aside from her wolf. In fact, aside from her recent torture, Maude’s spankings as a youngster and the scrimmages with her new Oni clan; the Wolfoni’s, she never even had anyone physically touch her while growing up. Which was really hard given her desire for pack and family. Her wolf wanted to be touched all the time. Werewolves are pack animals and they want to be wanted and touched. As a pack animals, they need to be included and loved. That, however, is never going to happen for her. For some reason, people always take an instant dislike to Imogen. Sometimes they abuse her, and most of them refer to her as a freak or wanker.
Strange though, because when she looked in the mirror, she thought she’s a very attractive female with her long pale white hair and her alabaster skin. She even had amazingly beautiful amber eyes that shone as bright as the sun itself. She also had a powerhouse body at five foot seven and one hundred and thirty pounds. Imogen is built nearly perfect by human standards with curves in all the right places. But, despite being physically attractive, she’s never been invited or gone to a party, school dance or on a date. Chances are now that Logan rejected her, she will never have anyone ever touch her pleasantly. Hell, her Oni clan members don’t even want to work out with her and do their best to avoid contact with her.
Logan watched Imogen slip and fall and his heart nearly burst from his chest. The blood-lust was slowly dissipating while in its place anxiety and fear crept in. Imogen was going to die and it was all his fault. He should have claimed her as his promised mate the moment he set eyes on her. He should have forced the other Wolfoni clan members to accept her. He should have never allowed his adoptive fathers words to influence his life choices. He failed her and she would pay the price.
With that thought in mind, he pushed himself harder than he thought possible and managed to catch up to the tail end of her attackers. He reached out and grabbed one of them and cracked his spine in two. It was a human and he fell dead at Logan’s feet before the human even realised he was even there. Then he slashed out with his sword towards another attacker and opened his carotid artery before he could even whimper. Logan continued to move as silently and as quickly as possible while eliminating as many of them as he could. As a genetically altered werewolf and an Oni warrior, Logan was much stronger than the werewolf and human hunters he’d been battling all night. Nevertheless, there seemed to be so many more between him and Imogen. Still, each one he took out made the odds a little better.
Logan moved behind his third enemy and jumped on his back. Unfortunately, it was a female and without the blood-lust riding him, he was weary of killing her. In his hesitation, she managed to get the attention of her male companion before Logan could silence her. Her companion turned towards him and growled low in his throat before shifting into a wolf. Then it attacked him and the real battle was on. Logan stayed on the back of the female and forced her to lie down under him unable to move. By fighting in this position, Logan also forced the other wolf attacking him to be very careful on exactly where and what he was biting at. They appeared to be a mated pair, and no wolf wanted to hurt their own lover.
The noise he was making however drew several more enemies into the fray. They charge him one at time giving Logan the opportunity to push them aside. He tossed the wolves away from him, as easily as throwing a stuffed animal. The male werewolves flew through the air more than a hundred feet away from him. Most of them landed against the cave wall with a crack. Logan could hear their bones crushing on impact. He hated that he was hurting them, but he had to save Imogen and with the kind of damage he was doing to them, he knew they would not be able to keep this up much longer. They too must have realised they were fighting a losing battle because they turned their attention away from him and back to Imogen.
She lay limply just ahead of Logan; her hair spread around her like a fan. She looked like a sleeping angel. She was so perfect in every way. Her skin was the perfect tone of alabaster except for the light freckles on the bridge of her nose. Her breathing was deep and had the odour of someone who was drugged. Three wolves moved to surround her simultaneously.
Logan had to do something. Finally, he did the only thing he could. He pressed hard on the back of the female wolf he’d been kneeling on. She started moaning in fear and pain due to lack of oxygen. Her male partner growled again, and threw his head back and howled to the rest of the attackers. Then he dropped to his knees and materialised into a human being. Logan didn’t wait, he leaped off of the female as he watched her male partner lift her still body in his arms and run in the opposite direction of him and Imogen.
The other three wolves turned to watch Logan approaching, his bloody Ninjatō sword drawn and ready. They glanced again at each other and Logan imagined they were talking through their mental pack link before they turned and made a speedy retreat. Logan rushed to her side intent of lifting her and taking her back to Chloe with him where he would keep her safe. It was clear to him now how foolish he’d been. Imogen needed him and he needed Imogen. He would never leave her side again. Then she opened her magnificent eyes and looked at him and his mind went instantly blank. Everything that happened over the past few months was gone. The Wolfoni clan…gone. Elizabeth…gone.
The Nogitsune Elizabeth used powerful magic on Imogen to make sure she and the other members of the Wolfoni clan lost their memory. She wanted to make sure they had absolutely no memory of ever seeing her. The magic was so strong that for a period of time, they wouldn’t even remember their own names. Just bits and pieces of their childhood. The certainly would have no memory of anything that happened to them over the past month or two. The spell was intended to give them a full mind wipe and anyone they connected with telepathically would also become infected as well. Then she directed her devotee’s to make sure the Wolfoni clan got separated and left the caves in different directions. With any luck they would all go their separate ways and would spend months on end without their memories. Keeping them apart was a key part of making the spell last since it would break the moment someone mentioned her name and gave details of the event. Then, their memories of their past, Elizabeth and everything else that occurred over the past few months would flood back to them.
By touching Imogen, Logan became infected with Elizabeth’s spell, suddenly he knew only one thing. The beautiful female in his arms was his promised mate, and that he instantly loved her. She belonged in his arms and he was never going to let her go. Where they would go, what they would do… honestly he had no idea why they were even in this place or how they got there. Suddenly her pert lips parted and she whispered,
"Don’t touch me, don’t you know who... I mean what I am?"
Logan wouldn’t have been able to understand what she said if not for his excellent hearing. He didn’t know her name, he wasn’t even sure what his name was but he knew she belong to him. He tilted his head and smiled at her. He could see she was losing consciousness again but before she passed out he smiled and said.
"My promised mate.”