Chapter 17: Divine Restraint

'God cursed the most perverted and bloodthirsty city of man and handed them over to their feral desires.' This was how the first werewolves came to be. They were banished from human civilisation and made slaves to violence and deception.

But once every four years, God gave them a chance to learn humanity. When the moon was stained red with his blood, they lost the urge to fight and made peace with one another.

Slowly but surely, the Red Moon Truce was how the feral werewolves recovered their humanity and they were able to shift back into human form at will. It was also how they built this orderly and domesticated pack system for themselves.

What Ran tried to do—holding Dingo down by the collar on the floor of the ballroom, one hand raised to strike— threatened to undo a millennium's worth of effort spent unravelling the curse.

The hand she had lifted to slap Dingo never struck his face. Rage roared in her ears but her hand hovered in midair, held back by an invisible force. The clamour