Daughter of Luka (LGBT+)

Sixteen 🌑

As I cloud-gazed, thoughts of the past few days drifted through my mind. 

There had to be something more to that forest. That was the first thought that came to me. And I had been thinking on the subject ever since I had seen the news report. Wolves in Lykos forest? I supposed it made enough sense. After all, it wasn't as though I hadn't heard about all of the rumours. I had. That was the problem. There was no way I was going to be able to stay away from the forest now, even if my father really wished for me to keep as far away from them as possible. 

With these thoughts in mind, I made a decision. I was going to make my way to the forest in the evening. I would have to sneak out. 

Now that my father knew about the wolves, there was no way he was going to let me go to the forest alone. The last time, I had Accalia with me. Now, though, now was different. I would be venturing alone and even I wasn't sure whether that was such a good idea. Nevertheless, my curiosity had captured me and I couldn't let go of the questions that raced through my mind. 

Could it really just be simple coincidence that I had a dream that a wolf was staring at me, right before there was a news report to say that a wolf had been sighted? That much was possible, but I sincerely doubted it. 

I was optimistic that I could do this, though. After all, it wouldn't be the first time that I had gone to the forest. And I had survived on that occasion. 

I stood up from the soft grass of the meadow and decided to make my way back home. 

Much of the rest of the day consisted of me cleaning, studying, painting and working out. I knew that I needed to get on my dad's good side so that he wouldn't be so suspicious of me.  

It impressed me a little that I was able to even concentrate on my studies when my mind wanted to think about anything but mathematics right now. Regardless, I completed chapter one of the Calculus Guide for Dummies. I could have sworn that book was made for me. 

Kate had been helping me out a lot too, though. I sort of owed her one. I also hadn't messaged her over the course of the past few days. I decided to pull my phone out of my pocket and quickly typed her a message, apologising for being so absent, but stating that I had been fairly preoccupied. I believed that 'fairly preoccupied' was an understatement, but Kate didn't need to know everything about the wolves and the forests. She would try to fight against me visiting them, then, too. 

My father's warnings were enough. I really believed that I didn't need another lecture.

While I finished off my painting, the sky continued to darken to a navy blue outside of my bedroom window. 

I took a breath as I heard my father wander into his room and shut the door behind him. 

It was now or never. 

I walked to my door and turned the handle and walked out into the hall. 

I had been expecting for my father to be stood there, somehow, waiting for me to make a wrong step. 

Fortunately, he was still in his room. 

I tiptoed down the hall and down the stairs and swiftly grabbed my coat. 

After that, I headed out into the night. 

It was cold, so I pulled my coat closer to my body and sped up my steps to generate some warmth. 

I kept walking onward- further and further into the forest, until I saw the haze of fire before me. 

Well, I definitely wasn't alone. 

I swallowed. 

There was a chance that there were just hunters out this late- waiting for a chance to get their hands on a wolf, or rather their bullets. 

I cringed at the thought of it. 

Sure, they may be dangerous, but they were still beautiful creatures deserving of life. 

Pushing that thought out of my mind, I decided that I needed to get a closer look at what was going on. 

I kept walking on until I could make out the cave in the distance. 

It was easier to see it, this time around, all thanks to the torches.

It was then that I realised that Accalia had lied to me. Studying, my arse. She wasn't studying. She was stood by the torches, in a circle of people. 

What kind of cult-like shit was this? I thought to myself, though I couldn't take my eyes away for even a moment. 

"Welcome to the Full Moon Ceremony," a voice- deep and male- spoke. 

Accalia turned her head towards him and smiled. 

"It is tonight, the sixteenth birthday of Fenn Winters, that we welcome him to the tribe," the man continued. "Fenn, please step into the centre of the circle." 

Fenn, seemingly so much taller now, stepped into the centre of the circle. 

How was it possible for him to have grown so much between now and the last time that I had seen him? This was crazy. 

There was a moment's wait, as the man chanted in some language that I had never heard before, and then Fenn turned into a wolf. 

I wish I was joking, but I was neither custom to visual hallucinations nor had I ingested any shrooms in the past couple of hours, so I could only assume that what I had seen was real. 

Fenn had been a boy. Now, he was a wolf. 

He remained a wolf for a few moments, before he became a human again. Once he had turned back, his skin was bare. The transformation had tattered his clothes. 

The group turned their backs, apart from Accalia who passed Fenn a cloak to wrap himself up in. 

She smiled at him and Fenn, though his eyes were wide with astonishment, managed to smile back. 

I turned around and bolted for my home, not caring for the fact that I cracked a few twigs under my shoes on the way back from the cave.