Mated

Third Moon

Chapter Thirty-Six "Third Moon"

And that was how it went for the next three weeks. Lyric was gaining more control over her wolf. Even going so far as to be fully present during a shift. Shifting was easier; all she had to do now was think 'shift' and she did. And now she was working on shifting only certain parts of her body at a time, starting with her fingernails. She was still weak and shaky after her shifts but even that was slowly getting better. Tonight was the full moon and she had no worries about shifting to run with Kieran this time. In fact, she was looking forward to it.

She ran her comb through her hair after her shower and went to find her mate, wrapped only in a towel. She felt safer out here than she had in a long time. More powerful and in control. He was busy eating a last minute sandwich that contained mostly bacon and looked up when she walked into the kitchen.

"You about ready?" he asked through a mouthful of food. She nodded and waited for him to finish. Once he was done, they went out into the woods and she let her towel drop. Kieran gave her a soft whistle and she blushed. "What, you look good," he purred, running his hands from her shoulders to her hips. "And you smell divine," he growled, sniffing behind her ear—which made her shriek and pull away. "Moons almost there," he said, a little breathlessly.

She nodded and closed her eyes. She let the moon pull at her and soon, she was wolf.

Lyric looked around the now mostly familiar woods and stretched, feeling the aches in her muscles loosen. She nudged her mate with her muzzle and gestured they go for a hunt. To which he obliged. She had managed to get out of the killing for sport mindset and would only kill enough to eat. They tracked down several rabbits before looking for something bigger to fill her belly. A moose scent wafted to her and she looked to Kieran. Silently asking if they could. Her mate hesitated a moment before stalking off through the woods, in the direction of the smell. There was something different about this moose smell. Something that she couldn't quite put her finger on. She shook her head and cleared her nose before tracking the beast down. They were just getting closer to the source of the scent when she caught it. A scent that made her blood boil. Stone. She tore off from the side of her mate, letting her nose lead her, and saw a large light brown wolf standing in a clearing. She ramped up her speed and the wolf took off, easily keeping ahead of her. This was the man who had poisoned her and threatened her mates position. The one who had declared war. She was going to kill him if she could. At the very least, she'd make him wish he had never been born.

The larger wolf crashed through the underbrush, breaking off saplings and twigs, and she followed his path. A particular branch didn't break and instead flung back into her face, effectively knocking her down. Stone turned around at her and bared his teeth in a grin. She growled, climbing to her feet and the chase was on once more. Another clearing was up ahead and she faltered when she was hit with a wave of human stench. There was no fear in it, just determination, and it confused her. What were humans doing on their new territory? Most of all, what did Stone think he was doing?

They burst into the clearing and Lyric skidded to a halt before a large group of humans, who stood with torches and guns. Stone circled behind them and then stayed put, watching with amused hazel eyes. Kieran came busting into the clearing far to the right and a shot rang out. Lyric watched in horror as her mate yelped and collapsed to the ground, running full tilt for him. Another shot rang out and she felt something whiz by her left flank, close enough to ruffle the fur. A third rang loudly and something else whizzed by her ear. She made it to her mate and quickly shifted back into human form.

"Kieran!" she shrieked, falling to her knees beside his now naked human body. She turned him over and saw blood pouring from his chest. "No no no, Kieran!" she shouted, clamping her hands over the wound.