Healing Hearts

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The wolf grinned, nodding his head towards his older cousin, "The blood of that wolf is a gift to the Goddess, thanking her for blessing us with this glorious power of healing."

Another she-wolf jumped in, supporting her brother, "It's really sad to loose a member of our pack, but we have a huge celebration to honor their life and service."

Alpha Joey leaned forward, rubbing his temples. He couldn't believe his mother's birth pack's actions at Thanksgiving — sacrificing a member like a sheep. "You're telling me," he attempted to clarify the situation, "that this pack sacrifices to the Moon Goddess on Thanksgiving."

Anthony, the male wolf who had a long cut on his face from being kicked, nodded his head, "And on Christmas for the Sun God."

"Does it not make sense to you, Joey?" Annabel asked, pretending to be worried. "We are half animals, are we not? The Moon Goddess created us to be half animal — meaning we must have some animalistic traditions to uphold to please our Goddess," she explained.

Joey chuckled, "You think the Moon Goddess wants this."

Anthony bared his teeth, glaring at the Alpha, "Our pack is the closet with the Goddess. How dare you assume the stories she give us is incorrect?"

The Alpha put his hands up, "I didn't say that. Maybe your pack has been reading them wrong."

Annabel hissed, "Are you calling our pack stupid?"

There was a giggle as another she-wolf walked into the room, "What are you two doing with Alpha Joey?"

"Nothing illegal. We were just telling him some family traditions, Mom," Annabel answered, stirring her hot chocolate. "He's never truly celebrated Thanksgiving with his entire family before."

Their mother rolled her eyes at her two youngest, "Joey, Denice is looking for you. She's in the living room."

Joey nodded his head beside making his way towards his chosen mate. He smiled when he left the kitchen and could see his son sleeping in Denice's arm on the couch.

Just in the front lawn was Marley and Layla, planning on shifting into their wolves to take a nice tour around territory. The two of them had been traveling from pack to pack, healing anyone who desperately needed help. Marley was exhausted, but she was happy she was making such a change in the world — one where she didn't hide her powers to the world.

"Are you sure you're up for a run, Marley?" Layla asked, stopping Marley from taking her shirt off. "You've been doing a lot already," she added, twirling one of Marley's strands of hair framing her face.

Marley laughed, "Fine, I just want to take you somewhere, please. We won't take a tour of the territory since you're so worried about my energy levels."

"Hannah told me to keep an eye out for them," Layla teased her mate, "since you have yet to watch for them yourself."

Marley giggled, "Whatever. Strip and let's go." She quickly took her shirt off as she headed over towards a tree, and Layla shook her head before going behind a different one.

It didn't take line for the two to shift. The wolves quickly greeting each other. Layla's wolf sheepishly liked her mate's face as Marley's wolf  nuzzled her head into Layla's shoulder.

Then Marley nipped playfully at her mate's leg before turning and taking off. Layla barked before chasing after the younger wolf. The two of them ran through the dirt paths of the Healing Moon Pack. There was laughter when the pack members sat them before getting ready for the evening.

Marley followed a familiar path, leading to the place she was leading Layla to. The old building damaged from the fight was barley standing, and multiple packs had offered funds and workers to help fix the damages.

She slowly slowed to a stop, sitting down as she stared at front entrance. Her tongue hanging from her mouth as she caught her breath. Layne trickled in moments after her, her eyes widening at the historical building.

Of course, it wasn't the exact placement where the Moon Goddess left the world physically, but the pack attempted to make an exact version of the one they left around two hundred years ago — when they were fleeing.

"Marley, Layla," the Alpha of the Healing Moon Pack carefully closed the door to the building, "what are you two doing here?"

Marley gave her father a smirk, moving to stand up. Her eyes held a determination her father didn't understand, but he sighed and opened the door again for them to go inside.

He didn't ask any questions after his first.

"You know where the clothes are," he mumbled before leaving his daughter and daughter-in-law.

It didn't take line for the two of them to shift into their human form and pull on some clothes. Layla slid on a pair of jeans and sweater when Marley tied her hair up in a ponytail tail as she was wearing some leggings and a tank top.

Layla hugged her mate, breathing into Marley's neck, "Not that I'm complaining, but why exactly are we here?"

"I was told when I make big decisions for the pack, I was supposed to come here," Marley answered, pulling away from Layla and grabbing her hand. She dragged Layla towards the room she wanted to me in, and when she opened the door, Layla gasped.

In the middle of the room was a statue of the Moon Goddess. The room was full of statues of wolves and other men and women from the Healing Moon Pack's history.

Marley gave Layla some time to took around, but the two of them were heartbroken when most statues were misses an arm or a chunk. As Layla walked around, staring at the statues, Marley moved to take a sit in front of the Moon Goddess.

She closed her eyes, resting both of her hand on the feet of the Moon Goddess. She rethought her choices, needed some advice before she asked Layla for her opinion. It tore her insides up, knowing she wouldn't be satisfied with how her life might play out.

"Marley?"