How do you fight the Moon?
The King has fallen to a God.
The world is gathering, surrounding the Northern hemisphere on all side, crushing, strangling the land in a tight noose.
All they demand is Charlie's head. The female Alpha born from two alp...
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. . . ancient forest greens.
Odin is granite against the backdrop of movement.
. . . he is all teeth.
Everything about Odin seems raw and jagged—something you can cut against and sharpen for war. He looks untouchable but also within reach. It's a dream—a nightmare. He looks otherworldly—like a god. Transfixed, I stare at him, skin and Wild blurred. Like me, he has become one with his Wild.
The center of my chest ignites, spreading deep into the marrow. Some slumbering storm I've tried to run away from now arrives. I stand before Odin, and he stands before me.
The bond is a different force now. It surges and grows like my rib bones have been starved. There is a new energy that I crave greedily. It's nourishment not of the body but of the soul. A current slips into my flesh. It wants to propel my spine towards him. I feel on the verge of submersion, and to stay buoyant, I need claws and teeth to claim his throat. Ancient instinct drives two halves together to become One.
"Charlie," he exhales my name without blockage.
Odin's eyes trace my body. It's as if those teeth are against my skin—they don't bite. Inhaling, lungs touch ribs. Everything on Odin demands to be noticed. As a child, I was without fear until Odin. Because of him, I became used to a face covered in salt tears. I cannot move away. I know I should, but I cannot move a muscle. My mind says run like before, but my bones say stay. I stay. Now, he stands before me, and I realize I've lost my fear of him. My past has haunted me. Now, my future is free. There are no longer any footsteps I will walk in but my own. I understand how to lead myself. No one will ever lead me again.
It's sun-sharp out while the approaching storm darkens the periphery.
I approach Odin. His spine holds the territory his feet remain on. I circle him without any caution. He also turns, never allowing his back to face me. I am watched as a predator with sharp teeth and blood-love. I can hear the beat of his heart hammering in his throat.
Teeth-sharp. Ready. I stand at my full height.
"Retribution has come for you, Odin. Look at you now. Most would say you are an Abomination." I could almost laugh. I don't.
Palms up to the sun, "Do you see me now?" A lifted lip with a voice that holds no revulsion.
"I do." Ancient greens anchor into mine. He smells of moss deep in the forest, dark soil, and freshwater.
"What am I, Odinson?" The crows' caws rise around us in chaos. We stand still in the blur of motion on our sun-scorched spot.
A beat. Another. Wild-eyes and raw, I show him my teeth. The sound that comes from my throat brings his knee down hard on the ground. His claws anchor into the soil until the snarl from my chest subsides. Odin rises, facing me head-on. His body is tight. Chin up, shoulders back, eyes straight, on me.
