Forever Luna

Empathy

noun ~ the ability to understand and share the feelings of another

CHARLIE

Gaia's appearance was going to plague my mind for the next few days.

It was odd she came to tell me something I already knew, but it was nice to hear about back home. I couldn't believe that there were already so many babies. I just wished I could go back, just to see them, but I couldn't leave Calida.

Not when she was going to get herself into trouble.

Again.

Why was she toying with pack borders? She was insane. She may as well roll over and for a fight.

The sudden zesty intrusion of home trifled through the undergrowth. I lowered my snout, taking large lungfuls of the scent I have been tracking for so long. It bubbled in my gut, filled my lungs with air for the first time in a long time.

The closer I got, the more I felt like I could breathe again. Her scent invaded my senses, filled me with sentimentality. I followed it, held onto that scent and that feeling until I could no longer hold anymore. And then, as I broke through the last row of trees, I saw her.

She was prowling the pack border, her snout to the ground. I let out a friendly bark to catch her attention. The last thing I wanted to do was make her think I was sneak-attacking her.

Her ears twitched at the sound, an immediate growl bubbling in her chest. Swirling round, she scanned the area until she found me. Then she let rip an almighty growl that made my wolf cry in sorrow. Her claws dug into the dirt, the hackles on her neck rising as she bared her teeth and widened her stance.

She was warning us away.

She didn't want us still.

All of these weeks of following her, I should've let reality settle in.

She ran from us for a reason. Her wolf had no connection to me, to my wolf, whatsoever.

I whined, lowering myself to the ground. She watched me move, her dark eyes locked onto my face. I really didn't want to roll over in submission. That was just weak of me, especially so close to the pack border. I was beta blood, after all.

But now, so was Calida.

And I realised I wasn't just against a feral, wild wolf, but one that has the power of a beta. And suddenly, that made everything very real.

As suspected, she charged for me.

I rolled out of the way as she came barrelling past, a harsh whine escaping me. Her claws dug up the earth, her teeth snapping with warning. She came for me again, and we tousled. I pushed her away with all my might, not wanting to hurt her. She scampered on her feet, catching her footing before she collided with a tree.

She spun around slower this time, and I made a great show of keeping myself low to the floor.

It didn't work, and within seconds, her wolf was pinning me to the ground with her paws and snarling in my face. On a chance of reflex, I shifted to my skin.

Her snarls quietened as she watched the transformation happen, and when I lay naked and vulnerable beneath her, she stopped. She licked her snout, huffing with frustration. A low grumble bubbled in her chest, one of agitation rather than feral anger, and I remained still beneath her.

Still had my face and throat intact. I call that a win.

Her paws flexed, claws digging into my skin. I barely flinched as it cut the skin, sinking into the muscle below. Instead, her dark eyes darted down, and her nostrils flared, and then ever so slowly, she removed them. And then her whole paw, and before I knew it, she was not longer looming over me.