The Call of the Moon
Elara always felt out of place in her human skin. Beneath her laughter with friends, the endless scroll of her phone, and her carefully curated "normal" life, there was something deeper—a pull she couldn't explain. It wasn't just a love for wolves or a fascination with nature. It was a truth she didn't dare speak aloud.
She wasn't just human.
It started as dreams. Running through dense forests, the ground cool beneath her paws, the wind tangling her fur. She would wake with her heart pounding, the scent of pine and soil lingering in her nose. But the feelings didn't stay in the dreams. During the day, her senses would heighten—her hearing sharp, her nose catching scents no one else noticed. Crowds felt suffocating, and the sound of city life grated on her nerves.
Elara tried to suppress it, to bury it deep. She read about therians, watched videos of people claiming to feel the same. But a nagging voice whispered, They don't feel it like you do.
It all came to a head one crisp autumn night. The full moon hung low in the sky, bathing the woods behind her house in silver light. Elara had gone out to "clear her head," but she didn't tell anyone the truth. She needed to run.
Her breath fogged in the cool air as she stepped into the forest. The second her bare feet touched the earth, she felt it—a surge of energy, wild and untamed, rushing through her veins. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, and a low growl escaped her throat.
The change was subtle at first. Her posture shifted, her senses sharpened. She dropped to all fours, her hands pressing into the dirt like paws. The familiar ache of transformation rippled through her muscles—not a physical change but a mental shift so intense it felt tangible.
Elara let out a howl, raw and unrestrained, the sound echoing through the trees. For the first time in her life, she felt whole.
She ran, her limbs moving with an animal grace, the world blurring past her. The wind whispered secrets to her, and the forest seemed alive in a way she had never noticed before. This was her world, her territory.
But the euphoria didn't last.
A snap of a twig brought her to a halt. She froze, her ears straining for the sound. It wasn't just an animal—it was something larger. Her nose twitched, catching the scent of another predator.
A pair of amber eyes appeared in the darkness, followed by the hulking form of a wolf. Not a dream wolf, not a figment of her imagination—a real, breathing beast, its fur glinting in the moonlight.
Elara's heart raced. She lowered herself, instinctively growling. But the wolf didn't attack. It tilted its head, watching her with an intelligence that sent shivers down her spine.
And then, she heard it. Not a voice, not words exactly, but a feeling—a connection that thrummed in her bones.
You're not one of them.
The wolf stepped closer, its gaze steady. Elara's mind raced. Was it a real wolf? A spirit? Another therian? She didn't know. But she felt an overwhelming urge to follow it.
The wolf turned and padded deeper into the forest. Without hesitation, Elara followed, her human doubts left behind with every step.
What she found that night would change her forever. A hidden world, a pack she didn't know she belonged to, and a truth that even she wasn't ready to face:
Her connection to the wild wasn't just a feeling. It was a calling.
