Moon Children

The hunt

                    The Hunt

I raced through the woods, my four paws striking the earth in an easy rhythm.

At first, running on four legs instead of two was strange and I kept tripping up. But all that was a distant memory as I streaked across an open clearing with ease. A howl rang up to the north and I immediately headed in that direction.

The fastest in the pack, I was always at the front of the hunt. That's how hunts worked. The fastest chased down the prey then the strongest would bring it to the ground.

I sniffed the air and the musk of the moose filled my nostrils. A male. His tracks became visible in the dirt of the forest floor, not that a skilled hunter like myself needed to use them.

I felt a brush at my side and knew it was my flanker William, the only other wolf able to keep pace with me, at a push. His dark fur was a stark contrast to my own blinding white coat, which I inherited from my father.

Will's howl was the one that had set off the hunt. He was always good at locating prey. I swiveled my ears to point behind me as I heard the soft beats of my pack following.

Time to get to work.

I lowered my head and poured energy into my limbs, causing me to burst ahead of the others. The prey's hind quarters came into sight ahead and I lunged. My jaws closed on the back haunch of the moose and it let out a cry. It's warm blood flowed into my mouth kicking in the bloodlust of a true wolf. The prey bucked, trying to free itself from my iron grip.

Within seconds the rest of the pack was on the moose. William jumped onto it's back and sack his teeth into the flesh of the moose's neck. Jake, the second biggest wolf in the pack caught the beast by the throat. It gurgled as its airways were being crushed by the force of Jake's bite.

The beast's legs buckled beneath it and gravity helped us pull it to the ground. Eventually, its feeble attempts to rise turned into postmortem twitches. Harry, a sandy coloured wolf, let out a short howl in triumph. That's when he arrived.

A massive silver wolf with eyes the colour of ice, he strode towards the kill like he owned it. And he did, because he was the Alpha. He snapped his jaws at those who got too close to his flanks. I lowered my head in a sign of submission, even though it made my fur bristle. Being submissive wasn't one of my strong suits, even though he was my father. My packmates and I waited while he ate his share, the biggest share, of the kill. It irked me that he never joined us in a hunt yet he always ate more than he needed. When he was done, he sauntered back into the murky darkness of the forest. I snorted with distaste. I may be his daughter and he would defend me with his life, he never seemed interested in pack life, only defending it.

I felt someone bump my flank with their nose. I turned my head to look at Will and saw worry in his golden eyes. I cocked my head to the side and pricked my ears up,  my way of telling him I was fine. He chuffed at me then pushed a space for us both around the kill.  I ate, found a small clearing and curled up with my pack mates to sleep.

I awoke in my human form amongst a bunch of men. Jake was hugging my leg like a pillow and my head was on Will's chest. Harry was sprawled eagle just like always, his chest rising and falling with soft snores. David was lying at my back, his arm slung across Jake's face.

As werewolves, we don't magically transform into a fully clothed human when shifting so we were all naked. That may freak some people out but that's just what being a werewolf means. You don't have to hide any part of you. Pure freedom.

Jake's grip on my leg tightened and I decided it was time for him to wake up. I shook my leg vigorously and he groaned.

"What?" he murmured sleepily against my skin.

"Jake your crushing my leg."

"Oops! Sorry Skylar," he smiled sheepishly and released my leg.

I felt my skin start to prickle as blood rushed back to my numb limb. I stretched my body out, my muscles singing with energy. I  always felt great after a hunt. Although the whole eating raw meat from a still warm body used to make me throw up. Violently.

Werewolves begin their first change after they turn sixteen. The full moon has nothing to do with it, even though we're known as 'moon children'. Now nineteen, my hang ups about being half wolf were nothing more than a mere memory.

Beside me, David grunted, bringing me back to the present. I looked at the sky above. Only the strongest stars were still visible, the sky the colour of burnt orange as the sun started to rise but hadn't yet peeked over the horizon. I couldn't see a single cloud. The forest was silent,  like the whole world was holding it's breath for dawn. The sun broke free of the horizon and birds began to sing in the trees. It was beautifully peaceful.

I detached myself from the pile of bodies and stood, kicking my packmates awake.

"What the hell Skylar!" complained Harry as my foot connected with his shoulder.

"Get up! It's dawn and you know my father wants us at the house in the morning. Or do you want to disobey the Alpha?"

I got four mumbled no's in reply and they started to come to life, untangling themselves and stretching.

Jake rubbed his jaw, "Damn that moose put up a fight. My jaw is killing me!"

"Oh man up," said David, giving the other man a playful shoulder punch, "That hunt was awesome! Biggest moose we've taken down since winter. Strange he had no herd though."

"Yeah I noticed that, it was alone when I came across it," grumbled William. He hates getting up early.

"I wonder why?" said Harry, dusting dusting blades of grass off his body.

I groaned, "It doesn't matter why it was alone, all that matters is we took it down."

David ruffled my long, curly blonde hair, "Someone's grumpy."

I slapped his hand away, "Get off me you brute. I'm not grumpy,  I just hate those stupid territory reports my father gives us."

"Brute? That's fighting talk," chuckled David, his dark green eyes glinting with mischief.

"Cut it out you two and go find your clothes," said Jake. He was the second in command after my father. The Beta. I looked around and got my bearings. Huh. I knew this clearing.

I strolled over to a bush and retrieved my clothing, "Luckily I didn't have to travel far. I changed in this clearing."

"Damn. I have to travel to the creek to get my stuff," muttered Harry and the others laughed.

"Have fun with your hike," laughed Will, "My stuff is at the house."

I proceeded to pull on my denim shorts and sky blue tank top. I knelt down to lace up my tan Timberland walking boots.

"See you guys at the house," I said and headed off in the direction of the massive house my pack shared.