The True Luna

Two. In Which A Wolf Falls In Love.

My mind awakes and all I can sense is him. His sound comes first, the steady thump of his heart filling my head before I have even seen him.

Th-thump.

Next is the smell, his odor winding its way through my nostrils as the monster shifts.

Th-thump.

She snarls inside my soul, disliking the way I think of her. She deserves it.

Th-thump.

Nerves fire up next, feeling the bite of rope digging into my skin, the scratch of the silver threads. Why am I tied up? Did he tie me up?

Th-thump.

"Let me go!" A girl cries, and it all comes rushing back to me. I force him to the back of my mind. "I swear if another person tries to kidnap me today I'll... I'll steal their nose!"

I flex my muscles, testing the ropes. I can break these, the silver of this planet does not burn my skin. The monster snorts. They have underestimated us.

My eyes flutter open in a pretense of being groggier than I am, and I observe the scene. The girl is being tied up, to a tree that faces me, and she is the first to notice I am awake. She says nothing. Maybe she is finally on my side?

There are a handful of men between us, all bare. What is it with these modern wolves and their lack of modesty? He is in his animal form, just behind them, and the monster purrs at the sight of him. Stupid lovesick dog.

I feel eyes on me, crawling across my skin. Eyes in the trees-- more of them in wild form, many more, thinking the shadows will protect them. They do not know the shadows whisper to me, do not know there is more to be feared between the dark trees than themselves.

The girl will be a problem though. She must live.

One of the men turns, noticing me. "Hey, pretty girl's awake."

I am not pretty. I am not a girl any longer.

He steps towards me and the monster bristles. She projects her longings to me-- enamel daggers tearing apart flesh, blood soaking into my earth, life forces filling my stomach, we will gorge on them, we will become fat on them. Claiming the male as a victory prize, even the shadows recoiling from her evil.

Bodies will meet the earth. No. Souls will enter the darkness. No. She cannot be freed.

The men watch my anguish, watch as my cells are the battleground for a war they could never begin to fathom, a war I win today. Not for long...

"Ah, look at her. She's scared," laughs a taller one from the back.

I am. Just not of them.

The one who approached crouches down, grabbing onto my chin, causing a snarl to bubble low in my throat before I can stop it. The monster snaps at me, not liking how weak I made our sound.

His eyes are level with mine. I can see the hard glint in them, the shadow that hides behind them. Can he see the murderer in mine?

He grins, fangs on display, dullened weapons that will never be a match for my own. It is a blatant threat, meant to quieten the monster, but she just snaps even louder. Taunting always seemed to work on her. This time I am prepared for her discontent, so I guard our vocal chords.

"Alpha says we can't eat you like we did the other one because you're females. Pity-- I'm sure you'd taste really good."

The wolf I can see growls a short warning, making the monster shiver. Of course she'd fall head over heels for an Alpha, of all the wolves. Crazy animal.

Now I just need to figure out a way to distract them so I can grab the girl and be on my merry way.

"The other one?" questions a small voice from behind him.

"Yeah." The man in front of me turns around. "He looks a bit like you actually."

"My father..." The girl takes a gulping breath. "You're all horrible! I hate you!" She started kicking and crying and screaming.

By the shadows, that girl is good at drawing attention.

I pull my hands apart quickly, snapping the ropes between them. My wrists burn, but the monster takes all the pain for me as I reach into the darkness behind the tree, drawing on the strength of the earth beneath my body, the blood that courses through my veins, and my own spirit. I just hope it will be enough.

The shadows come to form behind the tree, swirling together into a physical entity, a dark mirror of the monster inside me. My head droops, my being no longer carrying enough energy to hold it up, and my eyes slip shut just as I feel an icy nose press into my hand. It is ready, fully formed.

My consciousness leaves my body, entering the mind of the four-legged shadow which hides behind me.

Hackles raise as I step forwards, the Earth shaking with the pure power of my strides, the sky darkening above us and thunder rumbling.

I growl and the world growls with me, the wolves all taking a cautious step back. I can hear my body behind me joining in, snarling as the monster briefly takes over in my abscence. Muscles bunched, low to the ground, I dart forwards, announcing my war in flashes of teeth and whisps of darkness as the storm grows louder overhead.

They run. Their Alpha is the last to leave, taking a final cautious look at me over his shoulder before he too escapes.

Th-thump. His heart is still strong and steady, unafraid.

As soon as I am sure they are gone, I quickly drop the shadow form, retreating my mind back into my own body before the monster that hides in it has a chance to chase after them. I force her out of our brain with brute strength, locking her away into the depths of our heart as she growls her protests.

I open my eyes, quickly breaking through the rest of the ropes before darting to the girl in front of me. She is silent for once, looking confused, as if her whole world had just been replaced with a new one.

In a way, it had.

I kneel down in front of her. "Are you alright?"

She nods as I untie her ropes, slight burns visible from where the silver lay against her skin. Poor thing.

She takes in a deep breath. "Father always said... He always said I was brave. He.. he said that I might have to do some stuff that makes me really scared or nervous, but.. I just have to--" She closes her eyes for a moment, before continuing. "I have to remember to be brave."

I look at her for a bit, trying to come up with the right thing to say. "Your father gave good advice."

"He does. Did."

I could have saved him. If I hadn't of walked away, I could have saved that man, no matter how much he deserved to die, just so his daughter could see him one last time. But I didn't.

Maybe I'm as bad as the monster.