Page 17 of The Wolf Moon

The woman looked surprised by my outburst. She looked from me to her arm, where the crescent moon was resting. Now that she was closer, I could see the lines around it, the shape of a bow shadowed in the moon.

“Before I came here and learned of the new laws, I was considered a daughter of the Maiden. She’s the patron Goddess of hunters and is valued by the waxing moon,” The woman explained, making me hesitate. She looked from the tattoo to me, “I’m a healer, now. I wouldn’t say I’m the most innocent person out there, but I’ve never purposely hurt anyone. And of the two of us here now, I’m the only one not covered in the blood of another.”

I opened my mouth to argue with her, but came up short. After a moment, I frowned and crossed my arms together.

“Okay, fine. What do you want?”

The woman smiled briefly, stepping towards me further. I held still as she reached for me, moving my untamed hair from my shoulder to look at the bite wound on my neck. For a moment, she only stared at it. Then she swallowed heavily before releasing me.

“You’ve been marked,” She stated simply.

“I’ve been bitten,” I corrected her, disgruntled. “It feels like it’s on fire. And I think he infected me with something. I’ve felt weird ever since I woke up.”

“What do you mean by weird?” She coaxed me for gently.

“I mean I feel like I’ve been given something. A disease, maybe. My skin doesn’t feel like my skin and it’s like… everything is louder than usual.”

The woman looked at me quietly, mulling over my symptoms silently. Then she lifted her hand and gripped my upper arm.

“Let’s clean you up and take a closer look. There’s a few things you need to know that you obviously don’t already,” She stated, her voice exasperated from sudden anxiety. I opened and closed my mouth, uncertain of what to say. She looked at me briefly. “My name is Diana, by the way. Sorry we weren’t introduced properly.”

“Yeah, okay. I’m Mila,” I answered, utterly confused.

I thought I would be led back to the clinic, but instead I was taken to an actual home. I felt my eyes were too open. I was looking at things I wouldn’t typically notice before; taking in sights and sounds that were amplified more than usual. My skin crawled each time Diana’s flesh brushed against mine, recalling that power that now felt just under the surface.

“Caleb,” Diana called out briefly, looking around quickly as we entered her home. I looked from my surroundings to her quickly. She didn’t mean Beta Caleb, did she? I shook my head. Either way, there was no one else in the house. “Come upstairs.”

Diana led me up the stairs and into a bathroom. She started draw a bath with ease, testing the water before abruptly disappearing through the door. I looked around slowly, my eyes landing on the mirror. I was strangely not startled by my appearance at all. Besides the wound on my neck, I had looked worse before. Especially when I was younger and used to play with the boys in the village. When participating in fake battles, I was the one who would cover my entire body in mud and stalk them like a beast in the night. They thought I was downright terrifying sometimes.

Diana appeared with fresh clothes folded neatly along with a towel.

“My clothes are too small for you so…” She blushed suddenly, looking at me with embarrassment. She specifically eyed my breasts and then quickly looked away. “I’m sorry if they end up looking ridiculous. We’ll go looking for better fitting ones later.”

She left me alone to bathe. I cleaned myself, inspecting my body for hidden wounds while I did so. When it came to the bite wound on my neck, I could only briefly clean around it before quitting altogether. Once I was done, I dried myself and looked at the new clothes presented to me.

The pants were far too tight, outlining my every curve uncomfortably. The shirt was probably worse. Despite Diana’s attempt of giving me something loose, it was still too tight for me. And the cleavage that resulted from my attire was embarrassing. I tried my best to fit it as well as I could and then I equipped my thigh strap sheath and blade quickly.

I walked downstairs to look for Diana and found her in the kitchen. My sight was greeted by a display of a hearty breakfast. I stared at it a moment.

“Go on and eat,” Diana suggested to me kindly. I only hesitated for a second before immediately seating myself and digging in. Food won over distrust again. She let me finish in peace before sitting next to me expectantly.

I turned to her and frowned.

“You said there were things I needed to know,” I stated shortly. Diana placed what looked like a bandaging kit on the table in front of me. I tilted my head when she reached for me silently, wincing when she began to clean the wound professionally.

“You’ve been marked,” She repeated firmly before taking a moment to inspect the bite once more. She ran her finger behind the bite, indicating the length of the area. “This is where the mark is to be made, on the left side of the neck just on the curve. It’s above your heart. When a wolf marks their mate, they are answering a request of the Mother, who is the patron Goddess of Lovers. The Mother gives you a mate, you accept the gift by marking your mate, and it’s considered an honoring. However…” She hesitated.

“What is it?” I felt a sense of doom in her words. Was my head going to fall off?

“Well, did you mark him?”

I pulled away just to stare at her and her absurd question.

“I thought not,” Diana said with a sigh before reaching for me again to put a bandage over the bite gently. “You cannot mark a mate without it being reciprocated. It’s considered the opposite of an honoring. It’s an insult to the Mother. It’s a way to announce you recognize her gift and are considering to refuse it. And the Mother does not take insults lightly. None of the Goddesses do.”

“Wait. Are you saying I’m insulting the Goddesses?” I asked in disbelief. “I didn’t even know what the whole mate thing was. I was just trying to survive a fight… he’s immortal. Why did no one tell me he can’t die? I can’t kill something that can’t die.”

Diana reached for my upper arms, catching my attention firmly before smiling sweetly.

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