Page 28 of The Wolf Moon

I pushed myself from the bed, swaying as I stood on my own two feet. I absently reached for my neck, wincing as my fingers brushed against that cursed mark. I walked unsteadily towards the opened window, the cold air doing nothing to cool the heat of my skin. I reached for the window frame, looking up to the moon which shined a bright, full glow in the cloudy night sky. My body had been correct. It was the full moon. I wouldn’t last the night.

I wanted to go home.

I flung my leg over the window ledge, climbing from the room as I had done before. Only as I tried to lower myself down the side of the building, my arms shook with fatigue and my lungs burned from the strain. I made it down only halfway before my hands faltered and my world spun around me unhelpfully. I suddenly was weightless just briefly before I hit the ground roughly, landing on my back and losing my breath momentarily.

My vision spun and blurred around me. I gasped for air, closing my eyes against the confusion, and after a moment it all finally steadied until I felt I could move again. I pushed myself back to my feet, glancing around deliriously before heading in the direction I hoped the temple was. I could find my village from there.

I walked with difficulty, holding my neck with pain as though I could contain it myself. I could see my breath in front of me, fogging the cold air thickly, and yet I could only feel the fever pulsing heavily throughout me. I continued until I found myself distracted by the sound of a beat that wasn’t my own heart.

In the night among the trees, I could hear a low rhythmic beat pulsing with determination. I hesitated, glancing in the direction of the noise and then in the direction of the temple. The temple seemed so much further away, miles or planets away, whereas the beat was growing louder in my skull, calling to me.

I followed it curiously, watching as the dark of the night became brighter through the trees; light flickered along the surface of the trees in the distance as the music grew louder. For a moment, I thought I must be dreaming. Or perhaps I had stepped into my own village without realizing it. My steps became faster, more desperate to reach the source of the beat.

Every full moon, there was a celebration in my village in honor of the shapeshifters, as an old tradition. Music was played, there was dancing, and it was one of the only nights children were allowed to be awake late into the night. It was the only way I suspected humans maintained a sense of happiness in a world where deity creatures threatened their existence annually.

I stepped through the trees and finally made it through to the source of the celebration. A large bonfire roared in the center of the clearing, catching my immediate attention. I stopped where I stood, lowering my hands and staring into the bright flames as though hypnotized. The music was loud around me, drowning out the beat of my own pained heartbeat.

There were shapes of bodies moving around the fire freely, their steps swift and dancing along the beats of the drums with ease. Hands reached for the air, reached to the moon, and my eyes were drawn from the flames to those bodies. I looked for my family, for the faces of those who raised and loved me. I listened for my brother’s cry, when he would see me before I saw him as always. I waited for someone to grab my wrist and pull me into the music.

But no faces belonged to my friends or family. No hands reached for me and only a deep, masculine voice called for me.

“Milena,” I heard Roman from the distance. I wasn’t home. I was still in the wolf’s den. And now I could see their eyes glowing in the dark, staring at me from all around; predators watching a weak prey that would be dead soon.

I turned and ran away from the deafening music and away from Roman. As I ran, it began to snow. Flakes fell from the roof of the trees, falling freely and melting on my heated skin. The fever was growing. I felt my flesh was burning and my lungs with it. My heart was loud in my head, easier to hear with the drums quieting into the distance.

Pain struck my mark causing me to yelp and fall to my knees briefly. I clutched at the bite with a whimper before shaking my head and pushing myself to my feet again. I ran further, weaving through the trees and breathing painstakingly through every pulse of pain. It was as though I thought I could outrun the curse entirely.

I came across a lake and stopped hesitantly. For a moment, I just stared at it, tilting my head as I looked at the surface. The snow fell quietly around me, hovering over the surface of the lake before dissolving without disturbing it. I could see the stars and moon reflected in the water and I looked up to see clouds covering the glow of the full moon mysteriously. I looked back down to the lake, feeling delirious.

Another sharp pain pulsed from the mark on my neck and I cried out, swaying briefly before allowing myself to crumble to the floor of the trees weakly. With my face pressed against the cold of the ground, I could watch the surface of the lake and for some reason this was just as hypnotizing as the flames of the bonfire not too far away.

I wanted to go home, but I knew it was impossible. I could fight monsters. I could stab at them, shoot arrows, and hurt them. But I couldn’t fight a curse. All I could do is tell myself to keep breathing as long as it would allow me to breathe.

Arms pulled me from the ground, twisting me onto my back and lifting me until I was cradled against the strong form of the King Alpha. My eyes lifted from the lake to his face, taking in his features blankly. His expression was stony, carefully composed despite the obvious displeasure in his eyes. I wanted to hate him. But instead, there was only the fear that echoed within me; that awareness that my end was extremely close. And in that awareness was the simple fact that I just couldn’t hate Roman.

“I want to go home,” I whimpered, sounding much like a child suddenly.

“Not possible,” Roman responded shortly, his tone pained against his will. He aimed to lift me, probably to take me back to his room, and I reached to grab onto his shirt desperately.

“I don’t want to go back,” I pleaded, gasping at the growing pain within me, “I want to stay out here. Please.” Roman hesitated, as though he didn’t want to grant me any reprieve in case it ended up being a snowball effect, but after a moment he settled into the ground with me, holding me against his better nature.

“As you wish,” He muttered lowly.

I sighed with relief, rolling my eyes from Roman to the sky above us and the trees around us. I reached for the ground, tracing my fingers weakly against the cold dirt and what brown grass remained in the winter weather.

“At what point did you stop loving this, the Earth around you?” I asked absently, watching the snow falling around us intensely as though afraid of closing my own eyes even for a moment. “Can you hear it? It’s like one long rhythm celebrating every minute of every day.”

“You’re delirious,” Roman responded slowly.

Another sharp pain pulsed through me and I tensed, clenching my mouth shut to prevent any cries from escaping me. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t want Roman to hear any signs of weakness from me in my last moments. I wasn’t trying to impress him. Perhaps I was trying to protect him for some reason. However, when this pain was followed by an immediate aftermath of another, my attempts failed and I cried out in agony.

I clung to Roman, whimpering as the pain dulled only briefly.

“Will you take me home?” I asked senselessly.

“Not possible,” Roman grunted, repeating his previous sentiment with difficulty.

“Afterwards. Will you take me after I’m gone? My family-” I inhaled sharply at another pulse of pain, my muscles tensing as though trying to absorb some of the shock throughout me. Roman didn’t answer my request, though I felt it probably would be the same answer. It wouldn’t matter, anyways.

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