Page 36 of The Wolf Moon

“Artemis, huntress of the moon,” I heard the whispers around me and for some reason I knew the words as well, “make my aim true.”

Diana had stopped twirling and was instead in the center of the circle, first on her knees and then on her back. One woman took the torch from me and they all three were staked into the ground around Diana carefully. I continued to follow the lead of the other wolves, twisting around Diana, lifting my hands up to the waxing crescent moon and closing my eyes.

“Maiden of freedom, you are the eternal virgin, the Holy Bride of nature, and the revealing light within the shadows. Through you, all that is good comes to birth,” Diana called out, her words like static electricity throughout my limbs. There was power in them, something I couldn’t explain, and when the women around me began to repeat Diana’s words, I followed in suit.

“Mother of compassion, forever fertile, Lady of the forge, You are the creating force of love and the strength which nourishes all that lives. Through you, the cause of life is served,” Diana continued almost desperately. The women began to repeat the words, but my voice trailed into quiet whispers and my steps slowed until I was no longer moving. Instead, I found myself staring at Diana’s form on the forest floor.

“Crone of wisdom, Ancient One, Keeper of the Cauldron, You stand at the gates between the worlds and carry the shining sickle of death. Without you, nothing can be transformed,” Diana’s words echoed around us as the women repeated them, their movements speeding up as they twisted around us determinedly. I lowered myself to my knees next to Diana, my actions of no concern to the wolves around us.

“Light of the Goddesses, By the power and will of She that is Three,” Diana pleaded as I lifted my hand to her curiously. The power crawling under her skin called to me, asking me to feel it and feed it. I rested my hand on her stomach just as she continued, “Blessed Be.”

The prayers grew louder around us, a question being sent to the Goddesses above and begging to be answered. I knew what it was they asked, and a part of me wanted it for them, for Diana, as well. I’d heard of stranger rituals, asking for fertility in women who had no hope.

I couldn’t hear the wolves around me repeating the prayer around me. I could only feel the shift of the power under the palm of my hand, pulsing throughout Diana. Just as suddenly as I felt it through her, it sparked under my palm and then throughout me like lightning. The torches around us blew out in unison. I gasped and immediately tried to pull my hand away, but Diana grasped my wrist just as quickly.

“Don’t be afraid,” She told me gently, but it was easier requested than done. But just as quickly as I had felt the power, it was suddenly gone. The wolves around us collapsed as well, panting in the darkness.

“It seemed like they were really listening that time,” one of the younger women panted hopefully. I wasn’t focused on the other wolves. Instead, I watched Diana who sat up to peer at me curiously just the same. I looked at this lycan, a woman I thought was a normal lycan, but for some reason she felt like something else entirely.

“Let’s go home,” Diana said, standing before holding her hand out to me once more. I took it, but something still nagged at me inside. That hadn’t been a regular prayer. And I hadn’t felt power like that before.

~…~

In the week that followed the incident in the woods, things were normal. Diana didn’t speak further on the strange ritual under the stars and I was smart enough to know I shouldn’t mention it in case we were overheard. The only indication I received were from the women who had been in the woods with us, who would greet me much more warmly than before as though we were some form of family now.

I continued to follow Caleb around for the most part, though I found it easier to interact with the pack without the curiosity and suspicion that they held from before. Sometimes I would help with tasks, some familiar to me such as laundry, dishes, making food, and cleaning. Other tasks I was less familiar with, though the only time I was approached with those was when I was around Logan.

Something about Logan made us click almost instantly. I was completely certain that he intended to gain back the upper hand that he had lost during the hunt at some point in time, and in that fact I should be more careful around him, but he knew just what kept me interested. Every chance I could grasp, I would use to slip away and to find Logan; something I was very good at doing.

On one particular day, while Caleb was distracted with an issue among the rations, I twisted out of sight and easily began to sprint away. I could sense the shapeshifters around me, but I found I could also track down specific ones if I wished to. I used this sense to hunt Logan, slipping between the buildings until I could sense his presence nearby.

Logan wasn’t alone. He was training with the other warriors, practicing for a war that I wasn’t allowed to know about. I remained hidden out of sight for awhile, watching as he sparred with one of the other warrior wolves intensely. This went on for awhile until Logan suddenly had his opponent pinned, a claw to their throat dangerously. A tap on his arm in surrender and he released the wolf promptly, allowing them to take a break. Their ability was still far from my reach, but it didn’t keep me from trying. I grasped at the blade in my hand, a present Logan had gifted me with after having lost my previous one to Roman.

With Logan’s back to me, his eyes on his receding previous opponent, I suddenly attacked. I ran across the space between us, ignoring the knowing looks of the other warriors who had already saw me coming, and lunged at Logan. Without looking, Logan swung his arm back and blocked mine roughly. I winced, but didn’t falter; my blade was in my other hand. Having used my initial attack as a decoy, I swung the blade at Logan’s side. He quickly leapt back, just barely missing the tip of my knife. Then he grasped the arm he had blocked, twisting me around and swiping his leg under mine until I found myself slammed into the ground onto my back solidly.

I immediately lunged for the blade that had fallen from my grasp, but Logan kicked it away just as quickly before grasping my wrists and pinning my arms to my chest. He lifted a partially shifted hand threateningly, aiming to strike my throat.

“Dead,” Logan stated dangerously.

“Aw, man,” I groaned and then squirmed in his grip in an attempt to escape his strong claws. When this failed, I sighed and then glared with determination, “I demand a rematch!”

“You always do,” Logan responded with amusement before releasing me promptly. I moved to attack him and he shoved me back down to the ground. Then he sat down in front of me. I frowned, less happy with this form of practice than the sparring matches I preferred. “Come on, hands up. You know the drill.”

Logan tapped his legs and then lifted his hands palm up.

“Do we have to do this part?” I pouted unhappily.

“Until you stop being afraid of it, yes,” He responded with a shrug. I hesitated, but then lifted my hands until they hovered over his. Logan watched my hands intensely, hiding any thought he would have behind that stony expression. I knew already he was intrigued by my backwards nature.

With much pressure from Logan, I could partially shift parts of my body; my hands, feet, and teeth. It was a skill most wolves had to spend years into their full shifts to conquer, but it was the full shift that I found I couldn’t do myself. I still couldn’t explain what I was, how I could shift any part of me at all, and why I wouldn’t be able to shift entirely if I wasn’t human at all.

I clenched my teeth together as I reached for that wild power under the surface of my skin. It reacted to Logan’s own beast not far from my grip, sensing something powerful and dangerous. My power was defensive when called on. It twisted my grip until claws began forming on the tips of my fingers instead, and my teeth lengthened with dangerous fangs.

“You’re getting better at it,” Logan praised me, slowly lowering his hands away from me before pausing. I struggled to keep the form, but just the minor distance between us was enough to begin receding those dangerous claws back into my natural human form. He made a noise of disappointment, “You’re too eager to shift back. You need to learn to hold it without my help.”

“I know,” I grumbled, pulling my hands back into my lap and rubbing them together with discomfort. It still felt unnatural to me, but the power in the shift was both intoxicating and frightening to me. With a look from Logan, I rolled my eyes and lifted my hands again to practice the partial shift further.

“When you have control over the shift, you’ll have a weapon much more useful than any blade or bow. Should you find yourself fighting a wolf, you’ll want something reliable as this. You’re small, slow, and weak. Disarming you would be easy,” Logan lectured me as I attempted to hold the partial shift every time he moved his hands away, before failing and returning back to human form.

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