Page 70 of The Wolf Moon

“Path. Cleared. Go. Now.” Cate said with frustration.

“Holy shit, she speaks,” Logan responded. Cate ignored him and immediately bolted to keep the path cleared. Cynthia ran next to me, nipping at my fur, before running forward. I didn’t hesitate further.

My heart pounded as I followed Cate and Cynthia through the warring wolves with Logan close behind me. Once we got past the first wave, I was sincerely concerned about there being a second wave. However, Roman must have halted any further commands to attack after hearing my own howl of battle. Did he know I was coming for him?

We ran until we were nearly at the clearing where the packs would be converged. As we arrived, our path led us four onto the edge of a high cliff. I stepped forward when I saw Cate and Cynthia standing unmoving on the edge. I stepped carefully next to Cynthia with Cate on her other side.

Below us were more than just a thousand wolves. It was thousands. It took my breath away to see and a sense of terror struck through me. All of them were in wolf form and as we stepped into view, all of them faced us as though preparing to attack on command. I could feel Roman’s presence in the far distance, hidden from my view beyond the army of wolves.

“There’s too many,” I said to myself.

“They’re no match for us,” Cate answered, unbothered.

I shook my head. “There’s too many,” I was beginning to panic.

“They’re no match for you,” Cynthia said to me, both her and Cate obviously delusional.

“You know what makes a wolf not a wolf?” Cate asked, a devilish tone entering her words as she looked at me.

“When a wolf can’t shift into a wolf,” Cynthia entertained Cate with an answer, looking to me as well.

“No way. There’s too many,” Logan suddenly piped in with disbelief.

“Who invited this pup?” Cate growled at Logan threateningly and he stepped back obediently.

I understood what it was they wanted, but I was inclined to believe Logan. There were too many. However… if I were to believe I was Artemis… what limits would a Moon Goddess like her have? Could I ever reach such limits without having her memories?

I shifted back into my human form, stepping closer to the edge of the cliff. At first, I looked at the wolves before us, but then I took a deep breath and looked at the horizon before closing my eyes. So many times I’d called out to the creatures of the world, asking them to do my bidding, but never had I attempted such a thing on so many at once.

I took another breath. And then another. My heart pounded loudly in my chest at first, but then began to slow down calmly.

Artemis. I was Artemis. Even if I couldn’t remember it, she was me. Her power was my own power. It was sitting within me, waiting to be tapped into.

I lifted my hand before me and I felt Cate and Cynthia move closer to me. A power was rising within me; the same power I used to control the wildlife around me. I didn’t reach out as I usually did. Instead, I kept pulling it from me, more and more, as though trying to envelope it around me.

“Holy Goddesses,” I heard Logan whisper from behind me, but I continued to focus.

When I was ready, I thought only one thing and then pushed the command forward: shift. The command was small, but the meaning was in depth. It commanded every wolf to shift human and to be unable to shift back to wolf.

The command reached over the thousands of wolves before me, expanding over each of them as easy as breathing. Wolves were shifting into humans fluidly and the command didn’t stop with just the thousands of wolves. The command spread over the trees, reaching all the wolves that were fighting prior. It expanded further than this, all the way to packs beyond the nearby land. I pushed the command further and further, reaching the edges of Moirai until every last werewolf in the land had been left stuck in human form.

When there was no werewolf remaining to reach, I released the power and my breath came back to me in a sharp gasp as though I had been suffocating. I stumbled back, pulling my trembling hand to my chest. Cate caught me in her arms with a look of pure pride.

“I knew you could do it. Stopping wars are meager tasks for us,” Cate said to me, brushing a hand over my head fondly. I blinked at her as though dazed.

“I made all of them shift,” I said, not sure of the statement myself.

“You can’t stop now. We have a King Alpha to deal with,” Cate told me, turning her head towards where Roman had stationed hidden behind trees in the far distance. I shook my head in order to get a hold of my sanity and then nodded firmly.

“Let’s go,” I said with determination.

We all walked down the side of the cliff, climbing down into the crowd of quiet wolves stuck in human form. They all stood stunned and as I approached, they began to step out of the way obediently. After all, they had all just watched me force thousands of wolves into human form with powers equivalent of a Goddess.

Cate was the first to stop following me the closer I got to approaching Roman. As the trees came closer before me, Cynthia also stepped aside for me to continue before her. Logan was the only one who seemed determined to follow me to the end, but I didn’t quite want to allow him to know my secrets. I paused as the group of Alphas and Lunas that guarded where Roman stayed were before us and turned to Logan.

“Stay here, Sol,” I ordered him softly, “And thank you.”

Logan nodded reluctantly. I turned to step towards the Alphas and Lunas. They all stepped aside, equally as obedient. I stepped through the trees and my heart was racing violently in my chest. I was so nervous to see him, especially knowing why I was here to see him, but I pushed myself forward until the trees cleared into a small opening.

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