Page 9 of The Wolf Moon

She looked familiar to me. Her hair was dark red, like blood unlike the lighter ginger my family inherited. She had it tied down her back in a braid. And her eyes were a light, illuminating blue like sapphire gems. Looking into them, I recalled where I saw them before.

“You were the black wolf,” I declared, now completely suspicious of her.

“I was,” She stated, a sort of quiet grace in her tone that said she didn’t raise her voice often… that is, unless it’s a loud, alerting howl in the night. She lifted a hand from her weapon and pointed to the bowl. “I’ve brought you food.”

“You called them to me in the hunt!” I continued with distrust.

“Yes, well… they were quite distracted by rabbits,” She suddenly smiled at me as I widened my eyes. To avoid admitting I rubbed my blood all over those poor bunnies, I reached for the bowl of soup and began eating it with vigor. I was pretty much starving.

“My name is Cate,” She introduced herself easily. I didn’t stop to give my name, but continued eating while looking at her suspiciously. Despite her more serious aura, she seemed curious and playful. If anything, it was like having my aunt trying to cheer me up when I was a child. It was strange. “What’s your name?”

I finally stopped and frowned. “Milena. Everyone calls me Mila.”

“Mila, huh? What do you think of Alpha Roman so far?”

“He’s an asshole.” I continued to finish the soup, ignoring Cate’s laugh. When I was done, I looked at her carefully. She was clothed in a uniform of sorts. Along her waist was a blade probably no longer than her forearm and the lance she leaned on held a sharp and impressive tip.

“I’m a warrior wolf,” Cate explained to me before I could ask, straightening herself before posing with her lance. It took me a moment before I realized as she twisted and turned that she was being downright silly. I frowned at her for a moment, but when she feinted a trip and then steadied herself, a smile slipped onto my lips despite myself.

“Are you really a warrior?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked me, pretending offense. I watched as she looked over her shoulder at the empty mess hall where previously lycans had fed and otherwise peered at me curiously. “They wouldn’t throw anything at you because you proved yourself superior to them. And also because they think you’re blessed by the Mother.”

I hesitated, “Who’s the Mother?”

Cate smiled with amusement, but humored me.

“She’s the Moon Goddess, or rather one of them. Apparently you called out for her just before you challenged them all, including Alpha Roman,” Cate informed me simply.

“I called out for my mother,” I finally admitted with frustration.

“I wouldn’t tell anyone that, if I were you.” She straightened herself once more before glancing at me a final time. “Good luck in your fight against the Alpha. Should be a pretty interesting one, considering.” Without explaining what was to consider, she walked away swiftly and left me on my own.

Time passed slowly. Others might have felt more unease at sleeping on such surfaces, but I was used to camping in the harsh wild for weeks at a time when food was scarce in my village. Lycans came and went. Some, like Cate, began offering me foods and drink at random. I was able to leave my position only to use the restroom and even that I felt was something I wasn’t supposed to be allowed to do. It felt strange to be a sacrificial human in the midst of gods and being treated as some sort of creature to be wary of. I was certain this would be something that would change once this “challenge” was completed.

After what I counted to be three days, the wounds on my stomach felt absent. I had removed the bandages to play with the remains of the wound; now pink scars that were sensitive to the touch. It was strange how quickly I had healed from such a wound. Not even I could explain it.

I began thinking about how exactly I would fight off the King Alpha. Just before the hunt, he spoke of humans using horrific weapons on the werewolves. We used to know how to easily harm the deity shapeshifters, but so long ago we had been isolated and all things related to the packs were considered taboo. As long as we worshipped and gave our sacrifices, we wouldn’t be wiped out entirely. The knowledge of what those weapons had been were far gone.

I did manage to kill one in the hunt, though. I still got chills when thinking of it. Obviously, injury to the brain was enough to end them. I suspected a direct hit to the heart might possibly do something as well. But as for other injuries considered deadly to humans… I doubted it.

I was considering how I might manage to set the King Alpha on fire when my thoughts were interrupted.

“Alpha Roman has accepted your challenge and announced to all that it will be completed now that you’re full health,” A man said to me, catching my attention. I immediately sat up, twisting to peer at the man; the same lycan that had allowed me to keep my knife for the hunt. I wondered if he regretted it.

“And when did he announce this?” I asked, bewildered.

“Two days ago,” The man replied simply before reaching for my chains.

“What? When is this challenge thing happening?”

“Now. I just told you…”

I gaped at him. He released my shackles, freeing my rather sore wrists at last. Instead of climbing off of the table, I stayed put.

“Can I back out of the challenge?” I asked him, as though I could bargain with the Alpha through him. This man appeared to follow the King Alpha around a lot. Perhaps it meant he was important. He looked big enough to be almost as scary as the Alpha. His brown hair was rather long and loose to his shoulders. Who knew?

“You can,” He admitted simply, holding out his hand palm up for me pointedly. “Just bare your neck to him.”

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