Page 60 of Luna Trials

It felt like I was actually doing something worthwhile and I only wished I could do more.

If I was really a Luna, would I be doing stuff like this often?

I shook away the thought as we made our way back to the nurses’ station. “Hardly any of the boys care that we’re here.”

Opal’s lips were cherry red. She unwrapped another lollipop and stuck it in her mouth. “Neither do the little ones.”

“At least you brought candy.” I motioned to her almost depleted stash. “That brightened their day.”

I was still kicking myself for not making the felt tic-tac-toe boards. They would have loved them. Except there were so many patients here that I realized I’d never have made enough.

I leaned against the nurses’ desk, looking down the hall to our left with the double doors still closed. “Are there more rooms down there?”

“That’s intensive care,” a wolf shifter nurse in scrubs with rainbow hearts explained. “We can poke our heads in if we want, but some of the kids are bedridden and most of them don’t watch the show.”

I didn’t watch the show either, but you know what always made me smile?

An idea blossomed as I stared at the nurse. “Is there somewhere I could go to change?”

She eyed me skeptically until understanding widened her eyes. “They would love that.”

*

Technically, this wasn’t against any contract I signed because we weren’t on resort property. And I was too filled with excitement to care. I slipped off my clothes in the bathroom, explaining to my wolf what we needed to do.

Got it.

She sneezed a few times at the overpowering scent of disinfectants as her paws hit the vinyl floors, but then she was trotting with her chest puffed out and tail wagging as we hurried back to the nurses’ station.

The group of girls squealed and my wolf cocked her head to the side with her tongue hanging out until their giggles echoed down the corridors. They fell on her in a tangle of gangly limbs andgrabbing hands, petting her fur. My wolf let them get their fill and soaked up their praise until they started to get tired.

She turned to Opal and Fallon and the other contestants, pawing at the ground to draw them out to play.

“Are we allowed to do this?” Edith asked.

Fallon laughed, tossing her paper coffee cup into the trash. “Screw it.”

Edith and Fallon ran to the bathroom to change. Cindy stood there looking uncomfortable in her crisp white suit.

My wolf nudged Opal’s leg, whining.

She bit down on her bottom lip and looked into the bag. “I’ll stay human to hand the rest of these out.”

Come play with us.My wolf whined again.

More kids were poking their heads out of the rooms. Their eagerness had my wolf’s tail swishing from side to side.

Why doesn’t she shift?

“I’ll stick to human form too,” Cindy said, looking at Opal. “Not for your reason, of course. It’s just my wolf is too dominant for this place.”

Opal flushed pretty pink on her pale cheeks.

My wolf didn’t like that at all.

Want me to bite her?A low growl built in her chest.

Opal’s soft fingers scratched my wolf’s fur and a sense of peace washed over us like what happened in the cafeteria the other day.

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