Moonlight Run

Five

“And you told him we were going to be there? Ha! I am so not going to that.” Pipa protested.

We were hanging out in her bedroom later that evening, and I told her about the invite I’d received to the party as she sat in front of her bedroom vanity mirror, brushing her long blonde hair.

I sat on the floor, sitting against her bed. “Pipa, I really don’t want to go alone. Please, come with me.”

“Then don’t go.” she said to her reflection, looking back at me in the mirror. “It’s really that simple.”

I groaned. “I’m just trying to make my last year in this pack be one that’s not entirely miserable. Help me out here. Our lives would be a lot easier if we were in the good graces of Nikolai Blackburn, and you know it.”

“You’ve just made an even better point! You plan to leave and go rogue, Isa. So why would you even care? I’m probably going to be stuck here and, hell, I don’t even care about being in his good graces.”

I found myself short of words as I considered my argument. “He promised there would be the best beer money could buy…”

She finally turned around on her vanity stool, and narrowed her eyes at me. “Message him and ask what kind of beer, and I’ll get back to you. It better not be that IPA or craft beer bullshìt, either. If there’s no Stella I’m out.”

I pulled out my phone and messaged him.

After about five minutes I got a reply, and I snorted when I read his reply.

“What did he say?” she asked.

He said, “Who’s Stella, and why does Pipa think I should invite her to my party?”

Her eyes went wide. “Yeah, we’re not going.”

My phone dinged again. “He says ‘JK’.”

I told him there’s no kidding when it comes to Pipa and her beer.

After a moment another message came through, but I didn’t share that one with Pipa.

Tell Pipa I will bring the Stella, as long as she brings you.

I felt my cheeks flush a little. “What else did he say?” She asked suspiciously.

“Just that there will be an endless supply of Stella available for your consumption. No wolfsbane though, sorry.” I lied.

She rolled her eyes. “I suppose you can tell him we’ll be there. But we’re going to need another trip to the mall for new clothes.”

I sighed.

***

Nikolai’s POV

“Val, it’s not funny. Give it back!” I reached across him for my phone. But Valric had sprinted to the otherside of the weight room, ready to make a game of it.

I’d left my phone on the bench while I’d been doing curls.

Valric quickly intercepted my phone when he saw I had received a message from her.

Her. That’s all I’d saved her name as. Thank the gods. I wasn’t ready to tell my friends about the recent and unexplainable interest I’d taken in the Petrova girl. Even though we’d spent the day shopping for rings for his new mate… I suspected it wouldn’t sit well with Dimitri.

Valric read aloud, “Her writes, ‘Pipa would like to know if you’ll have Stella at the party? She seems to be making it a stipulation.’ Wait, is this chick talking about Pipa Fournier? She has a friend named Stella? Who’s Stella?”

“Is Stella hot?” Cyrano asked.

I snatched my phone out of Val’s hands and frowned. “Try that again and you won’t be at the party to find out.”

“Find out what?” Dimitri entered the room with his duffle bag hanging from his shoulder, and one earbud hanging from his ear.

“Looks like Niko’s got himself a side piece,” Valric says. I shot a glare in his direction.

“Wait, she’s a side piece? Then who’s the main piece?” Cyrano asked. “I’m confused.”

“Let me be clear,” I changed my tone. “There’s no main, there are no sides, and none of you will be getting a piece of anything — ever — if you touch my shìt again. Got that?”

Valric and Cyrano nodded.

Dimitri chuckled and made his way over to me.

“Is this about whatever girl you ditched me to have lunch with today?” He whispered next to me.

“Not the time or place, Dimitri,” I looked over our shoulders back at Valric and Cyrano, who were doing a poor job of trying to hide that they were still listening to us.

“C’mon, I could use a spot at the bench. Could you rack the plates up?” I asked him.

Dimitri smirked at me. “Yeah man, I can do that,”

While he walked off to do that, I pulled the phone back out of my pocket.

“Who’s Stella, and why does Pipa think I should invite her to my party?” I followed up with a quick JK and a smiley face.

She wrote back quickly.

Excuse me, sir, this is a serious matter.

There’s no kidding when it comes to Pipa and her beer.

I chuckled, and considered my next message carefully.

Tell Pipa I will bring the Stella, as long as she brings you.

I hovered over the send button, wondering if it was too bold.

“All racked up brother,” Dimitri caught me off guard over my shoulder and my phone nearly slipped in my fingers in a hurry to put my phone down.

“Thanks, give me just a minute?”

He nodded, heading back over to the bench.

The conversation was still up when I looked at my phone again.

Message sent. Seen.

Well, shìt.

When the three little dots appeared, I felt I might throw up the lunch we had together waiting for her inevitable rejection of the invitation. I could only hope it was a polite one.

She replied.

That seems fair enough.

I bit my lip and squeezed my hand into a discreet fist in victory, sliding my phone back into the pocket of my gym shorts.

“What are you smirking about?”

I sat myself on the bench with a chuckle, and then leaned back and situated myself under the barbell, adjusting my grip.

Dimitri took his place at the end of the bench, his arms crossed.

“Seriously. You’ve got a girl and you haven’t told me about her?”

I nodded towards the barbell he had yet to put his hands under.

“Are you gonna spot me or not?” I asked, deliberately ignoring his question.

“Are you at least gonna tell me her name?” He placed his finger tips under each side of the bar and I lifted it off the rack with a smile, shaking my head as Cyrano replied,

“Her name’s Stella!”

Dimitri’s face scrunched in confusion.

“Who the hell is Stella?”

***

Isa’s POV

When Pipa and I arrived at the gym for training Friday morning, we found our training group gathered at the exterior doors, talking excitedly. Some of the girls had worried expressions.

“What’s going on?” Pipa asked Bianca, one of the senior girls in our training group.

“There was a notice on the gym doors, from the Council. Nikolai’s passing back papers now. I think Alpha Blackburn is going to speak.”

After a few minutes Phineas Blackburn’s voice carried over the crowd. “I know some of you may find these changes uncomfortable. Some might even go as far to call them unfair measures, dated practices that should stay shut in the books of history. But, it’s important that we understand… situations like our sister Liy’s must be prevented and avoided. And it’s time to consider that, perhaps, the matchmaking system is not a perfect one,”

“You can say that again,” Pipa muttered under her breath.

“I was fortunate enough to be present when the council convened yesterday to discuss these matters. You should all know there was much deliberation, and this decision was not made lightly. But this return to the old ways ensures that our sisters who find themselves without their true mates, or even those who have the misfortune of finding themselves paired to undesirables from outside of our region, can be matched and mated efficiently, just as our generations before were given such an opportunity.”

A paper found its way into my hands finally, and I gasped when I read the headline.

Council Reinstates Practice of the Moonlight Run

Phineas continued to address the crowd. “Every month during the full moon, an average of three and five unmated females over the age of 21 will go into heat, per pack. And every month, packs across our great region have taken to locking these young women up, securing them in cells… preventing what some would say is the natural order of things, so that their virtue may be preserved in wait for their true mates to make themselves known.”

“By limiting each of our young she-wolves to just three cycles before mandating participation in a Moonlight Run, we will be freeing up space in our cells. By asking each of our neighboring packs to host Single Nights one Saturday each month, and in providing transportation shuttles for your convenience, we are ensuring that our young people are able to visit the other packs within our region in a timely manner, to seek out their future partners in a fun but practical social environment. To participate, you need only stop by the packhouse office and we will arrange to have you on a shuttle to any of the nearby packs as the events come together.”

“Alpha, what happens to those of us that have already had more than three heat cycles?” Bianca asked. “Are we going to have to partake in a Moonlight Run when our next heat arrives?”

Alpha Phineas briefly seemed displeased by her interruption, but responded anyway. “Absolutely not. This system offers a reset to all. With the new policy in place, that count begins with this coming full moon. As heat cycles come every three months, that means no one here will be forced to participate in a moonlight run for the first time for at least nine lunar cycles.”

“Alpha, respectfully,” Pipa spoke up. Oh no, I thought. “How can you condone the s****l assault of the she-wolves in your pack and call it ‘the natural order of things’ as if it’s an improved system over matchmaking? Would it not just make more sense to require all the male wolves to barricade themselves in their homes every full moon, so we could exist in our heat freely, without the worry or burden of unwanted s****l advances, particularly by those that may not even be their true mates?”

The Alpha fell quiet, and with each silent second I worried for my friend. I could see the gears turning in his head, and he was not pleased with her question, or her tone — but probably both. But then he stood up straight and c****d his head to the side before he spoke.

“You know, well before my time, Miss Fournier, the wolves of my father’s generation, and their fathers before them, viewed the Moonlight Run as a way to bring true mates together… It was believed that when a female in heat took her Moonlight Run, that the unique pull that her true mate would feel to help sense her presence would help him find her the fastest, and his desire for her would empower him to overcome any would-be challenger that would dare vy for his beloved… Some would go as far as to say it was a test of a mate’s love and strength, a chance to prove he was indeed the one, made by the moon goddess herself, meant to care for his woman, and most worthy of fathering her children. Call me a romantic, but I choose to look at it through that lens. Perhaps you ought to try to do the same.” He paused. Pipa crossed her arms over her chest. “As for these ‘unwanted s****l advances’ you speak of… lest we forget… even a female in heat must consent in order for a wolf to sire her and create the bond. ”

His point stirred up something in a handful of the women in the crowd, who seemed almost won-over by the concept as Alpha Phineas had painted it.

Pipa was, unsurprisingly, not satisfied by his reply. “I’m sorry, Alpha, but do you honestly think that agreeing to mate in order to end the pain we experience in heat is the same as express and meaningful consent?”

Another flash of annoyance spread across the Alpha’s face, but he recovered quickly. “I like to think that our she-wolves are strong, Miss Fournier. I think that those who do not wish to mate with the wolves they encounter on their Moonlight Run, beit because they’re waiting for their true mate, or because they’re “just not that into him” as the saying goes, that the power still lies with them, and they’d be foolish to forget that. We all know that it is physically impossible for a male wolf to mate a female who is not his true mate unless she offers her permission.”

More like submission, I thought. He went on to say, “There is a simple solution if there is any doubt around giving consent when you don’t want to… and that is don’t.”

A murmur filled the crowd, and it seemed many were thoughtfully considering the Alpha’s words. Pipa’s shoulders dropped and she slouched back into herself. I squeezed her arm, and she met my eyes. I shook my head at her fearfully, mouthing ‘Why would you do that?’ Knowing that, even as the daughter of his Beta, there were going to be consequences waiting for Pipa for what would surely be seen as an insubordinate outburst.

The Alpha went on to thank everyone for their time, and rattled off his office hours, promising to be available for any more questions or clarification he could offer anyone. His eyes fell on Pipa long enough that more than a few people noticed.

As the crowd began to disperse, I turned to face her. “Do you understand that you have made yourself a target for Blackburn’s wrath by speaking out like that today? Like we weren’t on his radar already since the field trip to Pittsburgh...”

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “He can get fūcked. You know everything I said was true.”

I sighed in frustration and followed the rest of our packmates into the gym behind her.

Nikolai took to the front of the room as we all fell in, standing before him at attention “Alright, everyone. I think we’ve had enough of listening to Blackburns talk today, so I’ll make this simple. Pair up with a partner that’s close to your size. Today we’re going to work on our grappling. I want everyone to successfully execute three triangle submissions before they leave for lunch. Let’s move.”

I was five foot, and it was no secret that I was the smallest wolf in our training group. Up until a few months ago, I regularly paired up with Ruby, a girl that was just 5’3 and about the only one even close to my small stature. And then Ruby found her mate. Once they’d wed, mated couples moved to Tuesday/Thursday training under Alpha Phineas. Since then I’d been mostly working with Lily… but she was not back to training after the incident this week.

I scanned the room and it seemed like everyone had a partner but me.

“Looks like you’re the odd one out,” came a voice from my right. Dimitri had taken off his shirt and was holding it balled-up in his hand. “I’m supposed to be walking around, checking on the pairs, but… we can partner up if you want?”

I was speechless. “I, uh,” All I could think about was seeing him yesterday at the jewelry case, picking out a perfect ring for his perfect new mate. And I hated how much that bothered me, because truthfully Phoebe was kind of nice. She just wasn’t me. I was trying to formulate the words to tell Dimitri to go fūck himself, when Nikolai started walking towards us.

“What, no partner?” But he wasn’t asking me, he was asking Dimitri.

“She doesn’t seem to have one,”

Nikolai looked at me, and his voice remained flat as he spoke. “I’ll take her. Continue to keep an eye on the other pairs, step in to guide when they need it.”

Dimitri laughed. “You’re sure I shouldn’t step in? I’m like 5’10—”

“5’9, at best.” I interjected.

Nikolai briefly smirked at me while Dimitri glared my way, but his expression fell deadpan again when Dimitri looked back at him. “I’m just saying… You’re the biggest wolf here, dude, and she’s the smallest, guarantee it.”

“I have no doubt she is,” Nikolai met my eyes again, but there was a glint of amusement in them this time. “But that’s why we should work to make her as strong as the bigger wolves, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Well, yeah, I guess.” Dimitri said, scratching the hair at the back of his neck.

“And wouldn’t you also agree that I’m the strongest? I’d think that would make me the best man for the job.”

Dimitri opened his mouth as if he was going to protest, and then shut it. He nodded instead. “Yeah, yeah totally.” And he pulled his shirt back over his head, walking off to go check on other partners.

“Thanks for that,” I said.

“Of course,” he shook his head in frustration. “I love that kid like a brother, but I’m amazed by the balls on him— Phoebe’s barely a few feet away.”

I looked across the room to see Phoebe and Pipa paired up. Phoebe was glaring daggers at me over Pipa’s shoulder, and I suppose I didn’t blame her.

“Now,” Nikolai snapped my attention back to him, as he got on his hands and knees in front of me. “Get into position, little wolf. I wanna see how well you hold up.”

I bit my lip, and crouched down in front of him, mirroring his pose.

As he leaned forward towards me, so did I… our faces barely inches from one another.

“Challenge accepted,” I said.