You Have Always Been Mine

Chapter 7 - Kissed by the Moonlight part 2

Max frowns, staring warily at the forest.

He knows better than to ignore his instincts and right now it's pushing him in that direction. With a resigned sigh, he starts walking. While he's not really scared, he wonders if he should have brought something---anything to defend himself with. He knows how to fight though, and hopefully that would be enough. Luckily, whatever or whoever is calling him, it doesn’t feel hostile...

At least not yet. He can only hope it stays that way.

The cool night air gives him some relief, and also distracting him a little from worrying. He wonders how it would be like to finally shift. It must be an even better experience, feeling the breeze on one’s fur… touching the earth with a wolf’s paws… and smelling everything with the sacred beast’s sensitive nose. What he wouldn’t give to finally hear his wolf’s thoughts brush with his own. It would solve a lot of problems all at once.

First of all, it would prove that her mother did not commit the disgusting thing people are accusing her of. A pure wolf would show she did not betray her mate and that her son is not an abomination. It would restore her reputation and Max won’t have to worry anymore about how the gossip would affect her. But the most important thing of all, is how it would clear the thorny path between him and Ginny. Make him a more acceptable mate in her eyes, maybe?

Somehow the thought depresses him even more. It seems like it cheapens the bond, when there are conditions to be met.

“Even if the rumors were true, and I do get a wolfdog instead of a pure wolf, it shouldn’t matter to my mate,” he whispers as he ends up in a clearing, where the almost full moon bathes the grass with silver light, making it look like a theatrical stage. “She will love me as I am and stay by my side, because I would do the same, if the positions were reversed. I will be devoted and love her unconditionally.”

“Is that a promise?”

He whirls around in surprise, cursing himself for being caught off guard and vulnerable, but there’s no one behind him, even though he could have sworn someone had murmured in his ear. It’s only when he turns to the clearing again, he nearly jumps out of his own skin as he sees an unmistakable figure standing right smack in the middle, her upturned face towards the moon as beautiful as it is otherworldly. Her long gossamer gown flows eerily around her as if underwater, the ethereal fabric following its own time and space, completely out of sync from the way the night breeze is blowing around them. A strange scent permeates the air around them, sweet and memory-invoking. He recognizes her the way an infant recognizes its mother.

There can be no doubt as to who she is: The Moon Goddess has blessed him with her presence. Max falls to the ground, terrified he would go blind for daring to look upon her sacred light.

“My lady… please… forgive me!” he stammers, keeping his eyes tightly closed and his face pressed hard against the grassy earth.

Her soft laughter relieves his fear a little but he stays on the ground. “Rise, dear child…” she murmurs, suddenly standing beside him. “There's no need to be afraid. You have done nothing to displease me. On the contrary…”

Max feels like sinking deeper into the ground as she confirms who she is. “I am not worthy…”

“That is for me to decide, is it not?” she tells him gently. “Come now, I cannot stay long. Do not make me waste another second ordering you to rise.”

Trembling all over, he stands up, still keeping his head lowered.

“Must a mother beg her child to meet her eyes?”

He shakes his head, briefly wondering if this is the day he’s going to die, before looking up to her. She is quite tall, much taller than an average shifter. Her long silver hair has shades of black around the edges, flowing freely and unbound, with nary but a silver hair pin with a moonstone lifting a few locks on the left side. Framed by unbelievably thick eyelashes, her golden eyes are very hypnotic and he finds himself unable to look away despite his trepidation.

“No, my lady…”

She smiles, and he fights the urge to close his eyes again.

“You must be dying to know why I’m here…”

He winces inwardly. Dying is not exactly the word he’d want to hear in this situation. “Whatever the reason is, I am honored—I… would you like me to go fetch the alpha?”

“You must not tell anyone that I have come to find you tonight. It is of the utmost importance that my visit remains a secret,” she tells him sharply, her tone causing him to instinctively step back.

“O-Of course!”

Her expression softens once more and then she steps forward, one arm stretching towards him. With her index finger, she touches the middle of his forehead, slightly above the junction of the eyebrows, and he suddenly feels inundated by a pervading sensation of no longer being alone inside his mind. Tears prick the corners of his eyes and he gasps at the unexpected tenderness that unfolds within him.

“My lady, I…”

“Take care of him and he will do the same for you.” She gently cups his cheeks and leans down to press a light kiss on his forehead, and his eyes automatically close. When he opens them again, the Moon Goddess is gone, as if she was never there in the first place.

What the hell!? Did that really happen!? Does he have a wolf now!?