The Human Luna

Kick In The Rear

(Toni's POV)

I can feel what could be bones breaking as Iseult has me in a very tight hug. "Is...you're crushing...me." I gasp but I'm hugging her back just as tight.

"I can't help it," but she pulls away finally. "This is the most dangerous one you've been on. Fine. Silver dagger, smoke bombs and...knowledge. It's still dangerous T." she pouted and hugged me again, her jet black hair flopping back and forth as she shakes her head.

"I know...but I've always came back alive. Regardless of the times I've encountered rogues and the 'echoes' as you call them. I've always safe. Ish." I try and joke with her but she is having none of it.

"Not funny T." she glared at me but she was fighting a smile back herself.

I sighed and step away and open the car door and step a foot in and look back at her as she speaks again. "You promise to contact everyday. No...every half...no every hour!"

"Is! I'll check in every day...maybe twice. Okay?"

"Fine. I'll allow it." She acted like she was doing me a favor and it was just so Iseult that I laughed as I got in the car fully and closed the door and rolled the window down.

I flash her a warm smile and check the mirrors as I begin backing up and out of my driveway. I give her a wave and she returns it as I roll the windows up, kick on some rock music as I put the car in drive and turn on my GPS.

Driving through what used to be Peoria but now was known as Devington - named after one of the anti-wolf 'heroes' who died during the war. Devin Vernon. He had avenged the burning down of a school and the destruction of Peoria. What that history also failed to mention is he and his men torched an entire pack and killed everyone they could, including the pups, while also not mentioning that the wolves didn't kill children and made sure the school was empty first. So that was the 'hero' he was. And I didn't like him at all.

Voicing that opinion didn't win me any favors with others locally. The last time I'd brought it up at the local tavern, I'd nearly gotten into a brawl with three of Vernon's descendants. They were all bluster and inherited anger, but it was a stark reminder of how deeply the hatred ran. How easily it was passed down like a poisoned heirloom.

I looked at my GPS as I drove, thankfully able to keep my eyes on the road at the same time. I noticed a pack that I hadn't heard of was bordering The Scar to the far west, close to what used to be South Dakota.

"New Moon pack? I hope they are friendly." I said softly, then... I can have my cell tell me. "Hey Aria, do a search for New Moon pack."

My phone chimed a few seconds later. "New Moon pack is based in the old South Dakota, Nebraska lands. Their leadership is Alpha Louis and Luna Wraevyn. No official status is known online but rumors suggest they are anti-human affiliation. The heir is their son Adam. Would you like to know more Toni?"

"No, thank you Aria." I said softly, and I sighed internally. Well...that was a kick in the rear. I can only hope that I don't come into contact with any of New Moon pack then.

I tapped the phone back to GPS and it said The Scar was another four hours away. Thankfully I had time to drive and do a little more research into it while mapping out an area to vlog as well so I could remain as safe as possible.

I didn't want to go looking for rogues or anything like that...but I also knew those encounters weren't always unavoidable. I could only hope for the best of course. Then there is the camera and the other stuff I brought along.

There if I need it.

The drive was long, the landscape slowly changing from the scattered, struggling human settlements to dense, untamed forest. The roads got rougher, less maintained. This was border country, where the world of humans thinned out and the wild took over. My tcar, with its reinforced frame and new tires, handled it well, but I could feel the tension in my shoulders increasing with every mile.

As I drove, I let my mind wander back to the first time I'd truly understood what the 'echoes' were. I was sixteen, on a solo trip to what used to be a state park in the old Michigan territory. It was late afternoon, the light golden and soft, when I'd walked through a clearing and suddenly, the world shifted. The scent of blood and cordite filled my nose, sharp and metallic. I heard the screams of men and the roar of a wolf, so close it felt like it was right beside me. I saw a flash of a human soldier, his face young and terrified, raising a rifle just as a massive gray wolf lunged. Then, nothing. Just the quiet, peaceful afternoon and birdsong. I'd stumbled back, heart hammering, and realized the stories were true. The land itself remembered. It held the pain and violence of the past, and sometimes, it replayed it.

Since then, I've learned to handle them. They're just memories, after all. Flickers of a pain that's long since passed. But they're disorienting, and in a dangerous situation, they could get me killed. A moment of distraction, a lapse in awareness, and that's all it would take.

I pulled over at a small, forgotten gas station, the pumps rusted and the convenience store boarded up. It was a good spot to stretch my legs and do some final research. I pulled out my tablet, pulling up satellite maps of The Scar. It was a massive, jagged swath of land that started in the old Ontario province of what used to be Canada, cutting across what used to be Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa all the way down to the middle of old Missouri. Dense forest, dotted with the ruins of old towns and military installations. I zoomed in, looking for a place to set up my base camp. I needed somewhere defensible, with access to water, but not too deep into the most notorious areas.

My finger traced a path along a river that cut through the eastern edge of The Scar. There was a small cluster of ruins there, what looked like an old ranger station. It was isolated, but not too deep in. Close enough to the border that if I got into real trouble, I might be able to make a run for it. It was perfect.

I was about to pack the tablet away when a news alert caught my eye. It was from a fringe news source, one that focused on wolf-related incidents. The headline read: "New Moon Pack Heir Involved in Another Altercation." I clicked on it, my curiosity piqued. The article was short, mostly speculation, but it mentioned that the heir, Adam, had put another warrior in the infirmary after a dispute. The source, an anonymous pack member, claimed the fight was over the heir's 'pro-human sympathies.' The article went on to paint Adam as unstable, a dangerous radical in a pack that was staunchly anti-human.

I leaned back against my seat, my mind racing. An anti-human pack, bordering the most dangerous part of the continent. And their heir, a wolf who believed in coexistence, but who also had a temper and the skill to back it up. It was a volatile combination. A fascinating one.

A dangerous one.

I shouldn't go anywhere near them. My plan was to stick to the eastern edge of The Scar, as far from New Moon territory as possible. But a part of me, the part that made me a vlogger, the part that sought out the truth, was already wondering. What was he like? This wolf who fought his own pack members to defend humans he'd never met? Was he a fool, like my family would say? Or was he something else? A sign that things could be different?

I shook my head, closing the article. It wasn't my problem. My problem was surviving the next two weeks and getting the footage I needed to prove that The Scar was just a place, not a supernatural death trap. I packed up my things, got back in the car, and pulled back onto the road.