The Human Luna

Nice Roar

(Adam's POV)

We should go back! Her scent is soothing for us! I want it.

I could feel Pik's reluctance vibrating through my nerves, a low, agitated hum that wouldn't subside. He wasn't just reluctant; he was obsessed. For the last several hours, my internal headspace had been less of a sanctuary and more of a shouting match. Pik wouldn't shut up about the choice I'd made last night—the choice to keep walking, to stay silent, and to leave that scent behind.

She is a human, Pik, I argued mentally, trying to push the image of that abandoned shack out of my mind. And things are already tense enough with our parents. The last thing the pack needs is for the future Alpha to be daydreaming about a human girl in the middle of a war zone. Doesn't help that some of the pack think I love them.

Pik whined inside my head, a sound of pure, unadulterated longing that echoed in my skull. He didn't care about politics, or the blood-soaked history of our ancestors, or the fragile peace we maintained with the human territories. To him, it was simpler. She smelled like everything the world had forgotten how to be. He finally relented, but only barely, leaving a lingering trace of restlessness in my gut.

I ran a hand down my face, feeling the grit of the forest on my skin. I was close to throwing up a block because this mental badgering had been nonstop for hours. It was exhausting to fight your own instincts when those instincts were screaming that you'd found something vital.

Rufus noticed the tension in my shoulders, the way my jaw was locked tight. "Pik still going on about that human from last night?" he asked, his voice carrying a hint of amusement.

I nodded, pinching the bridge of my nose as if I could physically squeeze the noise out of my head. "Did she smell amazing? Yes. Like bluebells mixed with the sweetness of spring and a hint of sugar."

Rufus laughed softly, a genuine sound that broke the oppressive silence of the woods. "We did exactly as you asked. We walked by, avoiding the alarms and simply talking. I'm pretty sure she heard us, too; her heart rate was going insane. I could practically hear it thumping from twenty yards away."

Then Ronan chimed in. "A real romantic first encounter. Nothing like a panic attack to set the mood." His usual dry-ass sarcastic remark, the kind of deadpan delivery he excelled in—the kind that made you wonder if he had any emotions at all. I leaned my head against a tree, closing my eyes and letting out a long, weary sigh. As I glanced back, I saw the scattered bodies of the rogues we had torn through just moments ago. The grass was stained a deep, dark crimson, and the air was thick with the metallic tang of blood and the musk of feral wolves.

"The Full Moon is tomorrow night," I asked softly, my voice sounding foreign to me in the sudden quiet. "What do you guys think?"

Rufus's expression shifted instantly. The amusement vanished, replaced by a gravity that mirrored my own. "If the Moon Goddess determines you belong together... I bet even your mother will support you, reluctantly. But your father, our Alpha... he's another story. He doesn't believe in 'destiny' when it involves a human."

A low growl ripped from my chest, a vibration that started in my core and shook my entire frame. The idea of my father's reaction—the rage, the condemnation, the potential for a rift that could never be healed—was too much. In a sudden, explosive burst of frustration, I swung my fist.

The impact was deafening. The tree didn't just c***k; it shattered apart, the trunk splintering into a thousand jagged pieces before the entire thing collapsed with a thunderous crash.

"Future Leadership of New Moon Deforesting Services... we'll punch your trees down," Ronan said, his voice as dry as a bone.

Me and Rufus both stared at him in dead silence. Ronan didn't even blink; he just shrugged and went back to piling the rogue bodies into a heap to be burned, acting as if he hadn't just made a joke while standing in a field of corpses.

I closed my eyes and slid down the remaining stump of the tree, sitting on the damp earth. The blood was still thick in the air, drying on my hands and clotting on my skin at my wrists. As I sat there, my mind drifted back to the previous night, playing the scene over and over like a movie I couldn't turn off.

I had shifted for the patrol in lycan form, my massive blond paws thudding softly against the loam while Rufus and Ronan walked beside me. We had been navigating the oppressive gloom of The Scar when we came across that old abandoned shack. I'd seen her car parked there—a small, human vehicle that looked completely out of place in the void. As the wind shifted, her scent hit me like a physical jolt.

It wasn't just a smell; it was a revelation. Pik had gone instantly alert, his every muscle tensing, wanting to rush the structure and claim whatever was inside. I had fought for control, digging my claws into the earth to keep myself from lunging. This was a human scent.

Pik didn't care. He wanted to meet her.

She is a human, Pik, I reminded him.

Don't care. I can be gentle.

Your idea of gentle can still hurt a human, I fired back.

He had huffed, a mental sound of annoyance, but he'd finally gone silent. I mindlinked my Beta and Gamma, telling them the plan: just pass by, talking and ignoring her. We'd noticed the alarms and the motion cameras she'd set up, but they were primitive compared to our senses. We'd treated her like a ghost, a flicker of something forbidden that we couldn't touch. But the image of her—small, fragile, and brave enough to come to this place—had been etched into my mind.

"Wake up, Alpha boy," Rufus said, snapping his fingers in front of my face to pull me out of my memory. "More rogues inbound. A large group this time, and they're smelling the kill."

I glared at him, but the adrenaline was already surging through my veins, replacing the longing with a predatory hunger. I stood up and rolled my neck, the bones cracking loudly in the silence. I flexed my fists, feeling the raw power humming in my muscles, ready to be unleashed.

"Bring them on," I growled.

In one fluid, violent motion, I shifted back into Pik. A roar of pure, unadulterated power ripped from my throat, shaking the very leaves of the trees, as I lunged forward to meet the enemy head-on.

"Nice roar. I'm sure they're absolutely terrified of the giant blond puppy." Ronan said as he tossed another body and joined me and Rufus.