Our Beloved Luna

Time to Train

Present Day.

"Goddess D.amn, you Thatcher Rome! You scared the sh!t out of me! F.ucking sent me back eleven years to the d.amn rogue attack!" I was shaking, mindlessly rubbing the silver filigree that decorated my left shoulder, punching Thatcher in his matching mark we received with our Protector blessing from the Moon Goddess that day.

"AW SH!T. I'm so sorry, Gen! I was only playing! Are you okay?" He had grown since that day. Well over seven feet tall now. And he was so broad he couldn't fit through most doorways. But he was attractive all the same. Shaggy chestnut hair that always looked good even though he never styled it. It almost reached his shoulders, so he often pulled it back in a bun when training or working the fields. His warm kelly green eyes had flecks of yellow and lime, but more importantly, had a mischievous glint that could turn dangerous in an instant. He had a sharp chin and, even though he was half bear- he kept his face clean shaven- otherwise resembling a hot lumber jack. His muscles had muscles. Giant calloused hands screwed the lids back on the peanut butter and jelly jars and he ate 3 sandwiches in about 5 bites. But even in all his glory, he was a brother to me. The only family I had ever known outside of Vina and Riot.

Since the attack, Vina surfaced enough for me to train in shifting that first year with Thatch. It hurt. Like hell. But it got better and easier over time. However, I think the last time I shifted was when I was thirteen. Rogue attacks had picked up around that timeframe, and we felt it important to hide Vina from both spying rogues as well as the patrol wolves who sometimes made rounds out this way to keep the pack borders safe. Vina was quiet most of the time. I could always gauge her feelings on things, but she understood the assignment from the Goddess. When Vina surfaced at all, my powers amplified. We would have our talks at the end of every day to nurture our bond. But she was patient, levelheaded, and way wiser than me. But she was pretty brutal and had less of a filter than I do- which is saying something.

"Seriously, Gen- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Well, I did, but that was dumb."

"What the hell are you doing here? I was supposed to meet you at the river for hand-to-hand training! D.ick!"

" I knowwwww." He chuckled. "But I got bored. So, I figured we could train something different." wiggling his eyebrows like a teenager.

"What you mean to say is that you got hungry and couldn't wait." I rolled my eyes. "Well, what did you have in mind?"

"Well, you've got three days left of school. Why don't we celebrate with some draft beer, greasy fries, and empath training?" He knew he had me, trying to seem bored with the suggestion. casually licking the peanut butter off his fingers and barely making eye contact.

"Yes! Okay let's go!" I grabbed my bag and was ready to GO! I was halfway to the door before he stopped me.

"Noooo no no Little Wolf. I'm going to need you to put more on." He sighed, gesturing to what I was wearing....or lack thereof. I was rocking a lime green sports bra and my black leggings with my sneakers, ready for training. I shot him a questioning look. "Pleeease don't do this to me, Gen." He was growling under his breath. "Something less tight, for Goddess's sake."

Ugh! I huffed and stomped into my room, off to the right of our shared bathroom. I threw on a black tee over my current getup and switched my sneakers for calf-high boots with a ton of unnecessary overlapping buckles. I added a little mascara, blush, and gloss just so I didn't look like I was completely ready to hit the gym. But I kept it super low key. The whole point of this is to blend in. Hide in the back in dark colors and no sudden movements. I tied my hair into a quick side braid down my shoulder. It was my favorite because you could see how the different blondes all blended perfectly together in a light gold, like Vina's fur. Thatcher always called me 'Sunshine' since it reminded him of the first light of day stretching across the farm. The braid also made it super easy to hide under my hoodie just in case I was attracting too much attention. Speaking of which, I grabbed my hoodie before rushing out the door in excitement.

"Alright Major Jerkface," I saluted Thatch like he was a drill sergeant. "Prepared for duty."

"Eh, that'll do." He picked me up with one arm and threw me over his shoulder. Popping my butt for my sass.

"HEY!" I snickered. I loved to get a rise out of him. "Wait, hey, am I not taking Riot?" I noticed we weren't walking toward the barn and Riot was poking his head out watching us walk away and looking super pathetic.

"Nope! Not tonight. Sorry man!" He called out to our buddy. "Got some stuff I want to talk about, so figured we could use some time just us two." I raised an eyebrow at him, but he stepped behind the tool shed and threw me his clothes before shifting into his giant bear, Theodore- but I lovingly called him Teddie, much to his dismay.

Teddie came out from behind the shed, size of a d.amn short school bus, shaggy brown fur- but same gorgeous kelly green eyes and reeking of danger and power. I rolled my eyes at the big lug and clambered up on his back, sitting right between his shoulder blades. A shiver rippled through his fur as I wrapped my hands in the fur at the base of his neck. He peered over his shoulder, with Teddie's deep gravelly voice echoing in my head. "Hold tight, princess. I'm in a hurry today. Daddy needs a beer." I rolled my eyes again- more dramatically this time, but braced myself. Teddie wasn't as fast as Riot, and his run wasn't nearly as smooth. In seconds, we were off toward the neutral territory outside the pack lands. I could feel that he was nervous, so I stayed on high alert in case there was a danger I just wasn't picking up myself.