Blood-Stained Moon

Inner Wolf

Once everyone had finished breakfast, they began conversing. Grace and Leon gossiped about who was with whom, and rumors about 'extra guests' in peoples' rooms, and suspicious stains on laundry from rooms with single occupiers. Amal filled me in on work gossip, a burned batch of pastry involved, I didn't miss anything much apart from that. Ryan and Amal begin to debate about current politics between the clans and whether Clan Gold, Titanium or Ruby would be the first to fall to another attack. Claire chipped in every now and again with a small mumble. It made me worry about our defenses and how long until another attack. I pondered whether the Alpha was doing anything to strengthen our defenses. Eventually, the conversation turned to what everyone was wearing for tomorrow's initiation ceremony and Roan's demotion to Beta. Grace, of course, has lots of pretty dresses, and decides to choose with Leon's advice that evening. She gives Leon his marching orders to wear his black suit but to select a tie that matches her dress. I roll my eyes, Grace catches me. "And you Remy, what are YOU going to wear tomorrow? You better let me do your hair, and please, for the love of moon, put some make-up on you scruff" she declares.

" Ugh, fine. Only if you don't take forever. I get to choose colours though!" I sigh, Grace bounces in her seat clapping with a gleeful look. This should both get Grace off my back and distract me tomorrow.

The hall began to empty, so I excused myself politely. It's about time for a run, don't you think wolfy?

Wolfy howls in my head with excitement. I was not too sure where to go to start my run, so I just exited through the main entrance. I found the least conspicuous spot behind a bushel of trees and stripped down to my skin. Then I let wolfy take over by relaxing my mind. It takes only a few seconds, it's not painful anymore, unlike the first few times I shifted, my muscles and bones seemed to hold the memory of the shape as they cracked and distorted. Fur sprouts from my skin and, with a slight pop I fully shift. My wolf stands, her eyes green, her fur a mixture of golden brown like my hair. She howls in delight and takes off sprinting. We have no clue where we are going, but wolfy is enjoying freedom. Wolfy stops to sniff the flowers and trails, they wind round into a forest and she leaps towards it at bounding paces. After 10 minutes of running, she slows down to enjoy the sights, sniffing the air and shaking her coat in the breeze. Better now? I think we are lost. This might be a longer run than usual.

I don't care, we are having fun. Come enjoy this with me.

It's been a long while, wolfy, I don't know if I can anymore.

Wolfy growls. It's been too long since we last blended together as one. I feel disconnected from her, as if we are two persons in one body. I attempt to pull myself forward and regain control without shifting wolfy back. We both grunt with exertion, but we feel just as distant from each other. I've never been good at this, not since I gained wolf at the age of fifteen. We usually gain our wolves during puberty, when the hormonal changes allow our DNA to fully unlock. But through my trauma at thirteen, wolfy was pushed back. We used to be able to connect, but with the infrequent shifting and battling against each other, we seem to be pushed apart. Wolfy whines in sadness, a small tear seeps into her fur.

We will practise wolfy. We can do it.

We wander for a bit, taking in the sunshine peeking through the dense leaves. Wolfy chases a few critters around for fun, teasing a spider with her thick paw, letting it escape before pouncing to trap it. Having enough fun now?

Not nearly enough!

Something demands her attention and wolf turns her head curiously. Our body stands still for a moment before we sprint bounding over fallen branches. Where are we going? What's going on?

I was met with no reply. Wolfy has her walls up. I try to regain control, using all my mental might, but it's no use. I can't even get a strand of fur to obey me. Wolfy stop it n-

As we get closer to a break in the treeline, I begin to smell the familiar and warming fresh linen and roses. Realization dawns on me. Wolfy is running to our mate. I find my second wind and struggle again to gain control, screaming and writhing internally. Yes! I slowly begin to feel our front paws, wasting no time. I hold them still, making us skid and lip back over front, catching wolfy by surprise I fully take over. We begin to shift....sh*t.

It takes seconds to shift back, my skin laid bare for all to see. I jump behind a tree and cover as much of my dignity as I can. I'm praying to the moon that nobody is around to see. My cheeks flushed crimson heat. MATE I want my mate, give me back my body, I need my mate wolfy whines. I'm sorry I feel guilty, and sad that we are becoming further apart from each others needs.

I sneak a peek through the tree, a few feet away is the edge of the small forest. I think we ran towards the back of the castle looking at the view, it resembles the view from the back of the hall behind the Alpha's table. There is another gravel path, leading down a long winding path that fades into the distance. On this path are 3 black cars with tinted windows. They are rather large cars, the bottom half caked in mud with a few splashes over the bonnet to the windshield. The front car's door is ajar, a pair of mud stained trainers peeking beneath. I kick myself for looking, holding the door is Alpha Peterson, my mate. He looks deep in conversation with the person behind the door. His face was etched with concern. He moves his arm to snap his fingers behind his back, presumably at another person. The muddy trainers move and a man steps out. I stifle a gasp, his clothes are ripped and bloody, mixed with dry mud. The doors of the cars behind open, people begin to climb out, some of their clothing is also muddy and ripped, a few just have small blood stains on them and tired looking faces. In the second car, a person is pulled out, they slump over their supporter, dark liquid dripping down. He doesn't look in good shape. Some nurses and stretchers arrive from the direction Alpha snapped his fingers in. They rush over to help the person onto the stretcher and dash back in the direction they came. From memory, they are heading to the hospital. It's roughly to the east from the back of the castle, although we used a longer path, I presume, as we ended up back at the front of the castle from that direction. A fourth car pulls up, and more nurses gather with two more stretchers. However, as the driver gets out, there seems to be nobody in the back of the car. I squint to get a better look. The driver opens the trunk. My mouth drops open in shock, they pull a body out of the trunk and lie it on the stretcher. A nurse then covers their body with a sheet. Before I can even comprehend, a second body is placed upon a stretcher. What is happening? I'm a little frightened. Not wanting to look anymore, I turned away and slid myself into a seated position against the tree. My legs huddled to my chest. I start to wonder what happened. Those injuries don't look good.

I thought we were safe here. It doesn't look safe.

It wasn't blood dripping from that man's body, it smelled foul.

I agree, what could have done that?

A gag sticks in my throat.

I hear car doors closing, and tires crunching on the gravel, getting slowly farther away. Heavy footfalls moving east, along another path. The smells of blood and foul liquid slowly departing. My heart started beating with fear. One smell is getting closer, a smell I dread, a scent I love and yet wish to leave at the same time. Footsteps are getting closer, until they are just behind the tree. A low growl, a growl that does not show kindness. A low voice whispered angrily.

"What are you doing here." Barely a sound squeaks past my mouth, frozen in fear "A run.... s-sorry. I wasn't snooping, I s-swear Alpha." Words didn't want to form in my mouth, I stuttered and stammer, not daring to look in his cold eyes. "Leave" his voice barely above a growl yet loud enough to be clear. He didn't have to tell me twice. I threw myself on all fours, shifting simultaneously, running towards the castle, tail tucked under, heading towards the pile of clothes I'd left behind a tree. Fresh air is over for me.