THE UNTAMED LUNA

VOICES AND THE SHADOW

My eyes blinked, then I realized I was standing beneath the canopy of the trees, their branches stretching like dark arms over my head. The moonlight spilled faintly through the leaves, painting shifting patterns on the forest floor. My heart raced, not from fear, but from a pull of strange that I couldn’t explain.

I squinted into the pitch-black ahead, the thick fog enveloping everything just beyond my reach. There was no reply. Just the whisper of leaves and the groan of wood under some hidden weight.

Then the shadow spoke again in a soft and clear of voices. "Someday you will know..."

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“You and me, are the same. We are set as one in this world. Without you, I can no longer exist.”

A cold breeze brushed past me, making the hair on my skin stand. I turned in every direction, my flashlight trembling in my grip.

“What do you mean? Show me your face!” I demanded, my voice echoing faintly between the trees.

“No,” the voice replied, calm yet echoing as though coming from everywhere and nowhere at once.

“And why?” I shouted back, my throat tightening.

“My beauty is the same as yours, too.”

“Haha… too funny,” I scoffed nervously, forcing a laugh that died quickly in my throat.

“You found me funny, huh? Well, I just want to introduce myself. I... am the queen of wolves from one thousand years, before you were born. We've met because this is the perfect time, that I should give you my blessings, my Luna.”

I froze.

"This is your fate. If you experienced the pain. Just looked up and talked to me under the moonlight shadow, I will guide you 'till the end of time"

My breath came out in shaky bursts as I tried to make sense of the words. The forest seemed to hold its breath with me.

“Nonsense. You think you can fool me? Show me your face—now!” I muttered through gritted teeth.

“You must accept your destiny,” the voice murmured, softer now, almost pitying. “In time… you will know.”

Then silence.

The air grew still, and the pain that had been twisting through my body, pulsing pain in my chest and temples, suddenly faded. I exhaled, feeling the weight lift just enough for me to move again. Slowly, I turned to go back toward the faint light of our house, half-hidden behind the trees.

“Wooo… oo…”

The sound pierced the night. A haunting, guttural howl. It wasn’t far. My pulse spiked, and I spun around, scanning the shadows.

There... between the trees... two glowing yellow eyes locked onto mine.

A massive black wolf stepped into the pale moonlight, its fur thick and rippling with each breath. Drool glistened along its fangs as it growled low, the sound vibrating through the earth. For a heartbeat, the world narrowed, just me, the wolf, and the slow thud of my own heartbeat.

But instead of fear, something unexpected filled me. A strange calm. The creature’s gaze didn’t threaten—it invited. Its stance wasn’t of a hunter ready to strike, but of something… waiting. Watching.

And deep inside me, a quiet voice whispered again—one I couldn’t tell was mine or its:

“You already know me.”

The wolf didn’t move. Its golden eyes shimmered, reflecting the pale light like twin suns in the mist. My breath came steady, too steady for what I should’ve felt. I should’ve run. I should’ve screamed. But something deep within me recognized it, as if an ancient memory was trying to claw its way out of the dark.

The wind shifted, carrying with it a faint, metallic scent, blood and earth. The trees began to groan, their branches creaking like old bones. The leaves whispered above, but their rustling was different nowlike they were chanting, murmuring in an ancient tongue I couldn’t understand.

The wolf took a step closer.

Its heavy paws pressed into the damp soil, and the ground seemed to pulse beneath me with every movement. When it stopped just a few feet away, I could see the faint traces of blue along the tips of its tail, the same color I’d seen before.

“Who are you?” I whispered. My voice barely carried past my lips.

The creature tilted its head, studying me. And then, before my eyes, its form began to waver. The outline of its body shimmered, dissolving into black mist that swirled and coiled like smoke. My heart thundered as I took a step back, but the mist followed, curling around my ankles, my wrists, my face.

A low hum filled my ears, vibrating through my bones.

Then I heard it again, the voices are clearer, and louder inside my head.

“I am the echo of your blood… the shadow that guards your soul.”

I tried to move, but the air grew thick, the mist wrapping tighter, until I could hardly breathe. My vision blurred as flashes of images flooded my mind: a moon dripping red, claw marks carved into stone, a woman standing before a mirror with eyes just like mine, but wilder, glowing faintly in the dark.

The wolf’s shape began to reform, but not entirely. Half of its body stayed shadow, while the other half shimmered with a faint human outline—feminine, graceful, yet otherworldly.

“You… you’re me?” I stammered.

The figure smiled, or maybe it was just the curl of the mist.

“We are what was split in two. You, the body. I, the soul. The night you were born, the moon tore us apart.”

My knees weakened. The ground below me felt alive, trembling as though the forest itself was breathing.

“Now, the cycle returns. When the moon bleeds again, we will merge once more.”

Before I could reply, a sharp pain pierced my chest. I gasped, clutching at my heart as light burst from within my skin, thin, glowing cracks tracing along my arms and collarbones like veins of silver. The wolf’s eyes blazed brighter, and I heard its final words as my vision began to fade:

“Don’t fight it… embrace what you are.”

A blinding flash swallowed the forest. The trees bent backward, their shadows stretching into infinity. The last thing I saw was the wolf lunging, not to attack, but to merge into me.

And then, silence. When I awoke, the night was gone. The dawn light spilled gently through the trees, and the ground around me was scorched in a perfect circle. I lifted my trembling hand—and for a brief moment, saw faint traces of black fur fading from my skin.

When I opened my eyes again, sunlight filtered weakly through the trees, fractured by the mist still clinging to the forest floor. The air was cool, damp, and heavy with the scent of pine and dew. For a moment, I couldn’t remember where I was—or why I was lying on the cold ground.

Then it came rushing back. The voice. The wolf. The light.

My heartbeat quickened. I pushed myself up, dirt and leaves clinging to my palms. Around me, the earth was scorched in a perfect circle, as if lightning had struck there. Birds stayed silent in the treetops; even the wind seemed hesitant to breathe.

“Was it a dream?” I murmured to myself, my voice hoarse.

As I brushed the dirt off my arm, but then something caught my eye, a fine black strands of fur fading into my skin like smoke retreating from a flame. I blinked, startled, but as quickly as I saw it, it vanished.

I stood, swaying slightly, and began to walk back toward the house. The familiar path through the forest felt… different. The colors seemed too vivid, the green of the leaves almost alive, every droplet of dew sparkling like crystal.

Now I can hear everything, the distant chirp of insects, the drip of water from a mossy branch, even the faint heartbeat of a squirrel hiding under the roots.

When I reached the edge of the clearing, the old wooden fence came into view. The morning sun glinted off its damp planks. I paused, gripping the post, feeling a low vibration humming beneath the wood—as if my touch carried something electric.

Inside the house, the silence felt unnatural. The ticking clock on the wall seemed louder than ever. I stepped inside, my footsteps soft but echoing faintly, and caught a glimpse of myself in the hallway mirror.

For a second, I froze.

My eyes, normally a muted brown, gleamed with a faint amber glow, like the reflection of candlelight. The same shade as the wolf’s.

I reached out, touching my face, trying to steady my breathing. “No… no, it can’t be…”

But as my fingers brushed my cheek, my reflection flickered. In that instant, I saw another face layered beneath mine, the same features, but sharper, wilder, with streaks of silver in her hair and a look of primal calm.

Her lips moved, but the voice was mine.

“You’re not losing yourself. You’re finding what was hidden.”

The mirror shattered.

I stumbled backward, my heart racing, shards scattering across the wooden floor. A sudden sound outside, the soft crunch of footsteps, made me turn sharply. Through the window, I saw movement by the trees. A silhouette. Tall. Still. Watching me.

And then, from deep within the forest, a howl echoed. It wasn’t threatening—it was calling.

I felt the same pull as before, deep in my chest, as if something ancient inside me was waking up once more.

I stood there in silence, staring out the window. The morning light glowed golden against the mist, but my shadow on the floor… no longer looked human.

** ** ** **

"Sweetie, what are you doing? Time for school?!" Mom found me standing right at my window.

"Nothing, Mom. I just heard a noise in the woods" I replied, knowing she didn't quite believe me.