ECLIPSE

There are three things every wolf learns before they learn how to fight. Know your rank. Know your Alpha. And never wander beyond the boundary. I broke the third rule when I was six. I don't remember why. I remember the forest, though. I remember the trees being impossibly tall, their branches twisting together above me until they swallowed the moonlight. I remember the cold beneath my bare feet. And I remember running. Something had been following me. I could hear it behind me. Branches snapping. Leaves shifting. Heavy footsteps matching mine. I ran until my lungs burned. Then— Nothing. When they found me hours later, I was sitting beside the river. Barefoot. Alone. Completely unharmed. And with no memory of how I had gotten there. Everyone called it a miracle. My mother never did. She simply held me against her chest and cried. I was six years old. I didn't understand why. I understand now that adults only cry like that when they're afraid of something they can't explain. --- Nineteen years later, I still hadn't shifted. In our world, that wasn't normal. Children usually experienced their first signs of their wolf between the ages of twelve and sixteen. By eighteen, most had fully awakened. I was nineteen. And I had nothing. No wolf. No heightened senses. No instinct. No connection to the pack. Nothing. I'd been tested three times. The results never changed. No wolf manifestation detected. The elders called me an anomaly. Some called me defective. The kinder ones simply avoided the subject. I preferred the last group. At least they didn't stare. I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, tying my hair back, when someone knocked on the door. "Luna?" "I'm getting dressed." "You're literally already dressed." I rolled my eyes. "Then I'm fixing my hair." The door opened. My younger brother leaned against the frame. He was fourteen, irritating, and unfortunately very proud of his silver wolf. He'd shifted six months ago. Our mother had cried. Our father had called every relative he knew. There had been food, music and enough celebration to make me want to disappear. When I turned nineteen, my mother baked me a cake. It had been chocolate. I still appreciated the effort. "You coming to breakfast?" my brother asked. "In a minute." He didn't leave. "What?" He hesitated. "You heard about the patrol?" I turned around. "What patrol?" His expression changed. "You really don't know?" "Know what?" He glanced toward the hallway before lowering his voice. "Three wolves disappeared last night." My stomach tightened. "Disappeared?" He nodded. "They were patrolling the northern boundary." "Did they find them?" "No." Something about the way he said it made the room feel colder. "Maybe they left." "No wolf leaves without telling the Alpha." He said it like he was reciting one of the oldest rules in existence. Then the house bell rang. Once. Twice. My brother looked toward the hallway. "Who would come this early?" I didn't answer. For some reason, I suddenly didn't want to know. --- By breakfast, nobody was talking. My mother kept looking toward the windows. My brother barely touched his food. I watched them both. Something was wrong. "What's going on?" My mother didn't look at me. "Nothing." "You've said that three times." "Because nothing is happening." "Mom." She finally looked up. Her eyes met mine. For a second, I saw something there. Fear. Then it disappeared. "Eat your breakfast." I frowned. Before I could say anything else, I heard a strange sound. A low vibration. Almost like distant thunder. I looked toward the window. "What was that?" My brother frowned. "What?" "That sound." He listened. Nothing. "Probably the wind." There wasn't any wind. I knew that. But I let it go. Until I heard it again. Thump. I froze. It sounded like a heartbeat. Not mine. Something outside. Thump. My mother dropped her spoon. This time, my brother heard it too. We all looked toward the window. The sound stopped. Silence. Then my mother stood. "Go upstairs." I blinked. "What?" "Go upstairs, Luna." Her voice was different. Not angry. Afraid. "Why?" "Now." I had never heard my mother speak to me like that. So I went. --- I reached the top of the stairs. Then stopped. The curtains at the end of the hallway were moving. Slowly. Back and forth. There was still no wind. I walked toward the window. One step. Then another. My fingers touched the curtain. And I pulled it aside. My breath caught. The forest was full of wolves. Not three. Not ten. Hundreds. They stood between the trees, scattered across the edge of our territory. Some were black. Some white. Some brown. Some silver. Their eyes reflected the pale morning light. None of them moved. None of them made a sound. They were simply standing there. Watching. I couldn't understand why. Then I noticed something. They weren't looking at the house. They were looking at me. I stepped backward. A strange pressure settled inside my chest. Not pain. Something else. Something I couldn't name. The largest wolf stepped forward. Black as the night. I recognized him immediately. Everyone did. The Alpha. He stopped at the edge of the forest. Our eyes met. And for one impossible second, the world seemed to become completely silent. Then— A whisper. Barely audible. So faint I wasn't even sure I'd heard it. Luna. I spun around. Nobody was behind me. I looked back through the window. The Alpha was still there. Watching me. My heart hammered. "Who said that?" No answer. The wolves remained perfectly still. Then the Alpha lowered his head. Not in submission. Not in greeting. Almost as if he were... recognizing me. A chill travelled down my spine. I stepped away from the window. The lights flickered. Once. Twice. Then everything went dark. I stood frozen in the hallway. And somewhere in the darkness, something whispered again. Luna. I didn't know who had called my name. I didn't know why the wolves were there. And I certainly didn't know why my mother was crying downstairs. But I knew one thing. For nineteen years, I had believed there was nothing inside me. That morning was the first time I wondered if I had been wrong.