Heir of Luna

~17~

I catch up to Josiah in the school hallway and he seems surprised that I sought him out.

“Hey?” His greeting sounds like a question.

“Hi. I wanted to ask for your help with something.” We proceed outside and onto the field.

Josiah is helping with training at the school, a subject we all participate in.

He ushers me to the side and we stop by a tree.

“I need you to train me,” I get straight to the point. “Not just in combat but fitness too.”

He scrutinises me with his eyes, “you know that Drake isn’t expecting you to change right?”

I shrug, “I know. I am doing this for me.”

He nods, “okay. We will start after school. Meet me on the car park.” He leans forward and kisses my forehead before hesitating awkwardly as he steps away. “Sorry.”

I shake my head with a smile, “it’s okay.”

-

“Again.” Josiah orders before I squat and drop into a plank position, then jump back into a squat and stretch up onto my toes after, arms above my head.

Josiah has had me doing burpees for twenty minutes now. My legs are starting to feel like jelly and sweat is dripping from places I don’t even want to acknowledge. I knew this would be tough but I did not expect to be so bad tired after such a short amount of time.

“Again,” Josiah barks when I hesitate too long between burpees.

This is not currently the soft, caring Josiah. It is also not the teasing, flirty Josiah. No, this is Beta Josiah, training instructor and general hard ass.

I do another two burpees before waving my hand at him, “no more. I can’t do anymore.”

He rolls his eyes at my state, “five more and then you can grab a drink.”

I try to hurry with the last five but it feels impossible. Finally I slug over to my drink but manage to stay standing as I drain the contents.

“Thirsty?” Josiah raises an amused eyebrow at me and smirks.

I raise a shaky arm and stick up my middle finger toward Josiah.

He laughs at the gesture before walking over and handing me a towel.

I wipe at the sweat coating my face and neck before throwing it beside my empty drinks bottle.

“See the green line that runs around the outside of the training field?” Josiah points. I follow his finger and see the dark green line, it must be around half a mile in circumference.

I nod but Josiah just looks at me expectantly. I groan before jogging over to the line and starting to run.

“Ten laps!” Josiah shouts to me. I watch as he lays out a clean towel and sits down. He slides sunglasses onto his head as he relaxes.

-

The music is already blaring downstairs as I slip my heels on. I stand and check my outfit in the mirror. My dress is a deep purple with black lace around the edging, the skater style skirt coming to my knee.

Opening my bedroom door I find Issy coming out of her room too.

“Let’s go!” She squeals and grabs hold of my arm. She is wearing a baby pink pencil skirt and white lace bralet. Her pink and white birthday sash secured across her chest. She even has a little tiara with ‘18’ embossed into it on her head.

“You look nice,” I tell her as we descend the stairs.

We reach the bottom and find our way outside to the patio area. There are a bunch of people from school out here. Unfortunately, Harmony is here with her cheerbots.

“You look cute Issy,” Josiah approaches and pulls Issy into a hug. “Shame I am the prettier twin.” He smirks as he steps back and tries to ruffle Issy’s hair. He then turns his gaze to me, “right Cleo?” He winks at me.

I roll my eyes at his antics before stepping forward to hug him. “Happy birthday Josiah.”

I have spent most of the day with Issy but Josiah has been absent around the house today.

His hug is a little tighter and a little longer than usual, as though he is pouring every emotion into the embrace. I allow him to hug me a little longer before asking quieter, “is everything okay?”

He steps back with a sad smile, “sure. We should all dance though.” He grabs mine and Issy’s hand before pulling us into the crowd. There is a makeshift dance floor in the centre. We stop in the middle of everyone and start to move to music.

Everyone around us are dancing too and time suddenly seems to slow down. Issy has the biggest smile on her face as she dances and twirls around. She is so carefree and beautiful. Josiah is dancing too but his smile is small and doesn’t fully meet his eyes. He watches me as the crowd moves around us.

I stop dancing before asking him, “what is it?”

He shakes his head, “I just envisioned this day differently.”

-

Myself and Issy stand at the tree line, Josiah’s clothes folded in my arms as we wait. He is currently pacing back and forth in just his boxer shorts, waiting for his wolf to emerge at midnight.

“It’s time,” Issy confirms as she glances at her phone again.

A few seconds of silence pass before Josiah suddenly stops. A series of cracks sound as he drops to his knees. Fur begins to sprout along his skin and his head rolls. His body transforms before us and he releases a howl as the final changes settle.

Before us now stands a huge black wolf. The tip of one ear is white. He stalks toward us and stops next to me before nudging my hand with his massive head. I smile as I run my hand through his soft fur.

“Hey.” I huff a laugh as the wolf licks my arm.

The wolf darts off into the forest as myself and Issy watch in awe.

“I cannot wait to meet my mate so I can shift too.” Issy sighs with content.

Worry settles in my gut as I think about the fact I still have not yet shifted.