Lunar Vow

The Lone Wolf Rises

The next morning, Fenris awakens to the sound of birds chirping and the sun shining brightly through the window, lying on his side, realizing that the woman from the night before wasn't next to him. Arising from the bed, he gets his pants on and makes his way out

into the kitchen. “Good morning, sleepy head. I thought you would never wake up.” The woman says, smiling slightly.

“Morning.” I say, trailing off in thought of my day ahead.

“Breakfast?” She asks, pulling me back from my thoughts.

“Nah, I'm okay. I think I should get going, my family is probably worried I haven't checked in.” As I start to make my way to the front door.

“Well, Kira, last night was fun. Do it again sometime?” I ask in a groggy tone as I opened the front door.“You know where to find me?” She said, before I exited the house and closing the door behind me.

The entire ride home, I couldn’t help but replay the night's events in my mind, “Why the hell did I sleep with a total stranger last night? That's not something I would normally do, what the f**k was I thinking?” I ask myself as I pull into the driveway of the house.

“OH MY GOD, FENRIS, YOU'RE OKAY!” I hear my mother yelling as she’s running full speed to my bike, giving me a tight as f**k hug.

“Mother, yes, I am fine, why would I not be?” I ask, annoyed by her reaction

“Fenris, you were out all hours of the night, no text, no call, nothing telling me you were safe! What the hell were you doing anyway?” She asks with anger in her tone

“I went out, mother, I am twenty years old, you know that makes me-oh oh I don't know- an adult.” Sarcasm in my tone

“You may be an adult, but I'm worried about you, and I am your mother, so you will deal with it .” I hear her lecturing me as I head inside to go back to bed, still exhausted from last night and not in the mood to deal with my overprotective and dramatic mother.

Lying on the bed in my room, ear buds in, listening to music, the events from last night replaying in my head like a movie I’ve seen a million times, after a few hours I decided it was a one-time thing, that I would never sleep with anyone who wasn't my fated mate, that I would stay focused on my mission to find her wherever and whoever she may be.

Sitting up, I look out the window. It’s nighttime, the stars are shining, and the moon is brightly shining in the sky when I hear a familiar voice downstairs. It's a voice I could never forget, Serena Nightsahde. Serena’s parents died when she was just a small pup, and our alpha found her wondering the woods alone. He made the decision to take her in and allow a pack family to raise her as if she were their own . We grew up together, adventuring in the great outdoors, and she even accompanied me to watch the lunar vow several times.

The weekend after her eighteenth birthday, she discovered her wolf, and things started to change. She became distant, we didn't hang out as much, she didn't reply to any of my calls or messages, and then one day she stopped coming to school. No one had seen her around town, it was as if she had just disappeared from existence. No explanation, no apology, no goodbye, she just vanished. Now she’s back, all those healed wounds from his abandoning me reopened, and the pain from that hurts so f*****g much.

Heading downstairs, I walk past the kitchen where she and my mother sit, talking, laughing, catching up with her adventures since leaving the pack like nothing had happened- as if none of it f*****g mattered.

I wanted no part of it; I didn't want to see her or hear her voice any longer. Feeling my wolf grow in anger, the feeling of betrayal returning tenfold, I had to leave. I had to get away from this house, but most importantly, I had to get far, far away from Serena Nightshade.

“Fenris, sweetie, is that you?” I hear calling to me from the kitchen, “Serena is here from Lycandra, come say hello,” she continues, but I ignore her and continue out the front door to my bike. Getting onto my bike, I ride off down the road to the only place I can think of, The Moonlight Prowl.

As I reach the parking lot, it's basically empty. I dismount my bike and head inside. Sitting at the bar, I ask the bartender for a beer and a shot of Jack. I don't normally drink hard liquor, but today- today it just seemed fitting.

Before the bartender can even set the shot down on the bar, I grab it and down it, motioning for another. After about three or four, I finally felt better and decided to stick to beer the rest of the time I was there. I was sitting next to an older man who seemed to be in his fifties. He hadn't said much in the time I’ve been here; he just sat there sipping the same beer he had been sipping on since I sat down, so I ignored his existence until out of nowhere he tapped, cleared his throat, looked in my direction, and spoke. “You're drinking your sorrows away, boy.” I turned to look at him, and he continued, “No man comes to a bar at this time drinking like you’ve been unless they're running from something or someone, so what is it, what's got your little wolf in a twist?” Not knowing how to respond, I just sit and stare. “Well, boy, you gone answer or what?” He spoke one last time, this time a little more sternly.

“I uh- I'm just here trying to clear my mind, is all, sir,” I stutter before continuing. “I’ve had a rough couple of weeks, and although I wouldn’t say I'm “running” from something or someone. I did come here to get away from a situation in which I may have done or said something I didn’t mean to say or do. What’s it to you?”

“Sounds like running to me, what kind of wolf runs from his problems, pathetic, I’d say.” He states, snickering, then continuing, “sounds like you need to face your problems and be a man.”

“Well, I don't quite know how to 'face my problems' if my problem is caused by someone I’ve never met and someone who I once knew.”

“Well, how can someone you’ve never met cause you any problems at all, son? If you’ve never met them, how can they affect you at all?” He asks curiously, “What exactly is your problem, son?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, sir, but I am an unbound wolf, abandoned by the moon goddess and left with no mate.” I sip my beer and continue, “and my other problem is I’ve recently, within the last few hours, had someone who once meant the world to me and vanished from my life without hesitation or goodbye, waltz right back into my life like nothing happened.”

“Ah, I see, so your wolf is broken, and you can't fix it?” He says, shaking his head, “Tell ya what, son, lemme help you, come to my pack house and lemme show you what joys come from being an unbound wolf, trust me on this one, it’ll clear your head of all sorrows and make you see that your 'situation' isn’t a problem but a blessing.”

Without any idea what he meant or knowledge of what I was walking into, I agreed, and the next thing you know, we were on our bikes riding into the night.

Reaching the end of the driveway, we come to a halt in front of a big three-story house, the trees draped over its exterior with branches swaying in the breeze, casting shadows on every inch, the fields surrounding it containing tall green grass and beautiful flourishing wildflowers.

Dismounting our bikes, the old man turns in my direction, “Here we are, home away from home, the place where all those who are lost go to find peace, the solution to all of your problems.” The old man says before entering the home.

“What exactly is this place? What do you mean, the place where all who are lost go to find peace?” I ask confused

“This is a special place, there are no alphas, no war, no rivals. We all gather together and embrace what life as a wolf is really about, which is being one with nature. This is a place where the moon goddess does not control when we shift or whom we live our lives with. This boy is Eclipsara.”

“Eclipsara? I’ve never heard of it. How has this place never been found?”

“Eclipsara is hidden by a magic barrier. It was created by the rogue son of an alpha from the eighties. No one knows how he managed to get the barrier up or who he got to do it, but he did, and because of that, we are not bound by the lunar influence, and we have total freedom of when we shift and who we bond with. Because of Eclipsara, our mates are bonded with us under true emotion and connection instead of with whoever the moon goddess believes we should be bonded to.”

In a speechless daze, I couldn’t believe what I had just heard, an entire place hidden away from all who control our every move, giving us the ability to be ourselves under the control of only ourselves.