The Unwanted Wolf

Heart racing. Head pounding. Screams echoed in the distance. I was running through the forest in the middle of the night, and I couldn’t remember how I had gotten there. It was dark, and I could barely see anything in front of me. Clouds hung in the sky, blocking out any moonlight.

I was being chased, and I didn’t know who or what was behind me. I was barefoot and in my pajamas, but I wasn’t cold. I was panicked. I knew I was in danger. I just had to keep running. Shadows flickered all around me, and I was terrified for my life. I felt like I was surrounded by the danger, and no matter how fast I ran, I couldn’t seem to get away.

I tripped and fell, scraping my hands on the dirt. I tried to get up, but something grabbed my ankle and started pulling me backwards. I flipped onto my back, trying to break free from whatever had a hold of me. I couldn’t see the figure, since it was covered in darkness. It was large and angry. It had no face or distinct features.

I grabbed a nearby tree, trying to stop it from pulling me any farther, but my grip wasn’t strong enough, and I just ended up ripping my skin on the bark. I could feel the sting of the broken skin, and I knew I was bleeding, but that didn’t matter.

I kept struggling, trying to break free from the grip, but nothing I didn’t made any difference. Eventually I was pulled out from the trees and into a clearing, where the creature let go of me. I looked to the sky and saw where the moon was hiding beyond the clouds. I let out a scream, and the clouds parted. I felt full of energy, and there was power surging through me.

The monster lunged at me. Sitting up, I shot my hands forward. An iridescent glow flowed through my hands, surrounding the creature. It’s screams pierced my ears, and I had to cover them, because the noise was too much to bear.

–

I shot forward with my heart pounding like crazy. When I looked around, I realized I was in the room in Ginger’s little cottage with Mark sleeping next to me. It was just a nightmare. I was safe.

Sweat coated my forehead, and I could feel my back covered as well. Based on the blankets, I had been thrashing from the nightmare. I looked to Mark, who was still peacefully sleeping. I was surprised I hadn’t woken him up.

My entire body was energized, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep any time soon. I threw my legs out of bed and stood up. I made sure to tuck the blanket back over Mark before grabbing my coat and tiptoeing out of the room.

The house was dark and quiet, but my wolf senses made up for the lack of light. It was easy to navigate around and avoid stepping on anything as I moved to the kitchen. I wanted to make myself a cup of tea to calm down. I was sure the warmth would help calm my nerves. I heated up water and found a bag of tea to steep. When that was done, I took my cup and stepped outside.

It was too cold to be outside, but I didn’t mind the blast of cold air for a moment, especially with the heat steaming from the mug I was holding. I jumped when I saw Daniel sitting in the rocking chair and reading a book. Tea spilled out of my cup.

Daniel looked up from his book. “Oh, Adira, what are you doing awake?”

“Bad dream,” I smiled. I held up my cup. “I thought some tea might help.”

“It’s not uncommon to drink tea before bed.” Daniel placed his book mark in the book and closed it. He set it in his lap to give me his full attention.

“Can I admit something to you?” I took a seat on the porch, crossing my legs.

“Sure,” Daniel said, giving me a curious look.

“I hate tea.” I laughed at my own statement.

Daniel tilted his head. “Then why would you make tea?”

I laughed again. “You always see people drinking tea in movies or read about it. It just felt like something I should do. I much prefer coffee, but I didn’t think drinking coffee in the middle of the night would be a good idea.”

Daniel joined in my laughter. “Probably not. Do you want to talk about your dream?”

I held the cup close to my face and breathed in the steam. I had no intentions of drinking it anymore, but the warmth still felt nice in the chilly night air. “It was just a typical nightmare, really. I was running for my life. Shadows were chasing me. Then I think I used the moonlight to fend them off.”

Daniel hummed in response. “That’s not necessarily a typical dream. Do you think it means anything?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Do dreams actually mean anything?”

“Sometimes. It can be the brain’s way of telling you something you don’t know, or processing intense information. I have this book at home that is all about dream interpretation. It’s pretty interesting, actually.”

I looked down at the cup, thinking about the nightmare. Was this trying to warn me about that great evil Ginger warned me about? In both visions I defeated the creature, which was helpful, but I wasn’t sure how I would manage to do that at this rate. Wait.

I sat up suddenly, spilling the tea on my legs. I set my cup down and jumped to my feet. I ran off the porch and into the garden looking up at the sky.

“Adira? What’s wrong?” Daniel chased after me, stopping next to me.

“I think I get it now. It all makes sense,” I said, smiling as I looked up.

“Get what?” he asked. He looked up into the sky with me.

I smiled as the moonlight shone down on us. I held my hand. With a deep breath, I imagined the moon in my hand. I could feel the energy surging through me, and I didn’t even bother closing my eyes. Before my eyes, a ball of light was floating in my hand. My skin tingled, and I felt energized.

“The moon is my source of magic,” I said, beaming with joy.

Daniel blinked at my hand a few times. “Whoa. How did you do that?”

“Magic.” I played with the ball, switching it from hand to hand. It was small, and I didn’t know what this would allow me to do exactly, but it felt easy compared to all of the training from earlier. With the moon shining down on me, I knew this is where I would thrive. I was the daughter of the moon and magic, and now I fully understood what Ginger was trying to say about my wolf giving me an advantage.

It wasn’t about isolating my wolf or my magic. I needed to let them join and become one. I needed to accept both sides of me. The little ball of light petered out, but I didn’t care. I knew this was the next step to truly being able to use my magic.

I threw my arms around Daniel, thrilled about what happened. “Thank you so much.”

Daniel patted my back. “You’re welcome. Although, I don’t really understand what I did.”

I let go of Daniel, still beaming like an i***t. “What you said about dreams, it made me realize what my dream was trying to tell me. It was scary, and I thought it was a nightmare, but my mind was just trying to show me the way I could use my magic.” I pointed up to the moon. “Because I’m part werewolf, I think my magic comes from the moon.”

Daniel looked up at the moon, processing everything I said. “Incredible. I’m going to have to write this down. I wonder if all half-werewolves half-sorcerers get their power from the moon. I wonder if there are any half-blooded people out there. That would be absolutely fascinating to learn. I should ask Ginger about it in the morning.”

I shook my head, amused by Daniel’s academic mind. He always wanted to know more. “Who knows. Maybe there’s more of my kind out there. My parents can’t be the only ones who have crossbred like that, right?”

Daniel shrugged. “I don’t know. With how little ‘mythical’ creatures mingle, it could go either way. I wonder how I could find out that information.”

“Well, if anyone could discover it, it would be you, Daniel,” I said.

Daniel smiled at this. “You should probably get back to bed. It’s late.”

I laughed a little. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep now. I’m too excited. What about you? What are you doing up?”

“It was my turn to take watch,” Daniel said. “I still have a little time before Rie takes over.”

I nodded, forgetting that they were taking watch to ensure our safety. “Do you want company?”

“That would be lovely.”

–

The next morning, I could feel Mark shifting in the bed, pulling me into a half-awake state. It felt much too early to be awake. It had taken much too long to get back to sleep after the excitement of discovering the source of my powers. I had no idea how long I had been asleep, since I refused to open my eyes to check the time.

I felt Mark’s warm lips press against my cheek as he placed his hand on my h*p. “Good morning,” he whispered directly in my ear.

I merely g*****d in response. This made him laugh.

“It’s time to get up. I’m sure Ginger is waiting for you for training,” he said. His voice was light and airy, but it didn’t make me want to get up anymore.

I squeezed my eyes tighter and shook my head. “Uh uh.” I felt like a child but I didn’t care.

Mark didn’t say anything right away, so I thought he had given up in his attempt to wake me up. Then I felt his hand brush the hair out of my face. He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine.

“If you don’t want to get up, I’m going to have to give you a reason,” he said, his voice low and husky.

He pressed his lips against my neck and trailed k****s down to my collarbone. His fingers slid from my h*p up my side, sending tingles through my spine. My body automatically turned to his, craving more and more. With each night we held out, it made it so much harder to stop myself from going all of the way with this beautiful specimen. With each of his touches, I was filled with a new energy and no longer wanted to go back to sleep.

I opened my eyes, searching for him to pull him even closer. However, when he saw my eyes open, he simply smirked at me.

“There you are.” He stood up and started walking away from the bed.

I whimpered in response. “Mark, where are you going?”

“You’ll have to get up to find out.” He winked at me before slipping out of the door.