At the peak of midnight, when the moon is high and the stars are veiled by mist, there's a soulful howling in the forest. It's a lone, melancholy wail that resonates through the woodlands and through the chilling evening air. A pack of wolves on their haunches cry the sorrows of their world and the curse of their ancestors to that sole crescent.
Tonight is the night of all nights when they yearn for the warmth of another soul, a soulmate they dream of meeting in time. There is no predicted time, yet they only ever first meet on this night in a year, and only this. And this evening is it. The closest chance before the new year in their eyes begins to wear at them. There are 12 in the original pack, each distinct in his own way, to form a coveted pact they named EXO. They, who are not linked by blood but destiny, protect one another until The one comes to them and the pack grows, with one more. The numbers have risen to 17.
And tonight hails the presence of another. They smell her before she is seen and from instinct, learn that she is to be one of them by the pale dawn of the next day. Kai is there first, warning the rest of the group to back off. He knows she's his. The pack relents; their scents, though the girl still hidden, have already unconsciously mingled together.
6 wolves howl again to the moon. Another chance passed by them, and another year to wait before the hand of fate chooses on of them.
She appears, glowing in the silver moonlight that is shining upon her, and her flowing dress gives her the same regal nature of that sole crescent in the solemn sky. Her hair is ebony black, blacker than the darkest soot yet more lustrous than the smoothest gem. Her skin is pale but not unhealthily so; it radiates light so pure they are stunned. And her eyes are green, the deepest emerald, and framed by long lashes.
Kai lets out the traditional howl, a solitary cry, to the heavens to symbolise his match. She seems to understand and steps forward, leaning forward and bowing her head. He reaches her and their gazes meet, brown and hypnotising green. The ancient animal instincts stir within him and he pounces, teeth sinking in her shoulder as he does. She neither moves nor flinches at the sudden movement.
And when he is done, she puts a finger to the mark and disappears. In her place, is a beautiful wolf, with a coat of the purest white and the brightest, glittering eyes. Together, they roam the clearings at the head of the pack; the newly reunited. They are perfect, completing each other; one with the darkest coat and white accents and the other, the lightest of light and shadowed with black.
By morning, there are 18 souls in human form sleeping on the leafy ground under the canopy of the forest. She, is the first to wake, rising and yawning. Though originally human, she knows and accepts what transpired in the night. It doesn't matter that she shall need to hide her on some evenings in a year, nor that she is a wolf.
All that matters to her is that she is united with her soulmate, her other half.
Kai wakes and the others follow suit, miraculously. He sees her and he is satisfied. The year that is coming shall not be so hard on him anymore.
For she is here with him, and forever shall be.
