Sun & Moon

Chapter 18 - Astrid

Rio drives us out of the city's winding roads from a route not yet travelled. We emerge onto a road lined with trees gently swaying and rose bushes, filling my lungs with their pleasant nocturnal aroma. We follow the road till we reach a clearing. On top of a hill, three figures are outlined against the moon's light shining brightly behind them. Rio gets closer and parks the car.

Corinthia stands in between her sons, Kobe and Leon, with her arms outstretched and her gown flowing against the wind.

"Welcome, Astrid, to your first run with the family," she says.

None of them are wearing a bodysuit.

Corinthia swiftly takes off her gown and the others follow suit, stripping from their clothes. I look away and do the same, sparing my shimmering black bodysuit. I hear them start jogging down the hill as one thud leads to two, then three, then four.

The smallest is a black wolf, larger than any wolf I've ever seen, yet towering over him is a brown wolf with white markings scattered on her face and feet. The next wolf is about the same size as the she-wolf, in a rich chocolate brown. And the biggest of them all, double the size of the smallest wolf, is Rio, striking a majestic pose under the moonlight like a dark abyss absorbing all the light around him except for one lone aqua blue eye.

Rio barks as if to tell me 'let's go'.

I run forward, then outstretch my arms into a dive and shift, twisting my body a full 360 before landing on all fours and shaking out into a fluffy orange, black and white mass of fur, two thick paws step out in front of me. I'd wager myself to be about the size of Leon's smaller black wolf. I walk over to Rio. He huffs approvingly, whereas Corinthia turns her nose up and begins to jog.

Everybody follows in unison. But Rio emerges out in front, as the rightful leader of this run and Alpha of the pack. He looks back expectantly at me and so does Leon, then Kobe. I engage every muscle in my body and tighten up my core to spring forward, breaking through the steady line between Corinthia and her younger sons so end up side-by-side with Rio.

A roar erupts from my lungs. I am surprisingly enjoying the run.

Rio slows down, as do the rest of us. I pant to catch my breath. The little black wolf at the back perks his ears up and sniffs incessantly at the ground. I try to sniff out the air too, to find what he's looking for, but only sense the island and, strangely, Rio's lingering delicious scent. Cortinthia sharply barks at the little wolf, but he persists and follows the trail he's on. And out pops a rodent from an unseen hole, which he swiftly catches between his jaws. Leon shakes his head, thrashing the rodent till it succumbs to its fate, then swallows it whole. Kobe's chocolate wolf huffs in stutters as if to laugh at his little brother.

All the while, Rio stoically sits observing his family quietly. He catches me staring, then howls. The others join in. Then, something builds up inside of me, an unforeseeable energy, and out from the deep recesses of my lungs erupts a roar that shakes the earth I stand on.

I can't believe I just joined in on the Lycan chorus.

The five of us jog around for a few more laps before resting again. Kobe rolls on the ground, Leon hunts some more and Corinthia regally lays down watching over her children. Rio soon gets up and jogs lightly back to the car. I follow him, while the rest stay back, enjoying basking in the moonlight.

Rio shifts back before my eyes, this time I accidentally catch a glimpse of his glistening bare back, but break my gaze away just as he bends down to retrieve his clothes. The intricate musculature of his back sears itself in my head as I shift back as well.

"What did you think?" Rio asks, now fully clothed.

"It was...a new experience."

"You have lived your whole life in Silver Bow, yet not once participated in a moonlit run?"