Stubborn and the Mutt

forty five | the moon

I look at Andrea once again, and thankfully this time, we walk down a path where the moon's light makes it to the ground, so the moonlight hits her face perfectly for me to see the smile. It's small, sad almost, but there.

"Why?"

"Because of the thought of one day losing him to whatever. I won't survive that, I'm certain. He's my mate, I'll die with him."

"Hey, don't say that." I squeeze her hand.

Immediately, she squeezes back. "I'm not being dramatic. Many wolves here can attest to that." And as if on cue, a bypassing wolf huffs as if agreeing with Andrea. "You'd rather die with your mate than live a life without your mate. Wolves go crazy with that kind of pain, so maybe... having a mate is a blessing with a lingering curse. Losing that mate."

I press my lips, looking ahead and moving past a few small bushes. Lowkey, I'm hoping no rats or possible snakes peep out of anywhere.

That's.... Sad. Intense. I guess a part of me can relate. Losing my mother and sister made me feel the exact same way. I didn't want to live for a long time, I wanted to be with them, life or death. I can only imagine that feeling being even stronger for wolves. They are promised a mate, humans are lucky to even have one.

It breaks my heart when I think of it. Micah and his mate. He lost his mate. I'm sure he was shattered, heartbroken beyond words. And it makes sense. He's very affectionate, protective of me and never fails to remind me of how much him and I are one. We're meant to be. So imagine that with his first mate, only to lose her. He must have been beyond broken.

And I guess, then he found me. Now, I'm his second mate and maybe he finds hope in that. He does all that he does so he savours every moment with me, just to remind himself of the mate he once had, and the mate he could lose at any moment.

A wave of sadness comes over me. I can't imagine Micah being that sad, that broken.

"Goddess Luna blessed him with a second mate." I mutter, deep in thought. "I should honour having a wolf for a mate."

"Second mate?"

"Huh?"

"You said second mate."

"Oh, yeah." I wiggle my hand in hers, adjusting our interlocked fingers. "I'm just saying, I should protect him and make him feel safe with me, because maybe he's still hurting."

"Who?"

"Micah." I pout over at Andrea.

"Hurting? Did you guys get in a fight or something?"

"No... what? No. I'm saying, since he lost his first mate, Goddess Luna made me his second mate and I should honour that. I mean, he's expressed how much being mates means to him, but hearing it from you as well just puts things into perspective."

"Okay but what the heck is a second mate?"

Now, I have to look at her with an eyebrow up. Is she simply not following me or is she acting? Am I not being clear?

"Second mate? I'm Micah's second mate. He had a mate before me. His first mate. I'm his second mate."

"Oh... who told you that?"

"He did."

"Micah, your mate, told you that you're his... second mate? That he had a mate before you?"

"Yeah, Andrea."

"Oh... I see." Another streak of moonlight passes her face, long enough for me to see the frown. "Hmm."

"What is it?"

"I've just never heard of—"

"Mate."

The both of us glance over to the left, and there Micah comes. I'm not surprised to see him wearing literally a thin black top, because he's a wolf and apparently their body temperature works wonders.

"I'll head out to find my mate." Andrea pulls me in for a tight side hug before she lightly starts jogging ahead.

Micah, the gentleman he is, takes hold of my hand and helps me climb over a thicker root from the ground. I have to actually lean against the tree with my hand just for the extra support, because truth be told, I can hardly see a thing but specks of light piercing through tiny gaps from above. So really, all the assistance I can get would be greatly appreciated.

"Unfair that you guys have good eye sight, because let me tell you something." I huff, dusting my hand against my hoodie. "My eyes are failing at adjusting to the dark."

Micah chuckles besides me. "Should I carry you?"

"Please. I'm not that useless of a human being." I tease, squeezing his hand.

My mind trails back to Andrea, of whom I of course can't even see ahead of us. My hand grips onto Micah's tighter. She's never heard of a second mate?

My lips pout but I don't air my thoughts.

True to her word, we head out a couple more, and if I have to assume how any more minutes we travel, I'd say a good ten minutes extra. By the time we slowly come to a stop, I'm low-key huffing but trying to play it off as deep, intentional breaths because yeah, the creatures of the woods have ears and I don't need them knowing how tired I already am.

I'm sure to them, this is barely anything but casual, normal, daily walk.

Here we stand in almost a downhill slope, with a few huge rocks in random places and small grassy hills. Looking down, one would see more large trees in the distance but where we all stand is nice and open. A large open space, different to the one I've seen them train at before.

No. This one is different. And we all come and stop at this slope hill, because right ahead, perfectly round and shining brightly above the distant second forest, is the moon. It's unrealistically huge, almost brighter than the brightest lightbulb. I see her form, her shape, the designs on the surface. It's so perfect, I can only literally gasp.

"Amazing, right??" Micah chuckles besides me. "Insane sight, not once am I disappointed to witness such."

"I... I just..." I breathlessly chuckle. "Wow. You guys get to see this every year?"

"Yeah. The day before every ball event, we head out to see her. Goddess Luna. Of course, she isn't in wolf form."

"But it's... I mean, she is huge. I've never seen the moon this big before. You'd think I stepped into a different world." I actually frown, because how is it possible for me to see the moon this big. I've really never seen it this big.

I'm talking massive, as in I could literally reach out and touch it— her, if I wanted to. A part of me hesitates to stick out my hand. I have no evidence that the moon is the Goddess, but imagine I stick out my hand and suddenly I'm pulled into the moon? It's that big.

"We traveled to see her. And you're with a bunch of wolves. Maybe that's why." I feel his finger stroke the knuckle of my thumb so gently, I feel tingles run down my spine.

"You guys are very blessed to see this yearly." I mutter, smiling as I glance down at the various wolves sitting on their hind legs. "She's beautiful."

Of course, I get it. It's beautiful and of course, it's their Goddess, so they are beyond mesmerised. I see the few human forms standing, and just a few sitting or leaning against other wolves. But all of them are staring at the moon. I even turn around, seeing more wolves up the hill staring ahead. Literally, all of them are looking at the moon, their attention beyond caught and unwavering. Not one is looking elsewhere.

"Very."