Midnight Intrigue

Chapter 1: By Moonlight

Trees pass by me so quickly in the darkness that I don't notice anything but the moonlight passing between them. My legs are carrying me as fast as they can, but I still feel as though my travel speed isn't enough to make it in time. She will be waiting for me just as she promised when she first gave birth to me.

Leaves and branches crunch under my weight as I weave in and out of the tall trees. I can see the clearing up ahead, it's so close now. Dozens upon dozens of trees continue to fly by me as I remain agile, dodging every single one. Finally I reach the verge, coming to a slow trot before sauntering along the smooth rock towards the edge of my fate.

Twisting on my hind legs, I morph into the man I used to be before this curse. Many elders – my adopted kind – say it is a blessing, but I am not so easily convinced after the pain I endure when I transform either way. Hunched over, wheezing and watching my breath rise upward, I see her float down to me from nowhere.

My glare of determination fixes on her as she sets foot on the cold rock cliff. Her transparent dress blows gently as her silhouette is barely disguised underneath. If I wasn't so tired, I'd have pounced on her, making mad love to her before I shift back, before I endure more excruciating pain.

She looks at me with eyes as blue as the day sky, the moonlight making them so bright that they nearly blend with the whites of her eyes. Mine stare back the exact same, as I was born of her power. I straighten my posture and present my bare body. Scars from a lifetime in the wilderness scatter along my skin. Branches and claw marks mostly, some bites from battles I nearly lost as an over-confident cub.

Beckoning to me with her hand, I step closer, but well out of reach of her hand. Her white hair flows as if the wind is constantly lifting it, but I feel no such breeze from where I stand. An aura surrounds her, one so powerful that I fear she could render me useless before I ripped her throat out. I was torn inside between the love and desire I felt for her, while the painful memories of a hard life and transformations riddled my every nerve. She has beauty, but that alone does not mean I need her to survive. Her force may be strong, but I have persevered through all the challenges she has forced me to endure. It is her fault I am here, yet she expects me to not be angry.

"Hello, my love." Her sweet voice whispers into my ear as she stands at least six human steps away. I don't know how she manipulates me, the wind, the night, or even her voice – but she does.

"Hello," I wheeze through a husky throat. My voice was never this deep, this rough. She altered many things I used to like when I saw my reflection in a mirror. Now I stand by rivers and lakes, peering at a creature's face that I should never have inherited. This was all some sort of mistake, a huge misunderstanding that made me a victim. It cost me more than just this physical appearance, it cost me the love of my life.

Standing here now as her promise is completed, she expects me to forgive her and bend to her will. She wants me to love her, but I don't wish to forgive, or forget. What she did to me was against my will, my right to freedom. I will never get back what I lost. How could she possibly understand anything I've been through? She is a Moon Goddess, a being so supposedly pure that she gets away with creating atrocities such as myself. Tonight I will stand up for myself, just like I have in these woods for two decades.

"You hate me. Yet you love me. You can't help it." Her words sting like a thorn in my paw. I look at my human fingers, remembering that I am no longer in that awkward form.

"You took away everything," I mutter from the corner of my mouth, tempted to snarl. "How could I not hate you for what you've done?" Maintaining my glare, I feel my temperature rise.

"Now, now, watch your temper. We wouldn't want you to lose control before we finish."

"Before we finish what?" Corner of my mouth still moving.

"Your ceremony of choice." Sweetness doesn't seem right coming from her mouth.

"Have I ever had a choice? After what you did to me, you really expect me to believeanything you say?" My voice rises near the end of my question.

"My love, I gave you eternal life. What more could you possibly want?"

"Want?! I never asked for any of this!" Heart beating faster, breaths uncontrolled. "You have no idea what I want!" I spit.

"I know you want me. Am I wrong?" She tilts her head as long white strands continue to float on a different flow of air. "I can feel many things inside you – we are one."

Breathing heavily, I think about how I really feel after all this time in the forest of immortal life. It has never felt like I could live forever with everything trying to kill me. Living through it all, I still had my doubts that I couldn't be killed.

A calm sweeps over me and I close my eyes. I feel her soft hands on my face and then caressing some of my many scars of my nude body. A tingling covers me from head to toe. She rubs her fingers across my rough beard and I feel love. Opening my eyes I see her nearly nose to nose with me and I blink.

Lump in my throat swallowed, I speak: "I... I do love you. But I still hate you for what you did to me. The humanity in me fights with the instincts of the wolf spirit you bestowed upon me. They have torn me apart at times as I struggle with what you so forcefully gave me. I wish I could go back. That's what I want."

Her nose touches mine. "You know that's not possible."

"Then I shall have you." My lips barely moving.

"You think I am that easy to push around? Your desires and feelings for me are like anyone else. I've seen it all before. You are foolish to believe we could be together. More like a son than a mate." Every word pierces my flesh like a knife, even though she says every single one at a soft whisper.

I wrap my arms around her so tight that I hope she can't slip away. Fingers run through my hair and I feel as though she is accepting my suffering. She loves me, but like a mother. This is not what I want. I let go as she drifts towards the cliff edge, holding out her arms as if to command the moon.

My jaw dislocates as I howl and then shift back into the beast that got me here in such a timely manner. Eyes feel like they're going to pop out of my skull, my flesh itches as hair pushes through every pore and my bones feel like they are snapping like twigs on the forest floor under the weight of a bear.

Transformation complete, I slump to the ground exhausted. Cold from the rock penetrates my paws and areas where fur is thinner than most. I look up at her as my vision blurs. My strength is fading as she turns around and says something inaudible. She tries again.

"My love. You will always be my favourite, but now the time has come for you to decide your ultimate fate. Leave this rock and live forever, or kill me and your life will be returned to you. Whichever you decide I will not return, no matter how loudly you howl at the moon. I will be gone forever and become nothing more than an out-of-reach memory."

Saddened eyes of a weak wolf peer up at her. I barely have any strength to stand, so killing her is likely not plausible, but not impossible. First my head, then the rest of my body is lifted upward to wobbling legs. Once I become stable, I circle around the rock, implying that I am considering the easy way out: walking away. As I turn back to her, I jump into stride and lunge at her. She opens her arms to embrace me as I bite her throat and we plummet from the moonlit edge.