Eclipse Child |✔|

|9|

***

Wolves run with the moon.

The pack rushed past the trees, falling into the crevice of the mountains as they ran in the night.

Wolves run with the moon.

It was why the packs looked so fondly up at the sky when stars shone in the darkness and the silver crescent ascended.

Flashes of stories- bits and pieces of information about the Moon and her powers- flow through my mind as half of the luminescent figure showed itself to us.

My grandmother's words fall into place.

The Moon is not something to pray upon, Soraya. She does not hear your cries. She takes no mercy upon the weak. Only the strong will survive.

She always spoke of the Moon as if it were a living entity. As if there was something greater than us hanging above.

I never knew what to believe.

But the stories she spoke- the tales she told of her adventures when she had the Moon's cursed blessing and traveled the world- it all seemed like a fable.

She had so much power.

I had always thought that as I gazed at my grandmother.

She had possessed so much power.

I always meant to ask her, at the end of her stories, what had made her give up such a powerful presence.

What had made her cast aside the Moon.

I feel the male brush against my side.

He had stayed with me throughout the run.

I only spare him a glance as we continue.

But we do not run for long.

The wolves are stopping again.

Wandering here and there- some still full of energy and choosing to let it out through play. Others curling up and watching the actions instead of participating.

The male softly bumps into my side, his head pushing against my right shoulder as he leads me away.

Is he going to shift?

I follow him away from the pack, my steps almost eager as I jump forward.

I'm starting to shift.

I can feel my body shaking, but before the process can even start, a sharp pain runs through my tail.

I look around to find the male biting it, his eyes wide.

He releases me and continues in the same direction.

I follow cautiously behind, irritation flowing through me as he leads me deeper in.

Then he stops.

His body gets low, falling to the ground as I copy him.

We stay like that for several minutes.

Several long minutes.

I huff in annoyance, but the male remains quiet beside me.

His ears suddenly rise to attention, leaning slightly forward as he strains his neck.

Then I see what he sees.

A small rodent.

He rises slowly, and silently stalks towards it.

I can't look away.