Lune
I cowered in a bush as I watched the girl walk off with her friend, the metallic taste of her blood still lingering in my mouth.
"Oh, I'm an idiot!" I muttered to myself. "Why did I do that? Did I think I was going to prove a point by biting her?" I groaned, flopping onto the forest floor.
I wasn't sure what came over me. Just the scent of her hand… It was so alluring and enticing. Every sense, every fiber of my body told me to draw blood, and I obeyed. Regretfully. Now, what was I going to do? I had attacked and tainted the forests. The whole village would be scouring the woods, looking to bring me to justice. I shivered. They'd put my head on a spike. I wasn't safe here anymore.
I stood to leave, but then I felt a tingling sensation like the subtle ripples in a lake or the ringing of a bell surge all throughout my body. It grew faster, brisker, more forceful. A small thought of panic crossed my mind, but as quickly as it came, it vanished and my balance with it. I tumbled back to the ground. With a tsk and a shake of my head, I moved to stand again, but I froze.
Where my paws should have been was a pair of hands. Still reeling from shock, I gently flexed my fingers in and out. In and out. I sucked in a breath and sat back on my butt, bringing my feet forward. My eyes widened in delight. Toes. I had toes. I laughed as I wiggled my feet into the dirt, burying them beneath the cool soil. Then I gasped and brought my hands to my face. A nose. A mouth. Ears. Hair. I combed my hand through my hair. It was brittle, dry, and as tangled as a bird's nest, but it was hair. My hair.
I was human again.
I sat there for who knows how long, basking in the rays of the sun, inhaling the smells of the forest, just being human. But then I remembered.
"I have to tell everyone else," I said aloud.
I shot up and took a step forward, but promptly fell back down again. I blew a stray strand of hair out of my face and stood up again with the assistance of a nearby tree.
"Okay. One step at a time."
I lumbered forward, putting one foot in front of the other. Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. Left— The tingling returned and a moment later, I was on the forest floor again, returned to the form of a wolf. Shaking my fur out, I got back to my paws and frowned.
It seemed the transformation was temporary. A hindrance, maybe, but I had made a breakthrough, taken a step towards liberation. Any problems could be overcome and would be overcome.
I ran back to camp, eager to spread the good news. I slowed, approaching the entrance when a brawny, grey wolf emerged out from the shadows. His muscles rippled as he stepped in my path, blocking me off.
"Lune, welcome home."
"Jaxton," I greeted, though it was anything but warm. Jaxton, Beta, second born of the Alpha. He upheld an unfavorable reputation for being cutthroat and ruthless, though he wasn't cruel. At least, I haven't seen him behave as such. Nevertheless, I made sure to stay on the tips of my toes around him.
Jaxton tilted his head, observing me with an uncanny, yellow stare. "Tell me, Lune, what were you doing so far out from camp?"
I opened my mouth, but then closed it again, hesitating. Was it safe to tell Jaxton my discovery? "I've found something," I said slowly. "But I wish to tell the Alpha about it first."
"Alpha Aslak is currently out on a hunt at the moment," Jaxton said. "Whatever it is, I can deliver the message for you once he returns."
I squirmed under his gaze, feeling words spill out of my mouth like a running spout. "Well, I found this girl in the forest," I started, "and when I bit her, I became human. I had hands, feet, toes, everything. But after a while, I think whatever magic she had wore out because I'm a wolf again."
"Interesting." Jaxton circled me, drawing his nose close to my fur, inhaling my scents. "A human, you say?"
"Listen, Jaxton, I think I'm on to something. Her blood could be the cure to our curse. If we could somehow find a way to harness it, I'm certain we could become—"
"What? Human again? And why would we want to do that?"
I shifted my gaze to the ground. "I mean, endless time in the world is great and all, but don't you want to return to the lives we once had?" I looked back up at him. "Don't you miss being human?"
"We have all of that and more," Jaxton said. "We're powerful as wolves. As people, we were forced into submission by bitter, selfish creatures, ones of our own. How could you want to return to that life again?"
I moved to go around him. "If you'd just let me talk to—"
Jaxton leapt in front of me. "No," he growled. "I won't let you destroy the sovereignty we've built." He stepped forward, and I fell back. "You've got a very dangerous secret, Lune. One that could shake the very foundations of our pack. In fact, you could consider it treasonous, inciting a rebellion against the Alpha." Jaxton thrust his muzzle close to my face. "If I catch you here again, I won't hesitate to bury you and your secret beneath the ground. Now, go."
I stumbled back, eyes wide, and then I turned tail and fled.
I had been exiled.
⥷⭃
I found myself back at the village of the girl—no, Cassandra. Her name was Cassandra. I shouldn't have come back, but a small part of me still hoped I could fix everything, somehow. If I could prove my theory and cure, the pack would allow me to join them again, and we'd be saved. I stared at the home of the magic blood girl from the safety of the trees.
But only if.
Under the cover of darkness, I crept across the glade, my stomach brushing against the grasses. Caution was a necessity here. I had already disrupted the peace once, and I wouldn't be getting a second chance. Pressing my side along the wall of the house, I poked my head up, peering through a window. Cassandra slept soundly beneath her covers. I peered around, checking for witnesses, then raked my claws down the glass. She stirred. I scratched more vigorously. That got her attention. The girl sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes before her gaze settled upon me. Her eyes went round. I scratched on the window again, and hesitantly, she approached the window and raised it just enough for me to hear her voice.
"It's you."
I nodded and pawed at the window again. Cassandra looked at me, then at her hand, then at me again. She drew away from the window, cradling her hand close to her chest, and I cursed myself for hurting her. Once bitten, twice shy.
I tried again, pawing at the glass with an added, desperate whine. I watched Cassandra fight herself. To trust or not trust the wolf at her window? Yet, her eyes softened and I knew I had won her over. She slid open the window fully and I crawled inside.
"Wait, wait!" Cassandra backed into the corner of her room, putting distance between her and me.
I approached her gently, moving slowly and steadily. This was a cat and mouse situation, except the mouse could call for reinforcements whenever it felt threatened enough. And reinforcements was an angry father with a shotgun. I stopped advancing and settled on her floor, resting my head on my paws. Best I let her approach me instead.
We sat in silence for a long moment before Cassandra finally worked up the courage to leave her corner. Drawing near, she lowered her hand towards my nose, attempting to adjust me to her scent, though I was accustomed enough. Whatever made her feel safe, I suppose. Cassandra moved her hand away from my nose and up to my head, stroking my fur.
"Oh, you're beautiful," she murmured.
I kept my eyes trained on her bandaged hand as she petted me, more interested in her blood than anything. When her hand came close enough, I bit down on the gauze and ripped it off. Cassandra stumbled back, jerking her hand away. I threw caution to the wind and stepped forward, sniffing her injured hand. The blood had clotted and gone stale. Would the magic still work?
I licked her hand, drawing flecks of dried blood into my mouth, Cassandra giggling as I did so. I sat back on my haunches and waited for that tingly feeling, but to my disappointment, everything felt the same. Stale blood was a no-go.
I drew my tongue across her wound with greater haste and vigor and desperation. Her weak and newly formed scab was ripped away and blood—fresh blood—entered my mouth. Satisfied, I stepped back and waited. Meanwhile, Cassandra stared at her hand and the blood welling at the surface of her skin.
"You need to leave," she whispered. "You aren't safe here. If they find you, they'll—" She looked up at me and yelped, promptly shielding her eyes. "You're human! And an uncovered one at that."
I looked down at myself, frowned, and snatched Cassandra's blanket off her bed, wrapping myself up in it. Bit by bit, Cassandra removed the fingers covering her vision and once she was certain it was safe to look, she removed her hands entirely.
She craned her neck, inspecting my now human body with squinted eyes and a furrowed brow. "How?" she asked. "How is this possible?"
I opened my mouth to speak, but the words that came out sounded like they were running through a cheese grater. Coughing, I beat a hand on my chest and shook my head. Voice? Broken. This wasn't going to work. I scanned her room and my gaze landed on her desk, specifically the ink, quill, and paper sitting atop it. I picked up the quill, dipped it in the ink, and got set. I winced at every curve, line and letter I scrawled on the paper. Like my voice, my handwriting was a little worse for wear. I handed Cassandra my finished product, and she skimmed over my work.
She glanced at me over the top of the paper. "Your name is Lune?" I nodded. "And you come from a…" She squinted her eyes then looked at me. "I can't read this."
I sighed and dragged a hand down my face, but in the process of that, I spotted a book on her shelf. The classic fairytale of Beauty and the Beast. I grabbed the book, cracked it open to the very beginning, and pointed at the picture of the enchantress and the prince.
Cassandra looked down at it. "This is when the prince is cursed for being cold hearted," she said.
I nodded and then pointed at myself.
"You were cursed?"
I nodded again and then flipped to another page, gesturing to the transformed servants of the prince.
"There are others that are cursed? There are more like you?"
By this point, I was practically bouncing on my toes. I was another step closer to finding a cure.
"So if you were cursed and magically transformed into what I assume is a wolf," Cassandra began, "how did you become human again?" She followed my gaze to her hand. "The bite. You consumed my blood."
I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly with a small nod. Cassandra held her hand up. "So then this is your cure." The moment those words left her mouth, I shifted back into a wolf and the blanket to the floor. "Oh, temporary," Cassandra said, "of course."
She sighed, deep in thought and contemplation, and I didn't blame her. She couldn't trust me and even if she did, helping me was a gamble, one she might not be willing to take.
"I want to help you," Cassandra said at last. "The people here? We want you dead. Something has been eating our livestock, but I assume it isn't you, right?"
I nodded.
"I figured. You're way too small to have eaten an entire coop of chickens and a few cattle within a few days." I flattened my ears against my head with a disappointed frown. "Uh, no offense," Cassandra added. "Either way, we think it's you, and we're looking for justice."
I shifted back on my haunches. This town truly was as bitter and hostile as the Alpha had said.
"But don't worry," Cassandra continued. "Once I cure you and your people, you won't need to worry about my village anymore." She paused. "But if I help you, in return, you must help me track down whatever has been terrorizing the livestock."
I ran through a list in my mind. Possible terrorists? The cool and calculating lynx by the old fir tree? The lumbering bear in the Southern cave? Or perhaps the sly, mischievous foxes? They were small, but they had caused us trouble in the past. It would be ill-advised of me to eliminate them entirely as the threat.
"So, Lune." Cassandra held her hand out. "Do we have a deal?"
I placed my paw in her palm, and she gave it a firm shake.
Deal.