Page 6
LUNA
Ash jumped up from the couch as I stepped into the room.
I leaned against the doorframe, letting my eyes take in the space—a large, modern, multi-area room.
The front door was to my left, with the kitchen nestled beside it.
A spacious living area extended beyond, anchored by a massive wooden dining table at the far end.
Skylights in the tall ceiling and large windows poured light into the space.
A corner couch framed a rug with a coffee table and a large-screen TV.
It radiated family-space vibes. I wondered who else lived here.
“Should you be up?” Ash asked, walking toward me, slowing his pace as he neared.
“I can’t stay in bed forever,” I said, in too much pain to string together many words.
He scooped me up gently—one arm under my legs, the other supporting my back—and carried me to the couch like I weighed nothing.
He carefully placed me in the corner, allowing me to recline against the back with my legs raised.
He folded the robe tightly over my legs.
No one had ever carried me like that before.
I should have protested, but I didn’t. I winced as I fidgeted to get comfortable. My ribs hurt like hell.
I was enjoying a mug of chicken soup Connor had made—honestly, it tasted like the best meal I’d ever had.
Judging by how slowly my stomach accepted it, it had been a long while since I’d eaten.
They vibrated with unspent energy, like coiled springs waiting to snap, so I asked them to sit. They did—one on each end of the couch.
“What do you remember?” Ash asked, his voice low but direct, like he couldn’t wait any longer. I couldn’t shake the feeling I was supposed to know him.
I cast my foggy memory back. “I used to think of them as blackouts,” I said, rubbing my temple. “But I remember running… in the forest.” I closed my eyes, and a monstrous shape loomed in my memory. A deformed bear. Dead eyes. My heart thudded. I opened my eyes in panic, bile rising in my throat.
Ash shifted closer, not quite touching me. “It’s OK. You’re safe here.”
I shivered. He placed his hand on mine; I’d been twisting them together in my lap nervously.
“I had no chance,” I whispered. “Why aren’t I dead?”
“We are remarkably resilient in wolf form. You likely put up a fight,” Connor supplied.
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Do you recall any part of your body when you were running?” he prompted.
I closed my eyes and tried to retrieve the information. Paws? Claws fighting back at the creature? Was it a hallucination? No, that didn’t sit right. This was the truth.
I opened them and looked at Ash in shock. “In wolf form?” I echoed, my voice barely audible. My soup felt like it turned to acid in my stomach.
Ash nodded. “We shift into wolves. You do too.” He said it like it was gravity—unquestionable and inevitable.
My rational brain reeled. But something more profound—a quiet, hidden truth inside me—didn’t flinch.
“Why would something like that come after me?”
Ash growled. A wolf sound from a human body. His eyes flashed. I stared.
“Why did I think I was blacking out?”
“Maybe the best explanation your psyche could come up with?” Connor suggested. “It will have been happening since you were young. How no one knew is a mystery.”
“Is my home safe?” Was I?
“We don't know,” Ash replied shortly.
“You wanted to know why something would come after you?” Connor asked. I nodded, bracing myself.
“Because you’re a female wolf,” he said gently. “You’re impossibly precious. There are so few of you. And our enemy has taken it upon themselves to target you… to get back at us.”
I gulped. So, I’d never be normal again?
What if I just left? Would they find me again?
I’d always run at the first sign of trouble—it was safer that way.
But something about these two made me pause.
I’d never been precious or vital to someone before.
Then again, it wasn’t about me—it was what I was.
I leaned my head back against the couch. I needed a plan for figuring out what attacked me, whether they had been tracking me, and what to do about going home. I hadn’t been here long and liked the cute little town; I didn’t want to leave.
The physical pull was no less this morning. It felt weird because my brain told me I didn’t know them, but my heart told me I did. They were trying to keep things light, but their tension pulsed beneath the surface, like they had something they needed to do.
Finishing the soup and this conversation took everything I had. I leaned my head back on the couch.
“I need to go home,” I mumbled. “And back to work.”
Ash and Connor exchanged a look—quiet, unreadable, but clearly concerned.
“Let’s focus on getting you better first,” Connor said gently.
Too tired to argue, I let my eyes close.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6 (Reading here)
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39