Under the Crescent Moon

“Hey, check this out!” Troy whispered excitedly. “stupid humans left a cooler full of beer out here!” Future alpha Devon gave his future beta an eye roll, but quietly grabbed a couple cold ones anyway. His future gamma Lucas gave a snort of displeasure, so he immediately put them back. It was probably for the best. The three of them weren’t actually supposed to be out here in a human campground in the middle of the night so far from their territory, and if their parents, the Alpha, beta and gamma of the Crescent Lake pack found out they had been stealing beer from the humans there would be severe punishment for all three of them. They hadn’t actually intended to roam this far. The original plan was to check out the nearby waterfall which was technically just on the edge of their territory, but Devon had caught a slight whiff of an interesting smell near the falls that he couldn’t quite place. He had followed the sweet aroma as far as the campground, but with so many sleeping humans in the area it had become difficult to trace. Nothing at this tent site seemed to be the source of the elusive scent. After a few minutes they moved on to the next one. Again, Devon was disappointed. They were almost to a third campsite where the alluring scent was becoming stronger when they heard the unmistakable sound of a tent zipper opening. The three of them quickly and quietly ducked behind some bushes as a teenage girl came in to view, clutching a flashlight and then headed down the path in the other direction towards the campground bathrooms. Then they heard her trip over a tree root with a small yelp. “Other people go to California on vacation,” the girl was heard muttering to herself as she checked herself for injuries, “but no, I get to go camping and kill myself in the dark trying to find the stupid bathroom in the middle of the night!” The next thing he knew, Devon was walking up to her and offered the girl a hand up. “Are you all right?” The scent he had been searching for during the last 40 minutes washed over him. Coconut, apples, and rosemary. His wolf River was going crazy! Mate! This is our mate! The girl looked up at him. Way up. He must be at least 6’-4”, she thought, moving the light of the flashlight over his features. And devilishly handsome! Dark hair, dark eyes, strong chiseled facial features, and an athletic body wearing nothing but some loose sweat pants. Hoo boy! She had a strong desire to jump in his arms and kiss him, but thankfully she had plenty of self control. I mean, who even does that? But she had never had such a strong instant connection to someone like that before. “Umm, yeah. I guess.” She said, taking his hand and letting him help her to her feet. His grip was firm, yet somehow warm and comforting. And even though she had never seen this young man before, she felt strangely safe in his presence. They stood staring at each other for a moment, before Devon realized he ought to say something. “I’m Devon Sinclair, by the way.” “I, uh, have to go…” she said, indicating the direction of the restroom. “Here, let me help you,” he said, and lightly grasped her arm. His wolf River urged him to pick her up and carry his mate bridal style to the restroom, but Devon decided that might be overkill. “It’s dark, the trail is uneven, and I have excellent eyesight!” It didn’t take long before they got to the restroom, and Devon watched as she quickly ran inside. Troy and Lucas were instantly by his side. “What the heck, man? We shouldn’t be fraternizing with the humans in the middle of the night!” Troy whisper shouted at him. “She’s my fated mate”, Devon informed him, without ever taking his eyes off the restroom door. He couldn’t get his mind off of her, and hoped she was alright in there. “Damn!” Lucas exclaimed, while trying to wrap his head around the idea of his Alphas mate being a human. Plus it sounds like she’s on vacation and probably not going to be in the area more than a few days. How could this possibly even work out? “Got any plans on how to get the girl, lover boy?” “I’m just going to roll with it, I guess!” Devon commented quietly. “I trust the moon goddess wouldn’t have paired me with this girl for no reason.” *Tara’s POV* OMG, I’m freaking out! I run into some random hot guy in the middle of a freaking forest in the middle of the freaking night, and I immediately want to jump into bed with him! What the heck is wrong with me? He could be an axe murderer, for all I know! I sit on the cold metal toilet seat and do my business as quick as I can, while I inspect my knees. Not bad, I muse, the skin feeling rough and a bit dirty, but unbroken from my little tumble. The knees of my sweat pants were toast, though. Why my parents wanted to drag us all out into the wilderness to camp for our stupid summer family vacation is beyond my comprehension. The hot springs are nice and s’mores are frankly quite delicious, but getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, sleeping on a thin foam mattress on top of the bumpy ground, and having to cook our own meals and washing things in cold water is not my idea of a good time. And I’ve got blisters from our hike to the falls. If my dad brings out his guitar and starts singing campfire songs, I’m going to hitchhike all the way back to Seattle! I wash my hands in the chilly water, since there is no hot, and glance in the mirror. No makeup. Duh, who wears makeup while camping? My strawberry blond hair is a mess because I’d been sleeping. Tired looking dull green eyes. Freckles. I am wearing ugly grey sweat pants and a shapeless long sleeve dusty pink knit top to sleep in. I’m hardly a runway model here, people. So I guess the stranger was just being nice, and not likely trying to r**e me or whatever. I wonder if he’s even still out there? I open the restroom door and peek outside. Now there’s three of them! Holy crap! I instantly want to close the door and hide inside, but they all looked in my direction when they heard the door creak open. So that would be a little weird, right? “Hey, come on out and meet my friends!” Devon says with a wave of his hands. Pointing at a huge guy with sandy blond hair and blue eyes, he said his name was Troy Jamison. A slightly younger and smaller guy with red hair and freckles was his cousin Lucas Sinclair. “I’m Tara.” I told them. Devon repeated her name with a dreamy smile, as if she had given him a precious gift. The other guys just nodded, and made polite comments about it being a pretty name. “Wanna hang out with us?” Devon casually inquired as we all headed back in the direction of my tent. I was starting to feel slightly uncomfortable with this situation. Hello, aren’t there a bunch of horror movies about what happens to a group of teenagers in the woods after dark? Am I absolutely positive that none of these guys are axe murderers? “What, like right now? In the middle of the night? That seems kinda weird.” I hesitated. This was definitely moving way to fast for my comfort. “I don’t want to worry my folks or my brothers if they wake up and see that I’m missing.” “Maybe later in the morning, then?” Lucas piped up. “Or afternoon?” “Yeah, we’ll come get you around eleven and drive into town for some lunch!” Troy added. “We know a really great pizza place!” “Sure, why not?” I say, since that actually sounds kinda good. I mean, it’s just pizza. That’ll be far better than whatever my mom is planning for our lunch tomorrow. “I guess I’ll see you around eleven!” “Wonderful!” Devon says, still holding my hand as he delivers me almost to the door of my tent. He seems oddly reluctant to let go, but he does right at that point where it was just about to become awkward. “I look forward to it!” “Goodnight,” I say softly as I turn and walk into the tent. I climb back into my sleeping bag, and try to get comfortable on the thin foam mattress that doesn’t quite manage to convince me that I’m not sleeping directly on top of jagged rocks. Then I fall asleep, and dream about kissing dark haired strangers with rock hard abs and warm chocolate eyes. In the morning I’m not completely convinced that I hadn’t dreamt the whole thing, except for the ruined knees of my sweat pants.