Under the Crescent Moon

Chapter 8

Tara’s POV

I’m not going to just sit around and listen to this fairy tale nonsense. I decided I was going to leave this insane asylum as quick as a I can. I was going to go find my brothers, and wait near the gate for my parents to come pick us up.

“What if I can prove it?” Devon says, and I stop in my tracks.

“Prove it, how?” I ask, intrigued as to how he could pull something like that off. “Don’t you need a full moon or something? Tonight is nothing but a crescent moon, if I recall correctly.”

“Now that really is a fairy tale!” Devon says with a laugh. “I can shift right here, right now.”

“You have got to be joking!” I say with a laugh. “Fine! Whatever! Go ahead, prove it!”

“I will,” Devon says, taking off his shirt. “But promise me you won’t run. My wolf River will chase you down if you do. I promise he won’t hurt you, but you must not run away.”

“Umm… why are you taking your clothes off?” I ask as I watch in fascination as he removes his shoes, his socks, and then his pants.

“Shifting into a werewolf usually ruins your clothes.” He states. And then there goes his underwear. Oh. My. God! I may have wet myself a little at the sight before me. He’s like the photo of the statue of David in Florence, Italy. Perfectly sculpted. Rippling muscles. And the view just south of his navel, impressive to say the least! Although I hadn’t seen many of those in my life, I am fairly certain it was far above average in size.

Then I hear a strange cracking noise, as Devon seems to contort and moan in pain. Dark fur begins to sprout all over his entire body. Fingers and toes are quickly replaced with paws and claws. I stand there with my mouth open in horror and watch as it takes just less than a minute, and then there is a gigantic black and grey wolf with black eyes standing before me.

I completely lose composure as I forget all about the instructions to not run away as I completely freak out! I take a step back as the wolf advances towards me. Then I lose all dignity, scream, and try to run away.

I didn’t get very far, a human girl on foot against a humongous 4 legged beast. I got no more than 20 or 30 feet. I couldn’t be absolutely certain, being scared half out of my mind from terror as the monster quickly knocks me off my feet and I land hard on the ground, face down.

I curl up into a whimpering ball, trying to protect myself from whatever was going to happen next. To my utter amazement, the wolf is trying to lick my face, while it whines sadly like a puppy might do. Unfortunately, I’m not all that fond of dogs either. As the realization hits me that I’m not about to be killed, I sit up and begin to cry, hysterically.

Then moments later Devon is back to being a human, wrapping me in his arms, and apologizing profusely. He is also stark naked. I’m a tiny bit turned on by his muscled perfection, and at the same time completely freaked out that he can just turn into some beastly monster at will.

“I’m so sorry, Tara! River didn’t mean to frighten you!” Devon is saying over and over again. “I guess it was just too soon. We should have waited longer.”

“No,” I say once I finally start to calm down. “No. That would have been even worse. It’s better that I know from the beginning. If I found out you were hiding something this big from me all along, I would have been extremely pissed off at you.”

“That fair,” Devon says.

“So is there anything else you haven’t told me about?” I ask. “I don’t want to be blindsided down the road.”

“Well, I am an Alpha wolf,” Devon says, as if that should make sense to me. I motion that he should keep explaining things. “Which means I am the strongest member of our pack. When my dad retires, I will become the leader of the pack. And my mate will become Luna, which is a coveted position. That’s why Savannah keeps throwing herself at me, she wants to be Luna of the Crescent Lake pack.”

“I see,” I say. Savannah can be Luna for all I care right now. I extricate myself from Devon’s arms, and start walking in the direction I believe the lake to be in.

“Wait!” Devon yells. But I don’t stop. “You might want to wait for me. You’re in the middle of a werewolf pack full of werewolves, you know. You’ll be safer with me!”

Ok, perhaps he’s got a good point there. I wait for a few minutes while he finds his clothes and gets dressed. Then he walks me back towards the pack house, which was in a different direction than I thought. But thankfully Devon was too gentlemanly to point that out. Or was that too gentle-wolfmanly? I am WAY too freaked out about that at the moment.

“Can we talk about this?” Devon pleads with me, as we walk along.

“What is there to talk about?” I ask, not really looking at him as we are suddenly stepping out of the trees and heading along the gravel road that heads towards the huge community complex thing next to the lake. “You’re some mutant monster, I’m a normal human girl. I’m going back to Seattle tomorrow. End of story.”

“You’re not even going to give us a chance to work things out?” Devon says, sounding devastated. “But we’re fated mates!”

“I don’t even know what that means!” I yell at him. “And I’m so freaked out, that I don’t even care right now!”

“It means that the moon goddess has bound our souls together.” He says sadly. “I won’t be able to take any other mate, unless we formally reject each other.”

“Let’s do that, then,” I suggest. “I don’t see any point in putting off the inevitable.”

“It’s not some simple little thing that can be done on a whim!” Devon says, grabbing my arms and turning me to face him. “We won’t actually be mates until you turn 18 years old. So a rejection cant even work before then. And then there will be pain involved. Lots of pain! I’ve heard it can feel a lot like a heart attack, which can last anywhere from a few hours to a few days! It’s been known to kill some weaker wolves. I don’t know what it will do to a human.”

“Really?” I question, feeling very skeptical. That all sounds rather extreme, to me. But he hadn’t lied about being a werewolf, as far fetched as that had sounded. Perhaps he wasn’t lying about this, either.

“I know how it must all sound so strange to you,” he says, looking downcast. “I know you don’t understand. And you don’t really know me or trust me. But please, just give us a chance!”

“I just don’t know.” I say. I have trouble thinking when he touches me with that voodoo calming s**t of his. My head says NO FREAKING WAY! But my heart says yes. “It’s so weird!”

“Please!” He actually starts begging me. “Just… I don’t know. Just date me! Until the end of the school year! Just get to know me. I promise, I’ll keep River locked up inside of me when you’re around, unless you start feeling comfortable enough for me to let him out, ok? Next June, if you still want to reject me, I won’t stop you. I’ll even tell you exactly how it’s supposed to be done. Even if it might kill me. Please. What harm could there be in going on a few dates?”

I contemplate that for a moment. What harm, indeed? The man is a beast straight out of a science fiction horror movie, and I’m the virgin sacrifice. I decide I want a possible out far in advance of June. If I decide to end things sooner, I don’t want to be dangled by a string like a puppet until he says I can be cut free.

“Send a text to my phone, telling me exactly how to reject you,” I say, and I watch his eyes fill with actual tears. One tear escapes, and slowly works it’s way down his cheek, but otherwise he stands there stoically at the bad news he expects me to give him. “I will go on a few dates with you. But I want to be able to get out of this relationship at any time, I don’t want to be forced to wait until June to reject you.”

“That sounds fair,” Devon says, brightening up ever so slightly. I pretend not to notice as he discreetly tries to dry his eyes. “It’s a deal!”

And we seal the bargain with a kiss.