Moon Dancer

Chapter 4-2

“IT DIDN’T WORK.” VAL’S face was averted, but I smelled her disappointment even as she promised, “We’ll try again. Didn’t you say red ochre is important for this kind of ceremony? We’ll use red ochre. And sage incense. Next time will be a success.”

My bond to Claw had been the obvious problem, but I suspected Val was right also. The lack of a charging spark during my initial shift meant something had been left out early in the ceremony. I hadn’t been fully privy to the cave painter’s method of charging wolf statues. There must have been a trick that I’d missed.

For now, though, I needed to focus on managing my unruly animal nature. Because while we’d been united moments earlier, the beast’s moods were as fickle as weather in the spring.

My turn. My hunt, my wolf demanded. Today was her day. She was done being two-legged. We ripped the window blinds in our haste to locate the lock and push up the sash.

“You’re n***d,” Val reminded us. “Students. Faculty.”

“Olivia.” Claw’s voice gave me the upper hand for one split second, then my wolf was once again grabbing for dominance.

Shift now. She was adamant, unwilling to budge on the issue.

Bargaining rarely worked when my wolf grew this headstrong. But we were both so deeply winded from four shifts in fast succession that I had a chance of making her listen to reason.

I hoped.

We’ll run tonight. I kept my inner voice firm, authoritative. Reflexively, I crossed my fingers behind my back.

Of course, it’s impossible to hoodwink your own alter-ego. Help me, the wolf countered, or I’ll eat a student.

Behind us, questions flowed in Val’s anxious soprano. Answers emerged in Claw’s deep baritone.

They wanted to help, but this was an issue between me and my monster. I blocked out both external voices and took the devil’s deal. Okay. We’ll shift and you’ll behave.

Yes. If she’d been human, we would have spat on our palms and shook on it. Instead, we bent double, waiting for paws to reappear.

United, we made progress toward achieving wolfhood. But it was painfully slow going. Straining against the bonds holding us in our present body, we clenched teeth to muffle a scream into a grunt.

“She’s shifting.” Val’s observation was heartening, a hint that I wouldn’t be stuck in this agony of limbo forever. Claw’s wordless rumble was less heartening, reminding me of the dangers I awoke when I turned my wolf loose in the human world.

I hoped our deal would hold. I hoped....

Then we were four-legged. Our head bowed as we sucked in oxygen. Adena cawed a question from a nearby branch.

Coming, my wolf answered, tail lifting. She recovered far more quickly than I had as a human. Our forefeet were already on the windowsill when Claw spoke to us.

“Go straight home.”

The pack bond I’d tried to excise twined around us, tempting the wolf to do his bidding. We scrabbled our way up onto the windowsill, turned back to glance once at those we left behind.

Val clutched my clothes to her chest, eyes wide and lips parted. Claw stood with arms crossed but made no attempt to hide his nakedness.

Our pack, my wolf whispered, tempted to stay here and hunt on campus.

“Go home,” Claw repeated, this time imbuing his words with the full electricity of an alpha’s order.

Werewolves obey their pack leader. Without further argument, we went.

***