by Meg Harris
He hesitated for a long moment, processing that. "Nothing can change it? You’re sure?"
"Of course I'm sure. The ring… well, somehow I’m getting some sort of information from it. It’s not dangerous. It’s just… different.”
“You’ve become part wolf, Faelan. I just don’t see how this can be a good thing.”
“I think you will.” She looked at him earnestly. "Come on, Conner. Go ahead and transform. There's a full moon out... and I want to go for a run in the moonlight."
*****
She wasn't surprised Conner was resisting the transformation. Conner had always been conservative at heart, always struggling against change. It had taken him months to get up the nerve to ask her out.
He continued to stare at her, and she saw longing in his eyes, and knew he wanted to change. The new ability burned brightly inside him, and he wanted to surrender to it, but didn't quite dare.
She let go of his hand and stepped away from him. "Come on, Conner," she said softly. "Let's go."
She stepped into a silver shaft of moonlight that slanted through the blinds, and let the transformation happen. She knew somehow that the ring controlled the transformation, so she wasn't restricted to changing on the night of the full moon. But the moonlight seemed to make the change easier somehow. It called to her, summoning the wildness that burned inside her.
It made her want to throw back her head and howl.
She dropped to all fours, looking back over her shoulder expectantly, watching to see what he'd do.
He hesitated a long moment. And then he stepped into the pool of moonlight... and changed.
She watched as he shifted, watched his outlines blur and run like watercolors. And suddenly a huge wolf stood there in the moonlight, his thick fur so dark it was almost black, his eyes glinting a familiar bright blue.
The wolf wrinkled his nose, baring his teeth in a strangely familiar smile.
She let her own lips curl up, smiling in return, and then spun and headed for the stairs, bounding down them, with him right behind her.
Once outside, they headed off across the snowy fields, shoulder to shoulder, racing toward the woods that bordered the subdivision. Faelan was filled with the sheer joy of being alive, and she could see the same joy in his eyes.
She threw back her head and howled, and heard him echo her.
Running as a wolf felt surprisingly natural, surprisingly right. Not that she'd want to be a wolf most of the time, of course. They would remain in their own forms most of the time. They were people, after all, meant to walk among people, with all the responsibilities and difficulties and pleasures that came with being people.
And most of the time, she thought, living among people would be enough.
But this-- this was a different sort of living, and in some ways a better one. This was life, life stripped down to primitive instinct and moonlight and the simple joy of running together through the woods, side by side.
She knew that whether they were in wolf or human form, no matter what skin they wore, she and Conner would run side by side forever. They were soulmates, tied to each other for all time.
That knowledge sent a sharp stab of happiness through her, and she threw back her head again and gave voice to her joy. Conner howled, too, his song blending with hers until she couldn't tell where her voice ended and his began.
Together, they bounded into the woods and lost themselves in the night.
-The End-
