Chapter 8

Ready or not here I come -D

Dion couldn't keep the smile from his face as he stood just past the tree line responding to Azaria's text that she was free. It was a little past eleven, but she was worth it. His wolf had been pacing back and forth in his mind all day with anticipation of meeting up with her.

He stripped his clothes and made sure his phone was secured in his pocket, before shifting into his wolf. Picking up the clothes with his mouth his wolf sprinted through the trees towards their favorite spot. He was skeptical at first when she had texted him that she was free to meet. He didn't want a repeat of last night, but she had sent him a photo of her right at the lining of trees in her backyard.

Dion had been engrossed in the new book his father had given him. Reading the words of the Moon Goddess felt surreal. He had so many questions about their kind after every turn of the page. But he had to stop himself before he got carried away. At dinner, he had talked to his parents about some of the stuff he had read, and they too were surprised.

He also had questions about this Lumen character, but no one seemed to have answers, not even the elders. He had just gotten to the breakdown of the leadership in the wolves when he stopped. Dion was so caught up in his thoughts he hadn't noticed he was at the clearing. He dropped his clothes by a boulder and took a moment to scan the area.

Taking a deep breath, Dion's wolf tapped into his senses and didn't find any threats around.

"Marco," it was a whisper in the air carried by the wind. His ears perked up at the sound. A wolfish grin spread across his face as he thought back to the game they used to play as kids. He sniffed the air trying to catch her scent but couldn't pinpoint where she was at.

"Marco," there it was again. He marveled at her new abilities and kept searching using all his senses to find her.

"Marco," the voice seemed to have come from right behind him, but when he turned around there was no one there.

Dion let out a low growl as a sign he gave up. Seconds later Azaria appeared in front of him with a wide grin on her face. She kneeled down in front of him and ran her fingers through his fur.

"Hey there big guy, I've missed you." She cooed placing kisses on his snout. "I guess it's safe to say puberty works both ways huh?"

He licked the side of her face feeling a warm buzz spread through him. He briefly remembered in one of the books he read about imprinting and mating. They both describe a low hum of energy that flows through the body. He hadn't bothered to delve deep into it because he wasn't ready to focus on those things.

He then wondered if what his wolf felt for Azaria was the protective nature of an imprint. He trotted away to retrieve his clothes. After shifting and changing back into his clothes, Dion walked over to the huge boulder and sat next to his friend.

"Man it's been a while since we've been here." Not much had changed over the years. The trees seem to have grown taller, but not much else changed.

"Yeah, I would come here every night if I could for a month after you left. Just to feel close to you. But eventually, it made me too sad so I stopped coming."

He threw his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. He looked up at the night sky seeing the bright moon peeking through the treetops.

"When I left, every night I would find a spot similar to this and just stare up at the moon hoping we were looking at the same one," he confessed. "Oftentimes I'd have conversations like it was just the two of us. I'd tell you all the boring and horrible things that went on with my day. Then I'd imagine you were telling me all the exciting things happening in your life."

Azaria laughed and shook her head, amusement shining bright in her eyes.

"It's crazy how even apart we still find ways to think of one another. I would talk to the moon on the days I didn't come here."

Dion reached over and placed his hand on top of hers and she intertwined their fingers.

"I never forgot about you. It was hard at first, but eventually missing you became bearable," he confessed.

Azaria turned to him with a bright smile on her face. The small streams of light from my moon reflected in her grey eyes. They almost seemed to glow and he was mesmerized by it.

Reaching under her shirt she pulled the thin chain out, "I never took this off." The opal pendant glistened capturing his attention. It still looked brand new, just like the day he had given it to her.

Smiling Dion reached under his shirt and pulled the necklace into view, "I always kept this in my pocket everywhere I went. I only started wearing it when I had thought I lost it. It was buried in a pile of clothes in my room," he chuckled at the memory.

His heart hurt when he thought he had lost the precious gift given to him by his best friend. It was the only thing he had to connect them together. When he found it, he had vowed to never take it off. No one questioned the necklace since the chains were similar to the one he had given Azaria.

"Now that you're back, I believe this belongs to you." she pulled the chain over her head, handing it back to him.

He wanted so badly to take it back since it was such a timeless piece from his family, but his wolf seemed okay without it. Shaking his head Dion closed his hand around hers, the flow of energy racing up his arm.

"Keep it. I think it looks good on you." he teased. She looked down at the necklace in her hand admiring the pendant. Dion watched her closely as her eyes widen in shock,

"What's wrong?" He asked worriedly.

"I've seen this before, or at least something similar." She ran her tongue over her sharp cuspids lost in thought. He always found it funny how she would do that when she was thinking hard on something.

"THE BOOK!" Her sudden outburst disturbed a few of the animals sleeping nearby.

"What book?"

"When I was studying I came across this weird book in our library. It was super old, more like a diary than an actual book."

Hearing her words brought him back to the book his elders had given him to study as well.

"I had something similar to that. It had diary entries in it with like little snippets of fun facts about werewolves," he added.

"That's super weird. What are the odds we have the same thing? Except yours is on werewolves and mine is about vampires." She laughed. "Anway, on one of the pages I remember seeing a symbol close to this one. I hadn't thought about it, only that it looked familiar."

Dion frowned in confusion, why would something of that nature be in a book regarding vampires.

"That is strange."

Azaria reached over and took her necklace from his hand and placed the two together. Separately you wouldn't think the two pieces belonged together, but when she placed her family crest on top of the pendant they seemed to have come together as one. The raven's wings surrounded the pendant. The intricate designs in both circles seemed to complement one another as the opal color surrounded the body of the raven.

"What do you think this means?" Dion whispered, staring in awe at the two pieces.

Shaking her head Azaria dug in her pocket and snapped a picture of the pieces together and he did the same.

"I'm not sure but hopefully one of the elders has an answer." Separating the necklaces the duo put them back on.

Dion laid back on the boulder looking at the sky.

"What was the name of your book?" he asked curiously.

Following suit, Azaria did the same moving closer so their sides touched.

"It was something in Latin. Primum est Lamia. The First Vampire."

There was no way this wasn't a giant coincidence.

"In prima Lupus. The First Wolf," he whispered. "This is too crazy. We have to compare notes now." He laughed.

They sat and talked about everything that had been going on while the other was away. It made him smile, feeling more than content to be back with Azaria. Even his wolf was calm, and that was rare nowadays.