The forest was a roar of sounds around me, wave after wave crashing through me as I stumbled through the path before me. My heart ached within me, demanding that I turn back the direction I came; back to him. But the further I moved away, the more that crawling sensation and unnatural deforming of my flesh simmered back into something familiar and safe.

I wasn't sure how long I had ran for before my legs finally had slowed down, but within that time howls had only grown among the night in magnitude. At first, I hadn't noticed them, but now that my panic had begun to subside if only a tiny bit, I paused to listen to the symphony within the night.

My senses were so much more amplified, more so than I could understand. I didn't know what I was anymore, but I knew I definitely wasn't human. Humans didn't grow claws and fangs like I had only moments before. Humans couldn't listen to the sound of animals crying into the night and understand the meaning behind them.

Something had changed. There were howls of despair and also of utter joy; anger and ecstasy. The wildlife within the trees responded, awakened, aware, and agitated by the change in the environment. I felt a sudden tug within me, a whisper of Roman beginning to step towards my direction, and I bolted in the opposite direction in reaction.

I stepped over a collection of rocks and limbs, turned a corner, and stopped sharply. In the small clearing, a form stood looking at the full moon unmoving. Her blood red hair made it easy for me to identify her, but the sight of tears in her eyes unnerved and silenced me. She turned at my presence, lifting her hand to wipe the tears away quickly.

"I saw you at the bonfire," Cate stated quietly, obviously trying to cover any emotion she had been revealing when thought alone, "I thought tonight the Crone would be taking you." I was struck by the idea that Cate was declaring the reason for her tears was for me. We barely knew each other.

"I'm okay, I think," I tried to reassure her, looking down at my own hands uncertainly. I lifted my touch to my neck where Roman's mark had somehow healed into a rather sensitive scar than the previous raw wound from before. "Yes. I think I'm okay."

Cate tilted her head in response to my dazed comment.

"You sound as though you're in shock. Did you shift?" I shook my head quickly, looking down at my hands quickly as though they would form into claws at any moment once again. I felt that tug again, the one that reminded me that Roman was in this forest with me and that he could no doubt feel me as clearly as I could feel him. I immediately responded by aiming to run away, but Cate abruptly blocked my path and gripped my upper arms curiously.

"I'm okay, I think," I told her again.

"You're panicking," Cate confirmed shortly. She lifted my hair from the mark on my neck briefly before nodding with understanding. "You marked him. You shifted, at least a little bit."

"I'm not a wolf," I shook my head firmly, over and over and over. But then I added in whispers, "I'm not human. I'm not human."

Cate abruptly pinched my arms roughly, making me yelp with sudden pain. I ripped myself from her grip and glared at her.

"What's wrong with you?" I demanded in anger.

"Nothing. I'm pretty much flawless," Cate teased, shrugging and suddenly at ease with herself. I stared at her with suspicion, recalling all the spooky things the wolves were saying about her before the match. I looked around briefly for her lance and found it leaning against a nearby tree.

"Before the match, people were saying...," I began slowly.

Cate swiftly interrupted, "I wouldn't take any gossip here seriously especially now that you'll be the Queen Luna. People like to talk."

"Apparently not you," I continued, ignoring the Queen Luna comment pointedly as the mere mention brought on a sudden wave of anxiety throughout me. "They said you were a mute. And that you gave up your voice to the Goddesses in return for the lance... laced in silver?" I expected her to be shifty and hesitant, but Cate remained unmoved and at ease.

"Silver hurts lycans," Cate informed me easily, moving to her lance slowly before lifting it from its spot and twirling it carefully in her grip. "Silver is an antiquity metal said to have come from the moon itself, created by the Mother and given to mortals as a form of protection against any dangerous lycans that would wish to harm them. The King Alpha worked hard to ensure humans would forget about that weakness."

"How can you touch it then? If you're a lycan?" I hesitated, recalling how I had lifted it myself during the match to win our fight. "And how can I... if I'm..."

"It's not really laced with silver, obviously. I just don't want anyone to touch my lance," Cate teased me lightly, reaching forward to rub my head fondly. She paused just after, pulling her hand away and frowning. "I guess I shouldn't be so informal to the King Alpha's mate anymore. Appearances and all."

Another wave of anxiety rushed through me, but it was halted by the sudden appearance of another lycanthrope, who rushed into the clearing with utter confusion written among his face. He looked from me to Cate, lifting his hands with submission.

"Something's happened. The Mother's blessing has returned to us," The man said briefly. He seemed to be waiting for a response, but I wasn't sure what he meant and Cate had turned into stony silence in the presence of someone other than myself. The lycan apparently sensed this and began muttering to himself, "The Mother's blessing has returned..." And he continued to wander through the forest in a daze.

I looked from his receding presence to Cate with my own confusion.

"Is it normal for the forest to be so... alive like this on a full moon?" I asked her, listening to that symphony of the wild echoing throughout the trees. I hesitated a moment and then began to step towards the sounds of the wolves in the distance. Cate immediately held out her arm in front of me to block my path.

"If he spoke the truth, you don't want to go in that direction," Cate warned me carefully, lowering her arm to tighten her grip on her lance. "You know what the Mother's blessing is, right?"

"Mates," I replied faintly, turning to look at her tense form. "Why is that bad?"

"It's been decades since the Mother took away her blessing. Lycans have been wandering as humans do, searching for their soulmates themselves. Many have bonded in their own ways, hoping that deep down they are truly mates," Cate explained patiently, pausing to listen before continuing, "Imagine it. You're with someone for ten years. Then suddenly the Mother's blessing comes and that person isn't your mate. Maybe someone else is. Maybe you have no mate in this pack, but the one you love has found theirs. It's a blessing, sure, but initially it can be a curse. If he spoke the truth, there will be a lot of confusion and anger before we can find the joy in it."

I understood now why the symphony of the night was so confused. If the Mother's blessing was back, the wolves were finally able to discern their mates. Some were joyous at finding each other without a doubt, but some would be losing someone they loved.

"Your Alpha will be busy breaking up fights tonight. He will have to put his pack above you for now. You can relax," Cate informed me before turning to glance at me. I had widened my eyes in response, wondering how she knew I was feeling for his presence nearby. I was waiting to run if he was too close in case that unnatural urge to shift came over me again. "We should hide out until the moon falls, just in case a stray pup decides to pick a fight with us."

I felt with Cate's history that would be a mistake on the other lycan's part than hers.

"Okay," I agreed hesitantly.

I let Cate lead me further into the forest, away from the Trinity village and the howls that echoed through the darkness. She eventually stopped at a large tree, gesturing for me to climb it as I had done plenty of times before. When I reached high enough, she followed and soon we were both perched easily among the branches unseen by those below.

I leaned against Cate's warm form on instinct, resting my eyes quietly and listening to the sounds of the night in the distance. I found myself reaching for Roman hesitantly, feeling his breath in his lungs and the strength in his limbs. His hot skin felt just under mine, flushing over me powerfully, and I knew in a pause of his step that he could feel me just the same.

Within a span of a moment, he shifted like liquid from one form to another, his wolf towering and powerful. A howl ripped through him, reaching for the pack that was out of control around him, and lifting into the air so tremendously that it easily found me as well. I gasped, sitting up straight with widened eyes and looked to Cate quickly who had become more alert as well.

Silence followed the call, the forest stunned into a quiet that I'd only ever heard before when I had demanded it of the wildlife myself. When nothing more happened, I relaxed cautiously in my spot again, listening to the peace that had finally fallen over the trees.

~...~

I awoke shivering and alone. Overnight, the snow had blanketed the Earth with silent precision and with the sun rising over the horizon, the white of the scenery was nearly blinding. I looked around for Cate, but she wasn't nearby and there was no evidence of when she had left among the snowfall.

I dropped from the trees quietly, rubbing my arms for warmth and huffing to make clouds of breath in front of me with amusement. I looked around for tracks to follow Cate back to the village, but it was as though she had disappeared from existence overnight.

I began to move in the direction I hoped would lead me somewhere useful. It wasn't as though I was in too much of a hurry to get back to the lycans, but the air was awfully cold around me and the chill was only growing deeper despite the light of the sun. I began to consider ideas of what I would do if I truly became lost when I felt a jolt within me.

I twisted around sharply and took a step back.

Roman stood not too far away, his form tall and intimidating as he peered at me hesitantly. My thoughts flashed to the delirious way in which I had willingly kissed him and my eyes immediately glanced at his lips in response just briefly before a flush of red flashed over my skin embarrassingly.

"Why are you here?" I asked, as though this were my home and not some random place in the forest that I had wandered to.

"I came to bring you back to the village," He stated quite obviously.

"I can find my way back by myself," I responded firmly before turning away to continue on my path determinedly. I ignored the growing cold throughout me and the way Roman's presence tugged on my insides, demanding my attention.

"You're going the wrong way," Roman finally told me. I paused and then turned with the intention of declaring my flawless directional skill. My response was silenced when I realized just how close he had been following me, his body just inches away from me. I looked from his chest up to his face, momentarily startled. Roman only stood solidly, tilting his head as he looked at me.

"I was... taking the scenic route," I answered halfheartedly.

"You're cold and hungry. I don't like the discomfort. Follow me. I have some ground rules we need to discuss," His features had shifted into one of familiar coldness; a distrust that I was beginning to recognize was his way of proceeding forward despite the demands of the Goddesses.

"Ground rules?" I narrowed my eyes with my own suspicion.

"I've allowed you to mark me. We are now linked. However, I refuse to allow you the title of Queen Luna, being that you're barely a lycan as is. And I won't allow you to run around doing as you please. It'll be a distraction every time I have to wake up to the feel of your self-destructing decisions," He abruptly announced, tensing immediately for my reaction as though I might try to attack him as I'd clearly done before.

"You won't allow me to do anything because I don't need your approval to do as I please." I tried to control the growing anger that was warming my body despite the cold around us. Roman stepped forward, lifting his hands to wrap around my arms easily. I gasped at the fire in his touch, any shivering felt before fading away almost immediately.

"You feel this?" Roman demanded more than questioned. He moved closer, lowering his face over mine dangerously so that his scent and power seemed to flow over and through me. I was stunned by the heat of it, lifting my own face most agreeably as though enthralled by him.

"You're my mate. But you are also my prisoner," Roman growled firmly against me, "You are an oracle and you are of the humans. You are not an equal nor are you fit to be Luna, much less a member of my pack. If it weren't for the cursed Goddesses, you would be dead or banished by now. You will learn to obey me or I will make your life much more uncomfortable than you can imagine."

I ripped myself from him just as abruptly, gasping from his touch with surprise. I thought about the Roman who had kept me in his room for the past month, angry but also not at me. I thought of him saving me from a horrible death only last night. This Roman was not as appealing. He was cruel and horribly mistaken if he thought I would be intimidated by the feelings the mate mark forced on me.

"Go ahead, make my life uncomfortable. An injury to me is an injury to you, right? It would make me the happiest person in the world to know you are suffering, even if I am, too," I mustered every ounce of venom into my words dangerously, just so they would land home with great satisfaction.

Roman stepped towards me sharply and I turned to escape but was far too slow. His arm suddenly snaked around my waist and I was lifted from the ground. I screeched loudly and began hitting Roman's arm and kicking him violently.

"Roman! Roman, let me go!" I cried out angrily.

"Stop throwing a fit like a child and I might," He answered simply. I stopped struggling momentarily, waiting just as he took another step and twisted my foot around his. The effect was immediate. Roman stumbled and I struck with my elbow to attempt to hit his face. We both fell to the ground, the landing rather rough.

Roman was above me, his torso half over me as though he had to catch himself from crushing me entirely. I paused only a moment and began to twist away in order to make a run for it.

"I'm leaving," Roman suddenly said to me with frustration, making me stop in my attempt with confusion. I rolled onto my back, facing him with a frown.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said. I'm leaving. I wanted to go over the ground rules in a more suitable place, but you've made it clear you prefer the wilder things," He huffed and shifted above me as though to get more comfortable. I was stuck on the initial statement, wondering what exactly that meant if he was leaving.

"Am I leaving, too?" I asked with a deepening frown. I didn't like the idea of going further away from my home village without any idea on which direction to go if I could escape back to them. Roman watched me for a moment without any hint to his thoughts.

"You will stay here. I'm sure you heard last night. The Mother's blessing has returned. I must travel to the other packs and ensure your Goddesses haven't caused complete chaos. And to make sure the packs will-" He paused, almost having said something more than he intended. I lifted myself up on my elbows, my suspicion overriding my need to remain far away from him.

"Will what? Continue not to worship your Goddesses? Afraid they may end up having second thoughts now that they're given their mates? Afraid they might make the connection that the only reason they're not in the Goddesses graces is because of you-" A deep anger ripped through Roman so quickly that I found myself flattened to the ground breathlessly by it.

"You think you know everything, Mila," Roman growled, lowering himself intimidatingly. "What could I have possibly done that would require a death sentence on all of the lycanthrope kind? I just did to the humans what they wanted to do to us. I refused to be locked in a coffin underground. And I banished a bunch of useless oracles. The rest of the packs followed the foolish Goddesses up until their curse fell on us. Only then did they turn away."

"What came first, Roman? The curse... or your world ending plan for the humans?" I whispered the last part almost fearfully, afraid of that anger heating within him uncontrollably. I was frozen underneath him, but I continued to glare at him steely, tensing under the heat of his rising rage.

"It doesn't matter now, does it? You should have begged me to let you die. Now you'll be lucky enough to see what will happen to the humans, including your pathetic family," Roman growled furiously. I widened my eyes with the mention of my family, a fear entering my soul at the realization that despite everything it was very clear that whatever doom Cynthia had warned me of was still coming and it would take my family with it. Roman punched the ground beside me with sudden frustration, pushing himself away from me and disappearing with seething anger. 

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Music: Black Mirror by Sophie Simmons