Moonlight Love

4

"She's coming to," I heard Sylvie say, and I woke up to a group of people, including Aunt Margot who I was glad had her clothes back on, looking down at me. 

Before I could chalk up what I had seen to a dream, I realized I was still outside and looking up at the sky, surrounded by woods. As I lifted myself up to a sitting position, I rubbed the back of my sore head. 

"Don't worry, you should feel better soon," Aunt Margot reassured me. "It's one of our perks."

"This is crazy," I whispered to myself. "Maybe I've gone crazy."

No one said anything for a moment, they only watched me with mixed expressions of concern and amusement. I felt myself growing angry as I noticed Nash was looking at me as if he was trying not to laugh. 

"Can you start explaining everything to me," I demanded to Aunt Margot. 

"Well, I already told you, we're werewolves," she replied meekly. 

I shook my head at her. "No, no, no! You are werewolves, I'm clearly not one of you! I could have gone my whole life not knowing any of this!"

"She's taking this really well," I heard Nash say sarcastically. 

I'm not sure what it was, but hearing the sarcasm in his voice, watching his smug face trying to hold back a laugh, I stood up and walked over to him. He hardly had a chance to respond before I drew my hand back, forming a fist, and I punched him in the face. I watched in pleasant surprise as his body flew back at least three feet. 

Nash shook his head and looked at me, no longer were dark eyes staring at me, they now had a red hue about them. Not wanting to show fear, despite the fact that my knees were shaking, I stood my ground and stared down at him. 

"There's more where that came from," I snarled at him. 

With ease, Nash lifted himself up on his feet and growled at me. But before he could say or do anything, Sylvie walked over to him. 

"I think you and the others should wait for me out front. This is a lot for Haven to take, she doesn't need a whole crowd of people watching her right now," Sylvie told him quietly. Nash stared at me for another minute before stalking back to the front of the house with the others following him. 

"Are you sure you're not a werewolf?" Sylvie said to me, clearly trying to lighten the mood. 

I turned away from her to look at my Aunt Margot, waiting for her to explain what in the hell was going on. She took a deep breath before slowly releasing it. 

"Your mom was great at what she did, keeping our pack safe, and our town, but she didn't like it. I mean, she loved it at first, she felt free and like she was unstoppable, but as she grew older and then she had you, she realized how dangerous our lifestyle could be," Aunt Margot explained to me. "She was afraid for you, and even more afraid that you would choose to become one of us, too. Miranda had hoped if she didn't raise you and teach you our ways, that you could go your whole life not becoming a werewolf. It was a hard choice, for all of us, because our pack already loved you and wanted you to be with us. But we couldn't change her mind, and we wouldn't have tried, she was a strong woman, and an even stronger warrior. So, after a lot of arguing with your dad, she sent you both away with the agreement you would never come back."

"What about dad?" I asked her. 

"He has wolf blood in him, but he chose not to go through with the Full Moon Ritual," Aunt Margot answered me. "Some of us do that, and it doesn't make them any less part of the pack. They're the ones that are sure we keep up with the human aspect of the world, as well as being sure to keep us in check and that our secret isn't revealed."

"They're vital in keeping in touch with our humanity," Sylvie added. 

I rubbed my temples. This was a lot to take in. "Right, so, all of those people out front are werewolves?"

"Yes and no," Margot said. "The older ones have done the ritual, but the younger ones are training for it."

"And what do I have to do with any of this?"

"With your mom gone, we can give you the chance to make the choice of going through the ritual, too," Margot told me. 

"But why?"

Margot's eyes looked almost sad as she said to me, "Because we have always felt that you belong with us, as part of our pack. But more importantly, it always should have been your choice to make. The only problem I've ever had with my sister is that she didn't let you make that choice, she took it from you."

"I offered to take you in. That way she wouldn't have to worry about you," Sylvie said to me. "Her mother instincts kicked in, and quite strongly. I was hoping if she knew that I was taking care of you and teaching you everything you needed to know, she would worry less about you, but she felt as though she would have grown jealous of another woman raising you as their own."

"All this time I thought she just didn't want me anymore," I said softly. 

"She wanted you more than anything," Margot reassured me. "But she also wanted you to live a normal life."

"Well, she got her wish, up until now," I commented dryly. "So, what happens now?"

"You have a choice to make," Sylvie told me. "You can either choose to go through with the ritual, or you can stay human. The decision is entirely up to you now."

"How long do I have to decide?" I asked her.

"We do the ritual only once a year, and our next one is in a few weeks. You have until then to decide, but in the meantime, I still think it would be best for you to learn more about our culture."

"Don't worry, our whole pack can help with that," Margot assured me. "I can better help you prepare for the ritual, in case you decide to go through with it, the others can help you with physical training."

"Like who?"

"Like Nash," Margot winced, all of us remembering just a short while ago that I had punched him in the face. "Sorry Haven, but he's our best trainer."

That did not help me feel better. Not only did I receive life altering news, but I also have to prepare for a ritual I knew nothing about, while training with a guy I didn't like, and who I was sure didn't like me, either. I wasn't sure what choice I was going to make, but I did feel sure that Nash would make my life hell until then.