Moonlight Love

5

"Are you mad?" Aunt Margot asked me the next morning.

I contemplated my answer for a minute. I was angry that there was this whole life that I didn't know about where werewolves were real, and that this was all dumped on me in a short amount of time after my mom's funeral. I was mad that my mom didn't raise me herself so that I could learn about this from her, and that my dad never mentioned anything about this to me. I was mad that I didn't have more time to make my choice to become a werewolf, or not to become one. But I was also relieved.

I always felt as though there was something missing from my life, and that something was different about me. I thought that every teenager felt that way, though. Could it be that me running hot was because I was a werewolf? Did my temper flair easily because I was werewolf? Could I never find the right guy because I secretly sensed that they weren't a werewolf?

"No," I finally answered her, feeling drained. "Are you going to explain this Full Moon Ritual to me?"

"I suppose I should," she replied with a small sigh. "It's more of a mental process, as if the great beyond is deciding if we'll be truly ready to become a werewolf. Some people have to do it a few times before either making the change, or deciding to stay a human, but it can take a toll on them. The physical aspect only comes in when your body is ready for the change, or in some cases, when it feels that it's ready."

"Sounds mysterious," I commented.

"You'll be given a mixture with wolfsbane in it. You may have read somewhere that it's deadly to werewolves, but it's not entirely true. It's mainly used to awaken the wolf within you and can help to cure the most serious of injuries. It'll be in a mixture with salvia flower that you'll drink, which will put you in an altered state of mind."

"What do you mean?"

"It'll put you to sleep, in a way. Salvia is a flower and can be used for hallucinogenic purposes, in this case, it relaxes your mind and body." She gave me a soft smile when she noticed my look of apprehension. "Don't worry, it won't hurt you."

I looked at her with uncertainty. "Who makes it?"

"Our Alpha does, Sylvie," Margot answered me. "It's a potion, of sorts, that's been passed down for generations. I believe every pack uses it, or at least a similar recipe."

"So, there's others like us?" This shouldn't have been surprising. If we were werewolves, we couldn't be the only ones.

"Of course," she said. "All over the world, I'm sure. But there's only a few packs that we keep in touch with, we can all be territorial, and there's some werewolves that can be...aggressive."

"The whole pack can be aggressive?"

Margot tilted her head from side to side, as if debating her answer, or as a way of saying yes-and-no. "More often it's the Alpha that can be aggressive, and sometimes for good reason. Some packs have to deal with the more supernatural predators than we do, though we've come across a few."

Supernatural predators? "What? Like vampires?"

"I believe we've killed at least two, possibly three, vampires," Margot told me solemnly. "If werewolves are real, is it so hard to believe that other supernatural beings, like vampires, exist?"

"I guess not," I mumbled.

I felt myself growing more anxious. Was our pack aggressive? I would have said yes just from my one experience with Nash, no matter how small that moment was. And why would I need to train for this ritual if there wasn't going to be anything physical involved with it?

"Go ahead and ask me," Margot said to me.

I snapped my head up to her. "Can you guys read minds, too?"