Moonstone

wild love

"No one else, Love, will sleep in my dreams. You will go, we will go together, over the waters of time. No one else will travel through the shadows with me. Only you, evergreen, ever sun, ever moon." - Pablo Neruda

Sanem

"Where is he?" I asked Osman when he showed up with my suitcase late in the afternoon.

He was gone, of course. I'd been struck speechless after his confession and he left silently before I could utter a word. I heard the front door open, the flash of light that had brightened the house was the only hint as to his whereabouts.

"He went for a run," he said.

"A run? I have a feeling that has an entirely different meaning in Wolfish," I said.

"Someone is wearing her sassy pants today," he chuckled. He mussed my hair and set my suitcase down. "The wolf sees things in black and white. Sometimes it helps when your human half is struggling to just go wolf for a while," he explained.

"A while? What's 'a while'? So he could be gone for days? Weeks?" I asked, my voice rising in alarm. I was worried but mostly my heart hurt for him because I knew the story behind his confession had to be a heart-wrenching one.

"He won't be able to stay away for long. Do you want me to bring you back to the city?"

I thought about Can coming back and not finding me here and the conclusions he would immediately jump to.

"No, I'll wait here."

"What happened?"

He moved to the kitchen and started rummaging through the cupboards.

"He told me how his father died," I said quietly, feeling secure in the knowledge that I was not betraying a confidence. If anyone knew Can, it was this man.

Osman froze at my words.

"Everything?"

"No," I whispered. "Did you know him then?"

He turned to face me.

"I've known him all my life. He is only a few weeks older than me. My father was his father's lieutenant so we were raised together like brothers." He paused and looked away, sorrow flashing on his face.

"You know the whole story?"

"I was there," he said quietly and went back to his rummaging. "I'm going to make dinner," he announced signaling the end of this particular conversation. As much as I wanted him to tell me the whole story, I knew it wasn't his story to tell and I wanted to hear it from Can.

"You can cook?" I asked him.

"We were globetrotting for years so it was either learn to cook or live on takeout. So I learned to cook. Plus, it always impresses the ladies," he winked at me audaciously.

"You lived together for so long but I get the feeling you've been keeping your distance since I came around," I said, moving to help him with the chopping he was doing. He handed me a tomato and I got to work.

"It's never, ever a good idea to hang around a mating wolf's woman. Having my face rearranged would disappoint and greatly upset my lady friends."

I rolled my eyes at his silliness. "That's ridiculous. You're not interested in me. Why wouldn't he trust his friend?"

"A mating wolf doesn't give a shit if I'm his brother or a monk. It just sees competition. It doesn't last forever. He'll feel less murderous after a few years."

"A few years!" I shook my head at this strange new world I was living in. "Mating must be another one of those words that have a totally different meaning in Wolfish," I mused, shooting him a questioning look.