The red moon curse

Birthday Party

Dear diary:

It’s my birthday! I finally turn 13! My mom says that she has a surprise for me, I’m just so so SO excited, I cannot even imagine what my mom will get me, I mean, 10 years is a big one, maybe she will get me a car, or a trip to Europe, or make up, ufff make up! Can you imagine diary? If I could finally wear make up like the girls at school? Or or or, I know what it is! Is going to be a new phone! YES! That’s it, I bet my mom is going to get me a new phone, that would be awesome! I bet is going to be better than mi brother Erland’s phone.

I cannot wait for my party to start.

Is 5 am too Early to call Asher?

I sooo want to tell him about my new phone, he is going to be super happy for me, we are going to be able to talk after dark, send pictures… he is my best friend after all, and I want to talk to him all the time, he never gets tired of me like my brothers, even though he is the same age as Leo, but he always listens and never tells me to go away like my brothers do, he never tells me what I say is dumb or looks at me with that I-DON’T-KNOW-WHAT-ARE-YOU-TALKING-ABOUT face. that is why he is my bestest friend in the entire world, and I’m dying to show him my new phone. I just hope my phone would be better than Erlands, that way I can brag about it. I still love my brothers; I just wish they would include me more in their “grown up” conversations. Pfff! I’m grown now, good luck trying to keep me away!

Anyway, I will start getting ready for my party.

I think I will marry Asher one day. He IS perfect.

Love, Sadira.

I kept staring at the page of my diary like somehow, if I stared enough to it, I could change everything that happened after. One tear drops from my face and landed on my coffee.

“Great” as if the coffee was not bad enough, now it carried the sadness of my past, I pushed it away from me, not wanting to have another taste of it, it was cold, tasted like socks and had no sugar, but it was the only thing I could afford lately since I had to run, yet again, from the place I had been living on.

Instead of drinking the coffee, I kept staring at the last page I had written on my diary so many years ago (10 to be exact), but I could still remember everything that happened like it was yesterday; the truth about me, how I was not even part of the family I grew up with, how I was not even a regular human, and how that information somehow carried more responsibilities that I could ever imagine, or want, but somehow landed on my shoulders and I was supposed to accept it greatly. I could still remember the heartbreak, the pain in my chest after listening every word coming out of my mom’s mouth, the tears falling like a waterfall from my eyes, my brothers (Leandro and Erland) trying to talk sense into me, like I should be grateful for this…

And then, the bursting through the door, the yelling, my brothers carrying me upstairs and locking me on my bathroom, Erland telling me to be brave, helping me to climb out the window, Leandro turning from the hallway, looking at me like I meant the world to him before closing the door behind him… and then the growls, the running, the hiding, coming back home the day after only to see all the blood, the broken furniture. The pain of knowing nothing was ever going to be the same.

And then, the never-ending chase, the sleeping on the streets, the times of hunger, of no having access to the basics (like a hot shower); then came the first change, the realization that everything I was told was painfully true, the terror of not knowing if I ever was going to be able to change back.

And the only time they caught me, those years captive, I don’t know how I was able to survive all that…

“But it wasn’t all bad right?” I laughed out loud, gaining a few stares from the people on the next table.

“Yes, you are right, it hasn’t been all bad, I got you” I said to Dryad, my wolf. I love Dryad, is the best wolf I could ever ask for (smart, strong, funny, beautiful and just a tiny bit of needy), and the reason why I hadn’t lost my mind.

“Happy birthday Sadie.”

“Happy birthday Dryad,” yes, I’m living the dream.

“We have to look for a place to stay, and for a job to pay for the place to stay” I said to Dryad, while getting out from the coffee shop.

“Girl, I don’t think anybody will hire us looking like this” I looked down at my dirty clothes and sighed.

“I know, but there’s no public restrooms in this town, and I haven’t seen any forest nearby, so no chance of finding a river to get cleaned up” pfff somedays s*ck*d more than others, and today was one of them, I had just arrived at this town after a chase from John and the pack of wolves that were after me (after all this time, I know, one though they would grow tired by now) but I had left in such a hurry that I didn’t have the time to grab the emergency money or clothes or anything from my last hideout place.

I was just getting out from work when I smell them, their scent was carved in my memory (the time spent captive by them was enough to never forget the rotten smell coming out of their pours). If it wasn’t for the stupid head that got cocky and came close enough to rip his arm out, I would be probably dead by now. So, in a way, I was grateful for that stupid wolf, for unwillingly helping to set me free.

So, after that, I never stood in one place for long, never register my name or give out my real name to anybody, I learned to live without leaving a footprint and read the signs to know when to leave before they could catch me.

But Jezz, they were fast, that is why I change my play and this time, I choose to settle on a small town, instead of a city, thinking maybe, that way I could stay a little longer this time, but judging for the stares I kept getting from the people around me, I was starting to doubt it.

So, here I was, on my birthday, outside of a coffee shop, with no money, no clothes, no job, no place to stay and not a way to solve any of them.

“Maybe we could shower at the fountain in the middle of the square.”

“That would be a great idea, if we had clothes to change after and if people would not look at us like we are crazy, but thank you for the input” It was a good thing to have Dryad with me, I think I would’ve gone crazy a long time ago without her, she was always finding ways to resolve, even when my world felt like shutting down, she could always find the positive to the situation or a way to resolve our issues, she was way more resourceful than I was, and for that, I loved having her by my side.

I decided that the best idea was to walk around town to see if I could find a church so I could get clothes from the goodwill and maybe a shower. So I started walking, admiring the charm of a small town, it was a little past 11 am on a Saturday, so there was a lot of movement, people stopping on the sidewalk to talk, stores and businesses welcoming their customers, cars actually stopping at the stop signs, kids playing outside, God! I could really see myself living here permanently.

“Maybe we could.”

“Yes, maybe we could” I lied.

After a few blocks of walking, I found my objective (a church in the middle of the Townsquare), I smiled and hurried my steps to the church when the most amazing smell hit my nostrils like an avalanche, the smell of pine and snow, filled my entire body, sending shivers through my veins and making my heart take a turn, Dryad felt it too, I could feel her going crazy in my head, I turned around ready to go after the smell, focused on finding the source of it, when I noticed a strange movement from the corner of my eye, it was so subtle, but I was use to notice those kinds of things, John’s pack of dogs had found me.

“Time to run Dryad.” I could feel her taking over the control of my body, sprinting to reach the back of the church, where the beginning of a forest could be seen before shifting.

“F*ck” I sighed when I saw the shreds of my only change of clothes flying trough the air when I shifted.

“I’m sorry, but we need to hurry.”

“That’s ok Dryad, our safety goes first, focus!”

I kept running, and running, and running, in the hopes of eventually getting out of this forest and into civilization, but looks like this forest kept on going forever, it had been I don’t know how much time since we were standing at the front of the church, smelling that scent of pines and snow. A smell so great, so intoxicating that kept hunting my every thought. It was weird though, even when I knew it was the first time I had smell something like that, It still felt like I had smell it my entire life, it was warm, and exciting, and safe, and, I don’t know why but it felt, right? I don’t even know if that was the right way to describe what I was feeling, maybe I was finally going nuts.

“Is the smell of our mate, we should have followed it” Dryad said.

“What if it’s one of them?” I replied.

“He is not! He would never hurt us! I know that, he would protect us” after that she went quiet, refusing to discuss the issue any further.

A part of me hoped she was right, a very big part of me wanted to believe her, believe that there was somebody out there made just for me by a Goddess, somebody that would follow me to the end of earth and even after, but the sane and realistic part of me knew the truth, the same part of me that just knew when it was time to leave, the logic part of me that told me we had never encounter another wolf on the 10 years we’ve been moving from place to place (other than the ones following me of course) that part of me was the one giving me a clear head about who that smell belonged to, and Dryad was beyond furious for it.

But right now, our survival was more important than chasing a fantasy, so we just kept going, we made a quick stop to kill a rabbit and eat it (I still preferred the warm human food, but this had kept me alive during our worst times, so it would have to do for now). On the second day, we made another stop to sleep for a couple of hours when the sun was at its highest, and now we were back on the run, we knew better than to think we were safe, I knew the only way to have a little peace was to find civilization and get lost in the crowd.

We pushed on for hours as the sun dipped low, casting long, bleeding shadows through the trees. Just as exhaustion began to pull at my limbs, a new sound broke through the rustle of leaves: the low, unmistakable hum of traffic. The city.

“I hear it too, Sadie! We’re almost there!” Dryad’s excitement pulsed through our shared bond, wild and electric. I couldn't stop the surge of hope rising in my chest.

“Hurry, Dryad, we can make...”

“MATE!”

Her frantic roar rattled inside my skull, sharp enough to bring a dull ache behind my eyes.

“No! Dryad, we have to keep going!” I pleaded, but she was tuned out, blinded by instinct. Desperate, I seized control of our body, yanking the reins back before she could pivot toward the scent. I couldn't force a shift back to human form (I needed her four legs and raw speed to reach the city) but I forced our momentum straight ahead.

“He will protect us! You don’t understand, Sadie, you’re just human!” her voice echoed in my head, furious and stubborn. “There is no safer place than with him!”

“We don’t have time!” I locked my eyes on the thinning treeline, deafening myself to her protests.

I was so consumed by the city sounds that I stopped watching the shadows.

Mistake number one.

A heavy force slammed into my flank, knocking the air from my lungs and sending us tumbling down the incline. Mud and dirt blurred my vision as I scrambled for purchase, snapping at branches and tearing clawfuls of earth, but the momentum was unforgiving. We rolled helplessly until the hard trunk of a tree stopped us head-first.

Asher POV

That day

I had been awoken by the weirdest dream, or, more accurately, a memory. A memory from a long time ago, a birthday we never got to celebrate, a truth that caused more pain than the lies said to cover it, an intruder that took the most precious treasure from me and a girl, forever lost from my life.

I am the Alpha of the Silver Blood Pack, the biggest and most feared pack of America, I was the strongest wolf I had ever crossed the path with and still, I was sweating like a little boy over a f*ck*ng dream.

“Memory” corrected Xande, my wolf.

“Whatever” I replied angrily. Maybe it was because the lack of sleep, but lately me and my wolf felt restless, as if we knew something big was about to go down, or maybe it was just my head playing games on me, making me relieve that memory over and over as if it meant something more than what it was.

“Maybe it is Asher, maybe is the Goddess herself trying to talk to you t