[Carmen]This year, Moon’s Glow took place the week before the winter solstice. It was four days before, to be exact. I was glad it didn’t fall on the night when Dennis and Sybil were having their bonding ceremony. It was hard to think of celebrating Moon’s Glow without my mate, but Rock couldn’t really run with us. Not in the same way. That was one of the downsides to having a troll for a mate instead of a werewolf. Gemma was sad about having to leave Austin as well, but he wasn’t a member of the pack and our pack was too large for letting a rogue run with us. Rock arranged for some of the shapeshifting fae to go out in the woods with Austin and celebrate with him. On this night, we gave thanks to the moon goddess for all the babies born and all of the successfully shifted teens. We ran for her and accepted all the new young wolves as members of the pack. This was usually their first pack run unless there was a special event like a ranked wedding or leadership transition. I got into the car with Gemma. We would drive out to the pack lands and planned to arrive just before Luna Lily gave her speech in thanks to the goddess. She was sad about missing Moon’s Glow with her mate, too, but we had a responsibility to the pack. We drove in silence to the pack lands. The weight of our evening rested heavy in the cab of the car. I put my hand out and Gemma took it. “I’m sorry you can’t have this night with Austin,” I said. “I’m sorry you can’t have it with Rock. This really sucks, but mine is just until Austin accepts the pack, which I think he’s actually warming up to. No matter how much Rock accepts the pack, he’ll never be one of us and it makes my heart hurt for you.” Squeezing her hand, I nodded. It made my heart hurt, too, but there was still so much left for us to experience together. And I knew we would have plenty in our future. As we arrived at the pack lands, the excitement in the air was palpable. We quickly parked and hurried to the gathering spot. We weren’t ranked members, so it’s not like they were all waiting on us. In fact, we started stripping off our clothes at the outer edge of the clearing and waited for the blessing before we started on our run. Applause filled the air. Lily must have been up on the stage. Gemma held my hand as the applause died down. I pushed out my magic so I could see the speech and the first change with everyone else. “On this night of Moon’s Glow, we give thanks to the goddess for all the blessings she has bestowed upon us,” Lily said loudly. “In this past year our pack has grown and changed in ways we could never have expected. Our new alliances make us safer than ever before and the lifting of the curse has given us back the ability to find our mates when we get our wolves. “The new wolves in our pack, those who matured enough and the members who have joined us, are all blessings by the goddess. Tonight, we run in her honor. Raise up your voices in praise of our goddess. She loves us and we love her!”We tipped our faces up and howled together. It was funny to hear so many human voices howling. Our wolves got a kick out of it. “Shift and run. Have fun, be safe, and embrace your wild side. Let’s go!” Lily shouted and shifted. Behind her, Trent shifted and they ran while everyone else was changing and starting off after them. I shifted and ran next to Gemma. The howls of the young wolves echoed throughout the forest, creating a symphony of sound that reached the ears of the goddess herself. I could feel her presence, as if she was watching over us, protecting us from harm.We ran through the woods, our wolf forms stretching and flexing with each step. The moon shone down upon us, illuminating our path and casting long, eerie shadows that danced and flickered in our wake. The pack was a blur of fur and teeth, of growls and snarls, of energy and motion. It was a beautiful, chaotic dance, one that could only be seen and understood by those who were part of it.As we ran, I could feel my heart beating in time with the pounding of my paws on the ground. My senses were heightened, my mind clear and sharp. It was as if I had become one with the forest, with the pack, and with the goddess herself. I felt invincible, untouchable, and alive in a way that nothing else in the world could match.We ran for what felt like hours, our muscles burning with exertion, our lungs heaving with the effort. We chased each other, nipped at each other’s heels, and howled at the moon. It was pure ecstasy, a primal release of energy that left us all feeling refreshed and renewed.My brother and mother found us. Because the pregnancy was showing, Beth couldn’t join us. I nipped at my brother and we started a game of tag with Gemma. My mother wandered off with her friends. It had to be hard on her, too. Moon’s Glow was a special time for mates. For some werewolves, it was one of the few times they could frolic without other responsibilities pulling them away. When it looked like her friends wanted to go wander off and do what most couples did when they were in wolf form together, I went to tag my mother into the game we were playing. We rounded up some of the other single wolves and led another run around the pack lands. They needed to be distracted from everyone who already found their mates, too. As we ran, yips and barks filled the air, the sound of our howls echoing through the trees. I felt a sense of contentment and belonging wash over me. This was where I belonged, with my pack, with Gemma by my side. Nothing else mattered in that moment.After a while, we slowed to rest in a clearing that wasn’t visited often. We rolled around in the snow to help cool off. I used to sneak off during Moon’s Glow because my parents thought I couldn’t see as well as a wolf in my wolf form. They never let me have fun, so the first thing Ash and Gemma would do was cause a diversion so I could get away. We would meet up in a predetermined area and spend all of Moon’s Glow having fun and playing in the opposite direction of where the pack had gone. This was the first year when I stayed with the pack and I loved it. With luck, this was an indication of what future years could be like. I still wished I could celebrate with Rock, but there were troll holidays he told me I wouldn’t be able to participate in because I was too small and soft. ‘Carmen! What are you doing? Come back, you’ll get lost!’ my mother linked me. ‘No, I won’t, Mom. I can see just as well as everyone else in my wolf form. Every Moon’s Glow since I was seventeen, I’ve been completely fine. Trust me. Okay?’She looked at me and a light whine reached my ears. She didn’t want to push me too much, but it was hard to change your ways after thinking one way for so long. I went over to her and tucked my head under her neck. She needed reassurance and I had no problem giving it to her. This was a hard year for her and I wouldn’t make it worse on a holiday. After a while, we all started wandering off in search of something to do. There was no hunting on Moon’s Glow because every adult werewolf was out in the forest and it would make hunting scarce if we needed it later in the year. We chased after any creature that happened to make the poor decision to come out, but let them escape. Mom disappeared with Mike and I was on my own. Gemma was somewhere, but I didn’t know where. This was the first time I had true freedom on Moon’s Glow. I sat down by a frozen over pond, staring at the moon’s reflection on the iced over water. Suddenly, something dark went over the moon. We weren’t near an airport, so it couldn’t be a low flying plane. Not that I knew what a low flying plane looked like, but I was sure it wasn’t what I saw. The thing that went over the moon wasn’t just huge, it was something monstrous. I froze in terror, my heart pounding in my chest. My instincts told me to run, to hide, to protect myself. But I couldn’t move, couldn’t tear my eyes away from the reflection of the sky.Then, it was gone. I linked my brother to ask if he saw it, but he didn’t. Gemma hadn’t either. I didn’t want to bother my mom. If two people hadn’t seen it, then maybe it was my imagination? I shook my head. With everything else going on, I couldn’t just write it off. I linked Alpha Trent and told him what I saw. He asked me to come to his office in the morning. Our plan for tonight had been to run with the pack until dawn, then crash for a few hours at Gemma’s apartment before heading back to Rock and Austin at home. Sleep would have to wait, though. -In the hours between when I saw the thing and when the sun started to come up, I asked every member of the pack if they saw something pass over the moon. None of them did. I started to feel like I was going crazy. As the sun began to rise, the pack started to head back to the packhouse. I hesitated, unsure if I wanted to face Alpha Trent and tell him I might have imagined the whole thing. But my curiosity got the better of me, and I made my way to his office after dressing.He was already there, waiting for me. “Carmen, come in and have a seat,” he said.I felt my way around to where his voice was coming from. He was at his desk. I took a seat in one of the chairs when I reached one.“I, uh, I wanted to talk to you about something,” I started, my voice hesitant. “Last night, during the Moon’s Glow celebration, I saw something pass over the moon. It wasn’t natural. It had four wings and some sort of gnarled body with tendrils hanging off it. I couldn’t see it clearly, but I could see that much.” “I see,” he said slowly. “That does sound unusual. And you say no one else saw it?”I shook my head. “No, I asked everyone, but they didn’t see anything.”He fell silent for a moment, mulling over my words. “I think it would be wise to investigate this further,” he finally said. “With everything else going on.... Normally, I would think it was someone’s mind playing tricks on them, but you’ve never been like that.” “You believe me? Thank the goddess. I was worried you wouldn’t.” “There are a lot of strange things going on and I trust you, Carmen.” “Thank you, Alpha Trent. I just don’t want to feel like I’m losing my mind,” I said, relieved to have someone believe me. “What should we do next?”“I’ll discuss it with the other supernatural leaders and see if anyone else reported something like that last night. There’s not a lot more I can do.... Perhaps Rhett will have some ideas. And Queen Maeve. This could just be a fae who went out in their natural form and didn’t plan on someone seeing them. Don’t worry, I’ll find an answer. Go get some rest. I’ll contact you if I need more.” “Gemma’s waiting for me downstairs. I hope you get some rest.” “I have a few people to deal with from last night, but then I plan to go home and get some sleep. Get out of here, the sooner you sleep the sooner you can head home. I’m sure your mate missed having you home last night.” Getting up, I bowed a little and headed out. Gemma was waiting for me at the foot of the stairs. She took my arm and led me out of the packhouse. We headed for her car and went to her apartment. We were dead on our feet by the time we got up there. I crashed on the couch while Gemma grumbled about her bedroom being so far from the front door. I heard her flop onto the bed, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. As I slipped off to sleep, I thought about the creature I saw the night before and a shiver went through me. I hoped it was something benign. The last thing we needed was some massive monster attacking the pack.