The Chronicles of Moon
Chapter 22

Mine

Moon screams at the advancing wolf. Colin is out cold and bleeding on the ground. Moon can smell the blood in the air and the smell of chocolate and coffee. It occurs to her, she has smelled this sent before on the shirt Colin gave her it must be Colin’s sent.

Adrenalin is coursing through Moon’s body as the black wolf locks eyes with her. Moon starts to rush forward and manages to block the advancing wolf from Colin. It’s so strange to Moon. Everything almost feels like a dream, and she’s becoming increasingly aware that she isn’t the one in control of her body. She also can’t seem to shift completely. The voice in her head is now the voice that is coming out of her mouth.

The feeling is surreal, to say the least. Moon is afraid when the black wolf advances on her again, but her body just reacts, and she easily avoids the wolf. When she caught a glimpse of her hand, she saw the claws for the first time. She was caught in some half-shifted state. All of the bones in her arms and hands are elongated. The claws are long white curves reminding her of crescent moons. She looks at her legs just to see they look the same as her arms, long and strange, completely alien to her.

What the hell is going on? Moon puzzles to herself, not expecting an answer, but one came anyway.

Just stop fighting me and let me have control. The voice is stern and angry, stuck in a growl. The time’s Moon had heard it before. It was intense but almost musical.

I’m not stopping you. Moon protests, but the voice snickers.

The Black wolf took Moon’s and the voice’s lack of concentration to its advantage and clamps down on her arm. She howls in pain as she slashes at the wolf with her claws. She connects with fur and flesh, and the beast releases her, snarling at her. Moon replaces herself crouching about to jump the wolf when a black blur of fur beat her to it. The tangle of black fur and white teeth make it hard to know who is winning.

When two other wolves bust in on the scene, the wolves separate. The black wolf clearly saw he was now outnumbered and turned to run. Moon was about to make chase not because she wanted to, but because the one in control of her body did. Some instinct to chase the fleeing form had her growling and breathing hard. Every part of her hurt as bone fought to shift and pop.

Her skin was on fire, and she still felt like her heart was pounding so hard it would beat right through her ribs. Her mouth hurt as her teeth still shifted and grew longer. From what Moon could tell, she must look frightening in this half-changed state.

The two wolves gave chase, and Moon is about to join the chase when two strong arms grab her and hold her tightly. She thought her wolf would be angrier and want to fight whoever had grabbed her. When the smell of black coffee and chocolate flooded her nose, some of the rage seemed to fade. His skin is cool compared to her burning flesh, and she relishes the coolness of it. Everything in her was humming as he held her to his chest. She could feel the rhythm of his heart, and hers began to beat in the same rhythm as his.

“Moon, I need you to listen to me. You have to calm down now.” Colin’s voice was husky and full of emotion; Moon isn’t used to hearing from him. “Just take some deep breaths and calm down, please. It’s all right. Chris and Jess are after him.”

Moon could feel her body relax, and the rage that filled her quickly leaving. She wanted to cry as bones popped and moved back to their normal position. Moon wondered through the pain if it always hurt this bad to shift.

Not if you just let it happen naturally. The voice said, clearly annoyed.

I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stop you. I wasn’t doing anything, I promise. Moon pleaded with the voice, but it stopped talking again.

Colin strokes Moon’s hair, and as the pain finally stops, Colin pulls away slightly, cupping Moon’s face in his hands, making her eyes meet his. He looks so sad as he looks at her brushing the tears off her cheeks with his thumbs.

“You are mine. Farrell was right. I just wish it wasn’t me. I don’t deserve you, Moon.” Colin murmurs as he hangs his head.

Moon can’t imagine what he is talking about. Why wouldn’t he deserve her? Moon took his face in her hands, looking deep into his eyes, trying to replace what was causing him so much pain. She could feel some of the mate bond, but it was nothing like what she knew it should be. Her wolf had retreated again, and she couldn’t even feel it now.

Moon felt defective; if anyone didn’t deserve a mate, she is sure it would be her, but she isn’t about to give up on her wolf or Colin. Moon wants to get to the bottom of all of this. She doesn’t know why her wolf seems to hate her and thinks Moon is responsible for trapping her, and Moon needs to understand why Colin seems so sad that he is her mate.

As she looks at his sad and lost eyes, Moon does the only thing she wants to do. She pulls him close to her till her lips replace his, and she kisses him with everything she felt in her at that moment as he held her, and her body hummed in pleasure, feeling complete for the first time in her life. Moon wants that feeling again, and she wants to be the one that makes his soul feel complete as well.

For a moment, Colin is surprised by her kiss, but soon he has his arms around her, pulling her to him. That’s when Moon remembers he is very naked. While wolves don’t have the same human standards regarding nakedness, this is quickly becoming more intimate than she wants at that moment. She pulls away and turns bright red. Colin still looks at her sadly, like he isn’t sure what to do with her. Moon wonders if he will even accept her at all. Moon has always been certain that if she had a mate, they would reject her. But if he was going to do that, why did he kiss her back?