August Moon

ESTELLA

I’d heard that watching the full moon in August on a Greek island was something special.

This month’s moon was supposed to be bigger and more yellow than usual, or at least that’s what the locals had told me.

Their excitement made me want to see it for myself.

I knew I’d mostly be on my own, though, since Max, Cal, and Sarah would have to shift somewhere in the woods.

I hadn’t mentioned it before, but I was surprised by the lack of werewolves in Greece.

In Spain, Italy, and France, there were several packs, some of them quite powerful.

But Greece didn’t have a single pack, weak or strong.

Not anymore.

During one of our painting sessions, Elli confessed to me that she and Stelios knew what my friends were. I was so shocked I didn’t even try to deny it. She just smiled at me knowingly.

“You see,” she explained, “when we were much younger, Stelios and I were lucky enough to meet the last of their kind on our island.”

“There was a pack here?” I gasped.

“Well, not just here,” Stelios chimed in. “There were small packs all over the country, but they slowly died out.

“This isn’t an easy place for supernatural creatures to survive.” He shook his head sadly and continued.

“Besides people not believing in them, killing them, and mistaking them for regular wolves, they had serious problems reproducing.”

“It was getting harder and harder for them to find a soulmate,” Elli added. “Most of the unmated wolves had to leave to have a better chance of finding a mate.

“In the end, in our pack here, and I guess in most packs, only the luna and alpha stayed behind after sending their children away. They died soon after, and now there’s no one left.”

“This is so sad,” I murmured, feeling tears well up in my eyes.

“It really is,” Stelios agreed. “It broke my heart to see them die, alone and without a pack. I’ve lived with them all my life, you see. We were…we were friends.”

They didn’t say more, and I didn’t ask.

But I imagined that the circumstances that led them to befriend supernatural creatures were similar to mine.

I just kept painting, and I was happy to see that they cried tears of joy when I showed them the finished piece.

Three nights before the full moon, the ~“feggari”~ (as the moon is called in Greek: φεγγάρι, stressed on “a” and yes, I did my research) was already getting bigger and looking more yellow than usual.

It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

Max, as usual, was standing on the balcony, waiting for me to go to bed. He was a bit on edge, as he always was when the full moon was near.

He was even more tense now that we were sharing the same space. At the last full moon, he’d left at sunset and hadn’t come back until the next morning.

I guessed he’d spent the whole night deep in the forest.

He had his back to me. I got up and slowly walked over to him. I knew he could hear my footsteps anyway, so I didn’t bother being quiet.

I hugged him, and he tensed up right away but didn’t try to push me away.

“You could come and sleep on the bed,” I suggested softly.

“I can’t do that, darling.” He sighed.

“We could put pillows between us.”

“As if that would help,” he snorted.

Even though I wanted to keep hugging him, I let go and stood next to him.

The night was quiet, except for the sound of crickets and the bright moon shining among countless stars.

“Would it be so bad if we…” I started to say, but then I couldn’t bring myself to finish.

“The problem is, darling, that it would be the most natural thing in the world but at the wrong time.”

I frowned, confused by what he meant. He saw my confusion and smiled.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said.

He took my hand and slowly turned me toward him.

“Max, I…”

“Don’t say it,” he whispered.

“You know what I was going to say?”

“Yes”

“Then why don’t you want me to say it?”

Instead of answering, he pulled me close. With my head resting on his chest, I asked again.

“Why?”

“Oh, darling.” He sighed deeply, kissing the top of my head.

He didn’t answer, and I didn’t ask again. I just stayed there, breathing in his comforting scent, until he gently nudged me inside to go to bed.

MAX

I could tell this full moon was going to be more powerful.

Three nights ago, when Estella came out to the balcony and wrapped her arms around me, I… I had a hard time keeping my wolf under control.

There’s something about this place. I’ve said it before, I know. Maybe it’s because my kind used to live here until a few decades ago.

Estella told me that Stelios and Elli knew about us, and the old couple confirmed it, saying that the woods on their property would be perfect for us to shift without being seen.

That was a relief, and Sarah, Caleb, and I agreed that we would use it when the time came.

It was getting close, and even the slightest, most innocent touch from Estella was becoming pure torture. My wolf was screaming at me to finally do my duty to my mate.

I did my best to ignore his urges. My own urges were another story.

I wanted, just once, to be reckless. Just one time. She was old enough, beautiful, and as in love with me as I was with her.

If I were fully human, I wouldn’t hesitate so much. I wouldn’t hold back so much. Not when she was finally of age, and her love was certain.

If I were human, the game would be fair. We’d be together, figuring things out as we went along.

But now, with the full moon approaching, everything was harder to control. My wolf side, my desire for her. Trying to keep things gentle when all you want to do is consume the one you desire…

I wouldn’t wish that kind of torment on my worst enemy.

If only she didn’t care for me, but she did. She reacted to every touch, pressing her body close to mine at every opportunity.

That’s why I couldn’t share a bed with her, and that’s why I had to leave the room on the night of the full moon. Otherwise, I didn’t know what I might do.

ESTELLA

There are certain things you just can’t do with a werewolf.

Obviously, you can’t watch a full moon with them (though I’d give anything to see this one with Max) or be around certain animals like lambs, sheep, horses, and cats.

In case you didn’t know, most animals are scared of wolves.

I always thought this was a shame because I love most of the animals I just mentioned, and I was used to having them around when I lived in Australia.

When Max visited, my “pets” would run off, but after he explained everything to me, I slowly accepted it. I would never have a pet.

But I didn’t bring this up to talk about animals.

Full moon.

That’s what’s bothering me. Last time, I had to watch it all by myself while I saw couples in love enjoying the sight together.

Now, you might say that I’ve always watched it alone, and you’d be right. But let me tell you, the situation was different.

I was in my own country (or Australia), on my own balcony, or behind my bedroom window.

I didn’t see how others did it, and for most years, I was too young to realize it was something I wanted to share with Max.

So, I made some risky decisions to keep him here until it started.

I know that as soon as the full moon begins, a werewolf has to shift.

But I thought that if it’s not completely dark and we catch the moon at the beginning, we could watch it together for a few moments until it becomes too much for him and he has to leave.

That’s not a bad thing to want, is it?

Even if it is, I’m still going to do it. I can be stubborn like that. I even picked out the perfect dress. We bought it in one of the tourist shops on the islands we visited.

Actually, I bought a bunch of them. I love the ancient Greek Goddess vibe they give off, and with my slight tan, they look absolutely perfect on me.

I chose a light-yellow one because it reminded me of the full moon, and I let my hair down after my bath.

I walked out of the bathroom with a smile on my face, only to see Max getting ready to leave.

“Are you leaving already?” I asked, feeling let down.

“I have to…” His sentence trailed off as he looked up at me.

I saw his eyes darken, and I gave him a sweet smile.

“Can’t you stay just a little longer? I was hoping we could see the start of the full moon together.”

He shook his head.

I moved closer to him. Without thinking, I noticed that the light from the balcony had dimmed a bit too much, which meant my bath had taken longer than I thought.

“We’ve never seen it together,” I pleaded.

“Darling, please.”

He looked desperate, but so was I. I took another step toward him and took his hand, making him drop his duffel bag. He kept shaking his head but still followed me out to the balcony.

It was a beautiful, quiet night, with a gentle breeze rustling the hem of my Grecian dress. The moon was starting to rise, but its glow was still faint.

Even so, I felt Max tense up next to me. I rested my head on his bicep.

“I really need to go,” he said, his voice strained.

“Not yet,” I begged.

I looked up at him only to find him already staring at me, his eyes even darker than before.

In that moment, despite the hard lines on his face, he seemed to me the most beautiful man I had ever seen.

Not that I had any doubt about that, but for the first time, I knew that I would never love anyone like I love Max. I shouldn’t have doubts about it either yet…

I don’t know how to explain it.

That night, in that place, under the moonlight, I felt as if we were made for each other, as if we were, in a way, soulmates, which is silly, considering that Max has a mate, but that’s how it felt to me.

I reached up and touched his cheek.

“I love you, Max,” I whispered.

How I ended up receiving the most incredible kiss of my life is still a mystery to me.

All I remember before that was the low growl I heard from Max. The next moment, I was in his arms, and he was kissing me.

There are no words to describe it. At least I can’t find any. It was like in my dream and even better because this one was real, and I wasn’t drunk (not on alcohol, anyway).

I stood on my tiptoes to reach him and returned his kiss as best as I could. Kissing him was… addictive.

I felt such a passion coursing through me that it was as if my veins were on fire.

He held me close, almost as if our bodies were merging, and that’s exactly what I wanted, for us to be one.

I clung to his T-shirt with one hand while my other one slipped beneath it, instinctively caressing his lower back.

This seemed to be the signal he needed to start pulling my dress up clumsily.

My hands left his back and settled on his shoulders as he started lifting me up while my legs wrapped around his waist on their own.

He broke the kiss and looked at me, the blue barely visible in his eyes.

“Just one time,” he said hoarsely and kissed me again.

Then he was walking.

We didn’t make it to the bed.

My back slammed against the wall, the impact sending a thrill through me. I was here, in this moment, with the man I loved. The man who I thought saw me as nothing more than a kid sister or a student.

It would be too predictable to say I was moaning into his mouth, but I can’t remember if I did. My senses were on overdrive, and I was on the verge of losing my mind when he moved from my mouth to my neck.

The spot that werewolves call the marking spot was also my sensitive spot. I remember letting out a sound that was somewhere between a moan and a whimper when he started sucking and nibbling on it. My eyes rolled back in pleasure. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced, not even in my dreams or with Matt.

I was on fire.

So much so that I barely noticed when he ripped the top of my dress, exposing my cleavage. He kissed it before returning to my lips and then my neck.

He licked and sucked on my skin, and I gasped when I felt his teeth graze my flesh.

I closed my eyes and tightened my legs around Max’s waist, my breath coming in heavy pants. But then, just as suddenly as it started, it was over.

I found myself unceremoniously dumped on the floor. My eyes snapped open to see Max, panic etched on his face, pulling at his hair.

I tried to crawl towards him, but his bellow stopped me. “Don’t.”

Tears stung my eyes as he backed away from me, hiding his hands behind his back.

“Max?” I whispered.

“I’m sorry, darling,” he choked out, and then he was gone.

Just like that, he left me.

I slumped on the floor, unable to move. I didn’t want to move. What was the point?

He was gone.

MAX

I had to leave.

I had to.

I almost marked her. I almost fucking did.

I was already shifting as I stormed out of the hotel. My claws and canines were out, and I barely made it to the woods on Stelios’s property. I cursed myself for my selfishness.

As I let my wolf take over under the full moon, I had to endure his ranting. Why hadn’t I done right by our mate? Why had I left her there, hurt and crying?

Why was I such a coward?

If we were physically two separate creatures, he would have killed me, I’m sure. For now, he was limiting himself to yelling through our link and howling at the moon.

I retreated further, drowning in my own sorrow as he ran and ran and ran.

I was startled when he came to a sudden stop and started sniffing around. He didn’t growl, meaning whoever was coming wasn’t a threat.

A tall, slightly hunched figure appeared and started approaching with a steady step.

It was as unnatural for a human not to fear a monster like me as it was for my wolf to run giddily to meet said human halfway. Let alone allow him to pat him on the head as if he were a dog.

“Hello, Lykos, my old friend,” the man’s voice called, trembling with emotion. I felt a mix of confusion and relief.