Full Moon Run
Elowen POV
The moment the silvery glow of the fae realm’s moon touched the courtyard stones, something inside me itched. Not a bad itch, more like… the craving kind. The wild kind. My wolf stirred and stretched in my mind, her presence humming like a live wire.
"Run," Lyssira whispered. "Moonlight calls."
I looked up at the massive glowing moon overhead, bigger than I’d ever seen it in the mortal realm. Full. Pulsing. Beckoning.
“Okay, is it just me, or is anyone else feeling the need to lose their damn mind and tear through the woods?” I asked, standing up abruptly from our lounge spot in the war room. Bram snorted, nearly choking on his meat skewer.
Daxon’s eyes glinted with feral amusement. “Oh, fuck yes. I’ve been waiting for that moon all day.”
Lachlan raised a brow. “Yer tellin’ me we’re shiftin’ and runnin’ wild like a bloody Highland ghost pack? Count me in.”
Ashrian looked between us. “I mean, everyone all wild and naked?” He smirked and winked.
I bit my lip, my eyes drifting to Vaelrix. “Would it be safe to run here? In the dragon lands?”
He stood from the table, towering and barefoot, shirtless, as usual. “Absolutely. The western enchanted woods are under my command. No predators, no traps, just thick trees and soft moss. You’ll be completely safe.”
He stepped closer and cupped my cheek. “And I’ll fly above you in my dragon form. You deserve to run without fear.”
I melted. “Gods, you’re sexy.”
“I know,” he said, smug as hell.
_______________________
Later
Western Enchanted Woods
Dinner was devoured in record time, and now we stood at the forest edge. The air was crisp and filled with the earthy scent of pine and moon drenched loam.
“Clothes off,” Daxon ordered with a growl, already yanking off his pants and tossing them behind a tree.
“Gods, you make that sound so bossy,” I teased, stripping beside him.
“You like it,” he said with a grin.
He wasn’t wrong. One by one, we shifted. Bones cracked, muscles flexed, and fur sprouted as howls echoed into the night. My body melted into Lyssira’s form, her snowy white fur with streaks of silver, blue and green ..and something new...purple...bursting forth as we hit the ground running.
"YES!" Lyssira howled in my mind. "Freedom!" She twirled around excitedly, "Did anyone notice the new purple in my fur!? I think it's from the Star Goddess blessing!" She yipped happily.
Talon, Daxon’s massive black wolf, tackled her with a playful growl, and they tumbled through the moss before sprinting off together.
"Karkon!" Lyssira yipped, spotting Bram’s monstrous cinnamon colored bear lumbering through the trees.
The bear rumbled happily and nudged her with a massive paw. The energy was joyful, primal, and totally untamed. Vaelrix let out a roar above, his wings flaring as his massive emerald green dragon form, Rhygar, soared overhead, flames trailing behind him like a comet tail.
I paused when two more figures stepped into the clearing. Human shaped still. Curious. Watching.
Ashrian looked… nervous? “I want to try,” he said. “Power sharing. I want to run with you.”
Lachlan nodded beside him. “Aye, same. Let’s see what the goddess has in store.”
They both closed their eyes. Magic crackled. Wind shifted. Then it happened. Ashrian dropped to his knees as black and crimson fur exploded across his skin. His form warped, growing larger and more solid. A blood tipped wolf the size of a horse emerged, snarling with pride.
Lachlan transformed beside him, his fur snow white with silver threading through his mane like moonlight.
They both froze.
"Did ye… hear that?" Lachlan asked mentally.
"Yes," Ashrian whispered. "There’s someone else here."
"About damn time," growled a deep voice in Ashrian’s mind. "Name’s Brodi. I’m your wolf. Try not to brood too much, I like to bite."
Ashrian’s jaw dropped open.
"I’m Caoránach," whispered Lachlan’s wolf spirit, smooth as silk. "Born of highland storms and moonfire. I have waited centuries tae run again."
"What the actual fuck?" Ashrian started.
"Congratulations, boys," Daxon cut in mentally, laughing. "You just got wolf bonded. Welcome to the club."
"Fuck me, this is wild," Ashrian muttered, stretching his new limbs.
"Later," I shot back cheekily.
We tore through the trees, a whirlwind of fur, growls, and moonlit laughter. Lyssira darted between trees, Talon hot on her tail, nipping and growling like a playful bastard. Karkon roared as he rolled through the underbrush, letting pups scramble over his back.
Ashrian tested his claws on the rocks, leaping through trees like he’d been born a wolf. Lachlan leapt over a log and howled at the sky, silver light catching on his coat. It was gorgeous.
The pack surged forward, fast and wild. And above us, Rhygar flew like a guardian flame, roaring in rhythm with our howls.
"Elowen," Lachlan murmured in my head, "Ye ever wonder if ye might shift into something else someday? Like… a dragon?"
My heart leapt. "I have."
"I think ye could."
The wind whipped through my fur as I darted between mossy trees, chasing Talon’s massive black tail like a manic toddler on espresso. Lyssira was thrilled, nipping at his heels and yipping like a damn hyena.
Somewhere behind me, Bram's bear, Karkon, was lumbering after a trio of squealing wolf pups, huffing like a proud uncle while they launched themselves off his back like it was a goddamn jungle gym.
"This is perfect," Lyssira howled in my mind. "This is HOME."
We burst through the final thicket and skidded to a stop in a glowing clearing, moonlight spilling like silver syrup over a gorgeous lake, the water still and glistening like dark glass.
Talon sprinted past me and cannonballed straight into it, sending a wave crashing up the bank and soaking my paws.
"Fucking rude," I snapped, mentally flipping him off.
"Catch me if you can, snowflake," he barked back with a tail wiggle.
Karkon the bear snorted, belly flopped in after them, and sent a wave that smacked Lachlans’s wolf in the face.
"Tell yer bear tae chill!" Lachlan’s silvery wolf barked out with a laugh in his brogue. "He nearly drowned me balls!"
Ashrian padded beside him, black and red, sleek as death. "You need balls for that to be a threat, Highlander."
Lachlan growled, his ears pinned. "Say that again, leech. I dare ye."
I howled laughing, circling the edge of the lake as Lyssira rolled and nipped Talon’s flank. The pups were losing their minds, playing in the shallows while Daxon stalked around like a grumpy dad with snacks in his mental pockets.
"How do you not enjoy this?" I asked him, tail wagging.
"Because I know you," he shot back. "And when you’re this happy, it usually means we’re about to get attacked by a kraken or some shit."
Foreshadowing, thy name is Daxon.
The water around my paws bubbled. Lyssira’s ears snapped straight up. "Move. NOW."
And then it happened.
The lake exploded. Shrieking, blood red bodies launched out of the depths like missiles, twenty goddamn blood sirens, teeth bared and voices already rising in that awful, skin crawling song.
“FUCK!” I yelled, already shifting back mid air and landing in a crouch on the bank, soaked and naked and furious. “Nope. No sirens. Absolutely not! Not my men you stank ass sea skanks!" Lyssira snarled her approval.
“Get back!” Ashrian roared to the pups, already shielding them with his body.
The siren song was wretched and making my brain bleed. "Cover your ears!" I hollered loudly to everyone while trying to stuff moss into my own ears. One of the sirens grabbed at Lachlan, singing her poison into his brain. He stumbled, his eyes fogging. "She sounds like my ex," he muttered.
"Then you’ve got terrible taste!" I shouted, blasting her with a bolt of lightning that yeeted her across the lake like a wet sock. Talon growled and lunged, sinking teeth into a siren’s thigh as she shrieked.
"Don’t eat her, bro!" Bram yelled. "She looks like seaweed and venereal disease had a baby!"
"She smells worse!" Daxon growled, throwing himself into a tackle that flattened another siren onto the rocks.
Ashrian shouted, "I got the pups! El, behind you!"
Too late. A siren dove for me, claws slicing through my arm. I hissed and backhanded her with a crackling lightning whip.
"Did I fucking ASK you to touch me?! No. Bad sea bitch!" Lyssira howled in my mind. "Damn that hurt!"
One of them launched herself at Bram’s bear, who just rolled over and smothered her under his ass.
"I got this one!" he bellowed.
"You SAT on her?!" I shouted.
"Only thing she’s good for!"
Ashrian skewered a siren on a conjured spear of bone, then tore her head clean off. "They’re targeting the males! Everyone keep your goddamn minds clear!"
"They’re SINGING again!" Daxon yelled, staggering toward the water, his eyes glazed.
Fuck. "VAELRIX!" I screamed.
The sky cracked open as an emerald green dragon plummeted from the clouds like divine fury itself. Rhygar hit the water with the force of a meteor, fire exploding from his jaws as he shredded three sirens in a single swoop. His roar shook the earth.
"I told you no one would fuck with my mate!" he thundered, sweeping two more sirens out of the air and throwing them into the trees.
"She’s MINE too!" Daxon shouted, now lucid again and diving claws first into a snarling siren.
Lachlan was snapping through the neck of one with silver fangs, yelling, "I hate water magic! I hate sirens! I hate NAE BEIN’ ON LAND!"
Another siren tried to ambush Ashrian, he turned mid leap, wings of shadow flaring out as he decapitated her with a single swipe.
“Did I mention I fucking hate sirens?” he hissed, shielding a pup behind him.
I hurled lightning with both hands, multicolored hair plastered to my face, blue eyes glowing and wild.
"You wanted blood, you barnacle faced bitches?! COME GET IT!"
The last siren shrieked and tried to run. Vaelrix caught her in mid air, clutched in massive claws, wings pumping as he soared above us.
"Back to the castle. We interrogate this one." His voice was pure fire and thunder.
We stood there panting, soaked, filthy, bleeding, and alive. Lachlan spit out a tooth. “I swear tae the gods if this is what happens on yer full moon runs, I’m buildin’ a fuckin’ bunker.”
Ashrian grunted, dripping wet and scowling. “Where did they even come from?”
I looked up at the stars, my heart still racing. “Raelith,” I said. “These bitches aren’t even native to this realm.”
Daxon’s eyes went dark. “Her reach is longer than we thought.”
Bram shifted back, still panting. “What’s next? Blood mermaids in the hot springs? Tentacle witches in the fucking garden?”
Lachlan snorted. “Better not. I’m runnin’ outta dry underwear.”
We laughed, shaky and breathless, as Vaelrix disappeared into the sky with his prize.
And I knew deep in my bones…
This war just got a hell of a lot messier.