Chapter 42 Luna 🐉🪬
A moment later, Eva began to notice the changes in her body and fell into a mild panic. Standing on all four of her legs, she felt for a moment that she was much higher off the ground than before. Just like the times she had seen Kael in his massive wolf form… Large, towering, and colossal in size. Was she like that now too?
Kael, having shifted into his wolf form right in front of her nose, looked as cheerful as a dog eager to play with a shiny new stick. Eva's new form had clearly pleased him far more than he could say.
"Don't laugh!" Eva snarled in irritation.
But what reached the outside world was not those words, only a powerful wolf's growl. The only ones who could clearly understand what she was saying were her husband and alpha, Kael, and Joe.
Elly was genuinely mesmerized by what she was seeing. Then she noticed Eva's sharp glare directed at Kael and realized her consciousness was fully intact. She immediately cried out in shock:
"I can't believe it, Eva! You have a tail!"
Eva turned her gaze toward her for a brief moment. "Do you think our only problem right now is that I have a tail, Elly?" she snapped. But Elly couldn't understand those words.
Joe laughed softly and slowly stepped toward Elly. "She's asking you, 'Is our only problem right now that I have a tail?'" he said.
Elly nodded. "Well, you're right, I'm sorry, that just popped into my head. Um… you have a very beautiful tail. Pardon me, everything about you is beautiful and… animal-like," she rattled off in bewilderment. She couldn't quite decide what counted as a compliment and what counted as an insult when it came to Eva's current body. Joe laughed at her flustered state.
Eva, meanwhile, had already begun assessing the situation. Trying to get used to her new body, she gently flexed her paws. She felt as light as a feather. She couldn't understand how something with such an enormous frame could possibly feel so weightless.
The texture of the ground, the coolness of the soil touching her paws, the sensation of air passing through her fur… She was even slowly growing accustomed to the burning rush of adrenaline coursing through her skin.
Just then, Kael fixed his eyes on her. His voice echoed in her ears:
"Come on. Try out your new form. Run, Eva Rose, run!"
It was as if Eva's body had been waiting for exactly those words. A surge of exhilaration swept through her all at once.
And the next second, with a massive grin across her face, she began running deep into the forest.
The moment Eva started running into the depths of the dark forest, it was as if she had fallen into a black hole. Everything was pitch dark. She shuddered at first. But a few seconds later her eyes adjusted, suddenly, it was as if morning light had broken, illuminating everything around her.
She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Even the deepest corners of the forest were now lit in grey tones, much like the golden hues the morning sun casts across the trees. As her body tore through the forest, she could hear the smallest movement, the tiniest vibration of every creature with sharp clarity. Nature felt entirely different now than it ever had before. It was such a profound feeling that it enveloped not just her body, but her soul.
After running several more kilometers, she sensed a vibration behind her. It was Kael approaching. He was coming after her. Then his low, rumbling laugh reached her ears.
"I'm going to catch you, dear wife."
That voice, carrying from kilometers away, filled Eva with both joy and a wild rush of adrenaline. She picked up speed and began pushing deeper through the forest.
A moment later, she called out with a snicker:
"You're too slow for me!"
But this was not a challenge Kael would let stand.
"Do you really think you can outrun your Alpha?" he growled, and accelerated.
No matter how fast Eva ran, she could feel the distance between them closing. Her large white paws were caked with mud, but she didn't stop.
Then a great cliff appeared before her. She saw the hill on the other side. Flooded with adrenaline, she leaped without thinking.
Kael's voice rang out behind her.
"No! It's too early for that, you can't do it!"
But before he had even finished those words, she had already launched herself into open air.
For a few seconds she thought she would land on the rocky ledge of the hill across. But it didn't happen as she expected; the enormous body began to fall downward. In the terror of that moment, her body shifted back to human form.
As she plummeted rapidly toward the point where a great waterfall crashed below, she saw Kael flying toward her at full speed. With his reddish-brown fur, he wrapped himself around her in an instant, shielding her bare body.
A second later, they were in the water.
Kael immediately wrapped around her and brought her to the surface. Eva let out a sharp cry of exhilaration, her body still buzzing with adrenaline and at that moment, Kael had shifted back to human form as well.
Now the two lovers were wrapped in each other's arms in the most secluded corner of the waterfall, kissing passionately amid the roar of the water.
It was official, it seemed, the town now had both an Alpha and a Luna.
Meanwhile, Elly still hadn't fully processed everything that had just happened. Joe had listened for a while as the sound of their paws pounding the earth faded into the distance from kilometers away, until the sounds had dissolved beyond even what he could hear.
Joe slowly stepped toward Elly, pulled her to him by the waist, and gently dragged his lips along her neck.
"So then — what are you thinking, Ms. Rose Guardian?" he asked.
Elly lifted her head with a bittersweet smile.
"I still can't believe what just happened," she said.
Joe's voice was calmer this time.
"The seal is complete, Eleanor. Our mission has ended successfully."
Elly reached out and gently traced his face with her slender fingers.
"My mission is complete, Joe. Yours is just beginning. You know the weight of the burden you accepted," she said.
Joe's eyes darkened for a moment. But he was fully aware of the responsibility he had taken on the night he earned the alpha seal. He slowly leaned toward Elly and whispered in her ear:
"As long as you're by my side, I can face anything. Just never leave me."
After the spiritual journey they had just shared, they felt closer than ever before. They had also come to understand clearly that they were each other's destiny.
Elly had decided she would no longer postpone anything in her life. Not grudges, not anger, not rules… None of it mattered to her anymore. The grandmother she had held in her arms one day had been gone the next. She had learned that in this town, no one, herself included, had any guarantee of what tomorrow might bring.
So she slowly leaned into Joe's broad frame. Her hands traveled across his muscular chest, then slowly rose, her fingertips trailing up toward his neck. Joe seemed utterly spellbound by Elly's touch. His eyes half-closed, he exhaled deeply and leaned toward her.
Seeing her man drawing toward her with such desire, Elly whispered with a flirtatious look:
"Do you want to go somewhere?"
Joe felt more than happy. He smiled.
"Where?" he asked.
Elly slowly brought her fingers, which had been tracing his face, to her lips and gave the tip of one a light, teasing lick. She knew full well this would drive Joe wild. "I don't know… That place we used to sneak away to in high school?" she said, and bit her lip. This last move was absolutely devastating.
Joe was already burning, his pulse racing, his body responding with unmistakable intensity. He hadn't touched Elly once since they had parted ways in their senior year of high school. Now his skin was practically on fire. He let out a low growl.
"I don't have the patience to drive all the way there. What if I shifted and carried you?"
Elly laughed and nodded.
"Deal."
The next instant, Joe shifted into wolf form with a powerful rumble. And he looked truly magnificent.
His fur was longer than before, like a deep shadow of midnight black. The old silver glints in his eyes had been replaced by a vivid blue glow. His form, too, was far larger than it had ever been.
Elly slowly took hold of his neck and climbed on. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and curled her legs around his sides. Joe was careful not to let her fall, but he couldn't hold back the impatient urgency burning inside him, the desperate need to finally be close to her.
And in an instant, he launched into the dark forest.
Perhaps, it really was finally time for the young people of this town to… mate.
Oops, pardon… it was finally time for the young people of this town to rest.