Page 12 of Rejecting the Future Moon Goddess

“Why don’t you try walking towards me now? See how your legs feel and if you can get used to the new coordination you’ll have to perform in wolf form.” Now, this was helpful, and I nod at his words. I slowly move my front left leg, testing my balance first while lifting it into the air and slowly putting it back down, repeating the same movement with each leg in turn. I’d be an idiot to start confidently walking right away, knowing I would fall flat on my snout and cause this man to burst into a laughing fit at my expense.

Of course, every now and then, I had to shake my head to move the long tuft of fur from my eyes so as not to impede my progress. That’s when the stranger steps in and uses an extra hair tie to keep the hair out of my eyes and lets me resume testing my balance once more. Once confident enough with my balance, I take my first step. Then another, and another.

At first, I am wobbling like a newborn dear, feeling like at any moment, my legs will give out. But once muscle memory kicks in, my walking speed slowly increases, and I find myself less cautious of each step. Within another five steps, it feels like I’ve been walking in wolf form since the day I was born. As natural as breathing, I confidently trot towards the man, my tongue lolling out the left side of my mouth as happiness fillsme. I watch as he slowly backs away from me, close enough to catch me if necessary, but always moving and making me move towards him until he stops, and I find myself standing in front of him, feeling triumphant at this accomplishment. His hands ruffle my fur, removing the hair tie from it as the long tuft falls in place once again.

"Good job, Little Wolf! Now smile." His word of praise fills my ears, and they quickly perk up, my tail thumping on the ground happily. A sudden flash and sound of a shutter follow quickly, making me jump and growl in surprise.

"Sorry, Little Wolf. I didn’t mean to scare you, but I thought you would like to see what you look like." He apologizes while turning the latest Samsung screen towards me. My eyes widen as I take a look at the live photo, a pure white wolf clearly depicted. Her silver grey eyes hold a look of confidence and triumph in their depth. Her white fur is full and healthy, the gentle breeze flowing through it and causing the sun to reflect off of it like a prism. Hues of different colours constantly change direction in the live photo, where each ray of sun hits the wildflowers dancing around her. A tuft of long fur, almost like bangs, covers the left side of her face. The final touches are the small patches of silver fur with swirls and stars climbing up part of her paws.

She is beautiful!

No, I am beautiful.

“Have you had enough staring?” The man asks, and I nod, moving my eyes from the screen to him and watching as he puts his phone away and takes off his shirt and pants. Happy for the fur covering my face, I blush and turn to look away, hearing another of his deep chuckle at my reaction.

“How about we play, Little Wolf!” He exclaims playfully, the sounds of his own shift making me whip myhead in his direction, where I now see a pure black wolf with a tuft of fur in the shape of a diamond in the center of his forehead. His forest-green eyes hold a hint of playfulness, and his teeth nip at my “bangs” before he takes off, mehot on his trail as the chase ensues.

?Chapter 13 – Time to Train?

"You know better then to run off!" Alex growls furiously, pacing the room in his anger. I just roll my eyes, focusing on drying my hair with the towel. After playing in the forest with the mysterious man, I returned to the temple covered in mud. I was lucky that a Temple Acolyte helped me to my room, where I was met with a frantic Alex trying to find me. His lecture began then, mud dripping onto the floor below me as he went on and on about me sneaking out in the morning without his knowledge until I managed to escape into the washroom where I promptly focused my energy on shifting into human form.

I knew he would be waiting for me to exit, so after showering, I took my sweet time running a bubble bath and enjoying hot water and endless time to myself for the first time ever.

“Alex, I don’t get why you’re mad. You needed sleep, and I just had to see what my wolf was like.” I retort, causing my brother to stop dead in his track and send an incredulous look my way.

“Geminie, you are the future Moon Goddess for crying out loud!” He throws his hands in the air in frustration, as if scolding a pup.

“Gee, Captain Obvious, I had no clue!” I snap at him sarcastically, flinging the towel at him. “You don’t get it, Gem, you need to be safe and guarded as our race’s next Deity!” He argues back. This time I growl in frustration, snatching the pillow off the bed and aiming for his head.

“What I need, Alex, is a LIFE! I have been a slave andtrapped for years, always watching what I do or how I act because I never knew when another beating would come.” Rage washes over me as I reply to his statement. Seeing the guilt in Alex’s eyes calms me down slightly, but I was no longer the same wolf I was a week ago. I want to live my life to the fullest now, find my birth parents and actually enjoy myself for once.

“Gem-”

“Save it, Alex. You know the life I have lived until now. You know I’ve been trained by Lizaria and can fight. I am safe here and because of this I plan to learn just who I am!” With that, I walk away from my brother, needing to cool off from his words. I understand his concerns and worry, but if his intention are to lock me away, then I won’t allow it. I have already had my freedom taken from me because of Bastian and Jasmine, I refuse to lose anymore.

“Miss Geminie?” Walking along the corridors of the Temple, I soon find myself lost until a familiar voice calls out to me. I turn to see Ira coming towards me and sigh with relief. “Miss Ira,” I greet politely, doing my best to suppress the anger still swirling inside me.

“You okay, Little One?” Her inquiring gaze reminds me of Lizaria, and without hesitation I explain to her the fight with Alex I have just had. I tell her my feelings on having to be guarded and protected like some damsel in distress and the thought of not being able to be free. I hate the thought of not being able to live my life now that I am free from Hidden Claws.

“Well, when you start training, I can guarantee the people who need to be protected will be your enemies. Most Goddesses possess powers beyond that of regular wolves and you definitely will have to find your own soon.” Ira’s words comfort my mind and being able to express my feelings helped to dissipate any anger I have left. The thought of training andbecoming stronger excites me.

“When can I start training?” I blurt out without thinking, and the she-wolf before me chuckles.

“How about right now? I’ll send an Acolyte to Alex to let him know you’re with me, and he can go train with someone else.” With her confirmation, Ira leads me down more twisting corridors. I hope that with her guidance, I will become strong enough to protect the life I want and those around me who I love.

???

My body hits the ground hard, the wind knocked out of me as the she-wolf who Ira has me partnered with today growls in warning, heeding me not to stand. But I ignore her. With a grimace of pain, I stand on my paws, staying low to the ground.

“Remember, Geminie, you are not allowed to use your powers.” Ira reminds me, as if I could forget. For the last few days she’s been helping me connect with my powers while training my speed and stamina in wolf form.

Each day, she has me sit in a moon pool for hours on end, meditating and focusing on harnessing any sort of magic I could feel in the air. The elements were the ones that quickly came to me. I spent hours practicing controlling them until I could grasp onto them properly without the chance of harming another wolf unintentionally.

Once I was able to grasp the beginning of the powers I was gifted with, she would then take me to the arena to fight an Acolyte, either in human or wolf form. Within three days, I knew my wolf form lacks the endurance and training that my human form has achieved. I need to work onmy speed and agility the most.

Speaking of training, the Acolyte before me lets out a threatening growl. Her fur stands up threateningly as I slowly circle her, watching for her next attack. She has a slight limp to the right hind leg where blood from my attack earlier still spills from. The Acolyte is in pain, and I can use this to my advantage. The she-wolf makes her move finally, letting out another ferocious growl before leaping into the air.

Instead of dodging, I run forwards, moving underneath the Acolyte while she is still air bound, and sink my teeth into the round calf on her hind leg. A howl of pain followed by whimpers is her response, so I use my momentum and throw her to the ground. Her body rolls once, twice, thrice, until hitting the wooden pole that is the barrier to the arena with a sickening thud.

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