Page 2 of The Wild Moon
I purposefully took the long route to my destination. The shortcut would take me past a dark, abandoned house. In that sense, it was just one of dozens in the tiny little town, but this one hadn’t always been that way. Up until eight months ago, it had been very,verydifferent. Alive. Vibrant. Full of love and energy. Hope.
Now it lay dormant, absent those things, just like it was absent the family that once lived there.
Like my parents, I would never return to it.
Chapter Two
Ihesitated.
Not because I was scared. No, how could I be? The house in front of me was my best friend’s. She and her family lived there, and I had been coming since I was a young kid. I knew it inside and out, from every nick on the giant wooden porch to the hidden crayon stains behind the old couch where we’d colored as kids. It was as much my home as hers.
And it didn’t come with the bad memories of that darkened, abandoned place I’d passed by earlier.
No, I wasn’t scared. I was hesitating because I needed to build up my energy. This was about to be the most close contact I’d had in twenty-eight days. Since the last time. Normally, I could suck it up, but tonight was different. This Wild Moon was going to be a special one, and I wasn’t going to let my usual dour mood affect my best friend in the entire world.
Moment taken, I strode up the three rickety steps attached to the wrap-around front porch and went straight to the storm door, pulling it open and rapping firmly on the old wooden door behind. The knocks echoed on both sides of the door, followed seconds later by the hammering of footsteps.
I braced myself.
A short bundle of blonde in a teal sports bra and black athletic shorts came flying out the front door in a squeal of excitement, picking me up and spinning me around.
“Dan!” she cried, squeezing me tight.
I grinned and bore it like a good friend, ignoring the unusual short form of my name. Joanna Alustria was the only person who could call me that and still make it sound feminine, so I let her get away with it.
“Hey, Jo,” I half-grunted through her squeeze. “You’re feeling strong today.”
The diminutive blonde dropped me. I landed easily, legs bending just a hair to absorb the landing.
“I know, right?” Jo said eagerly. “I feelstrongtoday. Maybe it’s just me imagining it. I don’t know. Did you feel stronger the night ofyourSoulshift?”
I shuddered internally, trying not to think about that night. “No, not really,” I said quickly. “Other senses, yes. But not strength. That only came after.”
“Weird,” Jo said giddily, acting as if we hadn’t seen each other in hours instead of a month. “My other senses are fine, but I feel like I’m stronger today. So maybe that’s my thing.”
“Maybe,” I said with a shrug. “I really don’t know.”
Jo smiled up at me. While she was short and thicker, I was the opposite. Tall and without a curve to my body. We were the perfect counterparts, which had probably helped fuel our friendship.
She was also the only reason I was back in town.
“I take it you’re excited about your Soulshift?” I teased.
“Are you kidding?” Jo said with a long exhale. “I’ve been waiting eight whole months to catch up to you! I can’t wait for it. My wolf and I, united. Oh, hey, you changed your hair!”
Laughing at her mile-a-minute mind track, I flicked my hair forward, showing off the newly dyed chunky blue highlights. I’d done it on a whim a few weeks earlier, feeling the need to change something. The plain black tresses had simply become too boring.
“Yeah,” I said. “I wanted to change it up. What do you think?”
“I’m digging it!” Jo said, playing with a lock of blue. “It suits the new you.”
The new me. She wasn’t wrong there. A lot had changed in the past eight months. A lot. Except for Jo. She hadn’t changed a bit. She’d never judged me before, and she never judged me now. If I needed to become a new person, she accepted that immediately. After all, to her, I was just Dan, and that was all she needed.
And it was all I needed. Our childhood innocence was an eternity ago, but our friendship was something I held onto with more than a bit of desperation.
“Well, are you going to come in already?” Jo said, pulling the storm door open and holding it for me. “No bag, I see.”
“As usual,” I said with a laugh, playing out our familiar byplay about my monthly visits.
