The moon was at its apex today, but unlike the pure, bright white ball it had always been, it had a tinge of yellow, which was an odd sight to see.
Aaron was the first to notice this change, and he called Ivan’s attention to it. Ivan deduced that the yellow tinge was a sign of an abnormality in the atmosphere. When Aaron asked what the abnormality could be, even he didn’t have the answer. He, however, said whatever was happening could be against the natural order of things.
Aaron then asked if the members of his pack felt any difference in their powers as a result of the change in the full moon tonight, but none of them did. They told him they felt the same way they always did on the full moon, which was energetic and ready to get even stronger with the help of the full moon.
No one was happier to hear that than Aaron.
As the full moon reached its apex, Aaron and his pack raced out to hunt and explore their territories like they had always done. Zera stayed by his side, keeping steps with him.
Ron emerged after Aaron shifted and carried on the exploration. He was so much bigger and faster than Aaron, but she was faster, and it was fun to watch him challenge himself to keep the pace. He overtook her a few times, and as much as she wanted to say she let him win, she knew that wasn’t true. Ron’s durability made it possible for him to overtake her after a long while of running, and this would also be the case for his strength and brutality. While she had times when she got tired, he didn’t, not under the full moon.
“Tired?” Ron asked, slowing down when he noticed she wasn’t keeping up.
She couldn’t explain it; she knew he had the strength, but she was more tired today than she usually was. Although she lived among humans and almost never used her abilities, it never felt like this before. This weakness. She had shifted with Aaron in the past years, yet she never felt this way.
She shook her head and said, “I don’t know.” She felt it was more than that. Yet she didn’t know what it was.
She stopped racing completely, and she felt her life source grow thin from within, and her heart shrank in her chest. She gasped and drew a sharp breath as her heartbeat sped up. It felt the same as it did weeks ago when she was at the Chills restaurant with Lionel.
That happened because Aaron was on the herbs, and he was no longer on them, so it shouldn’t be happening. Yet it was.
Sweat broke out all over her face, and her lashes fluttered, and when they opened back up, they glowed a faded shade of purple instead of their deep ones.
“Aaron!” Her vision blurred, and her legs gave up on her. She should have fallen to the ground, but she felt strong arms around her, holding her carefully before lowering her to the ground.
“I’ve got you,” she heard him say before everything faded.
Her lashes slowly fluttered, and she found Aaron towering above her with his eyes intently fixed on her. Her eyes moved from his to fix on the ceiling, which was strange because the last thing she saw before blacking out a moment ago was the night sky.
Aaron was staring at her curiously, but there was no look of worry on his face, and that was good.
“How long have I been out?”
“Long,” he replied, “but the good thing is it’s the weekend and you get to stay in bed all day if that’s what you want.” He leaned in and kissed her lips, snaking his tongue into her mouth when she responded. He always knew how to take advantage of the situation.
“You seem worried,” he said, pulling away from the kiss.
“What makes you say that?” She raised a brow.
“Your heartbeat is not steady, and your mind is clouded,” he pointed out.
“I’m fine, Aaron.”
“I didn’t say you weren’t,” he answered, and thus, when he stared at her, he didn’t seem worried.
“Yesterday was the full moon, right?”
“Yes,” he nodded.
“What happened?”
“How do you mean?”
“Did anything out of the ordinary happen?”
“In what sense?”
She shrugged, pulling herself up in bed. “The moon and me.”
“The moon was the same, with only a tinge of yellow. Ivan has no idea what it means, and Miguel said it is the sign of multiplication in some cultures.”
Well, that was different because Ivan had said whatever was happening was against the natural order of things.
“Multiplication of what?”
He shrugged, clueless. “I don’t know, perhaps babies or strength, but we figured it was a good thing since it didn’t affect us in any way.”
“It didn’t affect me?”
“Not that I know of. What’s going on, Zera?” he asked suspiciously.
“The moon affected me last night, and I felt like I was going to die. That was before I blacked out.”
He looked even more confused. “You were by my side throughout last night; if such a thing happened, I would have known.”
“Then what happened after the shift?”
“You came back in and got physical; you wanted me to take you, and I did. During the second round, you took over, and it was amazing. Then we fell asleep in each other’s arms. I woke not so long ago.”
She ran her hand through her hair. “I don’t remember any of that,” she answered, and she proceeded to narrate what had happened to him.
He didn’t doubt her, and she was so glad he didn’t. When he asked how she was, she told him she was good. Perhaps it was a nightmare-a really bad one-and she didn’t want to experience it ever again.
It was best to put it behind her and be grateful that that was what it was-a nightmare.