Beneath Midnight's Moon
Chap. 13
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Eclipse
lay awake in his sleeping bag, mulling over Night’s last words to him before
she’d seemingly faded away. It had
stopped raining, and already the warmth of the summer night was beginning to
dry out the ground. Midnight lay on
Drew’s feet, the deer having more than filled him up.
process, but quickly got over it. One
thing had gotten Eclipse’s fur in a bunch, however:
She’d
gotten the heart before he had. One more
thing they had in common.
Another
thing that bothered him was that she’d been injured somehow, and she’d refused
his help. Of course, being as wild as
she was, he didn’t blame her. At least
she’d held onto a form of communication.
Turning
onto his side, Eclipse thought more on the name she’d given him.
she’d said it to the second time.
According to some loup garou teachings that Eclipse remembered,
one’s name was sacred. Some believed
that a name could allow a person to be controlled like a puppet.
withheld at all times, and alternates used even with a Mate.
believe, but after that electric jolt, he was beginning to think Night had hit some
psychological nerve.
But
what did his name mean?
Unable
to stand it, Eclipse got up and went outside with his pillow.
completely for him & he lay down beneath the stars, for it had always
helped him whenever he had a problem or just wanted some time to himself.
looking at the stars, too. Nioki’s
spear, what was wrong with him?! Turning
onto his left side, nothing eased his restless thoughts.
thoughts to be restless in the first place.
By
the Gods, she must have ensorcelled him, bespelled him, done something
to him that would make him think of her constantly.
think like this. Nothing that could make
him imagine things in the far future like: Would she want a house or a
den? Den, certainly.
What
would their pups look like...?
He
shook his head. Where had that
come from? That proved it.
him thinking about pups already. He was
a man. Men didn’t think about things
like that. That was a woman’s job.
A
boy and a girl.
He
wanted one of each, but he wanted the girl to look like Night.
so long as even one of their children looked like her.
of’. They were going to have several.
“Gods
help me...” He pleaded in his
thoughts.
Seven
was a good number.
Scribbling
a note in shorthand in the dirt with his finger, he left his pillow and ran to
his aunt’s house. The closer he got to
it, however, the heavier his sinking feeling got.
was going to change dramatically. And
that was putting it lightly.
Jumping
logs, launching himself over ten-foot tall cliffs, and running down trails
never touched by Man, Eclipse sped over the landscape, barely seeing any of
it. His eyes were focused only on the
path that would lead him to his aunt’s house.
Seeing it loom into view, his feeling of dread grew, for he scented
something that unsettled him greatly.
Blood.
Moving
towards his aunt’s house.
Night
had been here.
Running
faster, he came to a skidding halt in front of the window where the roses
bloomed. The same window he’d offered to
Night. He looked down and scented.
His
aunt and uncle were upstairs, unknowingly housing a rogue loup garou.
garous. Had even experienced them
for himself. No matter what you thought
you wanted to do, your body did something else.
The smallest thing could trigger a negative response.
paper could set him off. What sort of
things made Night go off? Existing?
Slipping
in through the window — he almost got stuck twice — he tried to find her, which
was no easy task seeing as how there were so many things to hide behind.
Sliding
from the windowsill to a reclining chair, the bright red digital display on the
microwave shone into the basement. The
microwave was upstairs in the kitchen.
The door at the top of the stairs was open.
Night
had gone upstairs.