I Will Call You Moon

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**Sweet Creature By Harry Styles**

ALARIC

I was sleeping soundly after the hectic day that involved military training some new little pups who just came of age and joined the soldiers of the pack. My body ached after tirelessly training them for eight long hours. I needed a nap; a good one.

But suddenly, I felt a rush of adrenaline in my body and was jerked from my sleep when pain shoot through all my bones. A bone-crushing pain!

“What the heck!” I whimpered. I should not have. I am the Alpha. But I did anyway. Hoping it to be something muscular, I slept off again only to be welcomed with another surge of thunderbolt-like feeling in my body. All my cells shivered in horror.

I stepped down from my bed and peeked at the clock. It ticked to four in the morning. So early! I was never an early bird. Before my thoughts could take over, I let out another whimper when I felt the same excruciating pain in my spine. It was getting unbearable now.

My body ached, bones threatened to turn into dust, but my mind wandered over to the woods, those fresh blooming flowers, those fallen leaves, and the rustling sounds they would produce when I would jump on them, those waves of water that would accompany my running wolf. Wolf! That was when I realized.

“Oh No!”

I wanted to curse the timing, but I was as happy as I could be. Finally, my wolf had decided to show itself.

I had to hurry. There was not any time to inform the family. Furthermore, they would eventually sense it. It had been an event all of them had been waiting for. Waiting for my shift. For my wolf to show.

I hurried outside the castle house and my feet rushed towards the woods. The woods were a happy place always. For me, for father, for grandfather, and the other wolves too. We played here. We still do.

The pain surged again radiating from my spine to my neck, jaws, arms, and legs. I could feel the stretch and ache in my toes. My blood was rushing. It felt like I was running a wolfa-thon with my wolf dominating my human.

With my first step in the woods, a loud whimper left my lips and my jaws parted; widening in the process. I could feel the fangs appearing in my mouth piercing my gums. My body was arched, curved. It became hopelessly difficult to stand on two. I crouched down and leaned down on all fours for support.

Father used to explain to me the pain of shift, but I never understood it. I never felt it. Now, I was feeling it with every drop of sap my cells had and every ounce of power my body could provide me. Painful.

The other second, I felt my bones break and stood on all fours. My senses got heightened and I felt everything peculiar, enhanced. The adrenaline rush was still there. The pain was still there. Whimpers were not. The scents of my surroundings hit my nostrils. That was when I felt something different. As if, I was not Alaric. I was someone else. Was I?

I wanted to run. Run faster, like riding the wind. My eyes could see the things I never thought of. The little dew drops resting on those sleepy leaves were shining. I realized my shift was over when my eyes found their way to the forest floor and I saw my nightclothes laying there. All ripped to shreds. I would need new ones.

I was happy. A wild animal. I ran and ran, sniffing every scent, registering every nook and corner of the forest, peeking at every leaf, remembering every path I took and letting my body fly. My wolf, to be precise. I wanted to see him. I wanted to know how he looked.

Lake. I remembered the lake this forest had. Within no time, my wolf and I ended up on the bank of that lake in the southwest sides of the forest with him looking at its reflection in the water illuminated with faint moonlight coming from the half-moon in the dawn sky.

‘Marvelous!’ I mumbled. My wolf was new to this world. He had been within me always, but now he had to be out of his comfort zone. I peeked at my wolf. The only word that left my mind was ‘WOW.’ He looked great. All white. White fur, white tail with a golden bushy appearance at the ends. The whitetail was straight. Indeed, an Alpha.

I knew my pack had extraordinary powers when it came to being a werewolf, but I had never seen a white wolf. Grandfather was a black wolf, and so does father. The shiny fur over my wolf shimmered under the moonlight and the golden eyes complimented it.

My wolf kept on staring at its reflection when suddenly, he looked up and found the moon. He howled. This howl was not a normal werewolf howl. It was the Alpha howl. My wolf wanted to let every pack member be cognizant of his arrival. He was here. He was The Alpha. He would rule.

After a while, he found his toe smeared with some blood drops. Maybe, he got hurt while running in the woods. He crouched down his head and licked the spot. Heavenly. Blissful. It was an endlessly joyous and satisfactory feeling. I kept silent. It was not my time to intervene. It was his time.

My wolf snorted after a while. I chuckled. He wanted to talk. Getting to know him would be fun. He let go of some control and I was able to talk to him. Of course, in his mind.

“How are you?” This was my first question. I know it was lame and my wolf assured me with another snort. He must have found me a bit dumb. But he did not have any ideas how bad I wanted to be with him, how bad I wished for him to take over. I was the Alpha, but I had never shifted when I was of age. I was late than the others. But now, looking at him, it was all worth it.

“What would you call me?” He asked. So, he wanted me to name him! Interesting. What could I have named him except,

“Moon,” The word skipped my being and he expressed happiness with a soft rumble. Of course, I would address him as ‘Moon,’ for he looked as white as Moon. He was a unique wolf. He knew it. He is always boasting about it.

“I like it. Moon Windsor,” He called himself in mind and I smiled. He even wanted a surname. ‘What a cheeky one!’ I thought and was rewarded with his angry rumble. We spent the next few hours sitting by this lake.

I had been to the lake many times but it was special today. Special, since I got Moon here. He is so beautiful. It must have been almost seven in the morning when I heard the first person in my mind, my beta Noah. It was not exactly him, but his wolf. I wonder how he always finds me. Stalker!

“Alpha, you are needed,” Noah's wolf said and Moon hauled up instantly turning his back to the lake, buckling up his gear, and running out of the woods only to be welcomed by Mother, Father, Ashton, Noah, James, and some others.

Father's eyes had a strange look. Something I never saw. Mother was finding me an alien. Ashton, Noah, and James never moved from their spots. Mother approached Moon slowly, her eyes watering. She found Moon extraordinarily beautiful. I smiled, but how could Moon. He growled, this time warmly.

Mother touched Moon's back and he gave in almost instantly. Mother's touch had been stuffed with love, care, warmth, and belongingness. Moon was home. I was home.

“What do you call him, Ale?” Mother whispered in Moon's ears knowing well I can hear her using mind-link. Moon moved his head a bit. Oh, so he has sensitive ears.

“Moon,” I announced and everyone gasped. Moon was a huge wolf, a giant one. He surpassed my body proportions too. Moon was enjoying mother's touch. He sensed that she wanted to lick him, and love him. But she did not shift. It was not appropriate yet. I wonder what held mother back!

My confusions faded when Father approached Moon and touched his forearm with his hands and mumbled,

“What a perfect name! Moon for a Moon-wolf.”