Curse of the Moon Goddess
Growls and Howls

I woke up with a splitting headache. I carefully rolled off the couch that I was starting to get tired of waking up on.

My feet gently hit the floor while my head stayed resting on the couch. My bladder was close to bursting, so I slowly rose myself into a standing position. Unfortunately, my head was still spinning. I felt my world tipping. I was struggling to determine which way was right side up. An electric shock coursed through my spine as a set of hands grabbed my shoulders, putting me in the correct upright position.

“Easy now. I may have tackled you pretty hard yesterday. The doctor says you have a concussion. You probably should lay back down.”

I recognized the voice but couldn’t pinpoint who or how. Everything was so foggy. All I knew was I needed a bathroom before I exploded from both ends.

I attempted a shake of my head as words were quite difficult. That only made matters worse though. I felt the person steadying me start guiding me to the couch.

“No,” I groaned out, “Bathroom.”

It wasn’t much, but hopefully they were able to hear me and decipher my meaning.

I could feel the person’s hesitation. Suddenly he asked, “Do you mind if Lukas carries you and Venessa helps you?”

I let out a groan that must have sounded like a ‘yes’. My brain was too foggy to comprehend who Lukas or Venessa were. I got my answer soon enough though as a handsome, muscular guy appeared in my vision a few moments later. I couldn’t make out many details, but he seemed pretty tan and his hair reminded me of a light-colored piece of copper. It didn’t seem overly long, but there was enough to tell what color it was. It also appeared to be sticking straight up like he’d recently been playing with electricity while standing in water. Then again, my vision was still fuzzy.

The blondie, Lukas, picked me up carefully, offering a small smile. I returned the smile, not sure what else to do. I could feel my face burning being carried bridal style. I didn’t care for such attention. Thankfully Lukas was very gentle and soon he was setting me down by a door. There was a girl there too with raven black hair that fell smoothly down to her midback. She was shorter than me. I only knew this since she helped drag me into the bathroom. The poor girl wasn’t that strong and had a hard time. I helped the best I could, but I wasn’t exactly up to par.

It was awkward having her help me pull down my clothes which I was starting to realize I didn’t recognize. Then she had to help me replace the toilet paper, stand back up, and pull my underwear and pants back up. She didn’t say a word to me the entire time, so I got the feeling this wasn’t because she wanted to help me.

Once I was modest, she called out, “Alright. She’s all yours. Better come get her before she gets hurt again.”

Lukas carefully opened the door and gently picked me up again. As we started walking, I realized he hadn’t said a single word to me. I wasn’t sure why this bothered me, but from the fragments of memory I was starting to get back, this wasn’t normal.

It took me a moment to realize we weren’t going back to the couch. Instead, Lukas nudged a door open with his foot, carried me to a queen size bed, and laid me gently there.

“Uhm, would you like something to eat? I can go get you something,” he said, rubbing his neck as if uncertain how I would react. I recalled the first time he’d tried talking to me and how I’d kicked his shin. No wonder he was so nervous around me.

I gave him a reassuring smile and nodded.

He let out a sigh of relief then asked, “What would you like? I could whip up something fancy or if you would rather, I could do oatmeal.”

“You cook?” I managed to croak out.

“Uh,” his eyes darted around nervously, “Not exactly. By fancy I mean tossing something into a microwave or a toaster or making Jace cook something and take the credit.”

I gave a dry laugh that was probably closer to a panting dog sound than a laugh. He smiled too. It was nice to see him genuinely smile.

“Whatever is easiest,” I dryly scratched out, “I’m not picky. But, is there some water?”

“Oh,” Lukas suddenly leaped into action clumsily pouring some water into a cup, “I guess you’d probably like some. Sorry about that.”

I smiled, trying to thank him but also avoiding talking too much. My throat was so dry I had the glass emptied in record time.

“Want me to fill it up again?” Lukas asked.

I nodded.

Once the glass was filled, he began making his way to the door.

“I should go get your breakfast going. It’s not going to make itself!”

I simply smiled.

Once he was gone, I closed my eyes and felt myself drift off to sleep once again.

I hadn’t been sleeping for too long when the horrid smell of charcoaled eggs and something else I wasn’t sure I wanted to know burned my nostrils.

Instinct took over as I was all too familiar with that smell and I rushed to replace its source.

I was soon led to a disastrous kitchen that I’m sure Godzilla had rampaged right before heading to New York. I quickly discovered the source of the wretched smell to be a pan that held a rising fire.

Not wasting a single second or caring about the people I started pushing out of the way, I set to work dousing the fire. Thankfully it wasn’t an oil fire, so water did the trick. To be on the safe side though, I turned the stove top off, filled the sink with cold water, and dropped the pan into it.

Next, I set to work opening all the doors and windows I could replace. The house smelled horrid and black smoke stung my eyes. Soon enough, the smell lost most of its potency and I was able to see clearly once again. Looking around, I noticed a very red Lukas getting the look of death not just from one person, but three.

“Lukas…” I heard Jace growl.

I couldn’t help it, I started laughing. And not my normal quiet laughter that was barely audible. No, this was my full-blown laugh with tears included. Through my tears I caught glimpses of Jace trying hard not to laugh, Lukas turning the color the of the fire, and Venessa and Ian turning away from me probably to hide their smiles too.

When I could finally breath again, I did the most embarrassing thing I could have. Actually, it wasn’t even my doing. My stomach growled loud and proud. It was hungry and it wanted food now.

This time, it was my turn to turn red while Jace, Venessa, and Ian could no longer contain their laughter and Lukas covered his face in a desperate, but unsuccessful attempt to hide his smile.

“Oh, shut it,” I said, throwing a towel at the group. However, my threat died as my stomach once again announced its need to be satisfied.

The gates opened wide as a new round of laughter resulted in Jace literally rolling on the ground, Venessa bent over clutching her stomach and wiping tears, Ian practically on a table pounding on it, and Lukas running to a corner obviously trying to make me feel better. It didn’t work.

I couldn’t help but giggle a bit at the absurdity of the situation.

“Well, who’s going to feed this monster?” I demanded.

There were literal howls of laughter and Lukas could no longer control his need to release a laugh. Tears were falling down cheeks faster than cartoon tears. Even I joined in with the last one, pretty proud of myself for creating such a scene.

When the laughter finally died down, I managed to get out, “Seriously though, where can I replace something edible to eat. I highly doubt what is on that pan should be consumed by anyone or anything.”

Everyone let out another laugh, but thankfully not as crazy as our last outburst. Jace slowly climbed his way back up to his feet and waved me to follow him.

He showed me the pantry and told me to help myself. In minutes, I was toasting some bread, pouring some cereal into a bowl, and cutting some strawberries and a banana I found. Once my meal was all set, I dived in without a second thought.

I couldn’t believe how good cereal and bread could taste. I had the entire thing gobbled down in record timing.

“Geesh. You’d think you were hungry or something,” Jace joked at the worse possible time. I’d just taken a drink of orange juice and now it was escaping out my nose. I managed to make it back into my cup, though I was kind of wishing I’d shot Jace with it. I quickly grabbed a napkin, coughing and blowing my nose trying to rid myself of the burning sensation. And the entire time I was in pain, Jace was right there laughing. At least Lukas, Ian, and Venessa had the decency to try and hide their laughter. Jace on the other hand was letting the entire pack know he was enjoying my pain.

I gave him a dirty look as I dumped my orange juice out, rinsed the cup, and filled it with water instead.

“I’d ask how you are feeling, but I get a feeling I already know the answer,” Jace commented as I made my way back into the pantry, returning a moment later with some more food.

I glared at him again as I set my spread on the table.

“You’re going to eat all of that?” Lukas asked bewilderment written all over his face.

“Yep. Apparently fighting a bunch of wolves and being tackled by the one person who was supposed to be on your side uses up a lot of energy. I’m starved!”

I was hoping Jace would notice the jab I sent his way, but instead he shot back, “We noticed.”

I knew he was hinting at my growling stomach earlier and apparently, so did everyone else as Ian’s nose almost met the same fate mine had moments before.

“Jerk,” I spouted out.

“Sour wolf.”

I was preparing myself for another retort when we heard a loud bang coming from the main hallway.

We all dashed into the main room. I felt my feet freeze in place and my eyes go wide.

“No way,” I whispered.