Moonlit Fur Chronicles: Rising Moon
Chapter 8 Into The Light

Peyton awoke suddenly. She couldn’t see much, it was still dark out. Her head pounded against her skull. Every inch of her body hurt. Slowly the memory of her latest interaction with the wolves flooded her mind. Tears flowed from the corner of her eyes. His eyes, his horrible lustful eyes, were burned into her memory. She felt violated, exposed, filthy. Her fists closed around something cloth that was draped over her. Peyton felt the cloth for a second, it was kind of soft. It was a blanket. Someone had covered her with a blanket. She wondered who cared enough to cover her, was the woman she met earlier?

Peyton’s eyes finally adjusted to the darkness. The moon was just a sliver in the sky. It was night, hopefully the same night. She saw the wolf mansion. They had just left her there. Fine. She was done with them. She sat up and forced the wolf to transform her body. She didn’t even feel the pain. She whimpered and ran all the way home. Tears blurred her vision, but she still made it home. Peyton collapsed beside her pile of clothes. She forced the wolf back down and writhed in agony as her body reverted back to human. Peyton roughly pulled her clothes back on and stumbled toward her house.

Tears blinded Peyton as she bumped into the kitchen island. Sawyer heard her and raced into the kitchen. “Peyton! Are you okay? I’ve been calling you nonstop for hours! I was so scared!” She lifted her face to his. His words stopped instantly as he saw her tear stained cheeks. He stepped close to her, unsure what kind of sympathy she needed. She fell into his arms and sobbed loudly. He held her head to his chest and wrapped his other arm around her waist. His heart broke for her. Her body shook as she sobbed. His own tears rolled down his face and dropped gently on the top of her head.

They stood there motionless for a long while and cried. Sawyer’s emotions were all over the place. He was sad that his queen cried. He was angry that someone hurt her. He wanted to wreak vengeance on them. He stood there, waited and held Peyton. Her sobs slowly turned to sniffles. She was able to finally catch her breath. He didn’t loosen his hold on her. She gently pushed against him and he dropped his arms. She stopped back and grabbed a tissue. She blew her nose and collected herself.

“Do you want to talk about it, baby,” Sawyer murmured. He wanted to touch her, hold her close, to comfort her. He waited to hear what she needed from him. “I need a shower,” her voice was hoarse and scratchy. “Do you want me in there with you?” She took an involuntary step back and answered a little too harshly, “No!” Peyton realized how she reacted and ran to the shower, he heard her start to cry again. Sawyer tried so very hard to not take it personally. He took a deep breath and centered himself. He poured himself a glass of water and swallowed it all in a massive gulp.

He poured himself a second glass of water and took a deep breath. He poured a glass of water for Peyton and slowly walked to the bedroom. He heard the shower turn on. He didn’t know what else to do, so he set the glass of water on the bedside table. Sawyer paced back to the living room and sat on the couch. Every so often, he heard Peyton’s sobs through the wall. His heart broke each time. The water eventually shut off. Peyton left the bathroom and went straight to the bedroom and closed the door. Sawyer listened and waited to hear her footsteps or her voice call him back to the bedroom. It never came. He stretched out on the couch to wait.

The next thing Sawyer knew was a bright sun beam in his eyes. He felt something heavy on his chest. He opened his eyes and saw the top of Peyton’s head there. She had joined him on the couch. ’That’s a good sign,’ he thought to himself. He draped his forearm over his eyes to block out the sunlight. He thought about what had happened last night. Peyton had come home in tears and he wanted to kill someone for it. He felt anger creep into his heart. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She needed him to be calm and collected. He would have his chance to rage and seek revenge.

Peyton slowly lifted her face and looked at him. He felt her shift her weight. He lifted his arm off of his eyes and looked at her. Her eyes were red from the night before. “Baby,” he cooed to her. “I’m here,” she responded, “I’m never leaving again.” He smiled and rubbed her back. “I’m calling off work and school today. I can’t handle it right now.” She climbed off of him and searched for her phone. Sawyer pulled himself up, “check your pockets from last night,” he suggested. She grunted and headed to the bathroom. He stood up and stretched. It felt like a ‘waffle and chocolate milk’ kind of morning. Sawyer went to the kitchen and put breakfast together. He heard her voice float from the hall. She was on the phone with her school or work.

Sawyer flipped the first of the waffles and started the coffee pot. Peyton walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’m sorry for last night. I’m sorry I scared you,” she whispered into his shoulder. “You have nothing to apologize for, Pretty Lady.” She squeezed his waist twice. He placed his hand on her hand and squeezed twice. It was a little gesture that meant, “I love you.” She rested her head on his shoulder blade and he flipped the second waffle. “You want to grab the chocolate milk from the fridge,” Sawyer gently asked her. “No, not if it means letting go of you.” Sawyer giggled, “Then we will have to waddle together!” He put the pan down and held Peyton’s hands to his waist. He slowly turned and waddled to the fridge. Peyton laughed aloud and waddled along with him.

Sawyer enjoyed the sound of her laughter. He pulled the chocolate milk from the fridge and turned to face her. Her eyes sparked with laughter. He leaned down and gently kissed her lips. She pulled him in close and kissed him harder, a soft moan escaped his lips. Peyton released him and giggled. She felt him grow hard against her waist. She slipped her hand into his shorts and brushed him. “Hey now, what about breakfast?” he called. “Dessert first,” she explained.