Moonlit Fur Chronicles: Rising Moon
Chapter 6 Girl’s Night

Peyton opened the bottle of wine and poured herself and Jessi a glass. She seriously needed something to take the edge off. She wasn’t exactly thrilled about spending time with Jessi at the moment, but Jessi was important to her. She settled down next to Jessie on the couch. “So?! Spill!” Jessie demanded. “Jessi, I…You’re not going to let this go are you?” Peyton sounded exhausted. Jessi’s eyes were bright and her smile mischievous, she shook her head. Peyton sighed, “Ok fine. But don’t get all weird about this.” Jessi shook her head solemnly. Peyton rolled her eyes, “Ok so you know how I was attacked over a month ago? The giant dog thing broke my arm in half.” Jessi listened intently.

“It ate Princess and would have eaten me too if it hadn’t stopped all of a sudden and ran away. I go to the doctor and get a cast on my arm. He says it will take a dozen weeks to heal. A couple days ago, when I was watching a movie with my boyfriend Sawyer, my stomach started to hurt. The pain was terrible, like nothing else I ever felt.” Jessi’s eyes were wide with anticipation. “It felt like all of my bones broke all at once and all my muscles seized and snapped. This pain was ten times worse than anything I could imagine. Next thing I know, I’m a giant wolf. Part of me wanted to rip Sawyer’s face off and eat him. Somehow I managed to not kill my boyfriend and keep in control. I curled up on the floor and tried to sleep.” Jessi’s face dropped, she expected a bloody gory tale by the look on her face.

“Seriously? No way! Was that it?” Jessi was disheartened and rolled her eyes. “No, that’s not all. There’s a lot more!” Peyton took a long sip of wine before she continued. Last night, the night of the full moon, I couldn’t sleep. So I went outside. The second the moon lit hit me, I felt my stomach churn. I knew I was about to turn into a wolf. I ripped off my shirt and fell off the patio.” Jessi gasped, “You were naked?” “Human clothes don’t giant wolves, Jessi. I lost one of my favorite outfits the first time I turned.” “I ran off into the night and sniffed everything and explored. It was wonderful. I could smell things so much better my eyes got so much better. Later on, I heard noises like fighting. I investigated and found two huge wolves playing in a clearing. I stayed quiet and followed them to their house. I watched them shape shift back into humans. I decided to go back to the house today and talk to them. Girl, they were so scary. I thought they would eat me. I got out of there so fast. I came home and you sneaked up behind me and scared the crap out of me.” Jessi giggled at her own antics. “Yeah so now you know everything.” Peyton took a long sip of wine and Jessi squealed with delight.

“Tell me. How do you like being a wolf?” Jessi’s eyes were wide with excitement. Peyton saw the look on her face. She knew that look; it meant trouble. “Look I know you are really excited about this and it sounds really awesome. I feel like I’m constantly fighting the wolf. When I walked into work today, all the animals went berserk. Some tried to get out of the cage and attack me, some were completely terrified. All I wanted to do was rip open those cages and eat all of them. I had a panic attack and had to go outside to catch my breath and force the wolf back down. It was horrible. I feel like the wolf is trying to consume my entire life. I hate it! I have plans! I want to be a vet with my own clinic one day. I can’t do that if I want to devour all my clientele.” Peyton’s voice rose to a panicked moan. Jessi’s started to finally understand the toll this took on her.

“Yes I’m stronger. Yes I heal much faster but it’s not worth all the trouble it brings. I’m going to lose more clothes because of it. And I seriously don’t like the stripping thing.” Jessi looked at Peyton with sympathetic eyes. Peyton realized Jessi tried to be supportive, she also knew Jessi was still enthusiastic about this unfortunate turn of events. Jessi took initiative and changed the topic. The girls talked about boys and shopping. Sawyer came home and prepared dinner for the girls and himself. They gathered at the table and ate dinner. Sawyer went to shower as Peyton and Jessi tag teamed the dishes. After the dishes were done, Jessi said her goodbyes and went home.

Peyton got herself ready for bed. Sawyer climbed out of the shower and climbed into bed beside Peyton. He wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled in against him. She told him about her adventures for the day. She shared with him how the poor animals at the clinic reacted to her wolf. Her story about the twins both scared him and angered him. He was upset that she tracked them down all by herself, he had wanted to go with her and keep her safe. She appreciated him and his desire to keep her safe, but he wouldn’t be able to because he was human.

Peyton tossed and turned all night. Nightmares tortured her. She dreamt the red stripe twins chased her. She dreamt about a metallic silver wolf bigger and stronger than the red stripe twins. She dreamt of chaos and bloodshed. She woke up in a cold sweat. She felt alone even though Sawyer’s arms were tightly wrapped around her. She felt that she would be alone forever, without a pack, destined to be a lone wolf until the end of time.