"Diana?" Maggie called fearfully. Diana's body was covered with fur and beneath the fur felt too rigid. Maggie was sore and afraid. Was this the demon possession people talked about?
Diana could hear the fear in Maggie's voice and she was afraid of what would happen. She shook her head, trying to control herself and prevent herself from turning completely but the full moon above her felt otherwise.
Maggie tried to pull away but Diana's grip only became firmer.
"Diana!" Maggie cried. Diana squeezed Maggie's hand and Maggie screamed in pain. Their neighbor's door went open and she saw the scene before her.
"Werewolf!!" The old lady screamed. Diana's entire mind snapped and she transformed fully. She ran away as quickly as she could. Before either of the women could do or say anything, she was out of their sign Diana ran to a forest that was at the far end of her town. She ran till she got to the center which was void of any trees as if the place had been intentionally cleared. She turned her gaze to the moon and her body morphed completely, ending the painful transformation with a long and loud howl.
Calhoun was asleep, although it was just a light slumber when he heard the distant howling of a wolf. His eyes flew open instantly and he jolted out of his bed. With his glowing red eyes, he walked out of his chamber, clad in his nightshirt and trousers with no robe. He hovered around the quiet halls in the middle of the night, feeling nothing but an eerie disturbance by the noise he had heard. His heart was unable to keep calm. What if it was Diana? What if she was in trouble?
He left his chamber hallway and walked further to the inner aspect of the castle. His mind was not on the things she saw, so even when he stumbled upon two servants whispering, he didn't take notice of it. He simply walked passed them in silence, bringing up a sense of dread in their hearts.
Calhoun found himself at his tower window again. Even if he looked hard, he wouldn't find her. He stared at the full moon. It was full and his eyes shone brighter. As soon as his body began to morph, he felt a grip on his left arm. Calhoun turned aggressively to find George behind him, silently telling him not to go.
"Get away from me, George," Calhoun ordered. George trembled but he didn't dare to leave the king. He knew that the punishment for his crime was going to be dire and he might not survive it, but he also knew that the consequences of letting the king go on another rampage were going to be even direr.
"I cannot let you leave," George said shakily.
Calhoun laughed. It was a deep mockery of laughter. "Fool. You aren't the one I seek permission from." With those words, he pulled his arm away from George's grip so easily and turned to land the man a devastating blow to the jaw. George staggered back a few feet, covering his injured jaw and groaning in pain… Calhoun jumped out the window. If only he could follow the sound of the howl, he could surely find Diana.
He raced through the same kingdoms that he had visited previously, and he found some guards at their borders, trying to prevent any rogue werewolf from trespassing. When they heard a movement in the bushes, they prepared their guns for firing.
Calhoun sensed the danger but he could also sniff out their fear so he boldly came out of the bush. The guards trembled at his size. He was much bigger than the regular werewolf, their hands began to shake and tremble. Calhoun lunged forward at the first guard and slashed his chest. Before he could react to the pain, Calhoun had also gone to the next one and performed the same act. The two guards could only feel the breeze whoosh past them and the next thing they felt was pain. They looked at each other, then at the blood gushing out from their bodies. Within a few seconds, they dropped dead. Calhoun resumed his race through the forest, trespassing territories.
Calhoun met with the same thing at the next border and he did the same thing to them. When it came to the last border, he was about to run when he heard the spraying of bullets all around him. Calhoun felt an excruciating pain spread all over his body. He was frozen to a spot. He looked down to see holes in his body. The holes did not close. His body went stiff and then fell to the ground.
Diana howled very loudly and then fell to the ground as well. Her body turned back to her human form. She lay on the ground, feeling terrible pain in her heart. Her eyes were filled with tears and she let out a loud piercing scream of pain which gradually reduced to whimpers. Diana lay in the dirt ground, weeping from the pain she felt. She lay there until the sky began to brighten. Then she got up and found her way back to her house.
By the time she arrived home, she was covered in dirt and it was almost noon. She entered the house and Maggie was just coming out of the room with her son in her hand. Diana paused in her tracks. Her memory was fuzzy and hazy and she couldn't pinpoint exactly what had happened to her. Maggie was unsure of how to react.
"Hi," Diana said slowly.
Maggie was slightly taken aback. Did she try to kill her and just say, hi? She scowled. She harrumphed and turned to return to the room, muttering a few words under her breath.
Diana stood there awkwardly. She went into the room and went to take her bath first. Maggie was not responding to her presence; she couldn't understand why.
After having her shower, she returned to the room, clad in fresh clothes. She went to pick up her son but Maggie turned the boy in the other direction.
"What the hell, Maggie? You won't allow me to hold my son as well?" Diana complained.
"Who knows if you won't try to kill him as well," Maggie murmured.
Diana gasped. "Maggie, that's a rude thing to say! How can I kill my son?!"
"You tried to kill me last night! Where did you run off to? Most importantly, what are you?"
Diana sighed. "Honestly, I knew this was going to happen. Can I at least feed him first? Then I will explain everything to you."
Maggie glared at her. Slowly, she handed the child over to Diana. Holding her child in her arms, Diana didn't know how to feel. Her eyes began to water again. When the boy opened his eyes, she could see that he had golden green eyes. Nothing like hers or Calhoun's. Although she couldn't tell Calhoun's exact eye color since his eyes were mostly always red. Perhaps that was why her eyes would occasionally turn green and go back to brown while she was pregnant.
"Go ahead and feed him." Maggie urged. "Do you not know how?"
Diana shook her head. Maggie chuckled. She explained how it worked and assisted Diana to feed her child. After feeding him, she put him in his crib again.
"Have you thought of a name for him yet?" Maggie asked.
Diana kept mute. She hadn't thought of any name. "Coco?"
Maggie smiled. "Coco, that's cute. Alright, let's get you something to eat then we can discuss last night's event."
Diana nodded.
Maggie led her to the dining area and sat her down. She served her meat which was slightly undone. Diana's mouth watered at the sight.
She quickly dug into the meal and ate it hurriedly. Once she was done, she switched over to the soup which Maggie served as well.
"Are you that hungry?" Maggie asked with a chuckle. "There's more."
"I'm okay for now," Diana said, rubbing her now flat tummy. She couldn't believe that the same tummy had just been so huge in the past few days.
"Okay, let's head to the couch and relax,"
Maggie said. As much as she wanted to know the truth, she also wanted Diana to be comfortable and not feel pressured.
"Tell me, Diana."
Diana took a deep breath. "Maggie, I.. am a werewolf."
Maggie's face had zero expressions. She didn't want to judge yet.
"Were you born that way? Or you were turned?"
"Born," Diana answered. "Where I come from, werewolves dominate existence. In my kingdom, we have more werewolves than humans."
Maggie nodded as if she understood. "So, what happened last night?"
"For a long time, I haven't transformed to my werewolf form and when I fell pregnant, the changes were too much for my human form to withstand but I still managed to suppress the urge to change. Notice I never liked to see the moon especially when it was close to being full or full."
"I remember that. You would rather sleep here on the couch." Maggie chuckled.
"Last night, I guess after giving birth, my body just wanted to heal and return to its original state and when the ray of the full moon touched my body, I felt the change coming. I wiped up and unfortunately, the first thing my eyes saw was the full moon."
"So you can't control your urge under the full moon?"
"It's like that for every werewolf. We are creatures of the night. But it's fine, as long as there is no full moon, I can control myself." Diana said.
"Then how did you manage to turn back?"
"I.. it was something," Diana said, trying to understand the pain she had felt in the forest. "I felt this sharp tugging pain. Like the pain of watching your loved one die." She explained. "It was so hurtful, I lost myself there, I could only cry."
"How do you werewolves fall in love?" Maggie asked, interested.
"Like a normal human, Maggie," Diana said, laughing. "The only difference is that there is always a bond between two wolves that have mated. They can feel each other's feelings."
"Meaning you can feel what Coco's father is feeling?" Maggie asked.
Diana nodded slowly. It suddenly dawned on her. What if the pain she had felt was a result of something terrible happening to Calhoun? Her eyes flashed green and returned to their normal brown. She stared up and looked out the window. Maggie simply nodded. She had learned a lot in a day and wasn't willing to learn anymore. She knew she had to leave. As much as she loved Diana, she could also tell that the next few days might be overwhelming for her as a wolf and she didn't want to endanger her life or the life of her kids.
"I think we will have to return to our town later today. My husband should be back by tomorrow night or morning of the next day." Maggie lied. Diana was too distracted to notice the lies in her speech so she nodded.
"I can't thank you enough, Maggie. You're the best friend I've ever had." Diana said, caressing Maggie's palm. Maggie felt a little uncomfortable. Her wrist still hurts from Diana's squeeze of the previous night.
She only smiled and nodded, slowly pulling her hand out.
Diana helped Maggie pack the rest of her things into her bag and walked her to the door. She couldn't carry her newly born son out, and neither could she leave him alone at home. So she said her goodbyes at the door.
Maggie left with her kids and Diana was left alone at home.
While she cuddled her baby, she heard a distant sound. She hadn't been paying attention to it until she heard the word werewolf. Her heart cut instantly and her mind became focused on the sound. It was still a little distant but she could tell they were approaching.
"I swear commander! She is a werewolf! I watched her transform with my own eyes. She even tried to kill her friend who came to visit her."
"And you say she's new in town?"
"Yes. I heard she beat up those bulky men who go about looking for thieves for jungle justice you know.."
"She did that? How come word hasn't reached the army?"
"Perhaps because she managed to hide her identity. I'm only reporting because if she could boldly attack her friend then the town is not safe."
The soldiers and the old lady arrived at the house. Slowly, they turned the knob and the door went wide open. They went in to search the entire house. After a few minutes, they returned outside.
"Sir, it's empty."
The woman's face fell.