Moon Child

Dawn woke with a start, sitting up in a cold sweat as she gasped for air. Her hands moved over her body, her torso covered in bandages. She remembered it all. The hyena, the trap, the hunters, the gunshot, and the blood. Wait, the hyena.

She jumped from the bed she was laying in, running out of the room as her heart raced and her breath came in shallow gasps. What if Kane had left her out there? What if the hunters got to her? Anxiety built like a blockade in her veins as she threw open the front door to rush outside. Wincing, she reached up an arm to shield her eyes from the sun.

It was midday, a frown creasing her face. She looked down at herself, the bandages a stark white against her tan skin. Someone had changed her shorts, these new ones a light blue made of soft cotton. She could feel the uncomfortable silk of panties underneath, something she wouldn’t have picked out for herself. Of course, most of the time she went commando. Her torso was bare except for the bandages though, the medical material covering her breasts like a bra of sorts.

Her hair probably looked a hot mess, her feet bare as she raced for Magdelynn’s house. No one was outside, making the air eerily cold on such a warm sunny day. She knocked hard and fast, but no one answered and she began to feel sick to her stomach. Where was everyone? What had happened while she was unconscious?

“Magdelynn? Magdelynn!”

No answer. She turned, racing down the row of houses until she got to Hazel’s. Fear clutched her heart tight as she banged on the wooden barrier.

“Hazel! Jeremiah!”

Her heart skipped a beat as a sudden realization hit her. What if Kane had been right? What if the hyena had brought others and they had gotten to the pack? What if they had been killed, dragged off somewhere? Keith, Magdelynn, Jeremiah, Hazel, May and Destiny, Jason and…oh god. What was she going to do?

She winced, looking down as blood seeped through a bandage on the right side of her chest. Her mind was going over bloody scenes of death and carnage, hand covering her wound as she backed away from Hazel’s home. This was her fault. If any of them were hurt it would be on her shoulders for bringing another changeling home.

“Dawn! There you are!”

Lauralie rushed to her side, wrapping an arm around her waist to help support her weight as Dawn felt a sudden relief wash over her.

“You’re ok.”

The woman smiled, laughing and shaking her head.

“Of course I am. Jeez, I know I’m older than you but don’t kick me into my grave just yet.”

The woman looked over Dawn, frowning as she noticed the blood soaking through the bandage. She had only been gone for a second.

“Damn, Kane is going to kick my butt. I swear I only left for a moment and you were gone. Lord, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Dawn latched onto the woman’s words as they moved back toward Kane’s home.

“Kane is ok?”

The woman nodded.

“Yes, he’s ok. Pissed as all hell at some feisty woman who wouldn’t take no for an answer, but he’s alive.”

She smiled toward Dawn, making her blush. She hadn’t meant to challenge Kane, but she had to help the hyena. The hyena!

“What about the hyena? Is she ok?”

Lauralie’s smile faded, a sigh running free.

“Everyone is ok. Geez, you worry more than my momma use to.”

Everyone was ok? No one was hurt because of her choices. No one suffered because of her. She seemed to relax a bit against the woman as they continued on their way, her mind at ease if only for a bit.

…

Kane had spent the remainder of the night and the whole of the morning at the edge of his territory and in the presence of strangers. The group of hyenas had come forward looking for the female, pushed back by Kane and the others as they kept them at bay until they could explain the situation. The elder of the group, old and wise, agreed to keep the peace as long as they could reunite with their pack mate. Kane agreed, but kept four wolves beside himself with the group at all times. There were four of them; the elder who was clearly the leader, a very young female, and two males in their mid-twenties. He assumed that one of them was the mate to the female, the younger female in her late teens and possibly the mate to the other male.

They had put the female hyena in Magdelynn’s house, keeping the children and Hazel in the safe house until the situation cleared up. Things might seem peaceful, but at any moment a fight could break out. He couldn’t risk the lives of the kids.

One of the males in his twenties, dirty blonde hair that fell to his shoulders and dark brown eyes, ran to the female’s side as soon as they entered the room. She was in the bed, her pain clear as he moved to hold her hand. He spoke soothing words, supporting her as best as he could but it was clear she was in a lot of pain. Kane had only ever seen wolf births, but he wondered if the hyenas did things differently.

A wolf changeling would normally give birth in their human form, the babies human for the most part until they turn ten or so years old. Magdelynn was pressing a cool cloth to the woman’s forehead when she cried out, her grip on her mate tightening as the elder turned to face Kane.

“She needs space to shift, which she can not do in such a small room. In this human form she will surely perish.”

Kane took the information in, nodding and looking toward Magdelynn as he spoke.

“We will move her to the lake. The trees are thick there and should give us the shelter she needs to give birth safely.”

The elder nodded, speaking quickly to the others in his group. The female’s mate gently lifted her into his arms and they moved out. With each passing second her cries were becoming louder with the urgency of the situation. By the time they made it to the location she was already beginning to shift. Kane knew they would want privacy, but refused to leave as they were still in his territory. Magdelynn stayed behind to check on Dawn, coming back to report that the woman was still asleep and recovering.

Kane was mad, but it wasn’t because of her disobedience. She had been right. The female giving birth before him, a hyena who’s world was changing within minutes, had needed their help. He had been stubborn, so worried about his own mate that he couldn’t think straight. The hyena was hurt, a situation Magdelynn remedied, but if Dawn hadn’t risked her life for the woman things would’ve been far different.

She had literally taken a bullet for the hyena, which forced him to open up his eyes to the reality of the situation. They weren’t the enemy and he damn near lost the love of his life because he was being bullheaded. They had simply been passing through when the drunken hunters came along. It was just bad timing, but Dawn had been there and she did the right thing without thinking twice. She helped an innocent mother to be and all Kane had thought about was the danger she might bring with her.

He needed to think of his pack first, but when did he stop caring about the lives of innocent people? Dawn made him realize it wasn’t all black and white. She was going to make sure he did the right thing, whether it killed her in the process or not. He smiled as three little hyenas were born one after another. Triplets. He wished the pack the best of luck in their future, they would need it.

…

When he got back to his home he could smell her scent everywhere, his chest growing tight as he drew nearer. She was here, in his house. Safe and alive.

“Hey.”

Lauralie opened the door before he moved too close, clearly sniffing her alpha out in the chilled night air. He nodded toward her, taking the final steps to enter the four walls.

“How is she?”

She shrugged, running a hand through her hair as she moved to the side and out the door in one smooth swipe of her feet.

“She pulled some stitches earlier, but it wasn’t too bad and I cleaned it up easily. She’s been sleeping a lot.”

He frowned, looking toward the bedroom door.

“She didn’t shift?”

The woman shook her head, then spoke up as he was no longer looking her way.

“No. I thought she might be unaware of the need to change in order to heal faster, because of her origins, but she seemed to know what she was doing.”

She looked uncomfortable as she thought back to what Dawn had said. She had mentioned shifting, but the wounded female had simply shook her head and looked away as she spoke in an ominous tone. It had made her heart drop a little too far.

“What’s wrong Lauralie?”

She sighed once more, shaking her head as her brow pinched together. She had his full attention now.

“She said she wouldn’t shift, because if she did she might…kill someone.”

He frowned. Why would Dawn say something so dark? He knew she wasn’t a born changeling, but he also sensed that she had a few years under her belt. Enough time to be able to control both her forms, given enough training.

“Thank you for looking after her. I’ll take it from here.”

She nodded, turning to leave. He didn’t waste anytime shutting the door behind him and moving toward the bedroom. She was here, so close to him. He could open that door and she would be in bed, as peaceful as an angel.

“Kane?”

Her soft whisper pulled him into the room, her eyes closed as he moved closer. She had spoken his name almost every night in her sleep, but this time it was different. Her expression was one of pain, her hands grabbing onto the comforter as he listened to her heart race like a car down the open road.

“Kane!”

She sat up suddenly, grabbing onto the blanket and throwing it off as she scooted back on the mattress until her back hit the headboard. Trembling, tears spilling from her eyes, she sensed his presence. She couldn’t look up, hands moving to cover her face as a sob broke free. She couldn’t handle it. The night terrors, the dark memories and cold past. How could she do it?

“Dawn.”

His arms wrapped around her, pulling her into his lap as he sat on the edge of the bed. She held onto him like a lifeline, and if it was the last thing he did he was going to kill whoever did this to her. Night after night she was haunted by something so harsh and cruel she felt it in her wake. It was something he couldn’t save her from, perhaps a vicious memory?

“Dawn, baby, talk to me. Tell me what to do to make this better for you.”

She was already shaking her head, talking through the sobs.

“It hurts.”

His hold tightened around her, as if to protect her from an invisible enemy. They sat like that for hours, her sobs finally quieting as exhaustion pulled her under. When she was asleep again he laid her in bed and moved to lay beside her, covering them with the discarded blanket as he pulled her in close to him. He wanted to keep her this close, protect her from the pain, but it would only get worse before it could get better.