I decided to send her a text before I headed out for the night.
Atlas:Just wanted to send you a quick text before I head out
She was typing, those three tiny bubbles bouncing in the text box until her message came through.
Tegan:Have fun tonight!
A picture came through next, of her, Declan, and Selene, smushed together and smiling for a selfie. It was cute.
Atlas:It looks like you’re having a great time. I really like your friends.
The three of them reminded me a lot of Cyrus, Fallon, and me. I wanted to introduce them to one another soon.
Tegan:Good. Because they like you too.
That was a huge win. If I learned anything from my relationship with Jade, it was the fact that your friends’ approval of your partner was important. I could have saved myself a lot of misery had I just listened to Fallon back in college.Never thought I’d say that.
Atlas:I’ll text you tomorrow morning. Night baby.
Tegan:Goodnight!
I set my phone on the kitchen counter and tugged my shirt over my head, leaving me in a loose pair of basketball shorts. Iwould have preferred to run in the nude, but within the town limits, I felt obligated to keep up some sense of modesty.
The bluish-gray haze of dusk settled in, and I darted out the back door, bolting toward the woods at the edge of the development. My feet pounded against the ground, two at first, then all four carrying me over sticks, rocks, and fallen leaves. The scent of moss and decay wafted up my nostrils, but there was a lingering aroma that pulled me in. Sugary sweet with notes of violets and vanilla.
Tegan.
I broke through the trees, into the overgrown open field I frequented each full moon. The moon was already making its ascent, bathing everything in bright light. I stretched, feeling that familiar tightness in my skin, a restlessness deep in my bones.
“Fuck,” I growled, craning my neck.
The call of the moon was becoming unbearable, pulling the primal parts of me to the surface. I threw back my head in surrender, letting out a long howl from deep inside my chest that echoed up toward the night sky.
Could Tegan hear me?
I hoped she was warm and safe inside her house.
I felt compelled to check for myself.
My tongue lolled out of my mouth, dribbling drool over the forest floor as I closed in on her cottage.
I watched from a distance, staying hidden in the woods. A warm glow filtered through one of the windows and a soft silhouette passed in front of it.
She was home and she was safe.
This was as far as I could go.
I looked from her house back toward the trail that led to the field, an indecisive whimper working its way out of my throat.
For now, this was close enough.
—
As usual, I woke upalone in the field. I rolled onto my back, staring up at the sun as swaths of soft grass swayed around me. The sun was so bright I had to shield my sensitive eyes. My body ached like I’d been hit by a freight train.
Last night I’d felt restless. Running back and forth between the field and Tegan’s house. When the moon faded and the predawn haze lit up the horizon, I finally collapsed from exhaustion. No matter how hard I tried to stop myself, my instincts kept pulling me back to her over and over again.
“What the fuck was that about?” I murmured as I hauled my ass back to my house.
