Chapter 30: When the Moon is Full

-LEENA-

I had hoped this would be a trust-building activity for us, desperately wanting to repair the damage I’d done to our relationship, but what I didn’t know about the Full Moon Run is that everyone is literally running. Alec had forced me off the path hours ago, the moon now at its apex in the sky and casting deep shadows on the ground as I put one foot in front of the other, trying not to trip and fall in the murky darkness. It’s cold, but I expected that; what I didn’t expect is running in nothing but sneakers, alone, with a wolf nipping at my heels.

“Alec,” I say on the dozenth stop this hour, trying to catch my breath, “I can’t keep running like this, I’m not a wolf, I’m exhausted.” My words are met with silence like every other time I’ve said them, only the crackling of leaves in the underbrush as a tell to where Alec is stalking from the shadows.