Classes had come to an end for the high school sophomores at I.E.S. El Cerro, but that didn't mean that all their problems were over. In a couple of weeks most of the students were going to face one of the most important exams of their lives; the university entrance exam, although not all of them were going to take it. Some, like Sara, had turned to the next page in their lives and had started looking for a job, and Sofia and Dave were preparing for the Civil Guard exams. That night, however, all they wanted was to have fun celebrating that a long school year had come to an end, a school year full of eventualities, surprises and changes. A school year that Sofia would never forget as long as she breathed because it was the first time she felt really happy.

El Cerro was a small town and there wasn't much to do, so the teenagers had colonized one of the few local pubs to celebrate their end of the school year party. This was not the United States of America, there was no big gymnasium full of colorful garlands, balloons and smoke machines. It was a small town in Spain and things were done in a less theatrical and spectacular way. The place, which was a traditional old fashioned pub, had a torch with colored lights and a mirror ball, as well as a dartboard and a wooden counter. The attendees were classmates, friends, people with whom they had shared the experiences of an entire academic year. The loudspeakers were blaring the latest hits, and some girls were dancing, some boys were trying to flirt and others chatted among themselves.

Sara, Sofia and Dave were by the counter, away from the dance floor and those places where the sound of the loudspeakers was the loudest. No matter, it was still unpleasant to her sensitive cinanthrope ears, and a glance at her friend told Sofia all she needed to know. She wasn't surprised to see his scowl and disgruntled expression as he absentmindedly sipped a glass of Coke. His gaze wandered frequently to the establishment’s door, perhaps wondering if it wouldn't have been a better idea not to come. She couldn't blame him. For a human the noise had to be annoying already, but his sense of hearing was not human and that was an unbearable cacophony.

“Are you having fun, guys?” asked Sara patting the boy on the back.

“We'd be having a better time if the music wasn't so loud,” shouted Dave, trying to make himself heard above the musical din.

“Don't be dull, man. Dance a little.” Sara moved her huge body in a comical dance imitation that was totally out of sync with the music.

“I'd rather not. I can't dance...” said the boy, blushing with embarrassment.

“If that's the problem, don't worry. Nobody here knows how to dance, they just move pretending they do,” said Sofia as she nudged him gently in the arm.

Dave twisted his lips into a small smile.

“You're not wrong, but I'm not going to dance.”

“You guys are a drag! You two go frolick in the woods like you enjoy doing. I'm going with Lola.” Sara drained the mug of beer in one gulp and left her two friends to go with the other girl.

Sofia shook her head and leaned against the bar next to her friend. Their bare arms inadvertently brushed, and when she looked up at him with the intention of apologizing, Dave gave her such a beautiful smile that it took her breath away. Somewhat sheepishly, her cheeks so flushed that her blush could not go unnoticed, Sofia tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and turned her attention back to the room full of classmates. She was, however, acutely aware of the softness of his body hair and the smell emanating from him.

Lola was not with her usual friends. The events in the last few months had made her distance herself from them and she had started hanging out with people, friend’s of Sara, who were less troublesome. Her influence had been good for the girl. Lola was still an unbearable brat, but at least she wasn't as stupid as when Sofia met her.

As Sara reached their group, Lola smiled and they began to chat animatedly. About what, Sofia had no idea because the sound was so thunderous that she couldn't hear anything, but she didn't need to in order to notice the looks they were getting. A few seconds later, the two girls ran to the bar and exchanged a few excited words with the owner.

“What a pair of conniving matchmakers.” Sofia shook her head just as a typical romantic song began to play over the loudspeakers.

“God, what are they expecting? For us to dance like in the movies and for me to… to kiss you in front of the whole class?” commented Dave, who had turned as red as a tomato.

“It seems like it,” said Sofia, laughing.

“They're wasting their time, and Sara should know it. I would never declare my feelings with something as human as a romantic song,” he said as he scratched his head, a little embarrassed. There was a shy smile on his lips that matched the innocence in his eyes.

“I think I can imagine the kind of declaration you'd prefer. Perhaps with a freshly caught rabbit instead of flowers.” Sofia playfully nudged him on the arm and her own cheeks lit up with a deep blush when she saw his smile grow wider and more natural.

“You know me well!”

Dave grabbed her waist and, with a playful growl, nibbled at her neck with those fangs that the night and the moon made bigger. Sofia giggled and tried to pull out of his embrace, but that was part of the game too. She enjoyed feeling the softness of his fur against her skin, the warmth of his body enveloping hers in an embrace that made her feel protected and his pleasant scent flooding her nose. When they broke apart and their gazes met again, Dave looked at her with a glint in his blue eyes that made her stomach flutter.

A series of unintelligible whispers reached their ears and made them aware of the many pairs of eyes watching them. Especially those of Sara and Lola. The two girls, who kept staring at them, had huge grins on their faces and the same expectation they would show at a horse race. Dave shook his head and blushed even more although, to Sofia's surprise, he didn't let go of her or seemed uncomfortable at how close they were. She, for her part, rolled her eyes.

“I think they're waiting for something,” she commented.

“I’m afraid they're going to be disappointed. Why don't we accept Sara's earlier invitation?” Dave said with a raised eyebrow and a mischievous smile on his lips.

“To the forest?” she asked. On her lips was a smile that betrayed the desire she had to be alone with him in the pine forest she was so in love with.

“To the forest.” Dave gave her hand a gentle squeeze and nodded.

To everyone's surprise, and especially to Sara and Lola's, the two teenagers ran out of the place with their hands intertwined and laughter vibrating on their lips. They left behind the bar and its unbearable din, they left behind a bunch of disappointed classmates, and they left behind their poor attempts to pretend they were human when what they most wanted was to shroud themselves in the smells of the forest. They ran through the village streets until the faint light of the street lamps gave way to the star-studded night sky, asphalt turned to earth and grass, and the artificial smells of civilisation became the soft scents of nature wafting in the cool summer breeze.

Only when they found themselves under the giant trees did they stop and allow themselves a few seconds of agitated panting to catch their breath. In the darkness of the night their eyes met again, and Sofia saw the fleeting greenish glow that betrayed her best friend's true nature flashing in his pupils. At the same time, they burst into laughter.

“We're really going to miss this,” Sofia said with a sigh. She opened her arms to let the waning moon’s light wash over her.

“I agree. I never thought I'd say it but... I've enjoyed spending the year here,” he said, smiling at her.

Sofia blushed and began to walk across the road. For a few minutes they said nothing and just enjoyed the smells, the fresh night air and the chirping of crickets. Sofia looked out into the forest depths and she thought of all the adventures she had experienced in a matter of a few months. It had all started one rainy, foggy morning, with an unexpected encounter with a frightened cinanthrope of coat as white as snow. A smile tugged at her lips as she felt the now familiar warmth welling up in her stomach. Who would have thought that this cinanthrope would become her best friend.

Sofia stepped off the path and began to walk through the forest towards the spring. The smile began to fade from her lips as she looked at the trees, rocks and bushes that were so familiar to her. In the next few weeks they were not going to have as much time to enjoy outings like that. From the next day onward they would have to get back to work on their public exams, and if all went well in a year at most they would both be wearing the green uniform. She glanced at her friend and, as she imagined him dressed as a civil guard, a bright blush lit up her cheeks. He was already handsome and was wearing only a light short-sleeved shirt and matching jeans. ‘I think I’m going to like seeing you dressed in uniform’, she bit her lip.

“We'll get examined soon. How are you doing?” Sofia asked.

Dave sighed and walked away from her to kneel in front of the pond. With his fingertips he traced ripples on the surface of the water as he thoughtfully studied his distorted reflection.

“I'm nervous,” he confessed. “I'm going to be a cinanthrope in an academy full of humans. I know the Guardians have agents in law enforcement and my godfather has promised me they'll help me, but that doesn't put my mind at ease.”

“Are you worried you won't be able to control yourself?”

Sofia sat next to him and fiddled with the water just like him. As she traced small ripples on the pond's surface, her hand met his and she let her fingers caress his skin.

“A little,” he replied with a shy smile. “We're going to be at the academy for nine months and I don't know how often I'm going to be able to go out. I don't even know if there is any forests near Baeza. Other cinanthropes don't have any problem and get through the training like everyone else but I'm a wild animal. I need to change, I need to run, I need to hunt, I need to be a dog. You've seen what happens to me when I don't give vent to my instincts.”

Dave licked his lips and turned his head to sniff the air to his left. The hair on the back of his neck was bristled and his back seemed to vibrate a little, as if it was being shaken by a strong shudder. It was no wonder. The boy had a terrible time when he tried to keep a low profile and resisted changing and giving vent to his nature for weeks. The thought of going through that again had to be terrifying.

“Hey, relax. You're going to get through this and I'm going to help you, you know that.” Sofia curved her lips in an encouraging smile and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

“God, I can't thank you enough.” Dave nuzzled her head with the tip of his nose and made her smile.

With their hands still clasped, they sank into a pleasant silence broken only by the murmur of water falling into the pond. The moonlight reflected on its surface in silver lines that moved like little snakes. Out of the corner of her eye, Sofia noticed that Dave wasn't looking at the clearing, he was looking at her with his head tilted to one side.

A blush began to rise to her cheeks and her stomach shuddered with a pleasant tingle. Lola's words echoed in her head again and fanned a faint hope she didn't want to cling to. ‘Don't be an idiot. He's not stupid. He must have realized that you've got a huge crush on him. If he liked you, you'd know it by now’. However, she was unable to ignore the touch of his thumb, which was tracing lines on her skin, nor the glint of those blue eyes that seemed to want to memorize every detail of her face.

“What's the matter?” Sofia turned to him and she, too, tilted her head to one side.

“Nothing,” he said.

To Sofia's surprise, he didn't look away. On the contrary, he kept gazing at her as if he couldn't stop, and his lips parted in a smile so beautiful she felt like she was going to melt. Considering how much her cheeks burned, she wasn't far off the mark. ‘Fuck, I've fallen in love with my best friend. I couldn't be any dumber,’ she said to herself as she struggled not to start grinning like a fool.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“It's just... there's something I've been meaning to ask you for a long time. Ever since you told me your father is a werewolf.” Dave let go of her hand and scratched his head, but his eyes had that childish gleam of excitement at the arrival of the Three Wise Men that she'd seen so many times before. “I'm sure it sounds silly but, do you remember playing with a pup in a forest when you were little?”

“Playing with a pup in a forest?”

Sofia tilted her head even more, but there was something in the back of her mind that was making her nervous. It was a hazy image that she couldn't quite see clearly, a memory so long forgotten that all she had left of it were a few blurred details. There was a forest that smelled of pine trees, very much like that one, and an innocent, crystalline look in eyes that were... were they gray? Green?

“Yes, I figured it would sound silly. I already told you that I was very young, and it's possible that it didn't even happen the way I remember it. “Dave let out a quiet sigh and looked up at the sky. The moon reflected in his pupils and drew a greenish glow from them. “I used to run away often to go to the woods near my house, a pine forest very similar to this one. I liked to let myself go and I howled many times. One day someone answered, a pup like me.”

‘A howl,’ Sofia felt her heart start to beat faster and a knot of anxiety began to form in her stomach. With each agitated breath her nose filled with the smells of the forest, and the hazy images that had been forgotten in the back of her head began to come into focus, as if a fog was dissipating. A pine forest on a sunny morning. She and her mother had gone to visit some friends, hunters like Helena. While she was playing with Ana, her childhood best friend, she heard something, a howl. She was the only one who heard it.

“I got curious and followed it. I wasn’t aware yet that I was a weredog but I always knew I as a dog with human appearance. My behavior, my instincts, my sense of smell and my night vision were those of a dog. The other kids couldn't do the things I could and I was very lonely,” Dave continued, still looking up at the moon, although it was obvious that his gaze was roaming over memories that, from his smile, were very precious to him.

‘I followed it too. I walked away from Ana and went into the forest’. Sofia started to pant. In her head the images became more and more defined and she began to be able to remember the bushes, the trees, the colors and the smells on that sunny summer day. All her life she had grown up hiding what she was even from her own friends, and she would continue to do so for many years to come, but that three-year-old pup was curious to know what this boy who howled just like her was like. So she dropped to all fours and ran through the forest, encouraged by the echo of that call that kept reverberating through the trees.

“I found her. I don't remember what she looked like, it was many years ago and the image I have in my head is probably not very accurate. What I do remember was the look in her eyes. She had a gaze full of curiosity and she sniffed me like a dog would. I couldn't believe it, she was like me!”

Sofia almost whimpered as the image flashed in her head with such clarity that it was like being there again. That blond kid who smelled of forest and behaved like a dog had eyes as blue as the sky on a clear day.

“I asked her if she was a dog like me,” Dave continued, “but she said no, that she was....”

“A she-wolf,” Sofia said in a voice so faint it was almost a whisper.

Dave turned to her with eyes so wide that he seemed to be staring at one of those plants he found so fascinating. In his open mouth was a silent question that wouldn't quite come out, but Sofia knew what it was because she couldn't quite believe what was happening either. She wanted to tell him that yes, he had heard perfectly, but she couldn't. The words wouldn’t come out of her trembling lips.

Her whole body shook with a sob that turned into a high-pitched dog howl, and she lunged for her friend's arms. Dave caught her by inertia, but in doing so he lost his balance and fell backwards. In other circumstances they would have ended up lying on the ground, she on top of him, but they were right at the edge of the pond. A short gasp was the last thing Sofia heard before the cold water engulfed them. At the same time they emerged, soaked from top to bottom, and shook by instinct to get some of the water off their hair and faces. Then they looked into each other's eyes and burst out laughing.

“A she-wolf!” Sofia repeated with a huge smile on her lips and tears on her flushed cheeks. “I told you, ‘I'm not a dog, I'm a she-wolf’. I remember!”

“Sofia, was that you?” Dave grabbed her face with trembling hands and looked into her eyes as if to confirm that he wasn't imagining it, that she really was the she-wolf he had met so many years ago.

“Yes, it was me. I was that pup.” Sofia nodded with vigorous movements.

Dave let out a high-pitched whimper and hugged her tightly, as if he feared she would disappear if he let go. Sofia hugged him back and started laughing. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe that the wild pup she once played with when she was a little girl had become her best friend. She couldn't believe she was in his arms right now, breathing in his scent as he rubbed his nose against her cheek in a caress that was making her shiver.

“God, you can't imagine how many times I've thought about you, how many times I wondered where you'd be. I can't believe it's you.” Dave pulled away from her just enough to look into her eyes. On his lips was a smile so wide that his four fangs, which were slightly larger and didn't look human, came into view.

“I can't believe you're real. I've dreamed so many times about that howl and that pup that I thought it was just my desire to find other cinanthropes like me. I thought it was only a dream,” said Sofia, who was smiling as much as he was and couldn't take her eyes off those sky-colored irises.

“It was real.” He reached up to her face and brushed aside a strand of hair. “God, it was real,” he gasped almost out of breath as he ran his fingertips along her cheek, as if he were trying to memorize every detail and every imperfection.

The touch of his fingers on her face made her shiver, but not as much as the bright-eyed gaze that kept staring at her as if she was the most incredible thing he'd ever seen. Though what made her heart skip a beat was when he cupped her cheek with his palm and leaned towards her with more determination than he'd ever shown before. ‘Fuck!’ Sofia opened her mouth slightly with the intention of uttering his name, but the only thing that escaped from it was a sigh that mingled with her friend's breath when his lips landed on hers in a warm kiss. ‘Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!’.

A horde of butterflies began to flutter through her stomach and everything around her disappeared. She could no longer feel the pond's water, nor the scents of the forest or the wind's caress against her skin. The only thing she was able to perceive was his taste, his warmth, the slight trembling of his body and that masculine musk she couldn't ignore whenever he was close to her. ‘Fuck, Dave!’.

Sofia had been fantasizing about it for so long that it was as if a dam broke and let out all that repressed desire. With a moan that sounded very nonhuman, she tangled her fingers in his hair and let herself go completely. She longed to go deeper into the kiss, to savor every inch of his body and feel the graze of his fangs on her skin. She was a wolf, not a sweet puppy, and she wasn't going to settle for just a brush of lips.

Of course, he was no pup either. Dave pulled her close to his chest and, with a hungry growl that made her shudder, kissed her with the same unleashed fire. It wasn't like in her dream. He didn't have that gentle sweetness, quite the opposite. He was intense and passionate like a raging storm and he was awakening her desire to nibble on his jaw, to sink her nose into his fur, to run by his side and to howl with him.

“God…” whispered Dave when he pulled away from her to catch his breath.

In the darkness of the night, the moon falling over them drew a greenish glow from his pupils, though that was not what took her breath away. It was the small shadow of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. It was the gleam of excitement in those blue eyes. It was the way he looked at her, as if he'd never seen anything so amazing before. Fuck, fuck, fuck, it wasn't possible, was it? What she was seeing in his smile, on his face, she was imagining it. It couldn't be true. She couldn't be that lucky.

“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let myself get carried away like that,” said Sofia, acutely aware of how much her cheeks burned and of the telltale idiot's grin on her face.

“It... it doesn't matter... I was the one who... kissed you first...” he murmured, his cheeks burning just as much and with a shy smile not unlike her own.

Without ceasing to exchange glances, the two teenagers jumped out of the pond and shook like the two canids they both were, splashing water everywhere. At the absurdity of the situation, they both burst out laughing, although the slight trembling of their voices betrayed how nervous they both were.

“I'm... I'm sorry...” Dave scratched his head in embarrassment, but the smile didn't disappear from his lips.

“You know I don't mind. After all, I do the same when I want to get dry.”

Sofia brushed his hand with her fingertips, but hesitated and looked into his eyes for some kind of hint that would tell her how to proceed. After what had happened between them, she wasn't quite sure of where they stood.

“I know, and you don't know how important it is to me that you accept me as I am. You don't... you don't know how important you are to me.” Dave caressed her face again and looked at her so intensely that Sofia felt the butterflies in her belly flutter. “That's why I'm so afraid.”

“Afraid of what?” Sofia tilted her head to one side, and as she did so, her friend's palm covered her cheek completely.

After letting out a deep sigh, Dave licked his lips and turned away from her. The warmth in his gaze faded as it wandered off into the maze of trees that constituted the forest around them. The same forest whose scent he carried in his skin as if it were part of him, because in a certain way it was, and Sofia knew it very well.

“I... I'm afraid this won't work and I'll lose you. That's why I haven't dared to take the plunge until now... even though I've known for months that I have feelings for you.”

“Months?” Although she tried to avoid it, a growl crept into her voice.

“Yes, since the day we played in the park like... like dogs. I felt like kissing you and it left me very confused. You were my best friend, you had become very important to me but...” He took a deep breath, “That made me aware that I felt something else, but I didn't really know what it was. I had never felt this way for anyone, maybe because I had never... I had never fallen in love.”

Dave reached out to Sofia's hand and let his fingertips brush her skin in a caress that she was very, very aware of. There was a shy little smile on his lips that matched the blush on her cheeks, and she wasn't going to deny that she found it charming, but that wasn't what took her breath away. It was the way he was looking at her, as if he couldn't believe that the person in front of him was real. ‘Fallen in love?’.

“The day that it became clear to me,” he continued. “The… the day I knew I had fallen in love with you was when you saw me change on a full moon for the first time. I was in my real appearance, behaving like a dog, and you looked at me and talked to me like you always did, as if I were still human. As if I was still... me.”

“It was you. You just change your appearance, but you're still you.” Sofia let her fingers tangle with her friend’s.

“I... I know, but most people don't see it that way. You don't know how much that meant to me. You don't know how much it meant to me that you... accepted me completely...” he gasped, and looked at her so lovingly that Sofia shuddered.

“Why didn't you tell me then? I'm sure you must have noticed that I had a crush on you. It shows a lot,” Sofia said with a shy smile that, like the blush on her cheeks, gave her away.

“I... I suspected it, but I wasn't sure. I've never been good at these things. Besides, I… I don’t want to drag you to a life that won’t make you happy.”

“What do you mean?”

“You wanted to get away from your past, from the supernatural world, and I...”

Dave took in a deep breath, raised his hands and showed them to her. Human, but the skin on the fingertips and palms began to turn black and rough, and soft, white fur started to sprout all over his body. A partial change he could control, to some extent. In the silence of the night, embraced by the warm summer breeze, their gazes met, and Sofia was glad to be able to see in the dark with absolute clarity. She was glad, because that was how she was able to appreciate the firm conviction and sincere love in those blue eyes.

“I can promise you that I will always be by your side, that I will support you in your decisions, I will protect you with my own life if necessary and I will always love you unconditionally, but I cannot give you a normal life. I will always be a wild animal.”

Dave growled in frustration and he looked away once more. Again the moonlight reflected in his eyes, and in its dim clarity, his canine features became more obvious. Or perhaps Sofia was noticing them more because she knew what he had said was true. He was a wild animal, always had been. A wild animal who had come into her life to turn it upside down, and who had achieved what she had thought impossible; that she would once again be able to smile, to fall in love, to be happy.

“Dave, I don't want a normal life.”

“You don’t?” Dave asked, adopting that confused puppy attitude she found so charming.

Sofia shook her head and a wide smile appeared on her lips.

“It's true that there was a time when that was what I wanted most, but not anymore,” she said, as she took his hands and looked into his eyes. “You have shown me another life, you have shown me another side of the moon and I want to continue to share it with you. I want to be with you during the full moon, and I want to wake up in your arms, and I want to hear your howl and see the fangs in your smile. The time I have spent with you has been the happiest of my life and I want to stay by your side so I can learn more about your world. Our world.”

Dave let out a high-pitched whimper and hugged her tightly. Sofia hugged him back and laughed out of pure happiness as she enjoyed his warmth and smell. A pleasant tingling shook her stomach as she felt his warm breath on her neck and the graze of his fangs on the skin of her jaw. Sofia let out a soft growl, similar to a purr, and she too traced a line of soft nibbles down his chin.

“God... I love you so much,” Dave breathed against her ear.

“I love you too,” Sofia replied, smiling.

When they pulled away, Dave took a deep breath and looked at her as if he could hardly believe that this girl who was now in his arms was real. On his lips there was a huge smile that matched the gleam of enthusiasm in those blue eyes she had fallen in love with. To be honest, Sofia didn't quite believe that, after crushing on that weredog for so long, she had ended up being his mate. Fuck, she had come to believe that they were going to be eternal friends, and now she was looking forward to a future together, eager to experience everything with him.

“Howl with me!” Sofia exclaimed.

“Always...” Dave answered in a husky voice.

At the same time, they both took a breath, raised their heads to the sky and let out a long and joyful howl that echoed through the pine grove. As their voices merged into a single song, their hearts began to beat in unison and they stopped being just friends to start to think of each other as mates. Yes, Sofia thought, that strange life of full moon nights, of magic and secrets would be perfect.