Rejection on the Full Moon (Rejection Series) Chapter 83

"What or whoever made you sad and seek sanctuary here, Little Wolf, they aren't worth it. You have a beautiful wolf form and a bright future ahead of you. I can feel it," His compliment and gentle words settle the pain in my heart. This stranger is right; Mika did not deserve me after the years of pain he put me through. I will do better than Hidden Claws.

"Now, about that standing thing," The subject changes, causing me to roll my eyes at this friendly stranger as he slowly backs away from me, giving me enough space to move but close enough that I feel like he will catch me if something happens. I knew from my rolling around earlier that I can move in some form, but standing would be another challenge to me.

Testing each limb gingerly, stretching, and moving to see the strength I have, I slowly push my body off the ground. Some attempts leave me tumbling back to the soft grass, happy to be close to the ground already, until finally, on shaky, unsteady legs, I finally stand. Throughout my attempts to stand, which I assume took about thirty minutes, give or take, the man before me laughed every time I fell or my paw slipped out from under me, causing me to growl in frustration at his "moral support."

"I'm going to take a guess and say you are new at this, Little Wolf," He states with a deep chuckle. I roll my eyes at him and respond silently, Thank you for pointing that out, Captain Obvious. I think wishing I could link him this sarcastic retort but sadly cannot. The eye roll seems to elicit another chuckle from this friendly jerk, and I let out a small growl at him.

"Okay, okay. I get it, not amusing," He surrenders, hands up as he backs away with a grin.

"Why don't you try walking towards me now? See how your legs feel and if you can get used to the new coordination you'll have to perform in wolf form." Now , this was helpful, and I nod at his words. I slowly move my front left leg, testing my balance first while lifting it into the air and slowly putting it back down, repeating the same movement with each leg in turn. I'd be an idiot to start confidently walking right away, knowing I would fall flat on my snout and cause this man to burst into a laughing fit at my expense. Of course, every now and then, I had to shake my head to move the long tuft of fur from my eyes so as not to impede my progress. That's when the stranger steps in and uses an extra hair tie to keep the hair out of my eyes and lets me resume testing my balance once more. Once confident enough with my balance, I take my first step. Then another, and another. At first, I am wobbling like a newborn dear, feeling like at any moment ,my legs will give out. But once muscle memory kicks in, my walking speed slowly increases, and I find myself less cautious of each step. Within another five steps ,it feels like I've been walking in wolf form since the day I was born.

As natural as breathing, I confidently trot towards the man, my tongue lolling out the left side of my mouth as happiness fills me. I watch as he slowly backs away from me, close enough to catch me if need be, but always moving and making me move towards him until he stops, and I find myself standing in front of him, feeling triumphant at this accomplishment. His hands ruffle my fur, removing the hair tie from it as the long tuft falls in place once again.

"Good job, Little Wolf! Now smile." His word of praise fills my ears, and they quickly perk up, my tail thumping on the ground happily. A sudden flash and sound of a shutter follow quickly, making me jump and growl in surprise.

"Sorry, Little Wolf. I didn't mean to scare you, but I thought you would like to see what you look like." He apologizes while turning the latest Samsung screen towards me. My eyes widen as I take a look at the live photo, a pure white wolf clearly depicted. Her silver grey eyes hold a look of confidence and triumph in their depth. Her white fur is full and healthy, the gentle breeze flowing through it and causing the sun to reflect off of it like a prism. Hues of different colours constantly change direction in the live photo, where each ray of sun hits the wildflowers dancing around her. A tuft of long fur, almost like bangs, covers the left side of her face. The final touches are the small patches of silver fur with swirls and stars climbing up part of her paws. She is beautiful… No… I AM beautiful.

"Have you had enough staring?" The man asks, and I nod, moving my eyes from the screen to him and watching as he puts his phone away and takes off his shirt and pants. Happy for the fur covering my face, I blush and turn to look away, hearing another of his deep chuckle at my reaction.

"How about we play, Little Wolf!" He exclaims playfully, the sounds of his own shift making me whip my head in his direction, where I now see a pure black wolf with a tuft of fur in the shape of a diamond in the center of his forehead. His forest-green eyes hold a hint of playfulness, and his teeth nip at my "bangs" before he takes off, me hot on his trail as the chase ensues.