Adam stretched, trying to work a knot of tension from his muscular frame. As had happened well over 280 times in his life since his 18th birthday, it was a full Lupine Moon. Every month, throwing in a couple of blue moons over the years, he looked for her. It seemed as if he’d been searching forever. He was almost 40 and more than ever before he felt the essential lack of a mate to complete him.
Energized, the predatory urge to track coursed through his moon-sensitized body. Some instinct whispered across his skin that this time he would succeed.
He knew he had come close to finding her the last couple of months. He’d caught the faint scent of her; enough to stir his mating instincts, but the hint always disappeared before he tracked her down. Adam knew what that meant—a safe room. He could only hope that by following the trace he had of her to the same area, and that this month she wouldn’t make it in time...that she’d forget, or think herself secure.
Then she would be his. Muscles clenching in anticipation and hope, he moved resolutely into the night.
It was time. Adam could feel the energy of the moon calling to him. Changing him. Throwing his clothes off, he felt the first tingling ripples under his skin. Opening himself, he welcomed the transformation, reveling in the sensation that would change him in a bright flash, from man—to wolf. His last thoughts in human form centered on how much he loved this life, but how he yearned for someone special to share it with him. He could only hope that the old stories were true, that when you felt as if you couldn’t live without your mate one minute longer—that was when you found them.
Following a brilliant burst of light a large, gray wolf moved out of the shadows. The early wars to grant rights to all races, not just the dominant human race, allowed him the freedom and relative safety to roam in his second form. It had been more than a century since either lycanthropic or the Others had to hide. Two decades ago the Lupine Act had given his kind the added benefit of being legally allowed to hunt for their mate.
His mate had to be warm-blooded. She could be Were, human, or one of the Others. In the sub species of Others there were many that were warm-blooded, Faerie and Sprites to name two. Vampires were cold-blooded. His mate had to be genetically capable of having live young. He knew of no Were that had ever mated with a Vampire—the genetic codes never matched. Of course, there were many additional sub species that were compatible, and he wouldn’t care what species his mate was, just that she was his. He hadn’t really kept up on the science of Crypto-zoology, the study, uncovering and classification of hidden animals.
All Were-creatures and vamps had been among the first studied in this field several hundred years ago. He knew they were working on the classification of Big Foot now. When it was proven that any man-like animals existed, had the capacity of speech and the ability to reason, verified that they could be good or inherently evil just like their human counterparts, then they would be given the rights and protections won during the early wars as a sub species of man. So humans would be forced to stop killing them for sport or putting them in cages. They would have to accept them. As neighbor, and mate.
Unfortunately that didn’t stop the Ku Klux Klan mentality of groups like the ‘One Racers’, humans who felt that any sub species should be staked or kept in a zoo, and definitely not allowed to associate or procreate with one of pure human blood. Never mind that over the centuries it was difficult to find a family tree that hadn’t intermingled their blood in one form or another with either Were or Vampire.
In human form, Adam had these thoughts. In wolf form, he concentrated on one thing—following the scent of his mate.
And this Lupine Moon that scent was strong.