I CROSS THE NIGHT SKY IN MY HORSE-DRAWN CHARIOT TO MEET MY DAUGHTER. Bats, coyotes, whippoorwills, and wolves followed my course, responding to my power and energy as the Titaness of the Moon. I set down in a clearing, Dreyla’s glow emanating from a nearby olive grove. 

“Mother! Mother, I met someone!” Dreyla called, racing to greet me. Excitement and joy radiated from her. 

Dreyla, my oldest, never played the field. Her serious nature and commitment to her duties meant that it was a big deal for her to begin a conversation with that phrase. She continued at such a rapid pace that it was hard to keep up.

“I met him about a year ago, and we spend time together as often as his work allows. He’s so sweet and caring. Just the other day, he sent me a bouquet of my favorite flowers just because he was thinking of me. He’s just so…” She squealed, spinning in place.

“So, can I meet him?” I asked, smiling at her with genuine parental pride.

“Yes, of course!” She beamed, barely able to contain her enthusiasm. “That’s why I’m here. Will you come with me?” 

Her eyes sparkled, and she vibrated with an energy I’d rarely seen in her. It was contagious. 

She scrambled into the chariot and I followed her directions to the meeting place. She chattered happily as we waited. The horses snorted suspiciously as a muscular young man stepped out of the shadows to greet us. The hairs rose on the nape of my neck, the welcoming smile freezing on my face.

No, he couldn’t be! Oh, Dreyla, my darling, this is why he draws you so.

I tried to shake my suspicion, but the truth was explicit in his face. My effect on him was undeniable, and it was apparent he knew I was aware of what and who he was.

“Mother, this is Acontes.”

His name rang in my ears like I had been boxed upside the head. Confirmation.

He bowed in greeting, his eyes flickering marigold. “Madam.” He rose, intentionally avoiding my eyes.

I turned away, closing my eyes and seeking control before looking at Dreyla.

“So, darling, where and how did you two meet?” I asked, forcing a smile back on my face.

“Mother?” Dreyla’s voice was filled with concern. “Mother, are you okay? Your voice, and you’ve become so dark…” Her eyes widened and flicked anxiously between Acontes and me. “Mother?”

I looked pointedly at Acontes. “Are you going to tell her, or should I?”

Horrified realization broke across his face. Either way, his truth would be revealed. His mouth tightened in determined silence.

“Did you think you could keep it from her?” I pressed. “Did you think she would not eventually find out? Or,” I paused, glaring at him, “are you as stupid as your father?”

He flinched, and his head ducked into his shoulders.

“So, it’s on me then, is it?” I growled. “You definitely didn’t get his balls.”

I turned to Dreyla, who stood with a mixed expression of confusion and indignation at my side.

“Drey, darling, Acontes is a son of Lycaon, the werewolf.” 

Shadows shifted across Dreyla’s face, and I could see her processing the situation. She shifted restlessly, and energy ebbed and flowed around her. If I’d ever wondered what she’d inherited from me, there was the evidence. I reached for her hand, but she pulled away, stiff with dawning awareness. 

“When were you planning on telling me?” she said accusingly, her voice echoing between the press of trees and her eyes fixed on Acontes. “Mother’s right. Did you think I wouldn’t find out?” She took an angry breath and leaned forward accusingly. “It’s all beginning to make sense now. How you were only around a few days a month and gave me only barely coherent messages the rest of the time.” She bit her lip, her face a bitter scowl. “I thought wolves weren’t even capable of a functioning intellect, so how did you even…?” her words faded, her eyes filling with bitter tears.

Acontes stepped towards her and gently took her hand. “That’s the point, my love. Typically, that would be true. I am more wolf and trapped in the wolf’s mindset most of the time, but I still thought of you. I did everything in my power to reach out to you and let you know I was thinking of you. Can’t you see that?”

Dreyla snatched her hand from his and drew her arm back to slap him. He winced, bracing himself, but his words must have registered, and her hand fell. She turned to me, and her face was a mask of despair.

“Mother?” She shook her head, tears pooling in her eyes, threatening to cascade down her pale cheeks. “I…I don’t even know where to begin. What do I do now? How did you know when I didn’t?”

“I am the Titan of the Moon, darling. I can feel them. All wolves respond to me, but werewolves are directly connected to me.” 

Dreyla turned away to face Acontes and took a solitary, hesitant step towards him. He lifted his hand, reaching for her, clearly still bracing himself for her retaliation. His eyes pleaded with her to listen. “Please, Drey…”

Her shoulder shifted back, a minute movement, and yet still out of reach. “I don’t know what you think you can say to me that would make a difference,” she said.

Acontes dropped his hand, his posture indicating defeat. “Does saying I love you mean nothing anymore? Does the fact that I could send you messages, even in my wolf-form, mean nothing?”

Dreyla glanced back at me.

“You don’t understand, Acontes,” she said, her voice strained. “I am a daughter of the moon, whose courses are so constant we order our lives, our bodies, around them.”

“And I am the second son of Lycaon. The werewolf, whose every step is ordered and governed by the moon,” Acontes replied, his eyes briefly meeting mine before shifting his gaze back to Dreyla. “I am human once a month. Once. And I spend it with you! And every other moment, every single moment, I spend thinking of you.”

“Is that the life you would have me live, Acontes? I can’t retreat into the wilds of the wolf-mind as you can. I cannot run with you, to know the scent of game or the feel of moss beneath my paws as you do. I am condemned to be unable to communicate with you. To touch you. And now I will know, every moment, every second as it passes, that you are where I cannot reach you.” She took a deep breath, fighting emotions as powerful as the tides. “This lie you have given me, was it to protect yourself or me? You have made me love you for something you are not. For only part of what you are. And now you reveal that the part I know is but a thin sliver, the smallest scrap of time and love I might have from you.”

Heartbroken, Dreyla stared at him, the tears finally slipping down her cheeks in silver streaks.

“You lure me to loving you, then expect me to feast on crumbs forever.”

Shaking his head, Acontes took a tentative step forward before thinking better of it. “Some of that is true, yes,” he agreed. “You can never feel the moss under your paws. But you can run with me, hunt with me, even. I can communicate with you. I’ve already found a way. You’ve received letters from me, haven’t you? They may have been barely legible, but they were letters all the same. If you were with me, imagine the communication we could have. The closeness we could share. We could come to know each other truly. Dreyla, give me a chance, please!”

I stood back and watched them silently. My growing anger and fear shrouding me in darkness. Finally, crossing my arms in exasperation, I could hold back no longer.

“How can you even listen to him, Dreyla? You know this relationship is doomed. Walk away!”

She ignored me. Her attention focused wholly on Acontes. I muttered under my breath and turned away. Snapping my fingers at my horses, I waited until they drew near and climbed angrily back into my chariot. I caught up the reins and lifted into the air, rising on a rush of frustration. I pulled the pawing and snorting horses to a halt, so I could continue to observe from a distance. My fear and anxiety grew as I watched.

Dreyla stood with her gaze half-cast to the sky, aware of my continuing presence but equally aware that the choice was now hers to make alone, and I caught the tremor coursing through her. I could only imagine the conflicting emotions tumbling through my daughter’s mind, and her sigh was unmistakable as she turned her attention from me, taking her first steps back to Acontes. 

I had to concede there was an ethereal beauty in how the moonlight accentuated his perfect frame, highlighting every muscle and every sharp, wild contour of him. No wonder Dreyla struggled to be free of him. I strained to hear her words through the sigh of the wind in the trees.

“I cannot deny what I feel. I can only doubt the strength in me to bear it.” She drew closer to him and leaned forward to drape her arms around his neck. “If all I’m to have is one night every time the moonglass turns, then show me what this love looks like. Here. Now,” she said. “Then come back to me when it turns again, and I will give you my answer.” 

She kissed him, and his hands locked behind her head, their embrace powerful and undeniable. Knowing she had made her choice, I snapped my reins against the horses’ backs, leaving the young lovers in the moonlight and not looking back.

It was months before Dreyla contacted me again. When she did, her message was urgent, and she was clearly distraught. King Lycaon became aware of their relationship, and it came as no surprise to me he was livid, his rage uncontrollable.

I drove my horses hard, struggling against panic. By the time I was circling the location Dreyla gave me, they had worked up a lather. I looked down, straining to see between the night-shadowed trees.

Acontes was in full wolf form and standing defensively before Dreyla, facing off against several of his brothers and Lycaon. They were in a stand-off, and the air rippled with violent tension. I circled lower, and every head turned towards me, focused upon my approach. Fuck! I feared this from the start.

Driving the chariot downwards, I leaped from it before the horses drew to a halt, calling to Dreyla as I closed the gap between us. 

“Drey! Dreyla, please! Let’s go. There’s no negotiating when they’re like this. It isn’t safe!”

I fought to rein in my energy and control my effect over the werewolves’ transformations and power. Acontes shifted his attention from his father, and his eyes met mine. His gaze was intense, burning, and I sensed more to the contact than a mere acknowledgment of my presence. He was trying to communicate with me. Fear. Gut-wrenching, heart racing, uncontrollable fear raced through me as I realized what Acontes was trying to say. 

Run!!!!!

Snatching at Dreyla’s hand, I dragged her forwards and turned to run. Acontes’ eyes flashed, switching from marigold to red. Blood red! He had finally lost control, and his bloodlust rose to envelop him.

Dreyla and I bolted. The small pack had cut us off from the chariot and our escape. They were hot on our heels as we headed into the tightly packed trees, the clearing into which I’d dropped receding behind us. Branches cracked, and the undergrowth crashed around us. My skin crawled in fear, shivers racing down my spine, and panic building in my gut. The werewolves were rapidly catching up and would soon surround us. My mind raced.

“Theia, Eos, Phoebe, Leto!”

The names resonated in my mind as I cried out to my mother and her friends. Dreyla’s stamina was no match for mine, and she was already slowing down. I sincerely hoped the Titans I had called would hear and come to our aid quickly.

A pool of moonlight ahead of us revealed a small clearing, and I felt certain the werewolves would ambush us there, but there was nowhere else to run. I gripped Dreyla’s hand more firmly and indicated the direction with a nod of my head, my breath hitching in my throat and sweat drizzling into my eyes. 

Dust and dirt peppered Dreyla’s face, streaked with tears of fear and pain. I forced my voice to hold steady and calm, masking my own building emotions. She was already struggling and did not need to see my anger and fear.

“We are immortal, and we are strong. Stronger than you can imagine,” I shouted at her. “We have this!”

We hit the middle of the clearing and stopped. A single shaft of moonlight bathed us as we turned simultaneously to crouch back to back. Red eyes glittered from the shadows between the trees and shifting black shapes showed me the pack’s location. They surrounded us.

Dreyla stiffened at my back, and I sensed her resolve harden. That’s my girl! I thought. There was no way she’d go down without a fight.

A voice rang through the night, shifting and echoing on the wind to keep the wolves from tracing its source.

“You aren’t alone, Selene! Let’s do this!”  

Mother! The Titans had arrived!

Lycaon’s howl, calling the pack to action, reverberated through the air. Trees swayed, and the ground shook beneath the massive movements of the Titans and werewolves. The very earth was reacting to these large, powerful, supernatural beings. Acontes appeared, lunging at Dreyla, fangs bared, and saliva dripping to his broad, black chest. Bracing herself against me, she kicked out, catching him mid-leap and sending him backward in a violent arc. He hit the ground and, without so much as a pause, leaped again.

“Acontes. Please!” I heard her scream. “Please, Acontes, I don’t want to fight you!”

He was oblivious to her voice, and she kicked him again. His teeth scored her leg, and her blood marred his black coat, causing the bloodlust to overtake his eyes. A snarl resonated in his chest as he recovered to circle us warily, head lowered and tail extended behind him, two of his brothers joining him.

I had problems of my own. I stepped forward as Lycaon and one of his sons leaped towards me. I glimpsed Leto and Phoebe racing in from our right and Theia from the left. They were too late, and in my distraction, so was I. The two giant wolf-forms pinned me beneath them. I threw my arm up in defense, and Lycaon’s jaws closed on my forearm, his eyes fastened on mine. I ignored the pain and ducked to avoid the second wolf’s attempt to grab my head. Tucking in one leg and pushing just as quickly upwards, I threw Lycaon backward. A hot rush of blood ran down my arm. 

There was no time for thought as I grabbed the second wolf. I hurled him aside and lashed out with a foot as Lycaon came at me again. I caught him hard under the jaw, and his head snapped up, fire burning in his eyes. My respite was brief as his son was already on his feet and resuming his attack. I turned to meet him, and Lycaon launched himself at my back, his breath hot and wet on my neck. Shoving my shoulders up in an instinctual effort to protect my neck, I dropped and spun, lifting upwards and once again casting Lycaon aside. His claws raked my skin.

Immersed in my own battle, I was peripherally aware of fighting all around me. I caught sight of Leto grabbing a wolf by the muzzle, clamping his teeth shut on his tongue. She hurled him violently across the clearing, sending him crashing into a tree, the impact cutting short his yelp of rage and dismay. A second wolf flung itself at her, knocking her to the ground. A cry escaped my lips as the wolf’s jaws locked onto Leto’s raised forearms, blood spraying across his face. Before I could take so much as a step in her direction, Lycaon and his son returned to challenge me. I dodged them, my back burning where Lycaon’s claws had ripped into me.

Theia and Phoebe worked in unison against a pair of wolves. Leaves and dust flew as they circled and spun, the wolves darting in and out, jaws snapping. Their bodies sinuous, continual blurs of motion in their efforts to tear my family apart. Catching Phoebe’s hand, Theia pivoted, swinging Phoebe outwards, sending both legs in a sweeping arc. She caught the first wolf in the ribs and sent him flying into the second. They tumbled end over end but rebounded, scrambling back to their paws and flying in for another attack.

I barely managed to sidestep Lycaon’s launch for my throat before I was ducking under a leap from his son. 

That was it! I was done with this bullshit! 

Gathering my power, I darkened like a full lunar eclipse. I no longer needed to see with my eyes, my mind stretched outwards allowing me to sense everything around me. Time slowed, everything slowed, as if I walked between individual heartbeats. I saw the three Titans, Lycaon and five of his sons, and my daughter. Dreyla was lost beneath the full weight of Acontes, struggling for her life.

Rage surged through me. Leaping past Lycaon and his son, the pair seemingly suspended in front of me. I fell upon Acontes, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and hurling him upwards and away. He somersaulted through the air to land high in a tree, his body thudding and crashing against the branches as he plunged back to the ground.

I barely glanced at Acontes’ still form, dropping to my heels at Dreyla’s side. She was in bad shape. Focused on avoiding harming Acontes, she hadn’t fought back. Her wounds were entirely defensive, and she lay limp and still. 

“Why didn’t you fight?” I breathed with anguish in my voice, gathering her into my arms. She made no reply, her soft face smeared with tears and blood. 

Damn it! I couldn’t heal her while in eclipse, and the fighting continued around us. None of us were safe. Laying Dreyla under the shelter of an arched tree at the edge of the clearing, I straightened, swearing under my breath. “Where was Eos when I needed her? We could have sent Dreyla away, somewhere safe. Eos was never where I needed her when I needed her!”

Turning away from Dreyla, I sought Acontes, but he was no longer under the tree. Scanning the area, I discovered Acontes and Lycaon, shoulder to shoulder, stalking our way. 

Keeping my gaze fixed on them, forcing them to focus exclusively on me, I edged around the clearing. I drew them away from where I had placed Dreyla and they followed. I could see two wolves down, though it was impossible to know if they were merely stunned or just incapacitated by their injuries. I couldn’t discount them from the fight. I couldn’t place the remaining wolves, though the sounds of continued fighting echoed around me, and I had two wolves determinedly stalking me. The fight was far from over.

I rolled my shoulders, ignoring the searing pain in my back and the hot wash of fresh blood seeping through my tunic’s remnants. I focused on drawing Lycaon and Acontes with me. I dropped into a crouch and watched Acontes. His fur rippled, shifting, the effects of my presence gradually wearing off under my eclipse. Lycaon, stronger, his transformation far more stable, continued to glare at me with ruby-red eyes, still deep within his rage and bloodlust. 

A spark of marigold appeared in Acontes’ eyes, and I knew it was Lycaon who was now my greatest threat. I tensed and waited.

The yellow returned to Acontes’ eyes, and he paused, his body losing aggression. I launched into an attack, channeling energy directly from the earth. I was a blur of motion, powered by Earth and Moon and maternal rage. Lycaon leaped at me, and we collided. But he was unprepared. The impact of our bodies sent shock waves through the clearing. He arced through the air with a howl of pain and fury, spinning end over end to disappear into the enveloping shadows of the forest.

There was no time for celebration. I had no guarantee that Lycaon was permanently out of the fight, and we were not yet the victors. I spun on my heel, seeking Acontes. I wasn’t surprised to find him at Dreyla’s side, whimpering and howling in grief and remorse. No doubt, the memories remained fresh in his mind, and the taste of her blood lingered on his tongue. I had no time for him either, but I could have faith he’d now protect Dreyla with his life. Theia, Phoebe, and Leto wearily faced the remaining three wolves, one on one, three on three. Assessing their positions, I circled them and silently approached the snarling wolf trio from the rear. Their bodies were taut with the desire to fight, their ears flattened to their skulls, lips raised over their fangs, and hackles raised across broad shoulders. They sat back onto their haunches, ready to leap, and backed directly into where I waited.

“Did you lose count?” I asked quietly. 

I gave them no time to respond. Taking the tail of one of the wolves in both hands, I spun, launching him far from sight with a crescendo of fading howls. Seeing a window of opportunity while the remaining two wolves were distracted, Leto and Theia raced forwards and quickly dispatched them with cutting blows to their heads. The wolves fell limp between us.

Phoebe bent with her hands on her knees, out of breath and smeared in blood, managing a grateful nod. “It was a good fight,” she said. “Thanks for the call.”

Leto placed a hand on my shoulder. “Selene,” she murmured softly, “it’s over. You can let go now. We no longer need an eclipse.”

Looking around me, I realized she was right. 

Taking a deep breath, I took a step back. I was drawn tight as a drum, my powers centered and contained, my body and heart aching. Closing my eyes, I began releasing and balancing my energy. Gradually, my normal gentle glow returned, and with it excruciating pain. Theia caught me as I stumbled and fell forward, a wave of weariness washing over me. Theia, Phoebe, Leto, and I made our way to where Acontes remained at Dreyla’s side. He flattened at our approach before rolling over in a gesture of submission.

“Selene,” Theia said, ignoring Acontes, “you need to heal yourself before you try to heal Dreyla. You’re too weak in this state.”

Much as I hated to admit it, she was right.

I knelt at Dreyla’s side and fought the intense need to touch her. Instead, I closed my eyes and focused my healing energies on myself. I sought my injuries one by one, feeling the soft rush of power as they drew closed. I rocked back and drew a deep breath, gathering my composure for the work still ahead. Dreyla. It was time to reach out to my broken daughter. I opened my eyes.

Leto and Theia had escorted Acontes aside, and he sat curled against the bole of a giant oak, whimpering, his marigold gaze focused on Dreyla. In a way, I pitied him. How broken must he be, knowing all the pain he had caused the very one he claimed to love with his entire being? But his burden was his alone to bear. It meant nothing to me. I laid my hands on Dreyla.

Blue tendrils of energy passed from me, through me, winding like smoke down into Dreyla. It was slow. Healing another is not the same as healing oneself. Each injury has to be found, isolated, focused upon individually. It is painstaking and exhausting. My head spun, and my body ached. Gradually, painfully slowly, Dreyla’s injuries began to knit and close.

Dawn was filtering through the forest canopy in a soft mist of gold by the time her eyes fluttered with the first signs of awareness. The forest held its breath, and a deathly silence surrounded us.

“Dreyla, rest,” I whispered at her. She relaxed, and I felt her drift into a healing sleep.

I turned to my mother and the friends who had willingly sacrificed their strength to come to our aid.

“How are you all holding up?” I asked. “Phoebe? Leto? I sense your need of me. Let me help you.”

Phoebe waved a hand at Leto. She sat near Acontes and watched him warily, keeping a careful watch over him. I suspected he had no intention of doing any harm or going anywhere. His eyes were pools of remorse, his head laid on his outstretched paws, and his tail curled about his haunches. He was done. 

I turned my attention to Leto, moving to her side and drawing one of her hands into mine. I closed my eyes and focused once again on healing. My power isn’t infinite. Even when I draw from both the earth and the moon, healing is no simple task. I had expended a great deal of energy in the fight, in the eclipse, and in healing myself and then Dreyla. I was tired, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus. I would have to ration my energy or risk collapse myself.

I left a connection in place with Leto, permitting a tendril of energy to continue flowing through to her. I gathered myself and dropped alongside Theia. My mother had been brave, as was to be expected of her. While not as serious as Leto’s and Dreyla’s wounds, her injuries were still extensive. 

“Thank you,” I said as I placed my hands on her. “For coming.”

“What else would I do?” Theia said. She nodded towards where Dreyla was stirring. 

“Did you not do the same?” She coughed, a thread of blood appearing at her lips. “Besides, I haven’t had this much fun in years.”

“Fun?” I scoffed. “Look at you.”

The words barely left my mouth when a sudden drain of energy left me gasping for breath. My vision darkened, and my head spun. I turned to check on Leto, thinking I must have made an unforgivable mistake, only to discover it was not Leto.

Before me played out one of the most astounding scenes of self-sacrifice I have ever witnessed. Acontes lay stretched between Phoebe and Leto, creating a physical conduit of my energy with his own body. I made a mistake, but it was Phoebe’s injuries I’d missed. Acontes saw what I had not and took it upon himself to come to the aid of someone he had seen as an enemy. And he was dying.

As seen by Acontes’ uncontrollable need for blood upon my arrival, my energy works counter-effectively on werewolves. Instead of healing him, my power flowing through him was exacerbating his injuries. 

“Acontes,” I breathed, darkness threatening to take me as my power ebbed.

He turned profoundly sad eyes my way without moving the position of his head. A slowly expanding pool of blood spread around him, his life ebbing away, yet he refused to move. His muzzle lay in Phoebe’s lap, where she sat, eyes closed and pale, and his tail lay across one of Leto’s legs. 

“Acontes!” It was Dreyla, struggling to rise and reaching desperately for Acontes. 

“Dreyla, don’t!” I gasped at her. “If you touch him, you will break the connection, and they may all die!”

“Why? Why, mother? And why isn’t he healing, too?” 

Dreyla had crawled to Acontes side and was now sitting, rocking, sobbing, her body resonating with a desperate desire to hold her beloved wolf. Pain and confusion contorted her face as she watched Acontes bleeding out before her and unable to do anything to help any of us. “I don’t understand. Mother, help him!”

“I can’t,” I admitted, my heart breaking for them both.

Fighting the desire to give into oblivion, I dug deeper within myself, seeking every reserve of energy I possessed. My back burned and blood welled from my wounds to seep through my tunic, drenching me in an unwelcome warmth. Reversing my healing was the only way to continue the flow of healing to the others. 

Darkness claimed me.

I woke lying on my side, my head in Leto’s lap while Phoebe pressed cool, wet cloths to my back. Theia sat next to Dreyla.

My dear, sweet Dreyla sat holding the lifeless form of a blood-matted wolf in her lap, her head bowed as she rocked back and forth. Her cries of anguish and despair echoed through a forest silent in sympathy. Acontes’ price for his forbidden love was his life.

Another day fell to a close, and the sun set before I could garner enough strength to heal myself again.

We buried Acontes on an outcrop overlooking his favorite hunting grounds. Dreyla, Theia, Phoebe, Leto, and I, parted ways without another word spoken between us. Dreyla blamed me. She had to lay her pain somewhere. And it is always easier to blame the ones you love. We have barely spoken since, though I will always accept her in my heart. I await the day she can forgive.

The rest of us returned to our daily lives, holding the memory of those tragic events as best forgotten. Although, for me, the constant immortal fear of King Lycaon seeking revenge for the death of his second son, is one that will never die.