Lunar Cycles

Chapter 4
Zo was clueless as to why he had as much self control as he did. He had managed to make it to the middle of a forest before collapsing against a birch tree and puking. His stomach heaved to the point that he was surprised not to find his excrement in the brownish yellow puddle. Groaning, the long haired werewolf slid down the surface of the tree and sat in a patch of grass, his head hanging between his legs. Sweating profusely, he all but tore off his vest and shirt, his breath heavy. He wanted to join the pack again before they awoke, but he was not sure if he could stand without vomiting whatever was left in his stomach.
When he finally felt his stomach had settled down, Zo stood on shaking legs and turned to leave, only to find he had an audience. Grenier was leaning against another tree, feet planted firmly amongst gnarled roots. His expression was difficult to identify.
“Did you follow me?” Zo asked. The dark skinned man shook his head.
“When I woke up and realized you were gone, I went looking.”
A few seconds of silent contemplation passed between the two skinwalkers before Zo decided to speak again.
“Don’t tell Varek.”
“I didn’t need to listen to find you. The smell alone was strong enough. And when he awakes, he’ll find out soon enough too.”
Sighing in exhaustion and frustration, he sat back down, unsure of what to do next. He found himself afraid to confront Varek. Not only did he still have no inkling of what was wrong with him, but he did not want to cause worry in his alpha. The leader did not need to grow concerned over such a trivial thing, and Zo did not want to look like a liability.
“He needs to know.”
Zo glared at his pack mate but it did nothing to make him back down.
“He has the right to know, and not only because he’s our alpha. You are mates.”
Eyes lowered, Zo’s expression became resentful. An explicitly detailed flashback popped into his head as though his own subconscious were mocking him. That memory was quickly replaced by one of several he had from seeing Varek and Sonja fucking each other senseless.
“He’s not mine,” he finally said, standing up and stretching out his arms. Lord, he felt tired. “He doesn’t belong to me.”
“But you belong to him. You said so before we left for Creiger.”
The long haired skinwalker stepped toward Grenier, his distress clear as day. “I don’t know what this is… werewolves aren’t supposed to get sick. For all I know, it could be contagious.” He turned to walk away, picking up his shirt and vest
“Think straight, Zo,” Grenier objected. “You’re part of a pack. Maybe we can help you.”
“Maybe you can’t.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
Such words once again caused Zo to wonder what Grenier knew of that the rest of the pack did not. Aside from Iola, Zo was the oldest amongst the pack, and yet the Cajun standing behind him knew more about being a skinwalker than anyone else they knew.
“Do you know what’s wrong with me?”
Grenier squinted into the brightening morning sky, his bad eye a tiny grey slit. Finally he shook his head and faced the man again.
“I wouldn’t know what the hell it is unless you stayed. It could be nothing.”
“Or it could be something…?” Zo returned, frowning. “I’m not going to become trouble for this pack. Contagious or not, I can’t stay. I’m not going to lie; I’m scared. I’m scared out of my mind… not just for me, but for the pack. If anything does happen to me, I want to be far away from the rest of you.”
Grenier initially looked ready to argue, but he stopped himself. He backed away several steps before speaking again.
“You want to stay away. I want to help. I’ll give you ten minutes before I tell Varek.”
Zo could have been full of bullshit when he said he was afraid, but the look in his eyes now convinced Grenier that his pack mate was nothing but truthful. The eldest skinwalker hesitated at first, but finally turned on his heel and ran, long wisps of hair caught in the wind as he ventured to his motorcycle. It would take him less than five minutes to get to it if he ran. And yet running further exacerbated his relentless exhaustion and erratic stomach.
His hog was just where he left it, parked further away from the others. He had done this in case his stomach had decided to rebel as it had for the last four days. Zo wondered if Varek had recognized the unusual behavior, though he had not addressed the matter to him directly. Presuming the alpha had, Zo, put on his leather jacket – too warm, but what could he do – and his sunglasses and mounted the motorcycle. He pulled it onto the road in the direction of Creiger and looked back. He was the beta of Varek’s pack, one of the eldest of them all… and here he was, running away like a chicken-shit.
I’ll be back, he reasoned with himself. I’ll figure things out and in no time I’ll be back…
Igniting his hog’s engine, he took off.
*
The sound of the roaring engine traveled through the woods, all the way to the sensitive ears of the other half of the group. Varek was the first to rise, shortly followed by Sonja. Before his mind could even register the possibility of one of his pack leaving, he knew that something was wrong. There was a smell in the air that he had picked up each morning for four days now. Zo’s scent lingered in the woods, but no longer as strong as it had once been. The beta had taken off.
Varek found himself racing through the forest, following the trail of his second-in-command’s scent until he came across Grenier. The Cajun werewolf appeared sympathetic, and it was blatantly obvious he had let Zo leave.
“Where is he?” the alpha demanded.
“He wants to find out what’s wrong with him,” Grenier answered, “Alone, if possible.”
“Where did he go??” Varek growled, his face within inches of the other man’s.
Grenier seemed unfazed, but perhaps it was because he could only see half of the enraged alpha’s glowering visage. “He left ahead towards Creiger. He’s worried whatever it is will be contagious.”
Varek hardly faltered and continued to glare down his nose at Grenier. His vision was shifting and he knew his eyes had become that of the wolf.
“I’ve seen the way you’ve looked whenever something weird is going on with him. What are you not telling me? What the fuck is wrong with him?”
A caution flickered in good eye and bad as Grenier tried to figure out an answer.
“There are legends that have been forgotten by most skinwalkers. My grandmamma was old enough to know them and recited them to me and my brothers and sisters. About two weeks ago, you and Zo fucked each other’s brains out. We all heard it.”
“Unfortunately,” Sonja remarked cattily. Varek snarled in warning, surprising the woman. Obviously she was jealous of any others who took the leader’s attention away from her, unlike Zo who despite his age and status in the pack often stood aside whenever Varek took others as mates.
“You did it on a second full moon in the month,” Grenier continued, ignoring the deadly look on Sonja’s beautiful face. “A blue moon, which is pretty damn rare.”
“And…?” Varek asked, patience thinner than a knife’s edge.
“Grandmamma said, ‘when a blue moon rises, rare things become commonplace’. She would tell us that an alpha can gain new abilities. If he lays down with someone on the night of a blue moon, the mate will be infected…”
The once impressive growling gaze fixed upon Varek’s face began to fade while listening.
“Infected?” he finally echoed.
“Changed… for good.”
“How?!”
*
The guilt Zo felt at running away from his pack like a child was only overshadowed by the very real, physical pain he felt deep inside. Eventually the cramping twinge he felt deep in his gut was joined by that now familiar sickness. Pulling over as quickly as he could without causing an accident, he hurried off the bike and barely made it to the bushes before he was choking out bile and partially digested food. He was still gagging after he had emptied himself out and nothing but green juices were expelled.
Gasping for breath, he staggered for a moment and then fell to his knees, dizzy from the experience. When the daze and exertion finally overwhelmed him, Zo collapsed and rolled onto his back, tearing at his clothes.
Too hot… it was too hot, too tight…!
Crawling behind the foliage, Zo stripped down naked to the waist, beads of sweat collecting on his brow. The ache was still present deep down in his belly, so he unbuckled and unzipped his jeans, which felt far too snug on his body at present time. He could not remember if he had turned off his hog, but Zo hardly cared at the moment, too concerned with calming his stomach and making sure what happened only seconds ago did not happen again.
But what if it did? He was almost positive it would.
Perhaps he was dying… Zo sighed and leaned his head back, shutting his eyes and letting unrelenting sleep take him. At this point, death was better than having to face Varek again.