When a Moth loved a Bee

The Stranger

I OPENED MY EYES.

Was I dead or still alive?

A full moon shone above, silver and bright, illuminating the long grass where I’d accepted my death and somehow hadn’t succumbed.

Why was I still breathing?

Sucking in a thin breath, cursing the vise-like pain in my stomach and the haze in my head, I forced my eyes to focus.

A soft thud landed on my chest.

It was warm, heavy, and wet.

A wolf stood over me, its tongue stained crimson and horns puncturing the moon. It whined and bent its giant head to nuzzle my chin. Its large bushy tail wagged in the gloom. Another wolf joined it, standing on my other side. It wasn’t as big as the one still nosing my chest, shifting the heavy weight placed there.

I flinched as the second wolf growled, its teeth glinting in the moonlight as it snatched at the thing draped over my heart, and a spurt of warmth coated me. It shimmered black in the darkness as the sharp scent of blood struck my nose.

I tore my gaze away from the wolves, focusing on the carcass they’d placed on me.

A hare.

A dead hare with its belly torn open and flesh jagged from killing teeth. Still warm. Still bleeding.

With its silver-dusted black fur, the larger wolf licked my chin, then nosed the carcass toward my throat.

I…I don’t understand.

I’d waited for them to eat me, not…feed me.

A third wolf sat on its haunches by my feet, raising its majestic muzzle to howl at the moon as if impatient with my lack of understanding. A fourth padded above my head, its giant paws catching in my overgrown dirty hair as it bent over me from above, clutched the hare in its fangs, and dropped it squarely onto my mouth.

Floppy legs and long ears draped over my cheeks.

It suffocated me as its death shot up my nose, making my own demise that much sadder.

I groaned and used energy I didn’t have to try to lift an arm. I needed the bleeding corpse off my face. I wanted to die with fresh air in my lungs, not the musky terror of a dead hare.

Another wolf joined the smaller one in a howl. My ears rang. My eyes watered. And the hare’s blood slipped past my lips and onto my tongue.

I choked on the metallic liquid, still warm from its torn-out heart.

And for a moment, my stomach revolted.

I retched and blacked out, leaping into the fog that’d stalked me far more successfully than these strangely behaving wolves. But as I tripped between living and death, the hare’s blood rolled over my tongue, cascaded down my desiccated throat, and pooled into my emaciated belly.

A spark.

A light.

A flicker.

Life roared through me.

Fierce and ferocious.

The hollowness of missing someone I couldn’t remember was filled up with blood, erasing the ever-present grief I carried, replacing it with hot instincts to survive.

My body moved with primal need.

Shaking arms soared upward.

Trembling hands clamped on the dead hare.

And my teeth, which hadn’t eaten anything in so very, very long, tore into the cooling flesh, ripping off strips and swallowing them down before I had a chance to chew.

Primitive noises echoed in my chest. Noises I didn’t know I was capable of making.

Growls and grunts, snarls and savagery.

With each bite, I felt stronger.

With each swallow, death faded and let go.

And by the time I’d eaten my fill and the bloody bones of the hare glistened in the moonlight, I opened my eyes and saw clearly for the first time in so long. No starvation haze. No dehydration delusion.

I had enough power to push my still-shaking, blood-covered body into a sitting position.

Moonshine hair and eyes glowing with the sun; her laugh caused flowers to bloom—

I tripped forward as the vision buckled me.

I blinked at the ring of spiral-horned wolves.

They blinked back.

They licked their lips.

They glanced at the rivers of blood coating my chest, arms, and hands.

Whatever I’d seen faded beneath forgetfulness, and for a heartbeat, I feared they’d fed me so I’d have the energy to fight. That they intended to revive me just enough to provide sport as I bolted from their pack only to be slaughtered as I ran.

The largest wolf stood and padded toward me. The alpha. A male so large and powerful he blotted out the moon, towering over me like a fur-covered mountain. His nose touched mine.

He stared into me.

I felt no fear.

Only…friendship.

Reaching out to thank him, I paused as the alpha stiffened. My blood-drenched hand trembled as he sniffed my fingers, snorted a great gust of warm air, then lowered his head just enough for me to touch.

I shivered as my hand buried into his thick ruff.

I swallowed in awe as the mighty beast licked my nose.

And it was only natural for me to press my weight into the powerful bulk of my rescuer, stumbling to my feet, keeping my hand on his fur as my body slowly remembered how to stand.

If my body could recall such things, perhaps my mind would follow.

Maybe I would remember the missing piece of my heart and find the one who’d left me torn open and screaming into an endless, empty void.

The alpha twisted his giant head to look at me. His horns spiralled into the sky. His fangs white and sharp. With a huff, he shook his muscular bulk, and I felt a bond form between us. A link that went past species and into a realm I didn’t understand.

I swear his lips shifted into a canine smile before he growled softly, his yellowed eyes shifting over his moonlit pack. My fingers vibrated with his snarl, his fur tickling my arm.

As one, the pack slinked into the shadows, looking back as if to deliver the invitation to follow.

For a breath, I didn’t move.

I swallowed the lingering taste of the life-saving meal they’d gifted me.

I’d embraced death.

I’d wanted it.

Yet life had somehow given me a second chance.

With a soft grumble, the alpha stepped forward with a massive paw, crushing grass with his weight. He stepped again, tugging me forward with my hold on his fur.

With my shakes fading and stomach pleasantly full, I copied him.

I put one foot in front of the other and, with the alpha staying by my side, granting me his strength and stability, I left my loneliness behind and followed them.

* * * * *

Climbing the shower of boulders that’d tumbled from the hillside, skirting the thickets of weeds and vines that hung over the mouth of the cave, I ducked into the black yawn of a den.

A snarl welcomed me, followed by the scurry of claws on stone.

The alpha growled, his hackles raising as his yellow eyes glared into the absolute darkness. After so many nights of wandering with nothing but starlight to guide me, I’d grown used to seeing in even the darkest of midnights, but I still flinched as a female wolf exploded from the cave.

She skidded on pebbles, her tail lashing and teeth bared.

The alpha stepped in front of me, his tail swatting me in the face as his growl switched to a bone-shattering snarl.

The female instantly lowered herself to the ground, pressing her snout to the dirt, her horns coiled and not as large as the alpha’s. She showed submission to her mate but kept her luminous gaze locked on me.

Behind her came the fumblings of many paws and happy yips of pups. A tumble of them appeared from the depths, snapping playfully, their chubby bodies wriggling with excitement.

The female roared at them to halt, her growl full of protection and worry.

So that was why she was aggressive. Why she challenged her mate when his hunting party had accepted me without concern.

This was their den.

A home where their younglings lived and played.

I was a threat to everything precious within it.

The pups whimpered as the female snapped at them, sending them scurrying back into the darkness. The alpha grumbled another warning, sending the female back to her belly.

She never took her eyes off me, hungry and hateful.

The alpha stepped toward her, towering over her as he took her nape in his powerful jaws.

My heart lurched.

I didn’t think.

“Stop.” Lurching forward, I dropped to my knees in front of the female, pressing my hand against the alpha’s muzzle where he held her pinned. “Let her go.”

I braced for teeth.

I knew I interfered and had done something incredibly stupid.

But I didn’t need the alpha protecting me.

I wouldn’t have him defending me against his own kin. I refused to upset his life just because he’d given mine back to me.

If his mate didn’t want me, then so be it.

I was used to being alone.

I removed my hand from his snout, swaying against the sudden crippling ache in my lower belly at the thought of returning to a life of emptiness.

I would prefer death over that.

Slowly, the alpha let his mate go. With a glowing, searching gaze, he studied me. He licked his lips and finally stepped back. With a snort of authority and acceptance of my suicidal plan, he moved past the female and disappeared into the den’s darkness.

I didn’t move as the other wolves who’d been out hunting with him trailed past, all sniffing me with their wet, cold noses as if granting their approval of me in their home before slipping into the shadows.

Only once the last one had gone did the she-wolf swoop to her feet and snarl directly in my face.

My heart pounded.

I stayed on my knees.

I waited for her to either kill me or accept me.

With a violent sneeze, she dug at the ground. Her claws scraped over rock, her teeth wet with spit.

I stiffened as she sniffed my filthy hair. I cringed from her fangs as she licked at the hare’s blood on my chin.

She sneezed again, the noise explosive as if my scent offended her. Her tongue flicked over sharp teeth. She lowered her head enough to stare directly into my eyes.

I raised my jaw.

I caught her ferocious glower.

I didn’t look away as I raised a shaking hand and reached across the small distance between us.

A growl grumbled, but she didn’t bite.

I steeled myself and…touched her.

Her glowing eyes widened as I stroked her thick ruff.

Her growls ceased as I sank my fingers into her warmth.

She suddenly whimpered and crowded closer, colliding our forms and making my heart ache with love.

I’d been loved once.

I’d loved someone once.

She tasted like sunlight and frost, her lips as soft as—

I shuddered as a gush of what I’d lost washed over me. Viciously intense. Ruthlessly overwhelming. My bones broke with longing and loneliness, and I couldn’t help myself.

I crawled into the wolf.

I buried my face in her fur.

I inhaled the musk and warmth of a beast that could so easily slaughter me and threw my arms around her.

She whimpered again, lowering her head onto my back, tucking me close against her. We shared an embrace as if we’d known each other all along.

As if, once upon a time, we’d been kin.