The Starlit Wolf: The Finale

Aries

Aries shook out his hair, splattering water all over the bathroom before stopping, grabbing a towel, and scrubbing his head until his hair was mostly dry.

A morning run had been just the thing he needed. Just himself, alone in the woods, away from his ‘Alpha of the Fire Moon Pack’ responsibilities.

He’d spent a few hours sprinting in his wolf-form, chasing rabbits he had no intention of killing just to get out some of the eternally-sizzling energy he just couldn’t seem to be rid of.

That, and the thoughts about Sage, which were all-encompassing and just as frustrating as they’d ever been.

He was halfway through getting dressed when he heard his brother coming down the hallway.

“Aries,” Adam said, no doubt right outside. “Can I come in?”

He asked that like he wasn’t already starting to open the door. Aries sighed.

“Well you’re halfway there,” he said. “So you might as well.”

Adam smiled as he opened the door, then wrinkled his nose with a laugh.

“Smells like wet dog in here, man,” he said. Aries picked up the t-shirt he’d been wearing out on his run and threw it in Adam’s face.

He laughed when Adam yelped and ducked out of the way.

“What do you want,” he asked, pulling on a clean t-shirt.

“Well I was going to ask if you wanted to do something with me and Cap, but if you’re too busy sulking then nevermind.”

“Who’s sulking,” Aries muttered, checking his fly before pulling on a hoodie. “I’m not sulking.”

He definitely wasn’t sulking about Sage, whose moodiness and general dislike of him were not grating on him at all.

“Sure you aren’t,” Adam said, as though speaking to a small child. “And I’m Nana Emmelyn.”

“You wish you were as cool as her,” Aries said, tucking his hands into his pockets. “Or as smart. Or as easy on the eyes. Or—”

“Excuse me, did you just imply that Emmelyn is a GILF?” Adam asked, hands on his hips, grinning. “I’m telling.”

“What are you, six?” Aries said, shoving Adam’s shoulder with his before heading down the hall with his brother hot on his heels.

“She’s just prettier than you. And classier. And just better in every way.”

“You’re such a jerk,” Adam sighed. “But seriously, me and Cap were going to head out to the Vortex for a while, since he’s here. Do you want to come?”

“I—” he started. Adam cut him off.

“Let me rephrase that. Do you have anything better to do than come out with us to the Vortex, aside from fucking whatever pretty girl bats her eyelashes at you? Or Nana Emmalyn?”

“Jesus, Adam,” Aries groaned.

“You’re the one who said she was pretty,” Adam said. “Though I don’t think she would fuck you even if you asked her nicely.”

“I wouldn’t,” Aries mumbled, letting Adam take him by the arm and tug him along.

Maybe it would be good to get out with someone else for a while, even if it was just to visit the Vortex.

Adam wouldn’t experience anything out of the ordinary in the Vortex. It was just a place where magical ley lines crossed one another. They were all over the place, not unusual in the slightest.

Adam liked going to the Vortex because it let him feel closer to Selene, the moon goddess who watched over them all. He’d always liked going there, especially after their mother died.

Aries never questioned him about it. He never wanted to call attention to his brother’s… Well. Some people might have called it a weakness. But inside the Vortex, Aries and Capricorn would experience another thing altogether.

Adam would commune with Selene. Aries and Capricorn would commune with the true forms of their constellations.

There was always an uneasy tension between them—the wolves representing the Zodiac constellations, and the Gods related to those constellations.

On the one hand, the Gods were all-powerful, as they had been since ancient times.

On the other hand, the constellations they’d brought into being were just as strong, given life by the Gods themselves and given strength by belief. They each had a story, they each had a God. If the balance ever shifted one way or the other, the consequences…

Aries didn’t like to think about the possibility of consequences.

Capricorn was already waiting at the edge of the pack property.

He wasn’t a member of the Fire Wolf Pack, and was just visiting with his grandfather on inter-pack business.

He’d told Aries before that as another alpha, he didn’t like ‘infringing on his space,’ and so usually stayed just outside the pack proper when they came. It was what most of them did when they visited one another.

Capricorn stood out, lean and tall with long blond hair he was currently pulling up into a messy ponytail.

“You need to get a haircut,” Aries called, and waved when Capricorn stood up straight, smiling over at them.

Aries thought he was a perfect representation of his Goddess; Persephone could have made him out of a sunflower in late summer.

“The ladies love it,” Capricorn said, shouldering his backpack. “You should grow yours out.”

Aries thought about what his hair would look like if it was long.

He scowled at the realization that it would look like Sage’s hair, black and slightly curly.

“No thanks,” Aries rolled his eyes. “Let’s go.”

The hike up to the Vortex wasn’t hard, but it was long, and by the time they got there Aries was grateful for Capricorn’s backpack, which was full of snacks and water.

“I knew you wouldn’t think to bring this stuff,” he said, tossing Aries a water bottle. He cracked it open and drank half of it all in one go.

“You never pay attention to stuff like that.”

“What,” Aries asked, wiping his lip.

“Planning,” Capricorn said, motioning to the small, nearly enclosed glade of birch trees. “Shall we?” Aries hesitated.

“You can tell me what’s bothering you on the way back down,” Capricorn offered. Aries looked at him, and Capricorn shrugged.

“You didn’t say a word on the way here, man. It’s pretty obvious something is bothering you.”

Scowling, Aries put down the water bottle, and stepped into the trees. He was immediately transported to the Dome.

The sprawling, cosmic space seemed endless.

The night sky stretched on forever, with a setting sun eternally in the west, and in the east glowed the distant light of Olympus itself.

Aries sighed, walking until he found a place that felt comfortable to sit down and just let go of all his tension.

His constellation—the real, physical being made of stars—made itself known quickly.

It settled itself near him, each of them drawing power and thoughts and feelings from one another.

He’d learned to do this when he was younger. At fifteen, he’d found out that he was the physical embodiment of the Ram, and thus related to Ares.

He could feel Adam, somewhere nearby and Capricorn in the south-west.

The Ram shifted, and Aries opened his eyes.

There was the sensation of something missing. He looked out to the east and squinted; something that should be there was not there.

He could see Gemini, and beyond that were Cancer, Leo, and Libra.

Taurus was missing.

Where the Bull should have been there was nothing but an empty space littered with stardust.

The realization jerked Aries out of his meditation, and he found himself stumbling out of the glade, gasping for breath.

Aries shuddered, irrationally panicked, limbs jittery and head full of static.

Suddenly, his issues with Sage seemed very stupid, immature, and unimportant.