The Moon Festival

         The moon hung low in the star studded October sky.  The chilly wind rushed through the dense forest of skeletal trees that erupted from the ground like boney fingers clawing from their graves and out into the field of dried, dead grass.  It swept past the herd of fluffy white sheep still standing in the blanket of night and carried their scent north, just past the fence and to the rough, black nose of the hungry grey wolf. 
         The wolf crept forward silently, limping slightly, blood dripping from his right front leg, leaving a slight crimson trail as he pawed through the grass.  He slipped past the wooden barrier and slowly stalked toward the silent animals.  A few moments passed before a quick sharp bleat was let out like an alarm.  The herd ran instantly, all in the same direction; away from the wolf.  The wolf leapt to his feet quickly, rushing after the fleeing sheep.  He closed in the space on one straggler and just as his powerful jaws closed in around the sheep’s tender back leg the sound of a shotgun rang through the air.
         The wolf pulled back sharply to the side in a retreat, stumbled, and rolled.  He let out a quick, sharp yelp as his injured paw twisted in the wrong direction, but tried to limp off as quickly as he could.  Getting shot was far from on his list of things to do that day, then again, so was being separated from the pack and falling down that embankment.
         “Brother! Wait!” the voice of an older woman shouted as she ran after the wolf. “Brother wolf! Wait!  We mean you no harm!”
         The wolf slowed and paused, looking back at the woman but his ears shifted in all directions cautiously as he listened for any other noises.  Confusion overtook him as the woman paused only a few feet short of him. 
         They eyed one another for a long moment, meeting each other’s eyes with a sort of neutrality.  The woman lifted her lantern for a better look.  Her long, white hair had been tied back from her face, but the wind was still catching strands, tearing them loose from the band of blue fabric that held her hair back.  Her eyes were blue, the color of a pale autumn sky, clear and cloudless.  Times had taken their toll on her face, leaving smile lines around her mouth and crows feet at the sides of her eyes.  She’d been a cheerful soul in her youth, and from the way she was greeting the wolf, nothing had changed that quite yet.  The wind picked up again, catching her pale azure dress in the breeze and she quickly put a hand over the front to keep it from flying up.  She sniffed the wind in an animalistic sort of way before she smiled again, and years lifted from her face as she did.
         “Ester! Get back ‘ere! You don’t know where he’s been or what he’s got!” a man’s voice boomed from behind her.          
         An elderly man chased after the woman, grey hair kept short and neat despite the late hour, though the slight stubble on his cheek showed that he hadn’t taken the time to shave just yet that night.  He was still in his flannels as he chased her up the hillside into the field.  The wolf’s ears flattened as he watched the man come, the long dark shape in his right hand was too obvious to be ignored.  Shotguns weren’t easy to mistake. 
         The wolf backed up a step as if it might run, but Ester called to her husband quickly. “Irvin! You stop right there before ya’ scare the poor dear off!”  Her voice was commanding, but not quite angry.  She then turned back to the wolf, her eyes tender again. “Come on, dear, we’ll get you out of the cold and patch up that paw.”
         The wolf hesitated another moment, but started for the couple.  Irvin turned back headed for the house shaking his head all the way. He muttered something as he walked.  Something along the lines of “always invitin’  strangers to the house,” but Ester didn’t seem to pay it any mind.  She waited on the wolf and rested her hand on him gently.
         “Come on, we’ll get you out of the cold.”



         The farm house rested back on the land, quite near the woods, yet still in touch with the fields and in sight of the skeletal woods on the far side of their property.  The house had looked old, the wood on the planks outside was beginning to peel, but Ester promised the wolf over and over that it was warm inside, and the crackling fire and smell of burning wood had sealed that promise.
         Inside, Irving had taken his rightful place in the chair beside the fire.  He lit his pipe and began to smoke and watch the flames lick away at the logs and heating the kettle that rested just above the burning embers.
         Ester had other, more important things to mind.  She sat on the floor with the wolf, wrapping his paw very gently.  Finally she sat back and sighed, wiping a bit of sweat that had beaded on her wrinkled forehead.
         “Ya’ know, dear, this would’ve been much easier to treat if you were in your human body.”
         The wolf lifted it’s head quickly and looked around, amber eyes wide with fear as it started to get up again.  If they knew his secret they might just be waiting to put him on trial in the morning.  Of course, in modern times things like that rarely happened.  Werewolf trails and all, but every now and then some hick town would find a way to do it and still keep the existence of werewolves hidden from the outside world. 
         “Relax, Dearie, where do you think ya’ are?” Ester laughed softly and sat back on her knees, “The city?  We’re a more simple folk here.  You’re safe.  You’re like the rest of us.”
         The wolf paused for a long moment, looking to Irving who was looking over some rabbits that were hanging by the fire.  It took the wolf a moment to realize that the rabbits hadn’t been shot.  They’d been brutalized, the way a wolf would catch and kill a rabbit.  He started to shift, fur falling to the floor in clumps, his body stretching and twitching as his bones broke and reformed until he was sitting on the floor, naked and human. 
         Ester held out a quilt to him, it was soft and neatly stitched, but clearly homemade.  He pulled it over himself and looked at the couple in shock.
         “It’s not a night to be out for man nor beast,” Ester smiled. “Or anything in between.” She got up just long enough to sit down in the rocking chair beside her husband.  “What’s your  name?”
         “Zev,” he said softly, running his hand through his brown hair to brush the last bit of fur out.  He shook his head a little, thick, loose curls shifting lightly against the firelight.  “My name is Zev.”
         “Zev, hm?” Irvin murmured.
         But Ester beamed another smile. “If you’re hungry we can heat up some of the stew I’d made for dinner.  It’s over there on the table.”
         Zev shook his head quickly. “Oh, I couldn’t.  You’ve been more kind than I could have -”
         But Ester cut him off quickly. “Dear, you would eat our livestock but turn down stew? Please, fetch the soup.”
         Realizing how silly the idea really was Zev pushed himself to his feet, keeping the blanket wrapped around himself tightly.  He fetched the stew and brought it to the fire, where Ester set it on the rack. In only a few moments the smell of hot soup began to fill the room. 
         “How long have you been one of us?” Ester asked as she sat back in her chair again.  She pulled up some yarn and began to knit, her aged fingers moving quickly and keeping time.
         “All my life,” Zev answered shyly.  “So, about twenty-four years.”
         Ester smiled. “You’re young.  You belong in a place like this.  It’s not just Irvin and myself here, Dear, it’s a village.  We work together, keeping ourselves hidden from the outside world.  A real pack.  I’m sure you’ll be welcomed.  We find stragglers like yourself all the time.”
         Zev smiled a bit. “Thank you, Miss, but I really couldn’t possibly.  My pack would be looking for me,” his chocolate eyes moved to the window, out to the stars.  They must have been looking for him.
         “At least spend the night, or a few days until your wrist is a bit less sprained.  Wouldn’t want you to worsen it on your travels.”
         The boy nodded, his smile not fading.  “Thank you,” he said softly, meekly.
         Ester nodded as well. “Get some rest, Dearie, if you’re going to be staying you’ll be doing some work in the morning.”

         

         The town was alive with the scent of other wolves.  Zev had never seen anything quite like it.  As he walked a few stopped to eye the outsider, but overall simply smiled and greeted him.  One more mouth to feed meant the pack was stronger than ever.  Had he been older or stronger he may not have been met with the same enthusiasm, but he clearly was not there to challenge the pack leader, and he clearly was able bodied - well, aside from the sprained wrist.
         Ester had fixed his arm in a sort of homemade sling to help him heal.  “Sooner you’re fixed up the sooner you can find your pack,” she said confidently, but something in the way she watched him told Zev that if he wanted to stay he’d at least have a roof over his head while he did.  If he did.
         Ester and Zev stopped on the doorstep of one of the larger buildings in town and Ester knocked on the door lightly.  Part of staying a few days was meeting the alpha male and female.
         “If they give ya’ their blessing you can stay as long as you like,” Ester beamed at the young boy. “Help me on the farm, have a warm fire and no need to run wild.  Or at least until the Great Wolf returns.”
         “Great Wolf?” Zev asked, cocking his head to the side a little as he questioned her.
         Ester nodded, the smile not fading even a bit.  She opened her mouth to say more but the door opened just as quickly. “Oop! Time to get along inside,” she smiled as she ushered Zev through the door.
         Zev found himself standing in a rather simple looking house, quite like Ester and Irvin’s house.  In his pack the Alphas lived together in the best place possible, but this place looked nearly identical to the house he had spent the night at. 
         “Ester,” a voice rang out happily as a younger looking woman strode over to her.  Ester’s eyes lowered instantly and she did a sort of curtsy.
         “My Lady Lilith,” she greeted the other wolf.  “And how are you and your King this day?”
         Lilith smiled a blank sort of smile and glanced to the other room. “He’s busy preparing for the moon.  We all know that this moon is special.” She looked at Zev as if she’d just noticed him. “Is this the boy that the town has been all a buzz about?”
         Ester laughed lightly and nodded. “He was stalking our sheep last night.  A sprained wrist.  He spent the night in our home, I do hope that’s all right.”
         “It’s quite fine as long as it’s quite all right with you,” Lilith smiled to Ester and began to circle Zev, sniffing him from time to time.  She paused when she was in front of him again. “Oh, he’ll be a fantastic help while he’s here.  Will you be staying for the Moon, I hope?  You’d be doing us an amazing favor.”
         “If I may ask, Milady,” he spoke to her with the same respect Ester had, even if she was not the Alpha of his pack,  “What is so special about this coming moon?”
         As if on cue, Lilith and Ester chuckled together.
         “Those outside the pack are not aware, I suppose,” Lilith said lightly and smiled. “If you help us, Zev, you shall witness the greatest even of all our lives.”
         With that Lilith started back for the other room.  When she reached the wooden doorway she glanced back to the other two.  “Stay with us for those few days and it shall be repaid to you threefold.”
         Zev watched her curiously as she walked into the other room.  Clearly, he and Ester were not meant to follow.  Curiosity seemed to be getting the best of him.  He would stay and help the following few days.  It was the least he could do for Ester and Irvin, after all.  But somewhere deep in his gut he could not help but hear that old saying, ‘Curiosity killed the cat’.


         
         The next few days went easily.  Zev helped the pack set up a large bon fire in the far side of Irvin and Ester’s field.  The sheep watched the group as though they’d seen this done a thousand times, and that alone gave Zev a feeling of confidence.  Clearly, they all knew what they were doing.  He was helping Ester prepare food for that night, putting a few finishing touches had proved to be too much for her inventory as they ran out of eggs.  Zev was quickly sent out to market to fetch what they needed.
         Taking on wolf form, his clothes folded neatly as he carried them in his mouth.  He ran most of he way before the sharp, twisting pain in his paw shot up his leg again and he began to limp down the dirt road that twisted around the fields and through the woods and finally ended back in town.
         He was nearly to town when the sound of hooves pounding through the dirt chased after him quickly.  Startled, Zev rushed up the green bank to the side of the road and hid behind one of the trees, but the carriage pulled over quickly.
         “Whoa!” the driver shouted as he looked up at Zev from under his round rimmed hat.  “Sorry ‘bout hat, Zev,” he laughed a little.  The man, like many others in the town, was quite a bit older than Zev.  He smiled and waved the wolf down to the cart. “Headed to town? Hop in, I’ll give ya’ a ride the rest of the way.  You should really be restin’ that paw, shouldn’t ya’?”
         Zev panted a smile as he trotted back down the hill side carefully.  He started to climb in the back when he caught scent of something odd, something foul, blood and sweat but on what?  The scent forced him to pause and stare at the burlap tarps that covered the large masses in the back.
         “On second thought, no need to be back with the food.  Come on up front and sit where a man belongs,” the driver called.
         Zev ran around the front side and climbed into the cart and spat his clothes out beside him.  He looked at the driver and watched him carefully, glancing back to the covered lumps behind him in wonder.
         “It’s just some livestock for the festival tonight,” the driver smiled. “Sammie McMillan has a farm for larger livestock far out near the woods.  It’s on the other side of town from Irvin’s sheep farm.  I’m sure he’s back home cuttin’ up a few of ‘em for the night, eh?”
         Zev shifted back to human form and slipped into his clothes. “He’s getting a few of the sheep ready.  A few others are over the fire.  He’s smoked a few before I even came.  This must really be a big deal.  Do you all do it every full moon?”
         The driver burst into laugher and shook his head. “I don’t imagine how we could, my boy.  Just enjoy the night.  The festival is gonna be the most amazing thing you’ve ever seen. I can promise that.”
         He let Zev off in town to get the eggs for Ester, then gave him a ride back, but this time without the foul smelling animals in the back.  For that, Zev was even more happy.  He’d never smelled anything quite like whatever half rotten meat was being hauled, but he may have turned down a ride home just to keep from catching a second whiff.

         

         Although the autumn breeze swung through the undead fingers of the trees again, ruffling Ester’s white dress and hair, the night was far from Zev’s first night in the town.  The moon hung full and high in the sky, nearly at it’s peak at four in the morning. 
         The town had gathered in the field where Zev had first appeared to Ester and Irvin, the tall, dead grass was again windswept, but now the field was alive with color.  Some of the pack were in human form, others in wolf, and some in a sort of between.  They watched the sky and the bonfire.  Those in human form wore masks that looked like the heads of wolves.  Drums echoed around them in a driving beat. 
         Thud - thud - thud - thud-thud-thud. Thud - thud - thud - thud-thud-thud.
         “What’s going to happen?” Zev asked as he stood by Ester.  He had chosen human form.  It had left him a bit less exposed if he decided to be human.  If he changed his mind he could always set his clothes neatly aside and join in as a wolf later.
         “The Great Wolf speaks tonight,” she said just as the drum beats came to a halt.
         The silence was suddenly deafening as Zev looked around quickly, trying to figure out what had just happened.  Finally, his eyes settled on a large man standing atop a platform in the center of the pack.  They had formed a circle around him, including Zev without his notice.
         The man lifted his arms as he spoke.
         “My pack!” he boomed, his voice powerful and commanding, more so than the way Ester had spoken to Irvin that first night.  Clearly, this was the pack’s leader. “Tonight is the night of the Great Wolf’s Moon!”
         An eruption of howls broke loose and Zev had to fight the urge not to join in.  Instead, he watched as the Alpha male tried to hush the pack with a wave of his arms.  The howls died down and he continued.
         “Tonight we feed the Great Wolf in many ways.  We feed her through us.  We feed her with us.  We feed her ourselves.  Tonight we pay homage to the one above us for all that She has done and for all that She has provided us with.  Tonight is the night that we have all been waiting for,” he gestured his hand again and he tarps were pulled from the tables of food, revealing the meals that had been so diligently prepared by the towns people in the weeks and months before. “Tonight is the Great Feast!”
         Another eruption of howls broke loose and this time Zev joined in.  He knew of the Great Mother Moon,  this pack simply referred to her a bit differently.  He could still pay homage to her in the same way.  But before he could think, the pack was on the food, most in wolf form now, others ripping into flesh and food in human form, but in a beastly way.  He watched for a moment, then started the walk over himself.  He looked for Ester and found her in a sort of half-morph.  Her hands ripping into something he had not been able to place earlier.  The livestock in the back of the wagon.  His eyes widened with disgust and terror and he instantly began to back up, but he could not pull his eyes away from the sight.
         Ester held a human arm in her clawed hands.  Her teeth were too long for any human mouth as she tore at the flesh and meat inside.  Blood squirted from the large chunk of meat and Zev realized that the humans in the back of the carriage had not been dead, maybe they weren’t dead now.  Maybe they were drugged, being eaten alive.
         He turned to run, ready to shift into wolf form for a speedy get-a-way while the rest of the pack was feasting on human flesh.  As he turned he bumped into Irvin, who grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and started to drag him to the pack.
         “Where ya’ think you’re goin’?” he shouted and a few heads popped up from the feast.  “Tha night’s early, ya’ think you’re too good to eat with tha rest of us?”
         Zev shook his head quickly. “N-No, it’s not that at all. I just-”
         “It’s his first time,” Lilith chimed in as she snaked her way around him again.  This time she was eyeing him more like a meal than a potential droid.  “Let him taste, no one can resist it after one taste.”
         Zev started to pull away from them again, but more wolves were coming closer, encircling them and closing them in.
         “No! NO!” Zev shouted as he tried to get away but the pack wouldn’t move.  There was no sign of danger, no raised lips or angry eyes.  Only disapproving, and most of it by Zev. 
         Suddenly a few of the wolves started to convulse.  They dropped to the ground and started kick and twitch, their bodies seizuring as they died.  Zev’s eyes went wide as he watched the bloody foam drip from their mouths.
         “What’s happened to them!?” he shouted as he watched in horror.  No one else seemed phased.
         “They’re feeding the Great Wolf now.  We must all pay homage,” Lilith snarled.
         The pack’s voices erupted again, some in human tongue, others in wolf, but they all repeated the words over and over in a chant. “We must all pay homage.  We must all pay homage.  We must all pay homage.”
         A few more wolves dropped as the chant continued.  Others grabbed Zev and held him down, trying to stuff food into his mouth as they continued their unholy chant, but Zev pursed his lips as tightly as he could.  He shook his head this way and that, trying to break away from them, lashing out with as much fight as he could muster.
         Then, like the voice of the Great Wolf Herself, gun shots boomed through the crowd.  Over and over and the wolves fell quickly.  It was like a military assault.  Those who weren’t dropping from the poison in the food were being shot.  Suddenly Zev found his way free. He took on wolf form, his clothes ripping around him uncomfortably as he darted into the woods, away from the gunshots and the maddened pack.  He sat in the forest, panting among the skeletal trees, shaking in fear.
         But the sound of footsteps on the dead leaves came from behind him and he prepared himself to run.  The footsteps were too light to be human, and the last thing he wanted was to be faced with the vision of Ester dying.  He sprung to his feet and started his terrified run.
         ‘Zev!’ the voice sang in his mind with a scent like the sweetness of flowers in the morning dew.  He turned quickly and jumped with joy. 
         ‘Blossom!’ he thought  as he ran to his old pack mate.  He nuzzled into her. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to see anyone!’
         ‘The pack followed your scent.  We watched for a few days.  Thought you’d be happier here.  But when we saw the humans,’ she shook her head, her pale fur catching in the breeze as she did. ‘We knew you’d need help.’
         ‘I’m just so glad to see you all,’ he thought, licking her face in a joyous greeting. 
         ‘I’m just curious if you’re going to be wandering off much anymore,’ she thought to him and nudged him. ‘Now come on, or you’ll miss OUR feast.’
         Zev’s tail wagged as he trotted toward the field again.  By now, the other pack would be dead or nearly so.  But as he looked up Zev saw that the moon had taken on a crimson tint.  He couldn’t help but wonder…