Under the Full Moon's Light Ch. 4

Charlotte sat on the lush green grass relaxing in the morning sun. Her ivory cheeks turned pink within 5 minutes of being exposed to the sunlight but Charlotte didn't care. She couldn't remember the last time she allowed herself to relax and just feel the sun on her face. Late summer filled the air with many different pungent smells, the air was thick with humidity, and the dense forest surrounding the home made the palace serene. Unlike in town where from dawn to dusk people are always bustling about. The marketplace would be packed right now with sweaty people blowing their hot air bargaining for a better price. It was peaceful here.

Arche walked out of the Wolfson's home and sat next to Charlotte. He leaned back resting on his elbows, his tail swept the grass mindlessly. The two of them sat quietly for a moment, both of them looking towards the distance, when finally Arche broke the silence.

"I know that moving into the werewolf territory must be a challenging adjustment for you, so I want you to know that you can ask me any questions you have. I'd be happy to answer them." Arche said reassuringly.

Charlotte looked up at Arche, his big amber irises seemed to glow as the light reflected off of them. He looked down at her with care, but Charlotte still felt just as hurt and confused about their marriage as she had the night before. She looked away sadly, allowing her eyes to follow the scenery. Her eyes stopped at the garden where Victoria, Sylvia, and Danielle were working when Danielle arose to stretch a moment. She was wearing the same yellow and orange dress from the night before and Charlotte’s eyes fell to Danielle’s exposed flat chest.

"You have questions about my sister?" Arche asked, noticing the direction Charlotte was looking. Charlotte quickly looked away, embarrassed to have been caught, but there was something that had been bothering her about Danielle.

"It's just… I've never seen someone like… her before." Charlotte admitted, pausing briefly before saying her as if unsure that was correct.

"Never? Huh, how strange" Arche remarked.

"What do you mean 'how strange'?" Charlotte asked defensively.

"They are considered a great blessing to werewolves, so it's strange to me that you've never seen someone like her before." Arche explained.

"They?" Charlotte asked.

"Well, I don't know what you would know them as, but here they're called Ostensibles, you know, someone who is different than they first appear." Arche explained.

Charlotte looked at Arche blankly.

"You mean you've never even heard of someone like that?" Arche inquired.

Charlotte silently shook her head. Arche shrugged then continued to explain.

"Danielle has the body of a man but the soul of a woman. Ostensibles are considered a blessing to werewolf parents because they strengthen their pack."

"How does having an Ostensible child strengthen a pack?" Charlotte asked, feeling even more confused by the answer Arche gave.

"Well, a werewolf pack is made up of a mated pair and their children. Eventually, after a child matures into adulthood, most will find their mate, and leave their parents pack to start one of their own. It’s expected, however, for wolves like Danielle to stay in their parents pack their whole lives. The more wolves in a pack the stronger the pack is. Which is why an Ostensible like Danielle is seen as a blessing to their parents.” Arche answered.

“So, Danielle isn’t going to have a mate?” Charlotte asked.

“Well, no, she still has a mate out there somewhere, everyone does. It's just likely that her and her mate won't be able to have pups of their own, which is why when a pack is blessed with an Ostensible it's expected for the child to continue to live with their parents’ pack, to keep it strong." Arche answered.

"But how do werewolf parents know that their baby is an Ostensible?" Charlotte asked.

"Well they don't at first. When Danielle was born my parents named her Daniel and raised her like any other boy pup. But, Danielle had always felt and acted differently than other boys. At 14 she realised that she was an Ostensible and told our parents. I remember how excited Ma was. As soon as the words came out of Danielle's mouth Ma practically ran her over trying to get to her sewing to make her a dress. I remember her saying ‘I knew it! I knew this day would come! That’s why I kept a little extra fabric around, one of my children is improperly dressed and that wont do!’ Being a 13 year old at the time, I didn’t care about DanielleI’s big announcement, my older brother was now my older sister, big deal." Arche smiled fondly at his reminiscing, chuckling a little at the end.

Charlotte pondered Arche’s explanation and, even though she didn’t understand everything arche had told her, she was starting to understand how family played a part in werewolf culture.

That's when Arche suddenly stood up and offered an outstretched hand.

“Come on, I’ll tell you more as I give you a proper tour of the place.”

Arche led Charlotte arm in arm around the Wolfson's estate as he continued.

"Packs weren't always divided into mated pair groups. In ancient times, each pack would be made up of huge extended families that would fight other packs to extend and grow their territories. For long periods of time there would be a couple of larger packs who would have control of the best hunting grounds, with lots of smaller packs surrounding them in the less desirable grounds. One pack growing enough to beat one of the larger packs in a fight for one of the better territories and so on. Until one day, three hundred years ago, the smaller packs started to make alliances to rise up and fight the two superior packs and split the good hunting grounds between them all. It was the bloodiest war the werewolves have ever known, and in the end the last few remaining werewolves decided on a truce. A member from each of the remaining werewolf packs came together and formed the first council. To end the bloodshed, a declaration was written and signed by all of them deciding that werewolf packs would be limited to mated pairs and their children in order to keep all the packs small so that one pack alone could not rise up against the others. Pack territories are to be decided together by the council, that way land can be divided equally based on the needs of each pack. When my parents were married they went before the council and it was decided that this land and some of the surrounding forest would be used to start their pack. Once Danielle became an adult, because she is an Ostensible, my parents were permitted to extend their territory boundaries. Three adult werewolves need more hunting grounds than two after all.”

"Arche, Charlotte!" Sylvia beckoned from the garden, pressed up against the fence, waving with freshly harvested vegetables in her dirt covered hand. In the garden behind Sylvia sat Victoria and Danielle. Victoria was wearing her bright yellow dress and, unlike the older women in her family, her neckline only went as far as her collar bones. Her blond hair was neatly braided and, like Arche, she had her mother’s amber eyes. Victoria was hunched over studiously asking if each green sprig was a weed before dutifully plucking them out of the ground. Danielle patiently answered her younger sister's inquiries with a bemused smile on her face. The scar on the left side of her face usually made Danielle look particularly unapproachable, but seeing her now, smiling, comfortable with her family, Charlotte could see a delicate feminine side to Danielle that she hadn't noticed before. "What are you two up to today?" Sylvia asked as the two approached.

"I'm showing Charlotte around the place, I wanted to give her a proper tour of her new home." Arche responded, smiling at Charlotte as he spoke, giving her arm a little squeeze.

"Oh how lovely! You know, your father didn't need to go into town today, so you should take Charlotte to the stables and introduce her to the horses." Sylvia encouraged.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Ma? If you send them in there the horses will break down their stable doors and run away once they get spooked by Arche's face!" Danielle teased with a sly grin spread across her face. Victoria burst into laughter and Sylvia swatted at Danielle with the vegetables in her hand. Arche placed his free hand on his chest as if he had taken a hard blow.

"Oooh, those are some harsh words for your more attractive sibling. Ma, you better not let Danielle put Angus and Bethany to bed, because they're going to get nightmares for sure!" Arche retorted. Danielle rolled her eyes while another burst of giggles came from Victoria. Sylvia pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"Speaking of," Sylvia diverted, "Arche, could you check on Bethany and Angus? They're playing down in the creek."

"Of course mother, we were just heading down that way, to spook the horses." Arche answered facetiously.

Sylvia shook her head towards the heavens before returning to her gardening.

Cool creek water splashed into the air as Bethany and Angus gleefully jumped around in the shallow water. Although their feet were bare and their hems raised most likely by their mother, they were soaked head to toe. It didn't seem to bother the two however as their squeals of joy could be heard halfway up the hill. Arche let go of Charlotte's arm and he ran over to the two grabbing and spinning the children playfully.

"And what are you two little ankle biters doing down here?" Arche asked as he tossed the tots about.

"We're catching frogs!" Bethany answered through giggles. Bethany was wearing her typical brown dress. Her brown hair had been pulled back into two little pig tails, and she had amber eyes like their mother.

"Ah, practicing for when you're old enough to join the hunt?" Arche teased tickling their sides on the word hunt. Screeches of laughter erupted from the wriggling kids as they attempted to get away. "Well, I don't see any frogs, your hunt must not be a very successful one." Arche laughed.

"They're too fwast!" Angus answered. Angus had blond ringlet hair and big green eyes. He was wearing brown trousers that let his little tail through and a plain tunic that was a little too big for him.

"Oh nonsense! Nothing's faster than a wolf! Watch."

Arche put the kids down on the bank and crouched down close to them. All three of them were silent as the two watched Arche carefully with their big eyes. A few moments past, Arche sat as still as a statue until suddenly his hand shot into the water close to him and when he pulled it back a green frog was trapped within his grasp.

"Woah!" The kids exclaimed in disbelief as Arche showed them the tiny creature. Then he flattened his hand allowing the frog to sit on this palm and hop away. The children scrambled into the creek once more eager to put what they had learned to use as Arche returned to Charlotte's side, laughing as the children clumsily chased after the frogs once more.

"And here is the end of our tour." Arche said as he and Charlotte entered the stables.

Cletus and Rosebud chewed on some hay lazily, as they watched the two walk in. The two horses were huge, Cletus was mostly white with some light brown markings on his body, and Rosebud was reddish brown with large white spots on hers.

"Wow, they're magnificent." Charlotte marvelled, this was the first time she had gotten a real look at the horses up close.

"Would you like to feed them?" Arche asked. Charlotte nodded. Arche gathered some feed in his hand and poured it in Charlotte's. Standing behind her he placed his hands on her waist guiding her closer to the horses.

"Put your arm outstretched like this." Arche spoke softly in Charlotte's ear as he guided Charlotte's hand that held the feed so it stretched out in front of her.

"Now make your hand as flat as possible." Arche gently pushed Charlotte's curled fingers back until her hand was flat as a board. Rosebud then started to gratefully eat the feed out of Charlotte's hand, gathering it up in her lips.

"Ha, it tickles!" Charlotte exclaimed. She turned her head to look at Arche and saw that he was already looking at her, his face was incredibly close to hers and Charlotte became extremely aware of how Arche was holding her. Both hands now on her waist, his breath sent a sensation down her neck and she blushed. Arche looked down at her lips then back to her eyes and Charlotte looked away blushing deeper.

"You feel it too don't you? The pull of the mate." Arche whispered in Charlotte's ear.

The pull of the mate? Could it actually be true? As Charlotte pondered, a torrent of memories flooded her mind echoing loudly one over another.

“How could creatures be considered the same as humans when they have close relatives to beasts?! Werewolves are no better than dogs…

“You know what I say, men? Monsters can be beneficial to humans… werewolves, well who wouldn’t want a huge wolf fur rug to keep their feet warm on the cold floor of their home!"

“Pa, was he a werewolf?”

“Aye, my dear.”

…Not even a man's urges or needs are enough to make Arche want someone as homely as me.

"Is it even possible for a human to be the mate of a monster?" Charlotte asked herself, trying to force the thoughts out of her mind. It was a whole heartbeat before she realised she had said the words out loud, quickly covering her mouth with her hand in realisation of her blunder, but it was too late. Arche's hands dropped from her waist and he took a few steps back.

"Monster?" Arche's voice broke as he said the word. His eyes were filled with pain but anger was rising on his face. Before either of them could say another word a gut wrenching scream came from the nearby forest, and the anger on Arche's face immediately switched to panic.

"Angus!" Arche exclaimed as he sprinted out of the stables.