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Two Moons

A thin crescent moon arched overhead. Tobi's human once said it was the lunar wolf gobbling up pieces of the sky. Several nights would lead to a full belly, a howling chorus rising above the great spruces and firs in celebration, for the lunar wolf, glowing so round and bright, now rested against her cache of stars. Soon, however, she would wane into hunger, the wolves all knew--a wisdom as deep as their bones--and the cycle would continue.

That was how the stories went, at least, from the human's books.

Tobi rested his head upon the windowsill, somber, yellow eyes piercing the darkness outside like miniature lanterns. He let out a grumble, his tail lilting lazily over the bed from where he sat. Dog blood pumped through his veins, and his domestication had earned him safety and security within these walls. Yet, a discomfort stirred within, a hollowness that grew exponentially once the boy had left.

Never to return.

Tobi let out another grumble as he curled onto the empty bed, its sheets tucked in neatly. He drew breath, but the aroma of the boy who once slept there had faded like distant memories. A lamp slept on the desk, beside it a row of straightened books, all gathering dust. The boy had spent nights at his study, reading and scribbling, navigating the human world's various things of interest--history, mathematics, science. Subjects that could not best moments of reprieve for both boy and dog: roughhousing on the floor, shared scraps at the table, explorations through the neighboring forest, swimming at the lake upon summer.

Now the boy, on the verge of manhood, had to forge new footsteps that his father could not: a robust education for a better future. Tobi's aging bones warned that the twilit hours were nigh. Time for rest these days--neither he nor the boy were pups any longer.

But there was strength inside. He felt it there, stirring, a small, hungering flame that desired a life as a magnificent blaze. Tobi huffed again, but then lifted his ears as distant wolf-song drifted along the gentle evening breeze, then dissipated into the stark sky as if it were nothing more than wisps of cloud. For a moment, the howl stirred something inside him, too.

Fanned the flame, the wildness.

Tobi hopped off the bed, claws clattering against the hardwood floor, and left. The boy's hard-faced father sat in the main room, tending to the fireplace, while his wife rocked on a chair, humming peacefully. The man grumbled when he noticed the dog pawing at the door.

"Out with you."

Both wound up outside, their little cottage nestled into the forest on the outskirts of town. Tobi wondered if they were more home amongst the towering trees, their location garnering them a rare privacy, a solitude that granted an uninterrupted oneness with earth and nature.

Tobi lifted his muzzle, his lungs full of crisp early-March air, and he found himself joining those distant howls, the song of the night, the moon grinning down at him as if this, too, pleased the great lunar wolf. But this displeased the man, who had been standing with chest wide to sample the night air as well. "Hush, Tobias. That racket will wake the whole forest... perhaps the whole neighborhood behind us."

Tobi imagined the man as his boy instead. As a child, he would have laughed at such vocalizations, perhaps joining in. Tobi missed the feel of that child's hand stroking his strong head, working down his muscular flank, through the thick coat and its grizzled palette of grays and blacks and tans. He once licked the face of this child who had given the dog his name, short for Tobias. And it was this same child who had grown through adolescence, whose face now hardened into the sort of handsomeness that betrayed their maturity, much like his father who stood outside with the dog now. But there always remained much love--a fondness that no bone or toy or fallen scrap could replace. But these days, there was also little hope for his return--and perhaps Tobi had to seek his own sort of transformation. Something inside yearned for his own return....

Pointed ears swiveled as another howl pierced the sky, and with a resolute wag of his tail, Tobi sent a howl back--a message, a promise, perhaps, to this calling. He would find his place among the wolves, or alone if he must, in hopes of finding his wildness.

And the crescent moon smiled upon the earth as the man herded the dog back inside, quelling the song that lived in all of her creatures. Undisturbed, she drifted along the dark sky, having her fill of it. Tonight, she promised, a dog would have his fair share.

* * *

First, the smell was all wrong. He awoke to an earthiness and the aroma of the evergreens first, then the wild tumult of aromas that drifted with a lazy breeze--hints of other animals, the newly budding undergrowth, the final decay of last autumn. The irrefutable scent of wolf and the possible danger this implied startled Tobi to his feet. Only a sliver of light offered its guidance, the moon masked behind the canopy above.

Two realizations: He no longer remained in the bedroom's sure warmth. The second realization came when he stumbled forward, mind wandering to find his bearings, only to discover as a paw clutched a bare tree to steady his gait that he walked upon two feet--as humans would!

"What is this?" A third realization, then, as he spoke aloud. As he spoke in the human tongue. Once the panic surged, it snagged him like a toy on a string through the trees that towered up so high, harrowing and dark. For the life of him, he could not catch a trace of his humans or the woody perfume of their cabin, the lifelong scent that would carry him home. Instead, he stumbled upon a clearing. A stream just deep enough for drinking twisted its way through a field of dormant flowers preparing to bloom for spring. Above, the crescent moon granted what little mercy it had, illuminating the field and its various embellishments: lone trees here, stray rocks and boulders there, grasses murmuring without the profanity of insects.

And there, dipping its head for a drink from the patient stream, was another.

It stood like any human would though it was not human. The smell was very much wolf--all its sleek, moon-white fur streaked with a silver that almost glistened. And yet when it--no, he, Tobi plainly saw, his eyes dawdling for perhaps a breath too long--approached, the creature was neither human nor wolf, and somehow both. And the creature was large--muscular and imposing and, Tobi feared, likely dangerous. Tobi lost his footing, stumbled into the brush, and just as a snarl tempted to lunge from his throat in warning, the man, the wolf, the man-wolf before him extended a paw.

"A tenderfoot, I see." The man-wolf bared his teeth--but it was not a snarl. More like a human's smile, an act of contentment and warmth. Clutching his paw, Tobi rose to his feet, and was transfixed by his ability to grasp with actual hands instead of his maw. Then he noticed the small half-circle on the man-wolf's muzzle where no fur grew. "My lunar name is Crescent. That has no relation to my scar you obviously see." He chuckled, then pointed up. "I was born under a moon like this some three years ago." Though Crescent was a larger and likely stronger creature, there was a softness, an innocence in his voice that proved his youth. Crescent smiled patiently, as if waiting for a response from the stranger before him. Not receiving that, he then asked, "What is your lunar name?"

Disbelief still clutched at him like a mother-dog disciplining an unruly pup by the scruff. He wasn't sure how to answer, instead examining his own body, at the length of his arms and legs, the terminal digits of fingers and toes and how they moved dexterously--and opposable thumbs! Evidence of his old form remained: his tail wagged, his ears swiveled, and fur protected him from the cool late-winter air. Draping his eyes down his chest and torso, his sex, too, remained canine-like, just like Crescent's before him.

Crescent. That was his _lunar_name. But Tobi could not offer his, for he was simply Tobi. Words mumbled from his mouth, stumbled in his throat and around his tongue. But he could speak, as he did just moments ago unexpectedly, and managed to provide the name a human boy had bestowed upon him once upon a time....

"Tobi," the man-wolf named Crescent repeated, as if savoring the word like a new scent. Then his brow furrowed. "First, that is no lunar name. But I am more curious about this young human."

"My companion, although he is a child no longer. Raised me as a pup. Named me Tobias, my real name, if that suits you better. Although that name is only used on rare occasion."

"Rare occasion?"

"It's been years...." Tobi hesitated to offer personal memories, but decided it was best not to offend a larger creature from this unknown land. "You know--chewing on things he called _shoes_when I was a mischievous yearling, or when I would relieve myself indoors where that is not allowed. I was only a pup then, however." Another memory spoke of a more recent example when their closest neighbors desired pups. Presenting their young bitch ready for her first mating, the boy's father was embarrassed when Tobi refused to mount. And that embarrassment only grew like a festering wound on subsequent attempts--the man certainly growled the dog's full name then, yanked on his leash until the collar made him choke. Tobi decided against sharing the details of these failed stud sessions. Instead, he offered another memory: "I once dug a hole in their flowerbed. The lady of the house certainly made my name known then."

"How fascinating! You use such unfamiliar words, talk of shoes and the indoors." Crescent's excitement dwindled into concern. "But why allow such creatures to bark their orders? Do they know best how a wolf should live?"

"I am no wolf, young stranger," Tobi explained. Crescent's apparent youth and naïveté secured Tobi with more confidence that his eight years have earned him. His chest inflated proudly. "I am a dog, and a damn good one."

Crescent chuckled. "I've heard of our cousins, how they coexist with those furless walkers. I'd normally say I'm excited to finally meet a dog, but that would be impossible."

"As impossible as this?" Tobi gestured at the two of them, at their uprightness. How they looked almost human.

"That's precisely what I mean," Crescent said. "Oh, dear. You are such a tenderfoot."

Tobi tilted his head, confused.

The wolf pointed at the moon above. "Mother Luna only bestows this... interlude, of sorts, to wolves. Never in our history has a dog joined us here." Then doubt cast its shadow against him. "At least, I have never seen one here, and the Alphas have never spoken of one. But Mother Luna doesn't make exceptions, I'm sure of it."

"What exception?" Tobi barked, growing impatient. Listening to Crescent talk only provided more questions. "Why am I here? Where is my home? There is no scent!"

"Of course, there wouldn't be! Come..." Crescent tugged a protesting Tobi through the tall grass and its dormant flowers until he found a place matted down near the stream where the dog had first spotted him. Crescent stretched back onto his makeshift bedding, then patted the available space beside him. "Luckily there's room for two. Plop down next to me, Tobi. You'll want to see this."

Hesitating for just an eyeblink, Tobi sat where Crescent had indicated. The wolf reclined, arms cradling his head as a happy grin frolicked across his face. Crescent knew something, but this action only reminded Tobi of how the boy would relax like this on their bed back home. He'd whistle for Tobi as he read a book, and Tobi would curl up next to him, release a pleasurable mumble when those smooth fingers would stroke his head, glide over his back, rub his chest. Perhaps Tobi had to trust Crescent in a similar manner.

But Tobi had his questions to which Crescent responded with ambiguous statements, goading the tenderfoot for patience. But Tobi couldn't wait. Confusion and worry tumbled in his gut, and he wondered about his thoughts last night, and if all of this was a strange dream. But it couldn't be. He could feel the warmth radiating off the wolf next to him, could feel the flattened grass beneath, could sense the stream cooing nearby.

This was all too real.

As if the world wished to test the veracity of this statement, a sudden stillness took hold, and Tobi wondered if he'd gone deaf. But then he could hear Crescent's steady breaths, the patient beating of his heart. Then around him, a glow caught his eye. No... a collection of them. The budding flowers were slowly blooming, petals aglow with shimmering silver light as they unfurled. Tobi sat up to get a better look of the curious meadow, but then Crescent's arm touched his chest, coaxing him to return.

Then each luminous flower began to revolve patiently from the tips of their stems like a zoetrope the boy once owned, and as if a wind had swooped down to gather them, the flowers jolted free, one by one. Instead of tumbling to the earthen floor, they jaunted across the sky, twirling and drifting ever upward, reflections scintillating from the stream below.

"How is this possible?" Tobi glanced at the wolf beside him, those luminous flowers glinting in his amber eyes. He found himself smiling.

"This isn't the world you know." Crescent smiled back. The glowing flowers soon became nothing more than new constellations in the dark sky, floating into infinity. Wonder almost overwhelmed Tobi. The experience was beautiful, and Crescent had to admit it was nice having a partner around for once. "Want to see more?"

And there was certainly more.

Crescent took the dog's paw and both ambled downstream, past other curious plants and floral oddities.

"You alone?" Tobi eventually asked as they walked. "Aren't there others like you here?"

"There are," Crescent said, a hint of melancholy in his voice. "Most are pairing off at the den meeting. Common for third years like me."

"Third years?"

Crescent grinned softly, before pointing ahead. "We're here."

The stream emptied itself into a large oblate pool that opened before them. The waters here seemed so thin, undisturbed, and strangely immaculate. Caught in it was the sliver of moon. From their angle, the pool looked like a featureless face save for a glowing grin.

"We are alone for now," Crescent said. "But later the pairings will come."

Considering what he'd just seen, it would be foolish to assume this was some normal lake in which he could swim as he'd done with the boy before. Knowing this was some sort of dream, he asked, "What does this lake do?"

"There are many stories of this lake," Crescent explained. "Some say those who peer into its waters partake of Mother Luna's wisdom, for she only shows what needs to be seen, what lesson needs to be learned. Many come here to seek guidance for a long-lived life, on leadership, or on matters of mate-ship and... love. However, it's different for everybody, I think." Crescent gazed across the water thoughtfully. "Some say the waters show that which you desire most. Others believe it grants wishes, although I'm not sure about that. We all return to such a normal life once the Lunar Dream ends."

"Then this is a dream!"

Crescent grinned. "Not quite."

Tobi took a step closer, deciding not to let this ambiguous answer frustrate him so. Plus, curiosity had him by the tail like a cat. "How does it work?"

"Well, what do you desire most?"

Still sure that this was merely a strange dream, he spoke of the desires that he could no longer ignore once his human had left home. Though Tobi loved his life as a dog, meaning had left with the boy, and he could no longer ignore the call of the wild he heard in his heart, when the moon would glide overhead, when the wolves nearby would lift their voices up into twilight. How he would join. He wished to be like them, one with nature and the unfettered outdoors.

"If Mother Lunar grants wishes," Crescent said, his supportive smile seeming so genuine, "then I hope she grants yours. Go on. Step to the water's edge and peer into your reflection."

And Tobi did so without further hesitation. And as he peered, he saw himself looking back. He understood the logic of mirrors, having seen his own reflection back home. And here, he could see his serious face, his canine features that looked so similar to Crescent's--the triangular ears, the broad muzzle, the yellow eyes.... However, something felt off about his countenance. He was dog, surely, but also part man as the reflection proved when he offered both hands as evidence, as if to verify through those waters that these hands were real, fingers and all.

A moment trotted by, but nothing else appeared: no message, no wisdom, no promises of a granted wish. But he thought about what he yearned for--to know before his life had reached its end what it meant to be wild... and free. To be like Crescent here: a true wolf.

"It's not working," Tobi said. Crescent smacked his head then, ears flattening in embarrassment.

"Apologies, apologies.... I am no better a tenderfoot than you, apparently!" Crescent chuckled to himself. "You need to offer Mother Luna a gift."

"A gift? But I don't have anything!"

"Not anything?" Crescent smiled as if it were so obvious. "Offer her a song."

"A song?"

"Back to the tenderfoot questions again, I see."

"I bet you had plenty your first time here!"

"True," Crescent laughed, nuzzling against Tobi's shoulder suddenly, which almost made the dog jump. Undeterred by Tobi's reticence, he explained. "Even dogs, from your own experience, can howl. And Mother Luna has seen fit to allow you into the Dream. The least you can do is offer her a song."

Tobi remembered years joining in on late-night howls, even when the boy would shush him. And now here stood a bona fide wolf offering his blessing. Heat began to radiate from his face, a feeling he somehow recognized as embarrassment. Crescent, noticing this, patted Tobi's back.

"Don't be shy, old man," he said. "I'm just a pup. Who cares what I think?"

"Will you... join me?"

Crescent's eyes waxed full for a moment, but then he smiled again, obviously pleased by this request.

Tobi watched as the wolf soaked his lungs with breath before lifting his head high, offering the moon above a beautiful, joyful song. The dog joined in then, inhaling deeply, feeling the song inside his chest burst from his muzzle, drifting into the sky like the glowing flowers from before. The moon grinned down upon them, pleased with this offering.

As their song concluded, Tobi sensed a disturbance in the water. His image shimmered and rippled, as if someone had just thrown a stone where his reflection gazed back. Everything within his periphery faded into an ethereal fog, leaving behind the lake and its almost hypnotic undulations. Images formed--familiar places and people, dogs frolicking about, a miniature world protruding from the lake's surface. Then the lake was his mind, as if a haze had enraptured him, the images projecting forth like vivid memories.

Perhaps they were memories of the ancestral sort: a prominent image of a she-dog and a chance encounter with a lone wolf and their pursuant copulation; the pups she birthed back home around a kind human family; the pups who would find their own families and grow into headstrong wolf-dogs; a male from that litter eventually breeding with another she-dog, before squaring off against a titanic moose; the wolf-dog's broken body in the snow; the she-dog's full belly ripe with pups and their birthing under a crescent moon, much like tonight; then the image of a man Tobi knew, the boy's father, picking out the runt of the litter; this runt found its way into a young boy's arms, a boy who named him Tobias, shortened to Tobi; then Tobi grew and grew through such happiness and joy: learning tricks like sit and fetch, the nights cuddling for warmth by the child, the days waiting for his return from school; the dog grew older, grew tired, grew mournful by the window as he gazed outside into the moon-touched sky where a chorus of howls ululated like a lullaby. The vision ended with a crescent moon waxing slowly as ice.

"My grandfather was a wolf," Tobi gasped. "This is why I look similar to you, why I'm here."

Crescent stood at the edge of a clearing where the lake should have been. There gathered a moot of wolves who stood on two legs as Crescent and Tobi did. They circled around a surly bonfire that flickered an iridescent array of preternatural colors, many unknown to Tobi's visual palette. The air was alive with conversation and laughter. Many wolves formed obvious pairs who licked and nuzzled each other, the females, Tobi could smell, amidst a powerful heat.

Crescent waved Tobi over.

"How did we get here?" Tobi wondered in a hush above a whisper.

"We trotted, silly," Crescent teased. "You said you wanted to see what the den meeting was all about."

"I did?" Tobi had no memory of this. Perhaps the vision he relived put him in a trance, for the world had fallen away for that moment--a moment that stretched and warped, yearning for infinity. Before he could tell Crescent about this revelation, how his father was half-wolf, which could explain his presence here, Crescent motioned for him to crouch by the underbrush he peered around. He pointed to a grizzled elder wolf who fed the bonfire with grand motions and gestures, the fire and smoke swirling, colors ever evolving.

"That's the Alpha of Ceremonies during this Dream. He is chosen, for he was also born under the crescent moon."

"Then his lunar name is Crescent, just like yours."

"You're catching on, tenderfoot." Crescent smiled, and Tobi hated to admit that he appreciated this small kindness. "But since he's the Alpha of Ceremonies today, we refer to him as that. He leads some of the challenges. I think a hunt is next."

The thought of a hunt sent a sudden thrill through Tobi. "Can we join? Why are we hanging around here?"

Crescent didn't answer at first. His gaze had settled onto another young, strong-looking wolf who stood tall and ready by the fire, his pelt similar to Tobi's. Bulging arms folded across a muscular chest as he waited. Tobi estimated he was the largest wolf in the gathering, even larger than Crescent who was already of formidable size.

Crescent's brow furrowed.

"A friend of yours?" Tobi pressed.

"He, too, shares my lunar name," Crescent nearly spat, "but that's as far as our similarities go." He traced a finger along the sickle of healed skin on his muzzle. A low growl snuck out, nearly startling Tobi behind him.

Before he could ask, the surrounding wolves fell silent. Pronouncements boomed from the elder wolf, and the flames whirled with rage, instigated by those words. A cerulean flame licked at the dark bruise of the sky. Darting free as if from a gaping maw was the form of a rabbit, its body nothing but blue smoke.

"It's about to start," Crescent warned, unable to hide the lilt of excitement in his voice despite his earlier irritation, tail arcing back and forth as the fire produced various beasts. A virescent flame lashed the sky, and out came the form of a deer made from green smoke.

Wolves panted and growled with excitement as more smoke-animals materialized. A yellow flame produced a yellow elk. Indigo released a frolicking school of salmon that tossed and swam as if water and air were one and the same. Tobi found his heart thumping, blood-fire coruscating through his veins, suffusing the muscles in his arms and legs with almost boundless energy. Then out came the red flame, deep as blood. The red smoke formed a moose, and the figure of the moose summoned the memory of his father's broken body. And Tobi's eyes seemed to fill with the red of the smoke, and as the animals darted this way and that, Tobi sprung forward from the underbrush. Crescent's protestations went unnoticed.

Smoke-animals dashed toward an open field adjacent to the den gathering, its borders lined with imposing evergreens. Bare earth here soon transitioned into a glistening, snow-covered landscape, which seemed to stretch ever onward, perhaps eternally. Wolves from the den gathering, most young and energized by the collective pack's thrall to the hunt, gave chase. Some veered into the trees for the quick-footed rabbit, others into the ravaging stream where the salmon dove. Smaller packs dashed left for the elk or right for the deer. Only three chose to challenge the moose who tore through the center as if to face infinity head on.

The chase lasted for what may have been hours. Tobi snapped at the flanks of the moose, Crescent trailing behind although he only bit at the heels from a safe distance. However, the other wolf, the fierce one by the fire that seemed to draw Crescent's disdain, laughed mockingly as he pulled up from the other flank. Tobi knew he couldn't take down the moose alone--it was a pack effort, and only three members comprised theirs. But he also had something to prove to himself, that he could find his place among his wild brethren, for he, all these years, was also a wolf, even if only in part.

He threw himself at the humongous beast, teeth sinking into a thick neck. He took hold. Locked jaws for as long as he could. The moose grunted, gaining speed, its mighty hooves stamping footprints into the snow. The other wolf lunged, found success on the opposite flank, huge jaws clamping down. The initial speed the beast had gained diminished from bearing the weight of two predators now. Tobi's heart raced from the excitement more than exertion, and he tore into the creature's neck further, summoned all his strength, attempting to force the creature down.

Crescent managed to pull in close, lunging for the beast's neck as well, joining Tobi from the other side. The moose, slowing to a trot, roared as it shook its head, veering to the left from the weight of two strapping wolves. Tobi knew it was almost over, that he had done his part. The hunt would soon end in success.

Then Crescent yelped and fell, tumbling through the snow. Tobi saw it: the other wolf had raked his claws against an unsuspecting Crescent, an attack as purposeful as their collective one on the moose.

Tobi released himself onto the snow. The moose gained speed again, the load now lighter although one wolf still clung on. The urge was there to continue the chase, to fell the moose in honor of his father who had fallen to one. But Tobi's comrade had also fallen, and if his time with the human boy taught him anything, you care for your own.

"Are you all right, Crescent?" Tobi asked as he approached. The white wolf sat up in the snow, almost perfectly camouflaged with it. "I saw what he did."

"It's fine. He grazed me." Crescent didn't look up, but Tobi could see a couple new but faint scratches across his muzzle close to his old scar. "Seems I have a growing collection."

"Let me see." Tobi sat beside the wolf, examined the shallow wounds. Some blood there, yes, but the wolf would recover. "Not deep, at least."

"You didn't have to come back for me, you know. This is what you wanted, right? A little taste of a hunt, of what it means to be a wolf."

"True." Tobi nodded, then his tongue found itself lapping at the wound. Crescent released a whimper from this act, although Tobi suspected it wasn't from the pain of his injury. When the wound was clean: "If it weren't for you, I would have been lost in this place. This is the least I could do."

Crescent offered a sad smile. "I wish I could say my helping you was purely altruistic." When he could see the confusion in Tobi's eyes, he let out a visible breath. "You see, I was waiting for someone back in the field."

"Waiting for whom?"

More confusion.

"The person from my vision."

Even more confusion, followed by Crescent's silence.

Tobi took the wolf by the shoulders. "Please, no more ambiguous answers. Tell me the truth of this place. Who are you, really?"

"It's... silly."

"Silly or not, I must hear it."

Crescent stood, lifting Tobi to his feet with him. As they trod through the snow towards the great bonfire, Crescent spoke of his own visit to the lake in the previous Dream, how he peered into his reflection before he was offered a vision from Mother Luna.

"What did you see?"

Another sad smile. "I saw my pack picked off by old age and disease and hunger. Prey overcame the strength of wolves, then. The last of us tried joining a rival pack who'd been gaining on our territory, leaving their marks on ours. That mistake dwindled my pack to one."

"That's horrible."

"That's the law of the wild, and I was lucky to escape. I have been surviving as a lone wolf since then, even here where there is relative peace. The wolves from the rival pack are also here in the Dream. The wolf who attacked me now hails from that rival pack, although he wasn't responsible for those deaths."

"I hope he doesn't wish to finish the job."

"It's a complicated affair..." Crescent said, and he paused for so long that Tobi thought he wouldn't hear the rest of the tail. The bonfire grew close again, which was impossibly soon. The duo had been ambling along for only a few minutes after having chased their quarry for hours. Tobi was about to ask, but he concluded the Dream must have its own logic regarding time and distance. Wolves surrounded the bonfire again, seemingly in celebration considering the din they were causing.

Crescent's steps slowed as he continued the story: "Then Mother Luna showed me hope, that I would find another whose lunar name was mine, that I would no longer walk the earth as a lone wolf."

They came upon the outskirts of the den gathering, and there he was: the wolf who had attacked Crescent, reveling by the bonfire. How he had returned without passing them by, Tobi had no idea. Regardless, the Alpha of Ceremonies announced the wolf's victory, for he had taken down the great moose; as a third-year, it was time he found a mate to join him, for he was to become an Alpha of his own pack, if not now, then soon.

"You're also a third-year," Tobi whispered from where they hid. "Are you to choose a mate, too, and start a new pack again?"

Crescent continued his story: "I was a tenderfoot then as you are now... but I was also young, a juvenile, and I saw this handsome wolf in the field of flowers. When we spoke, I learned he was named Crescent as I am, and I thought for sure he was the one from my vision. But he was a he-wolf..." Crescent paused here--Tobi knew what this was suggesting for Crescent was a he-wolf too. Tobi simply nodded, and so Crescent found his footing once more. "I... I told him of my vision, confessing that I thought he was the one... and he was appalled once he realized my courtship."

"Just puppy love." Tobi watched as the wolf in the gathering nuzzled up against a beautiful female. He had chosen a mate, it seemed. "He was threatened by that?"

"It gets worse," Crescent continued, his voice low. "We both also realized the truth: his pack was responsible for finishing off mine, for rendering me a lone wolf. And he attacked..."

"Hence the crescent-shaped scar..."

"Yes. Luckily the Dream is not a place for infighting, and an elder wolf nearby put an end to it. I decided it was safe to remain a lone wolf, and I avoided the den gathering. After the Dream ended, I survived on my own until the next Dream. The one now."

This was a lot for Tobi to take in. He hadn't known Crescent for long, but his heart went out to him. Still just a pup--although a large one, he had to admit--and no pup had to endure the loss of his entire family. The reality of the human boy having gone was a dim comparison to this. Yes, Tobi had lost his father to a moose attack, but he never knew him personally. Crescent had lost his very pack.

"The Dream ends soon after the hunt," Crescent announced. "Would you mind spending the rest of that time with me? I don't want to be alone."

Tobi agreed, for this was the least he could do, and he enjoyed his company anyhow. The two snuck back to the field where they had met. Found the matted grass where they could sit. Crescent confirmed that when the Dream ended, Tobi would find himself awake--back to his original body.

But would he remember all of this?

Questions demanded their answers, but Tobi decided on light conversation instead, for Crescent's mood was morose. Sauntering wolf pairs soon invaded their privacy, some following the stream to the lake, others occupying various areas of the field. The flowers therein had regenerated their petals, which bulged beneath green sepals. Tobi knew they would bloom once more.

"I never said, 'thank you,' Crescent," Tobi said, "you know--for helping this tenderfoot navigate and understand this place."

Crescent's tail wagged, and he offered a small smile.

More wolves arrived.

"The final event is nigh," Crescent said, taking notice of the various couples nuzzling each other. Before Tobi could ask: "As is tradition, the new couples will join in on a group howl--oh, it's starting now!"

Crescent's mood seemed to lift as the wolves around them joined together in a celebratory song. Some howls rose from the lake. Others could be heard by the bonfire. A few couples close by howled so loudly, Tobi felt he was finally in his own wolf pack. Crescent chuckled at Tobi, for Tobi was obviously anxious, and encouraged him to join them.

"You said this tradition was for couples only?"

"You want to howl with us wolves more, don't you? Here's your chance!"

Tobi hesitated, but the howls grew louder and plentiful; they tugged at his chest, as if luring his own howl from his lungs. Crescent waited expectedly, and Tobi could not hold back any longer, sucking in a deep breath before releasing it to the sky. Crescent smiled so big, as if with pride, before he joined in on the fun. When both had to stop to inhale a breath, they exchanged looks and chuckled to themselves, even as the background chorus continued on without them.

"Gosh, that feels so good!" Tobi said, but then his eyes went wide when Crescent fell into him and licked his muzzle--a kiss. Again, Tobi's first instinct wanted answers to abrupt questions. But when Crescent's yellow eyes gazed back at him so, Tobi felt the fire ignite in him as it did at the bonfire, and he found himself nuzzling back, offering a kiss of his own, evoking a low, lustful growl from the young, white wolf.

Tobi's vision sprung to mind: specifically, how it ended. The crescent moon. He was born under this as well. His lunar name was also Crescent.

"I was the one you were waiting for," Tobi said, realizing why Crescent had been so vague with some of his answers earlier. My vision showed that I was born under a waning crescent moon."

"And I was born under a waxing crescent," he replied. "The vision said I would meet my waning opposite, which was why I asked for your lunar name when we first met. I wanted to know if you were the one who shared our name."

"How did you figure out the truth?"

"I didn't," Crescent admitted. "My gut instinct barked like a rambunctious pup who knew this felt right. I was just... too afraid to make a move." The field lit aglow then, the flowers coming to life. "The Dream will end soon, after these flowers fully bloom."

"What happens then?"

"Like I said, we return to the real world."

"I mean to us..."

"Well... that depends." Crescent looked away. "Most return home... but those who find a mate..."

"They return together," Tobi answered.

"Not such a tenderfoot anymore, are you?" Crescent joked, nuzzling him. "But it's more than just finding a mate, it's also--"

Tobi lapped at Crescent's muzzle, a paw pulling him in. Crescent didn't need to explain. Tobi thought to how human's showed affection, and he went for a human-like kiss. This was returned. Then a paw fell onto Crescent's strong chest, then down the mounds of muscle across his belly, then to the hefty sheath and balls that had caught his attention the first time here, something he wasn't ready to admit he liked.

Crescent's glistening sex protruded from the sheath, and he whispered how he'd never mated before. Tobi admitted he once had the opportunity, but the females never gained his interest--Crescent would be his first as well. The wolf whimpered as Tobi stroked his sheath, coaxing out the growing spire of pink flesh that pulsed and twitched with every heavy heartbeat.

"Keep going..." Crescent urged. Their muzzles touched, short whiskers prickling each other.

By the time Tobi glanced back down, the wolf was hard and very long, and at its base: a bulbous, intimidating knot.

"Crescent... you're humongous...." Tobi said, invoking a shy chuckle. But then the wolf lapped at his muzzle and whispered how he wanted to feel Tobi inside him. Tobi felt a twitch in his sheath from this request, and another twitch when the wolf rolled onto his knees and lifted his tail. Instinct claimed them, the older male mounting the younger one. Slipped inside him, the tightness, the warmth sending his hips into a frantic dash. Tobi wanted--no, _needed--_to bury himself deep inside. His own sex grew with every pulse, and Tobi felt the base expand and expand and expand until Crescent felt so tight around his engorged malehood, until the young wolf was a whimpering, quivering mess of a pup. Both breathed hard, Tobi bucking and bucking, pulling in the wolf tight, large balls pounding in rhythm, his large member caught inside the even larger male beneath him, making him shudder from the tie. Crescent's meaty sex arced forward and back as Tobi took him, and he growled with lust when warmth splattered the matted grass beneath him in long, milky streaks.

And Tobi tossed his head back, joining the howls around him when the orgasmic contractions shot waves of pleasure throughout his entire body, his shuddering body filling the whimpering pup with hot seed. And when he finally forced his eyes open, the wave of pleasure subsiding, his knot still very, very hard, still very much tying him to the one he would now call his mate, Tobi could see the silvery petals of those luminous flowers shrinking into the black firmament above.

In those last few moments, they nuzzled and basked in their shared warmth, their bodies warm and close. The crescent moon grinned as silently as the world below, and the Dream soon dissipated like the beautiful, wolven songs chasing the distant flowers.

* * *

Every room of the cabin shed light. All except from one lifeless window. The man stood at the front door, the beginnings of dawn showering his skin with shreds of sunlight. The man could see each breath, and he cupped his hands and gave a mighty call.

"Tobias!" He inhaled again, louder this time: "Tobias!"

A white, yellow-eyed wolf stepped from the edge of the woods, and the man froze. Upon his muzzle was a crescent-shaped scar, for the wolf had obviously seen a fight or two. Before the man could step inside for his gun to scare off the intruder, a smaller, older wolf appeared from behind. A wolf that was perhaps too familiar to be one, with grizzled fur of grays and blacks and tans...

The older one glanced at the dark window. No lamplight. No boy reading. He recalled the many melancholy nights there glancing at the rising moon, a light that now illuminated a new home with his mate.

When the man outside called his name, the older one glanced at the wolf next to him, offering a nuzzle and a lick. Earning both in return. Then they turned tail, even as the man called again, and they burst through the forest, a two-wolf pack that would never grow, both surviving the wilderness alone.

Later that night, their song reverberated through the empty room, no boy and his dog there to listen anymore, no one left to wonder or hope for the taste of it: the wild.