The pangs were for real. She couldn’t contain her hunger for long. Where was she to look for her meal? The premise had nothing to offer her. The moon rose high in the muddled sky. Its supremacy ruled the starless sky. None would dare to step-in, in such a tyrannical rule of a looming entity. Its fullness reminded her of how desperately she wanted to howl. The urge to tell what she was brawled with who she was. The winds scurried past her shrivelled, vulnerable self, escalating the hostility. Dry, tattered leaves carried her state of despair.  Only if she could get some mass to save her flesh before it could complete The Mission!  *** The University was beaming with a potpourri of emotions. Students from over the globe, some happy, some worried, some anxious, only he excited to be here.  JASPER The boy with a million dreams, with a heart that beat million times for million other people. The innocent farmer's boy that he was could never call a spade a spade; too emotional and sensitive, to even see the autumn fall. In the countryside, he had seen friends lose their teenage hearts in love. For him, the magical moment was yet to happen. No girl till now had set his heart in a flutter, who knows the University had something to offer him? Having lived on a steady dose of vintage English movies, romance for him was pristine light tickling the cockles of his heart. Being in love was like a bubble kissing the air- passionate yet subtle. It was like water-soaked sponge-full yet not heavy. Jasper, on campus, was one of those dove eyed youth in search of his dreams but not without a companion; a companion who would add more substance and sustenance in achieving his dreams. His minuscule longed for a longing for someone; someone whom he could see even with closed eyes and feel with open arms.  Jasper was more than a simpleton from the countryside and much less than the chic metro male. LUNA Who was she? A dazzling beauty? A sparkling wine? A whiff of mystery amalgamated with a scent of attractiveness? Clairvoyance? A fantasy? Or nothing of all this but a figment of imagination running wild on a rainy day. Whoever she was, Luna carried a little of Spain, a little of France and much more of  Austria with her. She had crossed the Atlantic to study at the University. Not a child of one land, Luna had tasted the champagne and enjoyed the Sangria with an equal zest for Almduller. Though Austria was her birthplace, she spoke more French and Spanish than any other native. None could trace down her roots to one country for she flowed like the winds across the border.  But who cared of roots and base, when her basic personality had boys and girls swooning over. The University wasn’t mesmerised by such phenomenal beauty in quite some time, now. Lanky legs, supple slender fingers, blonde long hair were just elements camouflaged by porcelain thin skin and blue, radiating eyes. If a raindrop glided along her forehead, it would jump off the pointed nose. The tunic hugged her curves and made an alluring shape of her slender figure. Many believed Luna was a reincarnation of Cleopatra, nothing less but certainly more. And what did she think of herself?  The debates continued in the students of University as Luna sometimes as warm as a bun of high tea, at other times aloof as the politics of the United Kingdom. To some, she came as the girl next door, for some she was the unachievable Mount Blanc of Alps.  Whimsical all time was something that cleared the low haze hanging on her ambiguous identity.  Yet all was welcomed on the campus of the University! The love story Opposites attract but with that, they grab many eyeballs with their odd chemistry. Here too at the University, cupid struck Jasper and Luna. How the Cleopatra had fallen for the Koalemos, was a million euros question for the onlookers. It took a lot of provocation and persuasion by Luna to convince Jasper that he was definitely worth her. Love is blind and Luna proved it as if fallen for him on a No Moon night, in sheer darkness and ignorance. Smitten by love, Jasper could see nothing beyond her warm heart and she could hold nothing beyond his true love. How did it happen? When it formalised itself? Even the cohesive atoms couldn't tell. The story felt as abrupt as snow on a sultry sunny day. The drama unfolded as if directed by a stellar force. Whatever was the conspiracy, Jasper couldn’t thank his stars enough. The wait was awarded miraculously. Their story He waited for her impatiently.  Meandering her way through the bushes, she stopped to check on the charcoal black sky. The proud moon was now reduced to a waxing entity. The winds that once blew ferociously, too, were now scared of a movement. Hunger pangs were leaping at her, only in her territory, she could find some flesh.   The thorns were pricking her raw, bare skin as the tender feet were calloused by stones and thorns, alike. Goddess Diana indicated that in few days the shadows of darkness would completely envelop the sky and she had to reach the pond by No Moon Day. The claws were appearing and the canines were turning sharp, the errie of the night was competing with her horrendous metamorphosis. She assailed the mountains at lightings’ speed. Her brood depended on her meeting him. She survived in the hope of marrying him someday. Quick, quick, quick.....run, run, run. I need to see him, feel him. What if he walks away? What if he forgets this appointment of promise? He won’t. He too loves me.  Her body picked up speed as her mind ran through multitudes of possibilities.  Goddess Diana bless me. Her faith in the supernatural kept her unnatural self going. The prowling was on its eighth day. Two days more for her real self to expose itself. Spurts of brown, grey fur appeared in patches. Till then this part of forest inhabited by lesser demonic beasts had to be traversed. If the transformation had to complete itself here, she would die before completing The Mission. That meant a rebirth and rebirth in the same cavernous form. Noooo...This has to be achieved. The horrifying possibility of rebirth proved to be an adrenaline surge to her fatigued feet. She ran and ran, paced and paced, from two legs to four legs, she lapped the treacherous path. Finally, she was here. Here, she gasped facing his veritable, lone form. “Welcome my darling!” His voice sparkled like his startling, amber eyes.  Despite his somewhat steely and intimidating exteriors, she found him very affectionate. For the pack of outsiders, he came as being hostile and shrewd. But the way he was now nibbling her face and coat, she immensely thought of endearment. “What is it my dear that’s taking so long? Are you here to give me the good news? Is your belly heavy with our pride?” He licked her neck fervently as if this would cajole her to answer in affirmation. "No, darling. Give me some more time. Next time I would come back with a swollen belly." She hung her head in shame as he stopped the licking and looked at her with roaring anger about to burst in flames. Smoothening the wicked twitches around his eyes, “Nevertheless, I love you.” he managed to speak. A glint of wickedness in those grey eyes? No can’t be. He truly loves me. It’s for the good of the pack. I must do it.    For some time, they walked pressed close to each other, giving out occasional barks and howls. The world of ultimas! True lycanthrope! The love story continues... Jasper's world was turned topsy-turvy. It was a month now that Luna had not returned from her vacation to a part of the world that never existed for the village lad. The semester at the University had ended and it was a summer break. He deliberated over indefinite possibilities of where she could be now but came to no terminable conclusion.    “Would love to see my oldie, this summer break. Some days at Austria, then a week at Italy and I will be back.” That’s all she had vocalised while flirtatiously, rubbing her tender foot up and down his hairy one, sitting in the library. And he too had not bothered to probe further as her feet’s feathery touch was driving Jasper crazy.    But now he was worried. The next term was to start in a day, and there were no signs of her on the campus. "Jasperrrrrr...my loveeeeee..."  “Gosh! You gave me heebie-jeebies!” She had come as suddenly as she had left. The door of their shared apartment was left ajar for a long time, as she kissed him passionately, compensating for her month's absence. Realizing her folly of not closing the door behind her, Luna quickly pranced to the door, banging it shut. Slowly, unleashing a button at a time, revealing her deep cleavage, Luna ambled her way towards a flummoxed Jasper. It was three months to their story and this form of Luna he was experiencing for the first time.  He sunk deep into the sofa. He wasn't prepared for what was to come. Being a yeoman’s son, the countryside hadn’t offered him such pleasures. Few magazines and boisterous friends had exposed him to distant desires. But they were always suppressed.  Here, she now sat next to him, gradually evoking the latent fantasy. His goose-bumps spoke how much he wanted it. Her lips curled at the thought of making it possible. The closed-door veiled their passions that were thrown open, adding an enigmatic thrill to the love-making.  Their story unravels... Love was making a human out of her hybrid self. She was falling prey to his unreasonable mastermind but ridiculously without knowing so. He, Fenris, the alpha male had been ruling the pack for the past three hundred years. How many years into his birth, no living creature could testify.  His death was only evitable by the consumption of human flesh; a human willing to sacrifice for the dawn of good over evil; his secret to immortality.  Fenris was a perfidious lover, a diabolical cunning mate and more so ever a vengeful werewolf!  The werewolf was a ferocious killer. He could grapple with saltwater crocodiles with ultimate ease and comfort. His mind was diminutive and fast-moving, captured prey and emotions, alike. His blood raging with pathetic, ravenous hunger was thirsty for the supreme rule. The dangerously inhumane creature strived to rule the world, spread his clan and eat up the human race. For this, Fenris only had her. Only she could slowly make this happen. After all, she was a cross between a werewolf and a human. Her ambitiously mother had once escaped his tyrannical rule in search of true love. Betrayed, she had returned to give birth to her. What was it her mother possessed to transform into a human during a synodic period, was buried along with her in the grave. Only when Fenris witnessed her majestic metamorphosis into a damsel, was he acquainted with such celestial powers.  Since then the greed to conquer the world by spreading his clan obsessed him. Luna, born to that ambitious, betrayed mother, was his sole pawn. The hundred-year-old, she-werewolf, Luna had fallen for his cheap, manipulative ways. Her going out in the human world and begetting hybrid off-springs was the sole, dirty purpose of his affair with her. Luna was the throne through which he could rule both the worlds- natural and supernatural!  Jasper was Luna's toy. She fiddled with his raw emotions and countryside simplicity or stupidity, the way she looked at it. It could have been any human to impregnate her. But somewhere in the depth of Luna's heart lay a magnet attracting it to true love. Also, only a virgin male's sperm could do wonders. Such novelty was rare as a white peacock-beautiful and pure in actions and intentions. Yet, Luna was a jammy woman when it came to Jasper. He was a complete package of loyalty, genuineness and worthiness.  For Jasper, it was a trap.  For Luna, it was a bigger trap.  Only Fenris laid the siege!  Today, too, he waited for Luna to surprise him with her pregnancy from Jasper. None. After months of passionate affairs, nothing had produced fruit. As she stood with failed eyes, Fenris's blood curled. Low yet fierce growls escaped his baring teeth. With raised hackles, Fenris advanced towards Luna. In a moment, he was about to pounce on the docile Luna. But his guileful self pulled the reins of umbrage. Still, his grey eyes were sneaky and poisonous. But to her, they were handsome and intensely black. To love her he had a motive. To love him was the purpose of her life, sole purpose.  "No worries, my Barbie! We need to get back at it again. I hope you understand how important this is for our brothers, it is vital in seeking revenge against what these humans did to your mother. She needs to find peace. Only you can stop her from rumbling in the grave. It’s all for your good. Tomorrow I will die. But before that, I need to hand over a legacy to you. You will be the next Alfa Female of our pack!" Luna licked his crocodile tears as he spoke.  Nobody can love me as he does. Really? Why do I see malice here suddenly? How cruel of me to doubt a noble soul. Goddess Diana please, please light my path! The love story proves its worth. Jasper put on the lights of his deserted apartment. The house bore this look every time Luna abandoned, it to visit her oldie. It was the winter break. England pepped itself up with generous brandy and rum doses. Christmas was around the corner. Every household sang carols and chimneys smoked of gingerbread and other delicacies. A sweet aroma wafted through the window. But Jasper was immersed in melancholy. He was in wait of his ladylove to pop her the question. New Year would begin with new commitments and newfound meaning to life. A year more, the University would set its postgraduates free to weave their career nest and lay eggs of success. But the village chap, Jasper, dreamed of building his family nest and see little birdies chirping in it soon. Very radically in contrast to his peers, that's what set him apart and find a place in Luna's story and soon in Fenris's secret. Fenris, and his ugly secret which only Luna knew was his address to hell. Not aware of a parallel world buzzing around him, life was chaotic. Where was Luna now? Who were her folks? Why did she never spoke of them? Austria, Spain or France, where did she come from? Or none of it? The whirlpool of doubt was exhausting him. The sweet aroma from the window reminded him more of Luna and her ethereal scent. He walked to shut the window when...when he saw the silhouette of an animal pass hurriedly in the lawn. Ah! Must be some stray loitering for a morsel. He slapped himself and retired to bed. The moon shone gloriously beautiful in the starless sky. Its bilious halo radiated great panache. Goddess Diana ruled the world. The morning rays pierced the grim sky and send the coral darkness back to the pavilion. The day had dawned to pour hope and happiness in Jasper's cup.  He rubbed his sleepy eyes to push away the curtains of lassitude when...when he saw HER!  Luna stood smiling elegantly strong enough to drive him crazily out of the bed and hug her straight like a lost smells home scents. "Where have you been? What took you so long? What..." He bombarded her with questions that were drowned in their passionate lovemaking. The bodies savoured each other, quenching their desires; Jasper's of love and Luna's of the mission. Every time she indulged in Jasper there was a spark of true love for Jasper. But the thought of Fenris's grey eyes doused the spark before it could catch flames. Holding her to not let her go away anytime, Jasper whispered into her relaxed ears, “Marry me! Will you?” Luna just drifted away. For the first time her childlike, blue beady eyes were moistened with tears of empathy for this young man. Oh, Goddess Diana why I am wallowing in guilt? Why are these meek human emotions engulfing a predator like me? A part of me yearns for this man, while a part wants to make Fenris happy. Spare me this despair, show me the light. Break me free of virtues and righteousness, of trapping emotions and criminality. I am an animal, let me be one. Jasper unaware of her turmoil, allowed her to seep into the proposal. Luna cried till every drop had exhausted itself. She prayed till every word sailed and knocked fervently on the stoic doors of the Goddess.  “Luna.”  A pristine white light shone on her haggard face. In its glow, her dried tears shone like crystalline lupis. The room where she sat cursing her fate was filled with divine luminescence. The light blinded her.  "LUNA." This time someone caressed her dishevelled hair. The touch had a feathery touch and a soothing effect on her. She couldn't see the face that bore the voice. "Luna, unleash from this dual existence. Bask in the glory of what you were meant to be. Take pride in your cavernous self than struggling to outdo what the creator has wished for you. In his choice lies your abundance. This universe has a specific place for souls like you. Take refuge in the paranormal world that man fears to invade. Rule your clan with righteous virtues and not naked greed of conquering and battle. Bloodshed for unjust power isn't the instinct of a woman in skin or fur. Recognize yourself as the queen and not a pawn of this game." The luminosity spoke to her as if her mother was fondling her. *** “Forgive me, Jasper! I’m not worth your loyalty. I’m a demon in human flesh. Kill me! Destroy me!” Luna’s was bleeding profusely heart with confessions. The morning that Jasper was planning to be the brightest of his life was slowly turning grey. As Luna spoke, he could visualise Fenris’s grey eyes with terror in his own. The shards of his broken heart pierced her milieu. It was time to say goodbye, only it would the stringiest goodbye of her life. What was flooding through Jasper’s mind was beyond Luna’s understanding. Not a word or an accusation was hurled at her. There he stood pale as the washerman's over-washed thumb. His countenance washed off of all warmth and joy. Still, as a leaf bereft of wind, Jasper's blood was turning cold as hers. Yet, she went on with her agony of how Fenris and his greed to rule would kill mankind, more than that how her life would be a living hell. "Liberate my soul of this amorphous identity," Luna begged to his stone-faced expression.     For what seemed to be aeons to Luna, Jasper enveloped her in a warm embrace, at last.  Last?  A new story begins... The cliff, however steep, held her wild form firmly. The full moon shed slivers of pristine light on her arched back. Towards the sky, she raised a deep howl and her clan followed suit. They prayed fervently in the glory of their new leader, Luna! She prayed silently for Fenris’s soul and more so for Jasper’s; a man who in love had sacrificed his flesh to kill the evil. A lone tear, moistened her vacant eyes as she reminisced the massacre of love. Blood sprayed her face red, as she had slit the throat of her forlorn lover. Death by her hands, for her life, was all he had desired. The village lad though led an ordinary life died an extraordinary death.  In the name of fatal attraction, Fenris relished the boy’s flesh and joined him in the journey thereafter. A deep howl again echoed the silent forest. Goddess Diana ruled the cloudless sky.   Penmancy gets a small share of every purchase you make through these links, and every little helps us continue bringing you the reads you love!