May You Always Run Free Beneath The Moon's Pale Light

Red was perched on a sturdy, high branch of the forest's tallest sycamore tree, looking out into the night. She was alone, which was rare for Red – being the eldest daughter of her pack's alpha, therefore, a princess and heir to the leadership, Red almost always had someone with her under her mother's orders. There was a part of her that scoffed at this notion – her mother of all people, Red thought, should understand how she only wanted to run free beneath the moon's pale light…

"Hey! Red! Little Red!" Down below, wading through the sea of snow on the forest floor, was Quinn calling for her. "Come out, come out, where ever you are!" Red didn't answer, and instead prepared to lunge at her best friend from above, crouching down on her tree branch. "C'mon, Red, it's me!" Quinn continued, yowling into the night. "The moon's almost at it's highest. We'll run into the night and howl until our lungs burst!" Still there was no response, as the child of the moon was waiting for her fellow pack member to turn his back to the tree, so she could jump him; by now, Quinn and Red had been such close friends for so many years, that he knew all her hiding spots just as well as she did. He placed a hand on the trunk of the tree, grinning upward in her direction. "I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll – "

But Quinn didn't have the chance to finish. In a split second, he was face-down in the snow, with Red on top of him, having tackled him to the ground.

"Tag," Red said as nonchalantly as she could while stifling a laugh. "You're it!"

"You're gonna get it, princess," Quinn pulled himself off the ground when she finally let him up. "You just wait 'til I turn – you just wait 'til the moon…" but neither of them had to wait any longer, as the full moon finally shone in the sky. There was a beat of silent understanding, then: "I'll give you a five second head start."

And, in a flash, Red was a gray wolf, howling and running through the snow-covered forest, relishing in her new found sense of freedom. She couldn't quite explain it, but there was something about running like this – free, under the open sky, bathed in moonlight – that made Red feel so completely whole in every way. Quinn, true to his word, waited exactly five seconds before chasing after the girl. As a wolf, he was much larger and stronger than she was, but the princess was, on the other hand, both faster and more lithe. Because of their opposing, but equally powerful strengths, the two could chase each other under the stars for hours on end, and very often did just that.

Red! Quinn! What do you two think you're doing?

The two friends had been out nearly all night long when they heard the familiar bark of Raoul, Anita's second-in-command. Red skidded to a halt at the beta wolf's snarls; she tasted the thick, nearly-dawn air and quickly realized that they were far out of their pack's territory. She stuttered a yip as an answer, simply because she couldn't think of one.

We, uh…didn't realize we were this far out. Right, Quinn?

Right, Quinn added. Do you remember crossing the stream at all? Because I could have sworn –

Enough! Raoul growled. It's nearly dawn – get back to the den, both of you. And then just to Red: You're lucky it was me and not your mother on patrol tonight. When are you going to follow the pack's rules?

I'm sorry, Raoul, I just… Red trailed off. There's so much out there, so much I want to see, and sometimes I just –

It's not Red's fault, it's mine! Quinn declared. I started it. I was chasing her, at first. If anyone should be sorry, it should be me.

I don't care whose fault it was! The beta snapped. I care that you start obeying the rules, like you should. Now get back to den territory before Anita skins you both alive.

Raoul was right, Red thought – as much as Anita encouraged Red to embrace her inner wolf, she still knew that her oldest daughter had a tendency to wander off and get herself – and, usually Quinn – into trouble. Since she was just a pup, the princess had always wanted to go far beyond the pack's territory. She didn't know what she wanted to see or find, exactly, but just the thought of going and exploring made Red's tail wag like a silly housedog. As she and Quinn trudged on scolded paws back towards the stream – the telltale sign of the pack's territory – Red heard an unmistakable, high-pitched roar. She and Quinn stared at each other with widened, gold wolf-eyes, both thinking the same horrified thought.

Bear.

The wolf pack had faced a countless number of normal animals before, and often treated them like any non-magical wolves would: they hunted elk, snapped at coyotes, and snacked on the occasional hare. But a bear was a different. Any of them could outrun, outsmart, and even take down the other forest creatures – but, like any normal wolf, none of them could go toe-to-toe with a full-grown bear.

We have to attack it! Red barked at Quinn, and ran off in the direction of the animal's scent.

What? Quinn exclaimed, chasing after her. Are you insane? Do you have a death-wish or something I should know about? And, when she didn't respond: Red? Red! C'mon, let's just go back – it's not our problem!

It is our problem, if it could storm the den and attack the whole pack! Red snarled back to him. We can do this together, Quinn. We've been trained to fight. We can attack it. We can –

And there in front of them, with outstretched, scathing claws, was the bear. Red didn't even think – her wolf instinct completely took over. She lunged at the bear and flashed her canine fangs; the she-wolf jumped at the bear from behind, and bite into it's neck. The bear screamed as it shook Red off, and she fell to the snow-covered ground, flat on her back. Before she could act again, the bear swiped it's talons at Red's flank, drawing blood and gouging her side and stomach. Quinn jumped in and tried to take the bear down from the opposite side, but it only turned in time to try to bite him in return. On the other side, Red bite the bear's hind leg, causing it to jeer away from Quinn with another screech and retreat, leaving both the princess and her best friend unscathed. It was then, at that very moment, when the moon finally faded from the sky, and gave way to the sun's morning light. Red and Quinn lay there on the ground, bruised, bleeding, and breathless.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked her, rushing to her side – she was still bleeding.

"I think so. What about you?"

"It didn't bite me, you scared it off," he said. "I just – I think I broke something." Nothing all the blood pooling from Red's stomach, Quinn tore off his shirt and pressed it against her wound. "You're gonna fine," he told her. "Let's get on home."

Before they even got the chance to stumble into the wolf den, Red's younger sister, Sybil, ran out to them. Sybil was beautiful: she had the same hair that Red did, only she wore it much shorter, and had deep green eyes, the color of the herbs she was always gathering. Red's little sister was the pack's healer – a title that she had chosen to take up when they were still only pups together. As healer, Sybil was in charge of tending to the pack's illnesses and wounds, just as Raoul, as beta, was accountable for organizing patrols of the territory and any other day-to-day duties that Anita was too busy to deal with herself.

"How did you know we were hurt?" Red asked her sister, who had now escorted her and Quinn inside the pack's den and laid them down. She was laid next to her best friend, whose probably broken arm was wrapped in cobweb, as her sister gave her two large leaves to hold against her chest to stop any infection.

"Well," said Sybil. "Raoul told Mother that you were far out of the territory, and that you would be back soon. But then you never came back…"

"That filthy snitch!" The elder of the sisters yowled.

"I can't believe he – ouch!" Quinn sneered with pain. "Easy, Sybil."

"Does that hurt you?" She asked.

"Yes, it hurts me! Why else would I – ouch!" At his next cry, Red's sister disappeared to where she stored all of her supplies – most were different types of herbs and seeds, each with different uses, and also some occasional plants with magically properties here and there. The latter, though, Sybil only used in absolute emergencies.

"Is Mother angry with me?" Red asked her sister when she returned, carrying herbs with her.

"You know how she is. She was glad that you were embracing your wolf. But she was worried, too, especially when you didn't return. I was worried. We all were. How did you get yourself into this mess, anyway?"

"We, uh…we fought a bear."

"A bear?" Sybil's eyes grew wide. "You…fought a…bear?"

"We did," Red nodded. "And we won, too."

"If you thought Mother would have been angry before, she'll be twice as angry now! Quinn," she said, rubbing the light yellow petals of something off into her hand. "This is goldenrod. It's good for mending bones. After that's in your system, I'll give you some poppy seeds to help you sleep." The boy swallowed the yellow colored petals, and gagged. "Well, what were you expecting?" Sybil tried not to giggle good-naturedly at her patient's reaction. "It won't be honey and chamomile, that's for sure. But the most important thing is that you rest." Then, she looked to her sister, and removed the large oak leaves from her wound, happy to see no sign of infection.

"Will I live?" Red joked, laughing.

"It isn't funny, Red," her sister remarked. "You're lucky you walked away with only these injuries. Now, I'm going to dress your wound in cobweb to completely stop the bleeding, and give you some goldenrod in case you broke or sprained anything, and some honey and chamomile for…good measure. But don't tell anyone, or everyone will want some."

"Thanks, Sybil, you're a real friend!" Quinn deadpanned sarcastically.

"Oh, fine. I suppose you can have some, too…"

Once Red was able to get up from the spot where her sister had laid her, she flopped over on her bed, exhausted. She didn't know if it was the herbs that Sybil had given her, or the injuries themselves that made her so tired, but she felt completely drained now.

"So," came a familiar voice, right before Red drifted off to sleep. She sat up to see her mother, Anita, there before her. "Your sister told me you fought a bear."

"Why does everyone tell each other everything around here?" Red exclaimed.

"Red…"

"Okay, okay, yes – Quinn and I found a bear coming too close to the territory for comfort, so we fought it. And, just so you know, it ran away with it's tall between it's legs." When her daughter had finished, Anita suppressed a chuckle. "What?" Red asked. "What's so funny?"

"Now I know why your grandfather used to tell me I was suborn and reckless when I was your age. You're exactly like I was."

"You fought a bear?"

"Don't sound so surprised! Being alpha isn't an easy title."

"So…you're not mad?" Red asked another question.

"No, I'm not mad. You were very brave and strong today, Red. And for that I am proud of you. But know this: being alpha is about more than being brave and strong. It's about being practical, rational, and not just doing the brave thing." As her mother finished speaking, Red studied the ground. She was feeling disappointed in herself now – and a long way from becoming alpha someday.

"I'm not practical, like you are Mother," she admitted. "When I'm the wolf, I can't think that way. I can hardly think at all! Something else just comes over me, I can't explain it…"

"Your warrior spirit," Anita told her. "It's a great thing to have. Something alpha's need more than anyone. You're almost there, Red. And you've got a lot of time yet." A pause, then: "how'd the bear look?"

"Worse than we do!"

"Good. That's good."

"I love you, Mother," Red said. "Do you really think I'll make a good alpha someday?"

"Yes, my daughter," her mother smiled. "I really do."