Innocent Little Runt
Chapter 8

Xavier’s POV

Tonight, when the crescent moon rises in the sky, Celeste can heal properly. She will finally be alright and things will be normal. I can actually introduce her to the pack and she can officially become Luna. And I know that she is dying to shift. I remember how frustrated she was when I told her that she won’t be able to shift until tomorrow.

I looked towards Celeste, who was sound asleep on the bed in Zay’s office. Her fever had come back but I wasn’t as worried as before. The new moon would be over tomorrow and Celeste would be able to heal properly. Then, she would be fine.

I looked towards the door, wondering when Zay would be back. I wanted to make sure that there would be no problems tomorrow. I wanted Celeste to start having a comfortable life here.

I heard the rustling of blankets and my eyes snapped back to Celeste. Her eyes fluttered open and looked around in confusion. Her beautiful brown eyes locked onto mine and her look of confusion went away. She sat up and tried to stand up. I sighed, getting back to my feet and went over to her.

“Rest,” I said gently, pushing her back down. “You need to rest until the new moon is over. Okay?”

“How about. . . No.” She got up again and I sighed, pushing her back down. “Seriously?” She whined and I almost gave in. “I want to go for a run!”

“No. You have to wait until the new moon is over.” Her eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

“Why?” I sighed.

“How long have you been able to shift?” She looked down in thought for a moment before shrugging.

“Only a few years I think.” I nodded. She really was young.

“When you first got here, I had Zay do some research. You weren’t healing and we didn’t know why. Runts aren’t like normal wolves. You got hurt when it was the new moon. That is not a good thing, especially for you. Runts rely on the moon for their power. Therefore, you can’t heal with the new moon. You’ll have to wait until the moon is back in the sky to even contact your wolf, let alone heal.”

“Thank goddess.” She mumbled and I raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t talked to Ancillary since I got here. I’ve been freaking out.”

“Who’s Ancillary?”

She smiles as she gives her answer, “My wolf. She’s been my only friend since. . .” She had a sad look on her face by the time she finished.

“Well when the new moon is over, how about you and I go for a run?” She smiled and nodded.

~~~

“Xavier?” My eyes snapped up to Celeste. “Are you okay? You have been spacing out for a while.”

“I’m fine. Just thinking.” She nods as she looks down. Her long brown hair covers her eyes like a curtain and she puts it behind her ear with a frustrated look on her face. “What about you? How’s the pain?”

“It’s fine but I’m bored. Like, really, truly, infinity out of one, bored.” I smirk as an idea pops in my head.

“Then get up.”

She quirks an eyebrow and scoffs. “Just yesterday you didn’t want me to even stand on my own two feet and now you are telling that I should get up. Are you just tricking me? Because I don’t know you all that well and for all I know you could be a trickster! And I actually want to get out of this bed. So if you are tricking me, so help me goddess, I will kick you into tomorrow where I will actually go outside.”

I held my hands up in defense, a chuckle bubbling in my throat. “I’m not tricking you. I told you we could go out for a run when the new moon is over and that should be in a few hours. Until then, let’s just go outside. I have a place in mind. Like you said, I don’t really know you all that well. So let’s go out somewhere, and if you get tired then I will carry you. Does that seem good to you?”

“I have a few conditions.” I nodded, urging her to continue. “I am going to need a change of clothes and I want to bathe. My mother and I snuck into a campsite every once in awhile and the last time was like, last week. I probably reek.” I nodded.

“Of course. I’ll go get Zay so she can help you out if you need it and get some clothes for you.” She nodded gratefully. I left the room and mind linked Zay to help Celeste out. I walked up stairs so I could get my Beta. If this goes how I’m hoping I don’t know how long we’ll be gone for.

Celeste’s POV

I hated myself for showing weakness yesterday but it was hard to avoid crying when they talked about how they died. They acted as if killing Father, making him go through hell before he died, and killing Mother was nothing. They, mainly that one with the green eyes, acted as if it was an ordinary event that happens every day. I’m glad he is dead.

I also hate myself for thinking that. What kind of a person is glad that someone is dead? A sick person, that’s who. Mother and Father would be disgusted to hear my thoughts. They would look away from me in shame. And I hate myself for this.

I look in the mirror of the bathroom after I finish putting on the clothes Zay let me borrow. It was a simple thin, long sleeved plaid shirt and a pair of jean shorts. She thought that she shouldn’t give me something fancy so that way I won’t have to worry about it as much when I take them off to shift.

I can’t wait to shift tonight. I have missed Ancillary greatly. She has been my only friend since. . . For a long time. Even though wolves don’t shift until they are thirteen or fourteen their wolves usually come out around twelve or thirteen years of age. Sometimes there are cases where you don’t meet your wolf until you until you shift but that is very rare.

I walk out of the bathroom in Zay’s room, which she kindly let me use, to see a girl with brown hair and startling blue eyes. Only, her entire eyes were blue. As there was no white in her eyes. I jumped back in fear.

“Who a-are yo-you?” I stuttered, backing up to the wall in fear. Who the hell is this chick? What the hell is she?

“I should be asking you who you are? And what you are doing in my room?” She sneered and gave me a dirty look. She took a step forward and I flinched.

“Kaleshia, stop scaring the poor girl.” My head snaps over to see Zay walking in the room. The odd blue eyed girl, Kaleshia, smiles when she sees Zay.

“But who is she?” Zay looks to me and gives me an apologetic smile.

“This is Celeste, our new Luna.” Kaleshia’s eyes widened. “And Celeste, this is Kaleshia. My mate.” Now it was my turn for my eyes to widen.

“I’m so sorry,” Kaleshia says quickly. “When I saw you in here I automatically assumed the worse. My species is a bit more. . . Possessive than others.”

“And I’m sorry too. I was a bit rude but what species would that be? If you don’t mind me asking.” My voice was still wavy a bit but I was starting to calm down.

“Magi. I’m basically a witch, which is why my eyes are completely blue. I’m sorry if that scared you.” I nodded.

“It’s fine.” I looked down awkwardly, not knowing what to do.

“I think Xavier is looking for you.” I nodded at Zay and walked out of the room quietly saying, “Thank you, I’ll see you later.”

~~~

“There you are. Are you ready?” I looked at Xavier, he looked great. His hair was like a natural kind of messy that looked soft enough for me to run my hands through. He was wearing a simple black shirt that fit him really well and he was wearing a pair of shorts. Like I said, we were going to shift tonight. What’s the point of wearing fancy clothes if you are just going to take them off to shift?

“Yeah. Can we go now? I’m really bored.” He nodded and walked towards me. He held out his hand and after a moment of hesitation, I placed my hand in his. We walked out of the pack house and towards the woods. I smiled as I felt the nature that was surrounding me. The leaves crunched beneath our feet and the slight autumn breeze blew through my hair. My smile widened and Xavier squeezed my hand.

We walked for awhile in a comfortable silence until my leg started to hurt. I tried to ignore it and continue walking on my own but that didn’t work. It was like the ground gave out below me and next thing I know I was on the ground. Xavier picked me up and I leaned against his chest, enjoying the sparks that went throughout my body.

“Are you okay?” I nodded and I could feel Xavier relax. I closed my eyes for what felt like only a minute. When I opened my eyes I saw that we had stopped at a beautiful cliff. The cliff was covered in grass and a red plaid blanket sat on top of it. There was a picnic basket on the blanket, making it a beautiful sight just from that. To add to it, just off of the cliff was a small waterfall leading down into a small pond. I bet it would be beautiful when the moon and the stars came out.

“Do you like it?” Xavier set me on my feet only for me to turn around and wrap my arms around him. He wrapped his arms around me, bringing me closer than I already was.

“I love it. Thank you.”

We sat down on the blanket and Xavier opened the picnic basket. Inside there was mainly junk food. I had already eaten dinner at the pack house so I wasn’t complaining. I immediately grabbed the box of Oreos from him. Oreos were my favorite snack when I was little and I hadn’t had them since. Xavier chuckled as he watched me scarf four down.

“So tell me about yourself,” I said after I swallowed my fifth Oreo.

“What do you want to know Little One?”

“Hobbies, age, all of those cliche things that mates should know about each other.”

“Okay. I’m almost 23, I was born and raised here. I don’t really have a lot of hobbies. I was trained to become Alpha from a young age. I always enjoyed the fighting though. Of course, no one got seriously injured like in real life. My mom and dad left a year after I became Alpha. They visit every now and then but besides that they are retired in some place up North. Your turn.”

I wanted to hug Xavier after he finished but he said everything so casually. He didn’t get raised like a normal child should. Then again, neither was I.

“My pack was destroyed when I was six. My father died in the attack. After that the few of us who survived became rogues, just trying to find a home. No one would take my mother and I in. No one would want a runt. I had one friend but at some point that changed. I’m not sure if it was because I’m a runt or what but they started to treat me like garbage. Sometimes they would push me around and I couldn’t do anything about it. I was too weak.” Xavier stiffened next to me.

“Soon we were the only ones left. We stole clothes when we needed and hunted for food. We were doing fine until the rogues came. And you know the rest.” I couldn’t bring myself to say any more. Xavier put his arm around me, pulling me to him.

“You’re okay now.” I nodded and leaned into his chest. He laid back, still holding me, and we watched as the sky turned from day to night. As the moon started to show in the sky I felt as if water had just washed over me.

Celeste?

Ancillary! I’ve missed you so much!

Where are we? What happened?

It’s fine. We’re okay now. I could basically feel her smiling.

“I can hear her Xavier,” I said with the biggest smile possible.

“How’s your leg?” I looked down to see that it was all healed. I smiled up at Xavier to see him smiling too. He kissed my temple and got up, bringing me to my feet. “Go shift, we’ll go for a run.” I nodded and went behind the nearest tree. After I stripped I let Ancillary take over. The familiar snapping of bones was a delightful sound to my ears. Before I knew it I was lower to the ground and everything was clearer. Including the scent of coconut and fresh rain. Xavier.

I walked out from behind the tree to see a huge wolf with fur the color of Xavier’s hair. I ran to him and nuzzled into his neck.

Shall we go? Xavier’s voice floated in my head. When you’re in wolf form you don’t have to be family or part of the same pack to be able to mind link. You just have to be close enough to the other person.

I took off into a run, giving Xavier his answer. He chased after me as we dodged through trees and jumped over any obstacle in our path. We stopped at the little pond that was fed by the waterfall. I dipped in and enjoyed the water going through my fur. Xavier joined me. We swam for what felt like hours. When we got out we continued our run. We eventually circled around to where we began and I was right about the view, it was beautiful. I started to get tired just a bit before we arrived.

Are you tired? I nodded as an answer for Xavier. He went and laid down on the blanket and beckoned me over to him. I went and laid down, snuggling into his fur. His wolf purred in content as sparks went throughout our bodies.

I fell asleep thinking about how I have never been this content in my life.