#moonwood

[plutos-moons-subsys]

crimson post

this is how broken hearts club formed right

This. Martyn & Ren with Pearl in DL

[fizzigigsimmer]

That spring, Steve’s mom finally gets tired of getting cheated on and files for divorce. His dad is a dick about it and hires a bunch of lawyers to ensure that she basically leaves with nothing. Worse, he fights her for custody of Steve and taunts her with the fact she’ll never see him again - because why would any teenager want to give up everything, just to rough it out with their train-wreck of a mother? But jokes on him cause the judge basically leaves it up to Steve, and Steve would rather stomp on his own balls than get stuck with that asshole. Even if it means having to leave the big house and his car and starting over in a new place where nobody knows him.

Steve never met his mother’s side of the family in California. All he really knows is that the family disapproved of her marriage. There’s a story about his aunt coming to visit once on his birthday when he was like five, but she got in a fight with mom and she’s never been back. So Steve doesn’t even think about them when he tries to imagine what he and his mom are going to do on their own. He imagines her selling her car and the other gifts dad put in her name over the years to rent a decent apartment somewhere, maybe in Indianapolis or Chicago.

He’s really shocked one night when she announces that she’s been in touch with her family, and she she asks him about how he feels about moving to California to some sleepy little town called Moonwood. She tries to enthuse him about it by going on about how beautiful it is there, right at the edge of the national forest, but Steve’s more concerned with the fact that they’ll be living with people who hate them - and in the sticks too! Its two hours to the nearest mall! How’s he gonna find a job in this place? And what about school?

But Steve looks around at the hotel they’ve been staying in and the paper thin smile she fixes on her face to try and hide her broken heart from him and how fucked everything is, and he just wants her to be okay.

They move to California, and the one bright side is the relatives turn out to be not all that hateful. There’s awkward tension and a shit load of history there for sure, but from the minute they pull up to his grandparents house the door is thrown open and they’re welcomed with open arms. His grandpa seems a little stiff at first, but Steve gets the impression its because he doesn’t know what to do with himself as Steve’s mom and his grandma hug each other and cry. The weirdest part is when they start speaking in a language Steve’s never heard his mother use before.

Later his aunt tells him it’s lythan, but she just laughs when Steve asks if that means they’re from Lithuania. Apparently lythan is a very old language that started in romania and is only spoken today in two places. Here, and some village in romania that an ancestor immigrated from.

None of this is making sense to him but he’s just happy his mother seems happier and that he has help taking care of her, since she’s still pretty broken up about the divorce. She’s always been a passionate woman his mom. The kind of person who believes in soulmates and love at first sight. She’s always told him that when he meets the one for him he’ll know it in an instant and that he should hang on to that person with his whole heart. Which sounded great and all when he was a kid, but honestly just makes him sad now when he looks at how things turned out with her and his dad.

The first week after they get there, Steve cant sleep and catches his mother, his grandmother and his aunt talking in the kitchen late one night. He overhears her say that she knew it was a risk being with his dad, but that she’d have regretted it more if she didn’t follow her heart. Even if she wasn’t the one for Steve’s dad the way he was for her, she’d always be grateful because she has Steve. But she doesn’t want him to grow up feeling like he has to change who he is and like he always has to be the one giving to someone else just to be loved.

For the first time since the divorce Steve is almost mad at her - wants to shout it’s too late mom! - but the feeling passes as quickly as it comes. He’s just sad, for them both. But he hopes things will be okay here and that this can be a new start. It could be worse right? At least he gets a room to himself. Yeah it’s kinda weird that his aunt still lives at home and nobody seems to have a problem with that, or is talking about what his moms plans are like they expect that she’ll just be there forever now. But he figures they’re all just focused on making up for lost time right now.

And his grandma says that people in Moonwood stay close to home anway, and that most of them spend their whole lives there without leaving. It shocks him to learn that she’s never been further outside of town than to the edge of the national forest.

His second worry, about finding a job, gets resolved by his his grandfather - who runs a soda shop on the beach. There’s not much traffic durring the off season, but in summertime the redwoods draw a fair number of tourists. Steve’s kept very busy scooping up ice cream and making root beer floats while he flirts with the gap year girls who come through in groups, to backpack through the forest. He’s just turned eighteen and he’s never had much of a problem picking up girls so he has a few flings. He gets invited to parties on the beach and ends up doing a lot of hiking that summer in his downtime. But then fall rolls around and with fewer and fewer groups of tourists passing through Steve finds himself at loose ends.

School starts up again and he realizes that maybe it was a mistake not to put more of an effort into meeting local kids and making a few connections beforehand. Schiller High is over in the next district, and Moonwood is so far out the kids have to be bussed in. Steve’s a little nervous about starting a new school in his senior year but he tells himself it’s just one year. One year and then he has no idea what to do with himself after that, but at least he won’t be forced to attend school anymore. Still, he begs his mom to let him take their car to school the first day so that he doesn’t have to be the oldest kid on the bus. He’s pretty sure that’s a social constant even out here in the middle of nowhere.

Schiller seems pretty normal at first. It’s about the same size as his school back in Hawkins was. The school receptionist calls in some guy named Tim to show him around his first day and make sure he gets to all his classes. Tim’s alright, but Steve can see the neon nerd sign blinking above his head and plays it cool. He’s not an asshole or anything, he just doesn’t want to close any doors before getting the lay of the land. Steve just wants an easy year and he’s not gonna get that if he’s hanging out with a bully magnet - sorry Tim. Plus, Steve’s not exactly thrilled about the way Tim talks about ‘moonies’ - which is apparently what other people call people from Moonwood, instead of hicks or whatever. Steve doesn’t bother telling Tim that he’s technically a moonie now too.

His aspirations to plant himself firmly in the middle of the student social hierarchy and go unnoticed for the next ten months involve finding a group - or a pack as his grandfather weirdly put it when he assured Steve he’d find his in no time and start to feel more at home once school started. He asks Tim about the school’s athletic teams because being on a team with a bunch of other guys will basically do the work for him. There’s a swim team that Steve is definitely going to try out for. He’s not sure about basketball. He only got started back in Hawkins because his dad thought it was manlier than ‘playing’ in the pool. But he likes it okay, and Tim says the Schiller team has actually won a few regional titles.

Even though it’s his last year Steve figures it can’t hurt his college applications to be on a winning team for once. He probably won’t to start or anything but he thinks he has a good shot of seeing some playing time.

“I would stick with swimming if I were you. There’s no way you’re getting on the team.” Tim laughs. “The head coach is a moonie and he only ever picks guys from Moonwood.”

That doesn’t seem very legal, but that’s not Steve’s problem. He figures Tim is probably exaggerating anyway, just salty that the coach is giving a little extra focus to the guys from the less privileged side of the tracks.

Until Steve actually sees Billy and some of the other guys from the team.

It’s just before lunch when Steve and Tim have stopped by Steve’s locker. A blond kid in a red and white letterman jacket appears at the mouth of the hall, flanked by two other guys. It’s like something out of a movie the way the hallway clears for them and the other students gaze at them with awe filled expressions as if they’re watching a parade of olympians pass through.

“That’s Billy Hargrove. He’s captain of the basketball team.” Tim answers the unspoken question in Steve’s glance. “Don’t get on his bad side. He’s pretty much the top dog around here.”

Steve doesn’t need Tim to tell him Billy runs things around here. The guy is built like the terminator. Like someone who has ascended above mere mortals and wouldn’t be out of place among the gods. He’s built like a man, Steve finally settles on with an prickle of embarrassment hot in his chest. Steve’s a guy and he doesn’t go out of his way to look at other guys a lot, but he appreciates the things about them that are enviable.

Only envy is the furthest thing from Steve’s mind when he first sees Billy. It’s like time slows for Steve. His mouth gets dry, and he thinks to himself that Billy Hargrove is beautiful, and he wonders what that’s like. Steve knows he’s good looking. This isn’t some self depreciation bullshit, it’s just inexplicably different somehow the way he looks at Billy and thinks he finally understands what real beauty is. The way he instantly wants to get closer to him, reach out and touch. Billy has none of the unfinished awkwardness of a teenager. He’s a poster child for physical perfection that Steve is convinced walked off of a poster taped up on somebody’s wall, and has no business walking down the halls of an American high school. Seriously. How is this guy real?

He spares a quick glance for the other two guys with Billy - Dave & Chet - just long enough to confirm that he’s fucked. If these are the kinds of guys they’ve got on the team, Steve has no chance of seeing anything but a bench all year.

Billy and the other two stop at a locker not far from Steve’s on the other side of the hall, but not before Billy’s gaze does a casual sweep around the hall - very much a king surveying his kingdom. Steve fully expects that gaze to pass right over him just as unimpressed as it does everyone else, but to his surprise Billy’s gaze locks with his and sticks.

A little tingle dances up Steve’s spine and he sucks in a breath. He can’t tell what color Billy’s eyes are from this distance - at first he thinks they are something light, like a blue or grey, but then the corner of Billy’s mouth tilts up in a smirk and the light hits them a certain way and they look almost gold as he runs his tongue over some very white fangy teeth. Jesus the guy has some chompers on him.

Steve’s not afraid of a fight but it’s profoundly unsettling to have some dude literally licking his chops at him like he can’t wait to take a bite of the fresh meat. He’s pretty sure he just landed himself on Billy Hargrove’s shit list and he has no idea why. Fuck his life.

But he figures there’s nothing he can do about it but ignore it and hope that Billy decides he’s not worth the trouble. Steve turns to shut his locker, sending the message with his back that he doesn’t care about the dude giving him the crazy eyes and that Billy doesn’t intimidate him. His sweaty palms tell a different story, but that’s for Steve and only Steve to know.

As he leaves, he can feel Billy’s eyes burning into his back like lasers.

So much for going unnoticed for the year.

Now with Part 2

[moonsfable]

The Night Forest

[dtgp]

LOVE the FREE add-on furniture for Moonwood Marso made! Can't wait to use it in my werewolf builds. moonwood add-ons; | marso on Patreon

[moonwood-usa-blog]

4/14/17

Moonwood’s fifth public works project is complete!! Ft. my least favorite hairstyle that I’ve EVER had(the blue).

My tree also grew to the point whereI was able to sit on it with the review of my town type thing with my second favorite hair style that I’ve ever had. 

Last but not least, my first coffee at the cafe!!!!

[fizzigigsimmer]

Moonwood : Part 7

| PART ONE |

Billy comes down off his perch on the stump and his boots land heavy in the dirt. It’s impossible but it kinda feels like the ground shakes a little with his steps as he walks toward Steve. The crowd parts for him, dozens of eyes watching them hungrily, until Billy stops just in front of him. Looming.There is no other word for it. Billy casts a long shadow over him. His broad shoulders completely block out the firelight and Steve’s view of everything beyond them. That shouldn’t be hot. But it is. Like, Steve has never been this much shorter than a partner before or wanted to feel like they could just obliterate him without much effort. Maybe Billy being his soulmate has broken Steve’s brain a little.

Wordlessly Billy makes a gesture for Steve to follow and begins to walk away. Steve locks eyes briefly for a moment with Sasha who flashes him a tooth filled grin. It feels a little threatening somehow, but it might just be the way the firelight gleams in her eyes. Steve shrugs off the uneasy feeling, swallows back his fears and follows after Billy with his head high.

Billy leads Steve down a small crooked path, away from the fire pit and the crowd of young people around the chopped off tree, toward a line of naked looking ones strung with lanterns. Beyond them the forest thickens into a shroud of darkness, reminding Steve that despite the festival vibes, that these are wild woods. Danger lies inside them from bears and wolves… and maybe something worse than either of those.

He shivers a little, and then flicks a nervous glance toward Billy but Billy’s face is an icy mask of indifference as he walks with his shoulders squared and a wide swinging gate, like he’s used to wearing a tool belt around his waist. Maybe he is, Steve’s unhelpful mind happily supplies him with a vivid picture of Billy bare chested, in nothing but a holy pair of blue jeans and a utility belt and his mouth actually waters.

"Aren’t you worried about where I’m taking you?" Billy asks abruptly in a low, growly tone, and Steve jerks. The faint light from the lanterns casts dancing shadows over Billy’s features as his eyes bore into Steve. All around them the trees rustle in the night breeze - they sound like whispers.

"No," Steve shoots back defiantly, cocking an incredulous eyebrow. “I mean should I be? Everybody saw us leave together. If you murder me it’ll be the easiest case in the world to solve.”

Billy huffs. His lip curls in dissatisfaction. His laugh is a low rumble in his chest, more felt than heard. 

"Murder is not on the menu tonight, Harrington." He leans closer, and the faint hint of his earthy, musky cologne makes Steve's heart pound just a bit faster. “But maybe something else is,” he adds, his voice dropping to something sultry and low.

Steve feels a thrill shoot up his spine. It’s not fear—no, definitely not fear—even if it should be. He realizes suddenly that this is the closest he and Billy have ever been. There’s always been at least a school desk if not more between them, but now Billy is close enough that Steve can count each of his eyelashes - and fuck they’re long. Hargrove keeps staring at him and licking his teeth like he’s looking at dinner, and it gives Steve goosebumps. Because he knows what came after ‘my what big teeth you have’.

The woods around them feel alive, and there is something about being this close to Billy that makes Steve’s blood sing. He tries to remind himself all of the valid reasons he has to be pissed with Billy, and why he should be a lot more weirded out by how horny he is for the guy, but he just can’t muster it. The air is crisp, filled with the tang of pine and the distant scent of sea spray from the coast. And Steve wants answers.

“I’m not scared of you,” he says again, his voice steadier than he feels. There's an edge to it now, a challenge that Billy hears and he looks at Steve for a long moment and then smiles—a slow, dangerous curve of his lips.

“That right?” Billy muses, stepping back to appraise him. His gaze travels over Steve slowly, stripping him, and Steve tries not to squirm.”We could really test that theory and leave the circle.”

The words linger in the air between them and Steve’s breath catches. He stands taller, shoulders back, meeting Billy’s intense stare head-on.

“You’re talking about the lanterns right?” he replies with a spark of defiance. Billy licks his lips, his smile growing wider. His teeth look bigger somehow, and Steve wants to believe it’s just because of how much closer they’re standing but he doesn’t think that’s it.

“Yep,” Billy says softly. “I dare you to go beyond this circle of lanterns.” He gestures around them where small lights glimmer faintly like stars fallen to earth, encircling them in a protective halo of light laced with wolfsbane— the herb Steve’s mom had said weakend a werewolf's strength.

She said it was for humans. Presumably it’s what is keeping Billy and the other Moonwood folks from wolfing out on their neighbors. Despite his initial trepidation, Steve does feel safe here. But beyond this circle anything could happen.

“You can stay if you want. We can go back to how it was, you minding your place and me minding mine.” Billy says, like he read Steve’s mind. “But past these lanterns, I’m not just a guy from school anymore.”

“Is that who you are?” Steve blurts before he can stop himself. “Just a guy from school?”

“You want to know who I am? Is that it?” Billy asks and Steve swallows hard but nods slowly.

He knows what Billy is offering—more like threatening—is no small thing. To step outside the light means stepping into Billy’s world fully and it’s a dangerous world.

Steve can’t help but feel very small in it. He hesitates, his heart hammering against his ribs like a frantic drumbeat. Billy sees it and the light dims in his eyes, his lip curling.

“Not so brave now, are you?” He scoffs, muttering how Steve should be scared, because it’s crazy to knowingly leave safety and walk into the dark with a werewolf; but Steve thinks he looks disappointed - like maybe there was a part of him that had hoped Steve was crazy.

Taking a deep breath, Steve steps forward—one step closer to Billy and one step away from the ring of safety provided by the lanterns.

“Okay,” he says, his voice barely above a whisper but determined. “But if I do, you have to answer a question.”

“That’s it? One measly little question?” Billy asks and Steve adds.

“And you have to answer it honestly.”

Billy’s lips curve into a half-smile, a hint of victory mixed with something else—perhaps respect—flickering in his eyes. Steve gets the feeling that Billy already knows what he’s going to ask, that maybe all of this was some kind of attempt at scaring him off. But it’s not working, and Billy didn’t expect that.

The night seems to hold its breath as he nods slowly, his gaze never breaking from Steve's. "Deal," Billy finally murmurs.

With a deep breath to steel his nerves, Steve walks under the protective circle of lanterns and into the darkness where the shadows sway. He could always find his way around pretty well in the dark, but under the thick canopy it’s too black for Steve to see much of anything.

But Billy doesn’t seem to have the same worries, and puts his hand on Steve’s shoulder to guide him. Steve jolts a little at the touch and the fission of heat it sends down his spine but says nothing. Their feet crunch on fallen leaves and crickets chirp all around them. As they venture deeper into the forest, the canopy above thickens, weaving a tapestry of darkness and scattered starlight.

Finally they reach another break in the trees. Ahead, standing in a small circle of bare earth and illuminated by a sliver of moonlight, stands an ancient tree—towering, its branches gnarled and bare. The trunk is wide, twisted and old, its paper thin bark marked with carved symbols that Steve can barely make out in the dark. Hanging from the limbs are strands of feathers and beads; they sway gently in the night breeze, making soft clinking sounds.

“Whoa.” Steve steps closer to the tree, fascinated by it. He knows somehow that the tree is magic. There is something about it that draws him, pulls at him like gravity. Somewhere in the darkness a voice whispers and he turns his head sharply to try and catch them. It sounds like a woman he thinks… but it also sounds like wind, and either way it’s not as important as what’s in front of him. The tree calls to him.

His fingers stretch out, yearning to trace the grooves of the carvings, but just as his fingertips are about to brush against the bark, Billy’s hand snaps out and catches his wrist.

“Don’t,” he says, sharp and urgent in a way that makes Steve’s blood go cold.

“What? Why?”

“That’s witch magic!” Billy answers, his grip on Steve’s wrist tight as he pulls Steve back, easy as pulling a child. “It’s left over from the war, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t working. Why do you think nothing’s growing around it? Don’t you know anything?”

“About witches? Of course not!” Steve tries to protest only for Billy to shout over him, grip so tight now that Steve feels the bones twist in his wrist.

“I know you can’t feel it, but Christ Harrington can’t you see it? Open your eyes!” Billy practically screams. Steve wants to tell him that he had felt something, that was the entire reason he’d tried to touch it in the first place, but Billy’s too worked up now. Yelling, “you’ve got the survival instincts of fucking baby deer!”

“What is your problem? Dude - let go! It hurts!”

“Oh I’m hurting you? You went into the woods alone with a werewolf Steve, what did you-”

“Stop!” Steve finally pulls his hand free from Billy’s grip, cradling his throbbing wrist and gasping a little at the pain and Billy looks horrified. He pales, reaching for Steve again but falters when Steve flinches away from him.

“Shit. It’s not broken is it?”

“I’m fine!” Steve grits out in defiance, because Billy is looking at him now like he’s tragic, and breakable, and he liked it better when Billy was losing his shit on him for no reason.

“You brought me out here asshole.” He reminds them both. “You literally dared me.”

“It was a test.” Billy confirms, only a touch calmer than before but it’s something.

“A test? For what: to see if I would back down?" Steve sneers to hide the hurt from the thought that Billy Hargrove is probably his soulmate, but obviously doesn’t think he’s good enough. Steve’s soulmate thinks he has to test him for worthiness. He tries hard to drown out the voice that thinks that sounds just about right.

He flexes his hand a few more times to release the tension in it before letting it rest at his side. He looks up at Billy, squaring his shoulders, planting his feet in the dirt, and stares him dead in the eye.

“I’m not going anywhere until you answer whether or not you’re my soulmate.”

Steve feels a chill ripple down his spine—a mix of fear and exhilaration as the words hang between them.

For the longest time, Billy doesn’t answer. And then finally, he does.

“Yes. Why do you think I’ve been going so easy on you?” He says, like he hasn’t been giving Steve hell for two weeks at school, when they’re supposed to be each other's everything. Like he didn’t drag Steve into the woods away from help and scream at him for being stupid, just to test him.

“You’re also a pip. A runt. A half breed.” Billy adds, oblivious to the anger building up inside of Steve. “You should never have been born.”

Steve stumbles back a step. He can’t help it, Billy’s words cut at a deep insecurity he’s carried all his life. His dad never said those words. Not in that exact way, but the sentiment was still felt. He’d regretted marrying Steve’s mother and getting saddled with the disappointment that was the one child her body could stand to give him.

Billy to his credit looks extremely uncomfortable with the words coming out of his mouth.

“Look, that’s not what I think. That’s just what people used to say, alright? And there are a lot who still think that way.”

“Why?” Steve asks, voice cracking thinking - why aren’t I good enough?

“Cause you’re like the size of a gnat.” Billy’s hand gestures over him as if Steve’s five feet and ten inches is miniscule. But when you’re built like Billy Steve supposes maybe it is. “You wouldn’t last three seconds in a territory battle. You can’t shape shift and you don’t have our strength. You bleed like a human and you’re slow to heal. But honestly, the most damning thing is you don’t have soulmates.” Billy finishes helplessly.

Steve sort of gets it now. Why Billy’s elders would say people like him should not be born, if they’re born alone, weak, and without magic. It would sound awful to him… if he hadn’t been born amongst humans. And that’s the limit to Steve’s understanding because he doesn’t for the life of him understand what is supposed to be so terrible about basically being human.

That’s the heart of the issue here isn’t it. Billy is a werewolf and Steve might as well not be. All of this werewolf stuff is alien and terrifying to him, but he’s being pretty open minded about it. So why on earth would he apologize to anyone for being human?

“The only reason your kind exists is because some idiots don’t have enough self respect to wait for their true mate.” Billy yammers on, and Steve finally snaps.

“Hey!” Steve finally snaps, rushing to push Billy with both hands. Billy is taller. Billy is stronger. But he staggers back a step, looking down at his chest in surprise. Steve’s palms tingle where they touched Billy’s bare skin through his open shirt, but he ignores the sensation, too pissed to even be horny anymore. He is seething. It hurts, hearing how lowly Billy thinks of him, but he isn’t going to let anyone talk down about his mother.

“Harrington -” Billy starts, like he means to explain himself but Steve doesn’t want to hear it.

“Don’t talk about my mom. Ever.” he warns, something hot buzzing under his skin and Billy’s pupils widen, silvery light dancing over his irises.

Slowly. Billy smiles.

“Noted. You’ve got some fight in you after all huh pretty boy?”

“Don’t call me that either.”

“Why not?” Billy challenges immediately. “It’s true. The thing about your mom, maybe not. I don’t know her story. But I know yours. Pretty boy, charmed life, destined to end up behind some boring picket fence in suburbia with your boring little wifey and two point five brats.”

The words sting even though Steve has no idea why they should. He knew Hargrove wasn’t exactly his biggest fan, but he never thought the reason why would be something like the way he was born.

“You don’t know shit about me Hargrove and you just said we’re mates.”

“Yeah!” Billy snaps back, “and that shouldn’t be possible! You don’t have any magic so you should just be some boring little nobody, not my soulmate!”

Steve has never felt total rejection like this. Like he just wants to scream curses at Billy and throw punches until Billy’s face is as bruised as Steve’s feelings; but there’s something about the way Billy says it that holds him back. Anger and disgust would make sense, but that’s not the thread humming through Billy’s words. It’s fear.

But fear of what? He can’t possibly be afraid of Steve can he? But thinking he’d be afraid for Steve is somehow even harder for him to believe.

“Why not ‘your’ soulmate?” Steve asks, because he just can’t leave well enough alone.

Billy’s jaw clenches, eyes flashing in the moonlight. The turmoil in them is more profound than Steve could have imagined the other teen was capable of feeling.

It’s enough to drain all the anger from Steve’s chest and have him trying to hold on. He doesn’t know what is pulling Billy away from him but he’s not giving in to it. Not without a fight.

“You don’t understand,” Billy begins, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Then tell me. Tell me what I don’t understand.” Steve pleads.

“There's... there's more at stake. My parents... both sides of my family, they led the clan through the persecution and the witch wars before we settled here. The alpha’s heir is always selected from the same three families, and with my parents being from two of the strongest I was the obvious choice." Billy continues, each word seeming to cost him. "As the heir, everything I do reflects on my parents and the future of the pack, Steve.”

Steve's eyes widen slightly as pieces of the puzzle that is Billy Hargrove fall into place with painful realization.

“So you being top dog at school, and the way everyone treats you like some sort of king, that’s because you’re gonna be the next alpha?”

Billy nods slowly.

“I’ve known it all my life. Been looking forward to finding my mate and not being alone in it.” Billy adds, his voice roughening to a growl with emotion. “But with you…” His words trail off as if he’s afraid to finish the sentence.

“With me what?” Steve pushes bitterly, not willing to let him hide. “With me everyone will pity you, while you’re stuck carrying dead weight?”

Billy frowns. Shakes his head hard and snaps his teeth together with a click before grunting, “No. I didn’t say that!”

“You’re not saying much of anything! Except that humans are weak and I’m basically human so -”

“So what, you want me to say sorry?” Billy interjects with a snarl of frustration. “Sorry I offended your delicate sensibilities pointing out how frail humans are, but it won’t change shit. You get with me and there will be a target on your back. I can’t lead if I have to worry about protecting you!”

“Then don’t!” Steve shouts, beyond caring anymore that it’s probably not the best idea to get into a shouting match with a werewolf. “Don’t worry about protecting me!”

“I can’t help it, Steve!” Billy shouts right back, throwing his arms wide. “If I could quit it I would, but I think about you every minute of every day and I don’t know how to stop.”

For a moment they’re both frozen, staring at each other with wild eyes. Steve’s heart drums in his chest. Then he’s stepping forward, closing the gap between them. His hands are trembling as he reaches up to cup Billy's face between his hands. Billy’s breath hitches, his eyes locked on Steve, a turbulent sea of emotions swirling within them.

“Steve…” Billy whispers hoarsely, his voice breaking. But when Steve pushes himself up onto his toes he leans in, pressing his lips against Steve’s in a kiss that sears with intensity. It’s as though a dam breaks, days of pent-up longing and desire finally flowing free. And the truth long denied is, Steve has never wanted to fuck someone as badly as he wants to fuck Billy Hargrove.

Steve gasps into the kiss, taken aback by the powerful shock but unable to resist the addictive pleasure of it. Billy’s lips sting his, little electric shocks that send heat through his body and make Steve’s knees weak and his head dizzy. He wraps his arms around Billy's neck and holds on tight, demanding more with his mouth.

The world around them blurs into nothingness as the kiss deepens. Billy slides his hand up Steve's thigh, fingertips ghosting over the bulge in his jeans before resting just above his belt. Two fingers hook in his waistband and Steve moans softly.

Billy devours the sound, claiming Steve’s mouth like he’s trying to swallow him whole; but as the kiss grows more fervent, Steve can feel when Billy starts to change. Beneath his hands, Billy’s body begins to tense unnaturally, the skin rippling like disturbed water. The kiss ends abruptly as Billy groans, his brow creasing in pain.

“Billy?” Steve asks, concerned. Billy shudders.

“I—I have to stop…” he manages between gritted teeth. Billy breaks away suddenly from their embrace and steps back. His body is shaking now—but not just from desire. It’s something else. Something more primal.

“Billy? Billy what’s wrong?”

“I—I don’t know. This isn’t supposed to happen!”

Steve watches in confusion and then alarm as coarse hair begins to sprout along Billy’s forearm where his sleeves are rolled up.

“Holy shit.” He breathes in horrified realization. Because Billy is turning. Billy Hargrove is turning into a werewolf right now, and Steve is all alone. He has one split second to think that maybe things are okay. That just because Billy is turning doesn’t mean he has to be afraid. Billy will still be Billy, and the guy who just kissed him till he was hard in his jeans wasn’t about to turn around and slaughter him.

But then he actually looks at Billy again, sees the way his features have contorted and his eyes glow an unnatural yellow, and every instinct he has says it before Billy can.

“Run,” Billy growls out forcefully, already stumbling back further into the shadows under the trees where the moonlight doesn't reach. “Get back to the circle—now!”

Panic seizes Steve and without wasting another second he turns and runs back the way they came, toward the safety of his pack and the lanterns. Behind him, he hears a low growl dissolve into a long pained howl.

The sound tears at him and in his mind he sees Billy again, hunched over in pain, trying to hold himself together, the fear and apology in his eyes making human what could only be described as beastly. It’s crazy, but he wants to turn around and go back. Do something to ease the pain Billy is in. But another hair raising howl from somewhere behind him pushes him forward. Something tells him it would be a mistake to go back now.

Steve runs like his life depends on it, because it probably does.

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[fizzigigsimmer]

Moonwood: Part 6

<< Part One

Steve is worried Billy Hargrove may be his soulmate. It consumes his thoughts, and yet he still hasn’t figured out a way forward by the time the bonfire starts. He tries to convince himself that his suspicions are wrong - that maybe he's panicking over nothing and the reason he can't stop thinking about Billy is like pink elephants. The harder he tries not to think about Billy the more he's going to.

Maybe they're not soulmates and Steve is just freaking himself out over a few coincidences. They do go to the same school. Of course they bump into each other. It doesn't have to mean there’s some cosmic influence behind it. Right? The trouble is he has no idea how to go about checking either way. 

He can't just go up and ask Billy - Hey are we soulmates? But the bonfire arrives, the streets fill up with parked cars as people from the neighboring towns flood in and join the families from Moonwood as they amble their way up the trail that leads to the old ranger station at the top of the bluff; and that’s still the best plan Steve’s got. 

Steve trails a step behind his family, bracing himself for the night ahead. If he’s wrong about Billy - which he probably is - and Hargrove decks him, there will be plenty of people around to witness his humiliation.

Some of his worry fades to the background as he takes it all in. The fire built high on a pyre behind a large stone slab that reminds him of that rock in the Lion King. The rich smells of roasting meat hanging heavy in the air from people roasting dogs and turning over kabobs. The sound of many voices raised in conversation, pierced by the occasional shriek of laughter from over excited children, their faces painted with half moons and strange symbols.

A little girl runs past them up the hill with big fluffy wolf ears stitched to her headband and a muzzle painted on her face. Colorful banners decorated with stars and moons, along with paper lanterns have been strung between the tree branches in a wide circle around the gathering. Steve’s nose itches the closer they get because there’s a strange smell emanating from them: minty and sort of green.

He stops just before the ring of lights, uneasy, but his family continues on oblivious to the feeling of unease that suddenly grips him. A few strides ahead his mom seems to sense he’s no longer just behind them and looks back, the concern on her brow melting into a teasing smile as she comes back to take his hand and guide him into the circle.

“Wolfsbane: for the humans.” She whispers in his ear with an apologetic smile. He’s still not used to the idea of them not being entirely human. 

“Even just the vapor is enough to drain our strength, but it doesn’t hurt us.”

He relaxes a little after hearing that, the proof of her words all around him. It’s just like Sasha and the girls said it would be. Like a music festival and a county fair had a baby. Everywhere he looks people are clustered together talking, laughing. A large group of elementary school aged kids are engaged in a tug-of-war contest. Everybody’s having a good time so Steve tries to relax and do the same.

There's a band of sorts with a bunch of people playing guitars, handrums, and some weird elongated flute thing that sounds sultry to his ears and makes him want to dance. He settles for sorta swaying a little bit as he shifts his weight around, only half listening to the conversations going on around him as his family chats with their neighbors about mundane things. Steve’s attention keeps drifting back to Billy Hargrove and the possibility that they might be soulmates.

His grandfather said that he’d know his soulmate when he met him. Them. There’s no reason to assume his soulmate is a boy after all but Steve realizes that he has definitely been picturing a guy since the concept became real to him, despite the fact that he’s never even been with one before.  He doesn’t count the sloppy kisses at parties or the handjob that guy from Minnesota gave him on the beach over the summer. That was just fooling around. The kind of shit everyone gets up to sometimes when they’ve had enough drinks and the feeling is right. 

The weird thing is: Steve’s only ever seriously been with girls, yet he can’t drum up the face of a single one just then strong enough to drive out thoughts of Billy Hargrove. Billy’s sharp smile full of teeth, and his even sharper blue eyes. Billy’s freckled cheeks and dark spiky eyelashes. Billy’s long torso and thick legs, body roped with muscle, standing a head taller than all the townie boys - because he’s not like them. Not normal.

But well neither is Steve, and holy shit. Steve wonders when he got so turned on by Billy Hargrove, cause he’s half hard in his jeans and in danger of embarrassing himself in front of his mother’s friends. Like she can read his mind Steve’s mom darts a look at him, and gives him a worried look. He shoots her a reassuring smile before excusing himself to go and find his friends from school.

Despite the fact that people seem to be clumping together in groups and sticking to them there’s still so many people packed onto the hill that it’s difficult to find anyone easily. Steve’s feet carry him through the trees. They carry him around families clustered together on picnic blankets and camp chairs, and through a thick crowd of teens that have gathered around something on the northwest side of the firepit. 

Soulmates can always find each other, which is why Steve’s feet carry him right to where Billy Hargrove sits in the center of the trunk of a massive broken tree, feet dangling above the thick roots tangled at the base with a cigarette in his mouth. 

Billy is the something the other teens have gathered around, and Steve doesn’t blame them one bit. Under the setting sun with the fire’s glow red and gold against his skin Billy looks like something not of this world - a fairy king, watching his subjects as they dance and make fools of themselves for his entertainment.

Steve’s mouth goes dry as two things crystalize in his mind. One: Billy’s unfairly hot. He’s struck by the sudden desire to weave flowers through Billy’s hair, shove his hands down Billy’s pants, his tongue down his throat, and raise his babies - in that order. 

Two: Billy is most definitely his soulmate which probably explains both why Steve feels that way, and why he’s felt that way from the moment he first laid eyes on him. He just didn’t realize it. He feels like a giant idiot now for needing his grandfather to spell it out for him. Because who needs their grandpa to explain what a crush feels like at freaking eighteen?! 

It helps a little when he remembers that it’s not just a crush he feels for Billy - supposedly they’re it for each other. The deepest kind of love there is. And Steve’s never felt the kinda love his grandpa described until now. 

But he wants to. Boy does he want to. Steve’s chest feels tight and it feels like there are hands around his throat as he sucks in a breath, but he starts walking forward again - because there’s something inside of him that wants to be Billy’s everything as much as it wants to give Billy everything. He’s used to giving people his whole heart, but no one has ever given it back. 

He feels a little guilty having such thoughts because he knows his mom loves him, and that she’s always tried her best. It just wasn’t enough…

But all of that is in the past. Where he’s going now - Billy - that’s the future. That’s everything.

Only before Steve can get there, one of the guys hanging around Billy sees him coming and nudges Chet. By the time Steve reaches the stump, half the basketball team has formed a wall in front of it. Steve swallows. He’s already accepted the truth, and he’s pretty used to how much bigger people in Moonwood are, but there’s something about having five guys all over six feet tall leering down at him with teeth filled smiles that drives the point home. These guys are wolves.

“Well look who it is!” one of the guys calls out, and the people who have been dancing and chatting nearby stop what they’re doing to look.

“Uh-hey guys.” Steve greets with a small two fingered wave to break the tension, and also because he’d rather control the conversation than see just what might be inspiring the hungry gleam in the eyes of the literal ‘pack of wolves’ standing between him and his soulmate. They’re Billy’s pack… which on a fundamental level he’s always known, but it certainly brings basketball tryouts into sharper focus now. There’s no getting on the team, no getting close to Billy, without going through them.

“Is that you Harrington?!” Billy calls from his seat up on the stump, grinning over their heads at Steve, which is how Steve knows he’s fucking lying when he says. “I can barely see you. Try standing on something.”

Everyone within hearing distance laughs like his height is just hilarious, way more than the joke actually warrants but Steve blames the red cups in their hands. 

“Very funny asshole,” Steve grumbles. Then realizes he probably shouldn’t call his soulmate an asshole - oops - and moderates his tone to something less pissy. “Listen, I need to talk to you.”

A chorus of ‘oos’ go around the crowd of teens and Billy’s friend Dave leans on Chet’s shoulder and smirks as he taunts, “He can hear you just fine.”

“Where’s your pack Steve?” Chet asks, in a slightly friendlier tone, but it doesn’t sound like a real question. It sounds like he’s asking Steve why he bothered to come at all, which is confusing to say the least. They’re not buddies or anything but Chet has always been cool with him and he stuck up for Steve when those other guys tried to bully him.

“Yeah, pretty sure you can all hear me.” Steve answers Dave before lifting his eyes back up to Billy. He hates that he has to lean forward on his toes a bit to do it, and he can’t quite keep the irritation out of his tone. 

“And my family’s back there.” He jerks his head in the general direction of where he came, “but I need to talk to you alone, Hargrove.”

He tries to impress with his eyes to Billy how important this is. But doubt begins to creep in. Shouldn’t Billy know what they have to talk about? If they’re true mates or whatever, Billy wouldn’t be such a jerk to him all the time. Would he?

Billy doesn’t acknowledge Steve asking to talk to him. He sucks on the cigarette between his teeth and lets the smoke lazyly before he drawls.

“The Dalca’s are good people. Funny they haven’t introduced you yet. I was starting to think I’d never see you at one of these.” 

Steve has no idea what he’s talking about. He’s been in town for months now and met plenty of people. His aunt and his grandparents seem to know everyone and they always stop him to make introductions. 

But clearly Steve’s missing something here because he knows the prying looks and sly smiles that the other teens are suddenly wearing - knows the feeling of being whispered about, and that this time it’s not for a good reason. 

“He’s not talking about saying hi at the grocery store, Steve.” someone comes up and starts to explain gently from behind Steve and he tenses, seeing the dark glare that clouds Billy’s features, before he turns and realizes that it’s just Hank.

“What’s going on? I don’t get it.”

“Of course you don’t.” Billy scoffs, and it stings like a slap. Hank shoots Billy a look that says clearly that Steve’s not the only one who thinks he’s being an asshole for no good reason.

“Bonfire nights have really old traditions. It’s mostly ceremony now but they started in the villages to keep people safe.” Hank goes on explaining. “One of them is that you stick with your people, and you don’t bother any of the other, uh clans,  unless you’ve been introduced to their leader… like officially.”

Now that he knows, Steve realizes how hard the other teen is trying not to say anything too incriminating.

“You mean like in a wolfy way?” Steve asks, and grins when Hank's mouth drops open.

“So you do know.” Billy’s voice growls, almost accusing, tearing Steve’s eyes away from the other boy and he shivers. 

“Hank here thought you were just afraid of moonlight.”

Billy scoffs, and Steve doesn’t know why Billy’s suddenly so angry, but he’s starting to regret not taking his family up on any of their invitations instead of bumming around with tourists all summer. Because he’s betting they would have spilled the truth before now and made all these ‘ceremonial’ introductions; but in his defense he didn’t exactly know what a big deal it was. He wasn’t trying to offend anyone. But it’s in the past now, and Steve’s not willing to give up on the future. Not just yet.

“Yeah. Hi. I’m Steve. I know what you are, and no I’m not afraid of moonlight.” Or anything else, he dares silently, holding Billy’s gaze. “So can we talk now, or what?”

|Part 7|

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[fizzigigsimmer]

Moonwood Part 2

A little belated birthday gift for @adelacreations. 💗

Thank you to everyone who shared their love for part one of this. I tried to link those who asked.

Lunch is eye opening for Steve. He doesn’t look for Billy exactly… Okay he totally looks around to see if he can spot Billy at any of the lunch tables or standing in the queue to get hot lunch, but only because he’s actively trying to avoid the trouble he is 100% certain Billy means to bring to his doorstep. But he doesn’t see Billy anywhere and even if that settles his nerves a little, he’s kinda disappointed too. Like there’s a part of him that already feels drawn to Billy in some way - it itches in the back of his mind like a half formed memory. Only instead of ‘now where did I put those keys’ it’s, ‘now where is Billy?’

He tells himself he’s being way extra, because he is, and tries to put Billy out of his mind. After they shuffle through the line Tim starts to head towards an empty table and Steve hesitates - not wanting to be one of the only kids eating alone, with Tim. It’s just not a good look and he’s pretty sure he’s gonna get stuck talking about Star Wars or whatever the whole time. 

“Hey Man, you uh-mind if I sit with some other people? I figure it might help me get to know folks since I’m new.” Steve tries to soften the blow, but the little frown that puckers the middle of Tim’s brow lets him know he hasn’t really succeeded. After agreeing where to meet up after the hour ends, Steve looks around for a table to join. About the second time his eyes sweep the room he realizes that he’s searching for a letterman’s jacket, but he tells himself it’s not for Billy. It’ll just be easier to talk shop with other jocks and maybe he’ll get lucky and find someone who is on the swim team.

But the first letterman’s jacket Steve sees is slung over the shoulders of a girl - only she’s not like any girl Steve has ever seen. She’s tall, and she’s stacked like she bench presses all the losers who have ever dared to hit on her before breakfast each morning; and she definitely eats all her Wheaties. And Steve knows girls are supposed to be soft and pixie sized or whatever, but he discovers a new kink that day because he really digs it. Would consider it an honor to suffocate between her muscular thighs or her full breasts.

And then weirdly, his mind goes back to Billy. He sort of gets why the path is there - Billy’s thighs were impressive and impossible to miss in those skin tight jeans - just not why his brain chooses to keep skipping down it to wonder what Billy’s chest looks like under his shirt, when he could be daydreaming about Sasha’s rack instead. That’s She-Ra’s name, Sasha. 

Sasha is a little wary of Steve at first because she thinks he’s just there to hit on her and ruin her appetite by drooling over her boobs - which she actually has the balls to say to him before he’s even sat down. But when she hears that Steve is new it piques her interest. She’s kinda intense. Her stare gives Steve the impression she’d like to hoover his dick and make him cry uncle at the same time, which is hot fair enough, but a little unsettling. And she keeps peppering him with really invasive questions. Not just the expected where did you come from, but questions about his family.

“Wow Sasha you gonna put out for the whole family or what?” Some guy named Randy whom Sasha has been trying to wheedle into coming to some sort of gathering with her, jokes. And like a real asshole he looks right at Steve and goes, “I’d be careful with the moony girls if I were you Harrington. They’re easy but every one of them's got like six meathead cousins who will drag you out to the woods and eat your liver if they catch you sniffing around one of their girls.”

Steve’s surprised when Sasha laughs, big and toothy with this mesmerizing glint in her eye as she promises Randy they’d have to race her for the scraps. Steve realizes that this weird fluttery feeling in his stomach is fear. And his dick is hard because he’s an idiot.

The gathering Sasha is trying to convince Randy and some of the others at the table to come to is some sort of bonfire out in the woods that the Moonwood teens hold every few weeks or so. Apparently it gets wild. Lots of drinking and telling ghost stories around the campfire when they’re not hooking up somewhere. It kinda reminds Steve of the parties he and Tommy used to go to at the quarry, complete with the local ghost stories. Only instead of monsters in the lake, out here the forest is rampant with werewolves who eat unlucky campers.

Steve’s surprised to see how seriously the Schiller High kids take the local superstitions. Because from everything he observes Sasha is really popular with other students (especially the guys) and usually all she has to do to gather a crowd is name the time and place, but Randy and the others don’t want to be out in the woods on a full moon. It’s kinda hilarious.

“You’re so lame Randy. Has anything actually happened at a bonfire? Like ever?” Sasha pouts but Randy just shrugs and says there’s a first time for everything.

“Plus Billy’s still pissed at me for going out with Trish and I don’t feel like putting up with his bullshit while he’s high on moonshine.”

“Billy’s going to be there?” Steve asks like a lame before he can stop himself. Of course Mr. Popularity is gonna be there, he kicks himself at the same time that Randy sneers and rolls his eyes.

“Billy never misses a chance to walk on the wild side.” Sasha confirms with a smirk. “You should come too Steve, everyone who's anyone will be there. I bet you’ll meet a lot of people. That is if it’s not too far of a trip.”

“It’s not too far. I live there, actually. In Moonwood.” Steve reveals and it’s like he dropped a bomb on the table. The other kids are looking at him now like he’s done something either incredibly brave or stupid and they’re not sure which one it is. All except for Sasha whose eyes almost seem to flash at him as her already intense scrutiny intensifies.

“Of course! That’s what that is, I should have known.” She exclaims a light bulb turning on, and before Steve can ask what ‘what’ is, she adds “You’re Bob and Irene’s grandson.”

“Yeah how did you -” Steve starts to ask but Sasha waves the question off like it’s a pesky fly and grabs Steve’s hand like they’re best friends in a teen movie.

“Gosh your wrists are so delicate, it feels like I could snap them like twigs.” She giggles at him. “Oh, I met your mom! How come she’s never brought you to any of the community gatherings?”

Thinking back, Steve remembers that his mom had made a few attempts to invite him out with them when she and his grandparents went out for the night. They didn’t do it a ton, but when he did he always presumed they were doing something old and boring like pottery or chips and bingo.

“Uh, because I’m eighteen and bingo night with my mom and my grandparents isn’t exactly what I’d call a good time?”

That gets him a laugh from everyone but not for the reason he expected. Turns out Moonwood community “events” are well known in the area. While Steve was hanging out on the beach and camping with tourists, his neighbors were mixing moonshine, rolling joints, and dancing naked to bongo drums and other hippie shit.

“He wasn’t fully naked.” Sasha insists with a glint in her eye that makes Steve think she’s lying. “Randy was so high at the time he couldn’t uncross his eyes. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“I’m telling you Steve, this man went running into the trees buck-ass-naked. It was the craziest shit I ever saw!”

Everyone laughs and ribs at Randy and Steve just soaks it in for a moment. He can almost pretend that he’s back at home and nothing in his life has changed. But then Sasha pins him with those eyes of hers again and tells him he should come to the bonfire.

“Don’t let these tiny boys scare you Harrington, you’re made of stronger stuff. The worst thing that’s gonna be out in those woods is us.”

Sasha winks at him and that makes Steve chuckle. He likes her, he decides. She reminds him of Carol, if Carol were built like an Olympic athlete and had teeth big and white enough to do toothpaste ads.

What the hell, why not. It’ll pay off to be on good terms with the popular kids and maybe he can get ahead of the whole Billy situation before it becomes an issue if Sasha puts in a good word for him. As for the fear that the full moon will bring out the werewolves, that it might be dangerous to be out in the woods at night? Steve never takes it seriously for a moment.

|Part Three >>|

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