We sit in a group by the lake, brainstorming how to turn June into a micro-pig wearing a tiny raincoat. I notice that the mermaids have really warmed up to Hallie. Maybe there’s something to this “inclusive magic academy” concept.
Then everyone fills me in on how the rest of Samhain went. Apparently there were more rituals, and then a lot of drunken debauchery befitting an ancient pagan celebration.
“And Persephone made out with the dolphin shifter,” Hallie grins.
Persephone throws her long, silky hair over her shoulder triumphantly. “As I knew I would.”
We all laugh. Then Hallie elbows me in the ribs.
“Hey, Maggie…”
“What?”
She points to the large, silver-gray wolf striding toward us. The fine hair on her back glows in the moonlight. We all stare in silence as she transforms, her eyes the last thing to change.
“Hi Maggie,” she says.
I smile, “Hi.”
“Want to go for a run?”
“Sure.”
Samhain is over, but the night still crackles with magic. I soar over the lake, Pantalaimon perched on the tip of my broomstick. The wind rushes around me, thrillingly chilly. I’m still wearing Rae’s sweater, but I realize I don’t actually need it at all.
I don’t need anything at all.
I dip lower as we get close to the forest. Rae, in her wolf form, runs joyously into the trees. She sees me above and lets out a powerful howl. I laugh, weaving through the branches effortlessly.
I had no idea I could be this happy.
Flying upward, I cruise above the tree line. I have the incredible sensation that there is no boundary between me and the sky. I can feel the heartbeat of the forest.
There are no more words to describe it. I let my mind be free.
Finally we make it to another clearing, deep in the heart of the woods. She howls up at me again. I swoop down on my broomstick, landing beside her on the soft grass. She transforms, her face lit up with a radiant smile. She looks like she’s about to say something, but then she stops. It’s strange to see her tongue-tied, when she’s usually so self-assured.
I borrow some of her confidence. “What are you thinking about?”
“About the way you smell,” she says.
“How Iwhat?” I reply, wrinkling my nose.
“The way you smell,” she repeats, unfazed. “Smell is very important to wolves. It’s the sence most connected to emotion, to instinct.”
My heart hums in my chest as she steps closer to me, her gaze steady and sure. I bask in the warmth that radiates from her bare skin. It’s impossible. Magical.
My voice is quiet in the calm of the empty clearing. “What does your instinct say?”
But I already know.
She bends her head close to mine and our lips find each other. She kisses me deeply, like an unexpected homecoming. My heart thumps wonderfully in my chest, a testament to our sudden wholeness.
The night air crackles with what’s yet to come. As we kiss, I feel myself longing for her in a deeper way. The insistence of her lips on mine spur me on. Hungry, we reach for every part of the other. She pulls her sweater over my head and I wiggle out of my jeans.
As I lie in the soft grass of the clearing, she kneels over me, kissing my neck, my chest, my scars…I never thought I could be so bare with someone else before. With Timothy, I had always insisted on wearing long sleeves or keeping the lights off. But there’s an unfathomable trust between Rae and I, a symmetry that binds us together. Her long, dark hair tickles my stomach and I laugh, running a hand through it. She smiles down at me then kisses me again. Her lips are gentle but firm.
A pleasant tingle radiates through me as she begins kissing her way down my body. She starts with my neck, teasing andbiting me softly. Then she finds my chest, her tongue licking my firm nipples.
