In a fleeting moment, Celeste was back to Jeremy's first full-moon shift. Things were not so different from now. Jeremy had paced the room restlessly, just as he was doing now. The door had been firmly shut, and both of them had been so close.
Back then, Jeremy had been suppressing his wolf for days, and Celeste had been teasing his nerves at the door. So the wolf lost control. This time, they were both ready for what was to come. Maybe it would be different.
She hoped so.
She lay in bed and closed her eyes. She could hear the wind outside and feel the moon slowly climbing into the sky and casting its magic. Yet, it wasn't enough to coax her wolf out of hiding.
Before she knew it, her thoughts drifted from the window to the door, trying to picture what Jeremy was up to on the other side.
Celeste opened her eyes immediately, shaking her head to snap out of her imagination. She grabbed her phone and started scrolling, hoping to distract herself. But even though her eyes were on the screen, her mind kept wandering back to the door.
Despite the two doors separating them, Celeste could still hear every step Jeremy took as if he was right next to her. She could sense his every move and feel the pounding of his heart in his chest. As she listened to his footsteps pacing back and forth, the dim light in her room was eventually swallowed by darkness, leaving only the glow of her phone screen.
Where was the moon now?
Restless and curious, she rose from her bed. She went to the window and tugged at the curtains. But to her dismay, the moon had yet to reach her side of the house. The stars, which usually twinkled outside her window, were nowhere to be seen. Instead, a thick, dark cloud had blanketed the sky in a murky, purple haze.
She did a double-take before she realized that the night was cloudy, and the moon's brilliance was concealed.
But even when the moonlight was clouded, the power was still enough to awaken the inner wolf in a werewolf's heart. A howl echoed through the air, sending shivers down her spine. In the distance, she could see her parents' wolves running into the woods.
Yet, Jeremy's room remained still and quiet, seemingly untouched by the magic of the moon.
She strained her ears to catch any sound, but there was only a deafening silence. The footsteps were gone. A sudden sense of unease crept over her, making her wonder if Jeremy had already turned into a wolf and fled while she was busy checking out the moon.
Then, a faint rustling reached her ears. A moment later, the gentle thud of fabric hitting the floor followed and then came the wolf's paws landed nimbly and unmistakably.
Celeste clutched the hem of her clothes, her eyes glued to the door. It felt like an eternity had passed as she waited for Jeremy's wolf to break in from the other side. But that didn't happen.
As the seconds ticked by, the sound of Jeremy's wolf pacing around the room became more pronounced. She could hear the soft thuds of its paws against the floor, the faint rustling of his fur against the walls, and the soft, rhythmic sound of his breathing.
Suddenly, she heard Jeremy's wolf leap out of his window, followed by the sound as he landed on the eaves.
The memory of that night came rushing back, and it felt like she was reliving it all over again.
Celeste's heart pounded in her chest, ready to burst out of her throat. She could hear the sound of Jeremy's wolf drawing closer and closer to her window.
She took a step back despite the cry from her inner wolf. And then, Jeremy's footsteps stopped abruptly.
Did they stop? Or did they just soften to a hushed movement? Celeste couldn't tell, for her own wolf had begun to howl with excitement, its fervor distracting her focus. Celeste turned the excitement off and tried to listen for any noises outside.
After a moment, Jeremy's footsteps started again, but this time they went in the opposite direction. Same as that night, the wolf landed on the ground and rustled the grass before scampering into the woods.
Celeste let out a soft sigh. For some reason, disappointment hit her first instead of relief. She could feel her wolf trying to burst out of her skin and chase after her mate.
And yet, she also felt a faint but unmistakable sense of pride. She knew the strong pull of the bond between mates, she understood how much Jeremy's wolf desired hers. She recognized the aching longing of her own wolf for Jeremy. She couldn't fathom the amount of willpower and restraint that Jeremy needed to suppress both the beast within him and the spell of the moon, to halt and turn away when he approached her window.
But she didn't seem to be able to resist the moon's spell. Despite herself, she was drawn towards the window. She parted the curtains to steal a glimpse outside. But the wolf had vanished into the night, leaving no trace. The sky was devoid of moonlight and starry glitter, the dark cloud in its place.
Celeste let out another sigh and closed the curtain. She returned to her bed, clutching her phone in a futile attempt to distract herself. Her mind kept going back to Jeremy.
Their connection had grown tighter, almost suffocating in its intensity. The tension between them was palpable, a silent but potent force that refused to be ignored.
Celeste couldn't keep running away from the truth forever. She knew that their undefined relationship was tormenting them both, but the reality was that she could never be with Jeremy as his twin sister.
As she was lost in these thoughts, memories of Jeremy flooded her mind. She remembered the way he had taken care of her. And then there were the happy times they had spent together as siblings, free from the complications that now plagued them. In those moments, they had been free to be themselves, without any pressure or inappropriate expectations.
Lost in her musings, Celeste's eyes grew heavy and eventually, she succumbed to sleep.
She wasn't sure when she had drifted off, but a sound from outside shattered her peace.
She sat up in bed automatically.
She could hear, or rather feel, Jeremy's wolf, who was now outside her window. The unmistakable aura of his wolf filled her senses, a powerful and unsettling force that left her trembling in confusion.
Why did he come back?