Beneath The Full Moon Chapter 2

         "Unnghh..." I moaned softly, pressing my hands against my head as I slowly opened my eyes, a bright stream of light poured in through the cracks on my fingers. Was it daylight already? I winced as I tried to sit up, my head throbbed painfully. "Oh what happened last night?" I simply laid back, I couldn't remember anything after setting up my tent... my tent? I sat up, crying out softly as my head pounded mercilessly. I clamped my eyes shut as I gently moved my hands away placing them down at my sides... and unless I was mistaken, I wasn't in my tent... unless someone had decided to stuff a bed into my tent while I was sleeping. Slowly I opened my eyes... it was blurry at first, and it took a few blinks to finally get my sight clear enough for me to see a bit. I was sitting in a bed in what appeared to be a doctors office? Did I get hurt? I winced as I started rolling my shoulders a big to help work the stiffness out of them and I reached my hand up, surprised to find my shoulder wrapped in gauze. "What happened to me?..."        I sat puzzled for several minutes...I remembered leaving the camp area and then... I winced a fresh wave of pain rising up behind my forehead. I heard the rattle of keys and the click of a lock opening. I sat still taking a few deep breaths as a pair of footsteps moved into the room and I grimaced a bit at the sudden flood of light, having to squint for a moment before my eyes adjusted to the brightness.

        "Well now it seems you're finally awake, Are you feeling alright?"  I lifted my head slowly, staring up into the eyes of a large black bear, I nodded slowly the motion made me feel a little nauseous. The bear was huge, at least eight foot five, he had quite a set of muscles on him. He was wearing a pair of dark green pants and a large black vest that was unbuttoned, showing off his powerful abdomen and well defined chest.

        "I guess I'm ok, but I have one nasty headache... what happened to me?" The bear pulled out a seat and sat down in front of me.

        "I was hoping you could tell me that, I found you lying unconscious under a tree just a few feet from this building, you had some cuts in your shoulder, but it wasn't serious." I grimaced a sharp pain drilled into the side of my head. Cuts on my shoulder? I remembered a flash of gleaming teeth and I shuddered.

        "I... I don't know what happened, my memory is a bit fuzzy... the last thing I remember was falling asleep near my tent." no... I saw a flash of something else... something with dark orange fur, and a howl. The bear placed his hand on my knee.

        "You were lucky you weren't seriously injured, there are quite a few dangerous animals in the deeper parts of the forest." The bear smiled and he gently moved his hand off my knee. "Now then... how about I take you back to your camp, which one were you staying at?"

        "I'm supposed to be staying at the Grouse Mountain Springs area." The bear let out a low whistle.

        "That's quite a ways out west, you really wandered far before passing out." I  massaged my temples, brief flashes of being carried floated through my mind, but they disappeared before I could grasp them.

        "I.. I guess so, do you mind if we go to the camp as soon as possible? my friend is probably worried sick about me, I was supposed to be meeting him." The bear nodded standing up and grabbing a some keys from a nearby desk.

        "That's fine, but please... be careful, the next time you go wandering off, you might not be found at all." the bear extended his hand to me which I took gratefully, standing up and a small gasp escaped my lips as my back, my back felt like I'd been tackled.

        "It's your back isn't it? it's just a bit bruised, it'll be sore for a couple days, but it should be fine after that. Now let's go ahead and get you back, it shouldn't take long with my jeep." I nodded, absentmindedly  rubbing my shoulder I followed the bear out the door. Stepping out the door I yawned, the first rays of dawn trickling in through the trees, the noises of the forest were becoming louder as the local wildlife stirred. I took a couple steps forward, moving down the few stairs. Sitting outside was a very new looking 2012 black Jeep Wrangler Arctic. "Nice, isn't it?" I looked at the bear as he opened the backseat door for me. I nodded, moving over and sliding in, putting on my seatbelt as I did. I yawned loudly, I was still so exhausted and my eyes begin drifting shut as the jeep roared to life and we began moving. The gentle motions of the jeep as we drove through the forest lulled me to sleep.        It had only taken about thirty minutes to get back to the campsite, the bear pulled the jeep to a stop and got out, opening the backseat door. "Hey... hey wake up, we're here..." I yawned, stirring reluctantly from my sleep. I looked at him groggily as he helped me out of the jeep. "Alright, you need to get some rest, I'm recommending you take today easy alright?" I gave a slight nod of my head to let him know I'd heard as I stumbled exhausted into the camp area, nearly collapsing onto my tent for a second time. Looking around I didn't see Aster anywhere and I had a flash of pain, remembering... something about a bad battery, but it was still so foggy... I groaned, reaching into my suitcase I grabbed a shirt and slipped it on. I went to reach for my cell phone, but I was hit with a wave of exhaustion and almost passed out right there. I decided to wait and rest for a while before calling, so I crawled sluggishly into my tent, barely zipping it shut and curling up before I was out.

        A couple hours passed as I slept undisturbed, the soft chirping of wild animals giving me a small amount of peace, if only for a little while. Pulling into the parking lot was Astor, having picked up his truck and packed up all the supplies for the next few days. He reached into the back of his truck pulling out his  suitcase and a large cooler, which he held up on his should almost effortlessly, his strength hold it securely in place as he shot the door and locked it before down the road towards the same cabin I visited when I first arrived. Setting down the suitcase and cooler he pulled his drivers license out he knocked on the door. There was a shuffling inside as the door opened and the same wolf I'd met earlier came out. "Can I help you?"

        "Yea I'm here for my reservation, under the name of Aster Moresby." The wolf nodded.

        "I remember your friend who came through here yesterday, kind of a scrawny little guy though." Aster grinned.

        "he prefer the term "Svelte", but it's the same thing to me, but I love my little bro, scrawny or not." The wolf smiled, taking Aster's drivers license, examining it for a moment before handing it back to him with another copy of the map to the camping area. "Thanks!"

        "I need to remind you guys about~.." Aster cut off the wolf with a small laugh.

        "I know I know, this isn't the first time I've gone camping out there, I already know the warnings so I think I'll skip hearing them today and head on up the trail, my bro is probably worried sick." The wolf nodded.

        "You have a good one then, and please be careful." Aster nodded, slipping his drivers license back into his back before picking up his suitcase and the cooler. Aster moved down the stairs and down the path. He grinned eager to give his little bro a big hug and go exploring with him for a while before they sat down to rest and eat. It didn't take Aster very long to reach the camp area, he only had to check the map a couple of times, but otherwise kept quite a steady pace, reaching it about ten minutes faster than I had on my trek up to the camp area.        Aster spotted my tent almost immediately, he'd bought it for me as a graduation present. Aster moved quietly over, setting down his suitcase and the cooler. Checking inside he saw me curled up in a ball, sleeping soundly and he smiled, deciding not to disturb me, he zipped the tent back up and got to work setting up his own, being careful not to make too much noise. It only took a few minutes to finish, so he decided to rest for a little while. Opening up my tent he slipped inside, curling his body around me and I shuddered, a small moan escaping my lips. Aster smiled softly, resting one of his arms over me as he closed his eyes, listening to my breathing. My eyes snapped open at a sharp sting of pain behind my forehead, I remembered... something pressing itself against me... the heat was overwhelming. I was pulled back from my thoughts when I felt a familiar form pressed against me.        I sat up and pulled away, turning around as I did.

        "Aster! you're finally here!" The big husky grinned and pulled me into a tight hug.

        "Hey little bro! Glad to see you managed the night without be here." I pulled out of the hug slowly.

        "Where were you anyways? how come you didn't show up yesterday?" Aster gave me a strange look.

        "Don't you remember? I told you last night the battery in my truck was shot, I just picked it up this morning." I shook my head... I remembered something about him mentioning that, but I couldn't quite grasp it...

        "My memory of last night is a little... scratch that, extremely foggy, though apparently I had quite an adventure, I just wish I could remember..." Aster gave me one strange look, I didn't know if it was disbelief? concern? It felt weird being looked at him like that, I began rubbing my shoulder where I'd gotten hurt and Aster reached over, pulling back the shirt to see the bandaged shoulder.

        "You don't remember anything?" It almost sounded like Aster didn't believe me, I felt a bubble of anger rising up, but it deflated almost immediately when Aster pulled me into another hug, being careful not to squeeze my shoulder tightly. "Bro I'm sorry I wasn't here." I leaned into the hug, I couldn't be mad at Aster, as big a goofball he was, he really did care for me.

        "It's okay. I'm fine other than a few cuts and bruises, but those will heal." Aster pulled back and smiled at me. "Seriously Aster It's nothing to be worried about.. thought admittedly I am confused.. I don't get why I can't really remember anything from last night... It's like my mind is trying to repress the memories, but... I don't understand why." Aster patted the shoulder that wasn't hurt.

        "It'll come back to you, maybe once you heal a little, but in the mean time why don't we eat and then go exploring?" I nodded, it would be good for me to try and enjoy myself, I mean after all I am supposed to be on vacation. Aster grinned before backing out of the tent. He was back within a minute with a plate wrapped in aluminum foil and a plastic fork in his hand. "I brought you something special to make up for being late." I had a small grin on my face, I had an idea of what it was as I grabbed the plate and fork and unwrapped the aluminum foil. I grinned as I tore away the last of the aluminum, it was some strawberry casserole, easily one of my absolute favorite dishes. the smell wafted up, and I almost started drooling.

        "This smells great, Aster thank you so much!" I dug into it, cutting off a large piece and bringing it up to my mouth, thick strawberry jam was oozing from the piece and I quickly pushed it into my mouth. the sweet, sweet jam made my body shiver as it ran over my tongue. The coldness of the jam sent tingles of pleasure down my spine as I chewed slowly, savoring every drop, every crumb before swallowing.

        "I knew you'd like it, my mom had to make some for some corporate meeting at her work, so she gave me a couple pieces for both of us, I already had mine..." I grinned, knowing Aster couldn't control himself when he was hungry, especially with his mom's cooking, it was heavenly. She was one of the best cooks I knew. I began biting off more and more, each one sent tingles of joy through my body as I savored each piece, chewing it slowly, carefully, tasting each bite as much as I could before I swallowed. It had been a while since I'd last had a strawberry casserole and this was absolutely delicious. As I finished the last of the casserole, I handed the trash to Aster who crumbled it up and left the tent to throw it into a plastic bag he brought for trash. I followed him out of the tent smiling.

        "So did you want to explore somewhere special? or are we going to just wander aimlessly?" Aster shrugged

        "It's up to you, we have the next few days to explore as much as we want, so if you want to check out someplace specific that's fine." I nodded, thinking it over a bit before coming to a decision.

        "I think I want to explore the area around here first. I didn't get much of a chance to really enjoy the sights while walking up here, so it's the perfect chance." Aster grinned reaching into the cooler and grabbing a couple bottles of water.

        "That sounds like a great choice, here we'll need some water to drink so we don't overheat." I took the bottle of water from him, and held it loosely in my left hand. "I'm ready to go whenever you are little bro."

        "Well then let's go! I can't wait." Aster elbowed me playfully as we started walking, moving out of the camp area and onto one of the many worn trails. It was great being able to explore, checking out branching paths that led off into deeper parts of the forest. it was beautiful and Vibrant, bright colors splashed across the landscape like a painting, I hadn't seen something so wondrous before. It was thrilling and I was eager to explore all of it, moving off a bit from the paths occasionally to check out some flowers and to explore a small clearing, bathing in the warm sunlight and the fresh clean air, I hadn't been able to relax like this in quite a long time. It was refreshing, and everywhere I went there were more surprises, new sights and smells.        I barely kept track of the time, I was having so much fun checking out the forest that I didn't know several hours had gone by, It was only when Aster tugged me back for a small break that I noticed how late it was.

        "So how are you enjoying our day so far?" I laughed giving him a tight hug, leaving him pleasantly surprised.

        "The day has been great! I can't believe how amazing this place is, the sights, the smells, it's all so rich and wonderful I just can't get enough!" Aster laughed returning my hug.

        "I am glad you are enjoying it so much, it's about time we got to do something like this and now that I know how much you enjoy it, I can make a new habit of going on trips like this with you more often." I laughed nodding. I loved every minute of this trip so far, I couldn't believe how much fun I was having just wandering around, going on more trips like this would be great! there were so many places we could explore.

        "That sounds great! It'll be amazing getting to travel and explore like we are right now!" Aster grinned and ruffled my hair before I pulled away, eager to explore more. I grasped his hand and pulled him along as I started walking again before letting go, looking up into the tree branches, watching the gentle sway as the wind passed through them, the breeze carrying their smell to me, caressing my body with it before moving on. I'd fallen back into my wandering as we walked, having hours more pass before Aster gently slowed me down enough so I could focus, noticing the new vibrant colors of twilight as it painted the forest in red and orange.

        "It's time to head back bro, it's almost time to eat again, plus it's almost past time for us to have returned back to the camp area." I sighed sadly. I didn't want to go yet, I wanted to keep wandering around, but I knew we had to follow the rules and I began following Aster as he led us back down the paths. It didn't take us long to walk back to the camp now that we weren't stopping to explore or enjoy the scenery, with the area steadily growing darker as the sun set I moved closer to Aster. "So bro I figured tonight we could just have some sandwiches, I want to save the good stuff for later on when we can have a cookout, plus we need to eat the sandwiches before they go bad." I laughed, Aster's excuses didn't fool me even for a second.

        "Your mom made them didn't she? what is it this time? ham? turkey?" Aster had a blush on his cheeks and across the bridge of his nose, standing out clearly against his tan and white fur.

        "H-hey it's not like that, I just.. I mean I thought..." I laughed, patting Aster on the back

        "You can't fool me like that, plus it's not like I don't love the food she makes." Aster smiled pulling me into a shoulder hug as we walked into the camp area. Now that the sun was going down it was a bit cooler. I gently pulled out of the embrace Aster had me in and I moved over to the cooler and opened it, returning my half used bottle or water So it could cold again. Looking around I found the wrapped sandwiches in the corner and picked them up, before closing the cooler. "Here ya go Aster." I turned around and handed him two of the sandwiches, keeping only one for myself.        Aster tore into the first sandwich almost immediately, barely having taken the plastic wrap off of it. "Seriously, you are going to choke if you don't slow down." I bit into my own sandwich. It was honey glazed ham, Swiss cheese, mayonnaise, and tomato. the juices of the tomato flooded my mouth as I bit into it. even cold these sandwiches were really good, lots of flavor and extremely juicy. It was no wonder Aster couldn't control himself. I laughed watching Aster scarf down the second sandwich as quick as the first before I ripped my sandwich in half and offered it to him while finishing the half I'd already bitten off of.

        "You sure you want to give me half of yours bro?..." Aster stared at the offered piece to him and it brought on another laugh from me.

        "Go on and take it you need more energy than I do, plus I'm not all that hungry." Aster grabbed the half of the sandwich, biting into it as if he were starving and I smiled, a yawn forced it's way up and I stretched. "Hey Aster do you mind if we turn in early? I'm pretty tired.." Aster nodded swallowing the last of the sandwich.

        "You alright bro?" I nodded.

        "I'm fine.. just tired after doing so much exploring.. I'll catch you in the morning." Aster nodded, moving in and ruffling my hair before I reached into my suitcase, grabbing my rolled up sleeping bag and I entered my tent, zipping it shut and crawling inside. I rolled out the bag, simply sprawling out on it, using my arms for a pillow as I drifted off. It didn't take long for Aster to grow tired after I'd gone to bed, having nothing to do he decided to turn in early as well, opening his suit case he grabbed a similar sleeping bag to mine and tossed it into his tent before he stripped off his shirt and folded it up and stuffing it into his suitcase before sliding into the tent, using the sleeping bag as the pillow. He laid back, staring up at the roof of his tent, slowly dozing off.        A couple hours passed in blissful sleep before my eyes opened groggily and I yawned, rolling over and trying to go back to sleep, but my mind refused to return to sleep. I tossed and turned for what seemed like an hour before I sat up. Outside my tent I heard a couple foots steps and a shadow blanketed the front of my tent. It was a muscular looking from and I groaned thinking it was another one of Aster's antics. "Aster go to sleep, I'm not in the mood for one of your jokes." The shadow moved closer, I could heard the figure breathing just outside. "Seriously Aster go back to your tent." I grabbed the zipper and slowly pulled it back. "Aster, look I know it's you, I could hear you breathing..." Staring out of my tent I gasped, backing up. Standing over the entrance staring into my tent right back at me, was the werefox.

End Of Chapter Two...