Under the Cursed Moon - CH - 86

The morning air in Forks was crisp and wet with mist, the forest alive with the sounds of dripping leaves and chirping birds. Somewhere beyond the tree line, the sun was a faint memory hidden behind layers of soft gray clouds.

But none of that mattered to Teddy Black.

Today, he had a mission.

He zipped up his little brown jacket, his eyes bright with excitement, and slung a tiny backpack over his shoulders filled with snacks and a thick map of Forks—hand-drawn by himself.

Today, I’m gonna show Lysara all my favorite places!

Teddy wasn't like other kids. He couldn't be.

Where other children might skin their knees or cry over spilled ice cream, Teddy had the kind of strength that could bend iron railings and accidentally tear car doors off their hinges if he wasn’t careful.

He couldn't play rough with human kids.
Couldn't race them without leaving them in the dust.
Couldn’t wrestle without hurting someone.

Only Renesmee, the shapeshifters, and a few rare vampires could keep up with him—and even then, sometimes he had to hold back.

But Lysara?

Lysara had felt real.

Strong. Unbothered.
Like he didn’t have to pretend around her.

And he had liked that. A lot.

Knowing the woods better than anyone, Teddy jogged behind the Black Mansion until he found a quiet hollow.

He closed his eyes, inhaled the cool air deeply, and then—

Shifted.

Bones reshaped. Muscles stretched.
Fur rippled out along his skin like a wave.

In seconds, a massive wolf cub—one the size of a full-grown panther—stood where Teddy had been.

With a shake of his head, Teddy tested the air.

Okay, Lysara. Where did you go?

The scents rushed to him: wet bark, deer, cold moss… and there—the faint trace of her. Sharp, cold, tinged with rain and forest.

Tail wagging, Teddy sprinted off, his powerful legs sending him soaring over fallen logs and tangled ferns.

He arrived first at their meeting tree—the giant fir where he had first surprised her—but found it empty.

Teddy sniffed again, circling the trunk.
He wasn’t worried.

He was a Black.
He was trained by Harry Potter himself to track, to think, to follow.

Lowering his nose to the ground, Teddy caught the subtle thread of Lysara’s scent moving northwest, toward the deeper woods.

Without hesitation, he bounded after it.

Over brooks.
Under fallen trees.
Through thorny brush.

Each leap brought him closer.

It took him nearly twenty minutes of sprinting before he found her.

Lysara was crouched atop a narrow stone ledge overhanging a lazy river, her cloak wrapped tightly around her as she adjusted her telescope once more. She looked absolutely still, like a statue carved from the woods themselves.

She didn’t hear him at first—not until he landed heavily on a fallen log nearby, sending a few startled crows into the sky.

Lysara turned swiftly, hand instinctively reaching toward a dagger tucked in her belt.

Then she froze.

Teddy stood there, tail wagging, golden fur ruffling in the breeze.

He shifted back into his human form effortlessly, laughing as he wiped mud from his pants.

"Hi, Lysara!" he called.

She blinked in surprise.
“You tracked me?”

“Of course!” Teddy said proudly. “You smell like winter and metal and something kinda spicy.”

Lysara arched an eyebrow. "Spicy?"

Teddy shrugged. “I dunno. I like it.”

For a long moment, they just stared at each other. Then Lysara did something she hadn’t done in longer than she could remember.

She laughed. A real, soft laugh.

Teddy bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Come on! I wanna show you my favorite places in Forks. The super cool places. Not just boring trees."

Lysara hesitated. She could still hear Caius’s voice warning her against entanglements, against visibility, against any attachments.

You are the eyes, not the hand.

But she looked at the boy, his face shining with innocent eagerness.

And for the first time in decades, she said:

"...Lead the way."

Teddy beamed and grabbed her hand.

Together, they dashed into the forest, the little wolf and the forgotten hunter—two strange souls who had found, for a moment, something very rare:

A friend.


The forest opened up around them like a living cathedral, green and dripping with mist, the air rich with pine and loamy earth.
Teddy Black, barefoot and grinning from ear to ear, led Lysara by the hand deeper into the woods, away from all the places humans ever dared to tread.

"This," Teddy said proudly, waving his arm like a tour guide, "is my world."

Lysara followed quietly, her boots barely making a sound against the mossy ground. She scanned the trees around them, ever alert even in her new companion’s infectious energy. Part of her training screamed to retreat—to stay hidden, to avoid attention—but another, quieter part of her, the part long starved for any feeling at all, stayed.

Stayed, and listened.

First, Teddy brought her to a hidden waterfall, buried behind thick vines and craggy rocks. The water roared down in a silver sheet, splashing into a deep, clear pool below.

"This is where me and Nessie—" he caught himself and grinned, "—Renesmee—race sometimes. She cheats though. She can jump from up there." He pointed to a ledge nearly fifty feet above them.

Lysara tilted her head, assessing the leap. "You could jump too," she said coolly.

Teddy grinned. "Yeah. But she’s braver. I’m just the guy who climbs trees like a squirrel."

Lysara chuckled under her breath.

Next, he led her to a grove where the trees were so massive, they looked like ancient sentinels guarding a forgotten kingdom. Their roots twisted up like serpents, creating hollow spaces big enough for Teddy to crawl inside.

"This is where I show Renesmee magic tricks," he said proudly, pulling a battered deck of enchanted cards from his pocket and making them float in the air with a flick of his fingers.

Lysara blinked.

Magic. Real magic.

It tugged at some long-buried curiosity inside her, but she said nothing, simply watching the boy spin the floating cards through the mist.

After that came a hidden valley, tucked between two ridges, where the grass grew thick and wildflowers bloomed even in the mist. Teddy rolled down the hill laughing, his arms flailing.

Lysara leaned against a tree, arms crossed, hiding a smile.

"Come on!" Teddy shouted up to her. "It’s better than flying!"

Lysara raised an eyebrow. "I prefer flying."

Teddy laughed harder. "Show off!"

They wandered next to a quiet pond, where frogs croaked lazily and dragonflies skimmed the water's surface.

Teddy tossed stones, trying to skip them, though his strength often sent them flying like bullets across the pond.

"You’re supposed to do it softly," he said sheepishly after one stone splashed so hard it soaked Lysara’s boots.

She shook her head, a rare smirk tugging at her lips.

"I don’t do 'soft,'" she said.

At last, after what felt like hours of wandering and laughing, Teddy led her through a narrow deer trail that opened onto the breathtaking stretch of La Push Beach.

The ocean pounded against black rocks, the waves wild and hungry under the steel-gray sky.

"This is where we do cliff diving," Teddy said, pointing to a jagged bluff down the beach. "Me and Seth. Jacob and Sam used to jump here when they were kids."

"You’re not afraid?" Lysara asked, genuinely curious.

Teddy shook his head. "Afraid? Nah. The first time, maybe. But after that, you realize it’s not about being afraid. It’s about flying."

He looked out over the crashing surf, the wind tossing his messy hair in every direction.

"I want to show you something," he said suddenly.

He ran toward the cliff’s edge without hesitation, shifting mid-run into his wolf form—a shining golden blur—and with a powerful leap, launched himself off the cliff.

Lysara’s breath caught despite herself as Teddy soared through the mist, twisting joyfully in the air before plunging cleanly into the foaming water below.

Moments later, he emerged laughing, dog-paddling toward the shore.

"You’re crazy!" Lysara called, amused despite herself.

Teddy, back on the beach and soaked to the skin, grinned up at her.

"Yeah, but it’s fun being crazy."

Lysara sat on a boulder above the tide line, watching Teddy draw in the wet sand with a stick, humming to himself.

For the first time in weeks—maybe years—she felt something other than duty.

She felt…

Alive.


The ocean breeze whipped across La Push Beach, sending waves of mist curling around the rocky shoreline where Teddy and Lysara were still laughing, skipping stones, and drawing lines in the wet sand.

It was perfect.

Until it wasn’t.

From the edge of the forest, a low, rumbling growl shattered the quiet. Teddy’s head snapped up immediately, his sharp senses picking out the figures slipping through the trees like ghosts.

A moment later, the pack emerged—massive, hulking wolves with eyes like burning embers, surrounding them in a wide, closing circle.

Lysara stiffened instantly, stepping slightly in front of Teddy, her body lowering instinctively into a defensive crouch. Her mind raced. They must have tracked her scent.

And now they were here.

At the head of the pack, a massive black wolf—Sam—bared his teeth, hackles rising.

Beside him were Paul, Embry, and several others, teeth flashing, muscles tensing for a spring.

But then they saw him—
Teddy.

The wolves hesitated, confusion rippling through the group.

Teddy? With this vampire?


Lysara could feel it—the dangerous confusion, the instincts warring in the shapeshifters’ minds.

Sam’s growl deepened.
His eyes locked onto Lysara, and she knew with cold certainty: he was preparing to strike.

She braced herself, her hands flexing toward hidden daggers.

But before anyone could move, Teddy stepped forward.

His small body trembled slightly—not with fear, but with something deeper, more primal.

He stared at each wolf, one by one.
Silent.

Focused.

Lysara blinked.
Teddy wasn’t speaking.
He wasn’t moving his lips.

But the wolves were reacting.

Their heads tilted. Their growls softened—then flared again. There was confusion. Doubt.

How is he talking to them? Lysara thought.

She didn’t know.
But Teddy was speaking to their minds, as naturally as breathing.

Inside the telepathic link, Teddy’s voice was strong and clear:

She’s my friend! I brought her here. She hasn’t hurt anyone. You don’t attack my friends!

Sam’s mental voice, rough and angry, snapped back:

She has red eyes, pup! She’s hunted humans. You can’t trust her!

Teddy didn’t flinch.

I don’t care what she was. I know what she is now. She’s with me. She’s safe.

There was a low growl among the link—Paul snarling disagreement, Embry growling low and conflicted.

Then a calmer voice—Seth Clearwater.

If Teddy says she’s a friend, she’s a friend. We trust Teddy.

Jacob’s voice followed immediately, hard and urgent:

You don't want to push him, Sam. You’ve seen what happens if Teddy loses control. You don't want a war.

But Sam, proud and stubborn, was not so easily swayed.

The wolves tightened their circle again, muscles coiling.

Lysara instinctively crouched lower, every part of her ready for a suicidal last stand—but Teddy—

Teddy was changing.

Before everyone’s eyes, his small frame shifted.
Claws burst from his fingertips.
Fangs gleamed in his widening mouth.
His muscles bulked, tearing slightly through his clothes.
Golden fur shimmered over his skin.

And then came the growl—a deep, ancient sound that made even the seasoned warriors of the pack stumble back.

It wasn’t the sound of a child.
It wasn’t even the sound of a wolf.

It was the growl of something older, stronger, wilder.

Something that should never be challenged.

He lunged at Sam, tackling him sideways, snapping the circle open.

"Back down!" Jacob's voice roared through the telepathic link. "Everyone, back off! Now!"

Seth circled, growling at Embry and Paul, forcing them to pull away.

One by one, the pack retreated, throwing wary, wide-eyed glances at the boy—no, the creature—standing protectively before the vampire.

Teddy’s golden eyes blazed at them all until the last wolf slunk back into the trees.

Then, breathing hard, Teddy slowly shifted back, his small body trembling from the strain, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.

When the last of the wolves disappeared into the forest, Teddy turned to Lysara, his expression filled with guilt.

"I’m sorry," he said, voice low and raw. "They’re supposed to be my friends. They shouldn't have done that."

Lysara, her heart still pounding in her chest, just looked at him—this small boy who had faced down an entire wolf pack without blinking.

She smiled—genuinely—and crouched to his level.

"It’s alright," she said quietly. "You protected me. That’s more important than anything."

Teddy smiled, his sharp teeth already fading away.

"Come on," he said, grabbing her hand. "Let’s go back to the trees. I bet there’s a family of hawks nesting near the cliffs."

And so they walked away from the sea, side by side, leaving behind the scent of salt and battle on the wind.

Two dangerous beings.
Two unlikely friends.