“S-sis…” Tasela stuttered in his new voice, it was hoarse and high pitched, evident that he was not used to using it. He grappled onto her fur, his hands trembling as he tried to find solace in his sister's fur.

“Sis y-you have to help me. I-I don't know what's going on, please, you have to help me!” He muttered rapidly, stuttering and taking deep breaths at an irregularly fast rate. He was hyperventilating.

“Tasela, you have to calm down first. Take a deep breath.” Nokomis ordered, raising a front leg and placing it on his back like a hug.Tasela's mumbling grew increasingly rapid and incoherent, and his hyperventilation worsened.

“T-that woman at the lake, she did something to me. I lost control of m-myself, all of a sudden everything is overwhelming. I r-ran away but then I turned into a h-human. I don’t know what’s happening sis, I—” 

“Tasela, CALM DOWN!” Nokomis snarled, the echo of her voice extending through the clearing. The clearing fell silent once again. Although Nokomis used to be quite boisterous, she was never one to snarl at someone, with such volume and aggression at that, especially not after the events she suffered a few years back.

The snarl broke Tasela out of his trance. He looked up at his big sister in surprise. Nokomis pulled Tasela closer to her in a comforting gesture, letting him bury his face in her fur.

"Tell me what happened.” She said softly but sternly.

“There's a human that moved into the house of that old hunter, sis.” Nokomis flinched. Strong emotions started to surge in her, but she clenched her teeth to calm them down. Right now, Tasela's issue was most important.

"I've been watching her over the past moon. I told myself it was because she might be a threat to us, but after our first encounter, it was evident that she was harmless.” Tasela clenched onto Nokomis’ fur. The tribe all listened with utmost concentration.

“I knew that she was harmless, but I kept watching her. I kept convincing myself that she might be dangerous because she made me feel weird. I started getting closer to her over the month, and the closer we got, the more I became stranger. I keep thinking about her, I keep going to see her. And just now…” He gulped.

“Just now, at the pond, I met her again. She smiled at me, and….she said that she missed me. I felt like I was drowning, so I ran away, but now….” Tasela's grip on Nokomis’ fur tightened. He looked at his human fingers in despair.

“Sis, I don't know what's happening. You have to help me…” He pleaded with a quivering voice, his body starting to tremble again.

It was clear as day to everyone in the tribe what the situation was now. No, they already knew the moment Tasela entered the clearing, they just wanted to know how this happened.

“Tasela, do you really not know, or are you just pretending to not know?” Nokomis asked sternly. Tasela flinched at her words, he retreated from her hug to look up at her.

“W-what do you mean, sis?”

“Tasela, you've fallen in love with a human.”

It was like lightning had struck him. He felt dizzy, like he was about to faint. He tried his hardest to stay up with his hands standing on the ground. He looked down in despair and denial. Nokomis extended her paw again, ready to comfort her brother in case he started hyperventilating again. 

“No, that's impossible. I can't be…” Tasela muttered. Nokomis sighed. She looked back at the tribe. They all shared the same unsure look on their faces.

It was no secret how much Tasela resented the idea of love, so it was almost ironic seeing that has fallen for someone. They were worried he wouldn't take it well. If he was any other person, the tribe would congratulate or cheer him on, as was customary, but with Tasela, nobody knew what to do. They all looked to Nokomis, as they all knew how much the boy looked up to and relied on his elder sister.

“Tasela, think about it carefully.” She softened her voice to sound as comforting as possible. “Did you give that human a bonding name?”

Tasela looked up. In an instant, he recalled the lessons the elders had taught him and his friends when they were young. If a werewolf falls in love with someone, they will give the person they love a unique name that nobody but themselves are allowed to call. If that person reciprocates the werewolf's love, then they will give a bonding name back to the werewolf as well. The bonding name is exclusive to the bonded pair, and serves to tie the destinies of the two together forever.

He recalled the names his tribemates called their significant other. Nokomis’ name for Cypress was ‘Olathe’, and the name Cypress gave in return was ‘Maple’. Chenoa and Sahale had a name for each other as well, ‘Agisa’ and ‘Nayate’. His parents had one for each other too. The more he recalled, the more in despair Tasela felt.

“What name did you give her?” Nokomis pressed. She knew her brother too well to understand that his silence right now meant yes.

“I….I called her Luna.” He whispered. Suddenly, he jolted up with an agitated face.

“It can't be right! That name just appeared by itself! I didn't choose it!” He exclaimed. There must be a mistake. How could he be in love with that woman when such an important thing like the bonding name was not even deliberately chosen by him.

“Tasela, we don't choose the names. The moment we fall in love, it just appears in the spur of the moment. It's the same for all of us.” Tasela looked around the tribe in disbelief, and but despaired to see the nods some of them would give him. The truth was crashing down on him, and he did not want to accept it.

“N-no, still, something has to be wrong. I can't be…” He muttered weakly.

“Then let me ask you one last question. Do you want to see her again and be by her side?” Tasela fell silent. The answer was yes, and that was exactly why he felt so lost and helpless. 

“I don't want to be in love, sis. It's scary.” He mumbled, tears dripping down his face and landing on the ground. Nokomis pulled him tightly to a hug, trying her best to comfort him. She knew better than anyone why Tasela hated love so much, it was because of what happened to her, and she felt guilty for it.

“Don't be scared, it's really not that bad.” She awkwardly patted him on the back with her paw.

“I-I'm scared, what if I end up like you? I don't want to–” Tasela paused, realizing what he just said. He looked up at Nokomis, but she averted his gaze with a hurt expression.

“Ah, sis, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean–”

“It's been a long and eventful night. I'm sure we still have lots to discuss, but let us move on with the ceremony while the moon is still at the peak of the sky.” Cawked a crow. It flew from the gathering rock towards the two siblings, and as it landed on the ground beside Nokomis, it shifted into a slender, sleek black furred wolf. It was their father who came to Nokomis’ rescue. He placed his tail on her back in a comforting gesture, and gave her a reassuring nod. She responded with a meek smile.

“Tasela, join us now at the gathering rock.” Their mother ordered, sitting atop the rock, her figure tall, stoic, and commanding. Her expression was soft, as she sympathized with her son's situation, but her eyes held a silent fire, as if berating him for hurting his sister. 

“Come now.” Their father signaled, turning around to head to the gathering rock, with Nokomis following beside him. He turned his head to make sure Tasela followed as well. Tasela slowly got up from the kneeling position he'd been all night. His legs were shaky due to still feeling emotionally overwhelmed, but also because he was not fully acclimated to them yet. His friends came to his aide to act as physical but also emotional support.

Chenoa offered him her shoulder to lean on to keep his balance. Tasela put a hand on her shoulder, and slowly walked forward. Chenoa slowed her pace down for him. She turned to look at her friend. He looked absolutely miserable.

“You know, I find it so annoying that you're still taller than me even after you shrinked as a human.” She scoffed, trying to cheer him up. The other friends took this as a cue to join in and try to lighten his mood.

“Anyone can grow taller than you, Chenoa. You're a midget.”

“Hey!”

“Plus, Tasela's really tall as a wolf, ‘course he'd be tall as a human too.”

“To think you'll even shrink some more when you get old. My condolences, Chenoa.”

“What do you mean ‘when’ she gets old? She's already old. Right, grandma?”

“Shut up ‘bout my height you all! I used to be taller than all of you.”

“Yeah, back when we were still pups.”

The group bantered with each other as they slowly approached the gathering rock. They hoped to cheer Tasela up a little, but sadly it didn't work. He still looked miserable and lost in his thoughts. They unanimously turned to Sahale, who was the mother of the friend group, for help. Sahale awkwardly bumped his shoulder on Tasela's, who turned to look at him tiredly.

"Cheer up, kid. I know what you're scared of, but maybe things'll go well with you and that human?” Sahale put up a friendly smile. Tasela did not respond, he just furrowed his eyebrows.

"Plus, remember back when I was still crushing on Agisa? You were so scared of everything that could go wrong. I mean, you were honestly more worried for me than I was for myself!” Sahale exchanged a quick glance with Chenoa. Tasela smiled at the memories.

"I really shouldn't have wasted so much time worrying for you. You two are so lovey-dovey glued together now that it makes me wanna vomit.” Tasela scoffed. Chenoa and Sahale both laughed. The others smiled in relief hearing that as well, it meant that their cheering was working.

"That's my point, though! Everything worked out fine in the end, didn't it?” Sahale bumped Tasela's shoulder again with a bright smile.

"Try to be more positive, kid. Everything will be fine, we're all rooting for you.” Sahale cheered.

"Yeah, and it's not like we'll just stand by and watch your ass get rejected. Come and ask us for advice any time.” Chenoa joined.

"Yeah, cheer up Tasela, a mopey face doesn't suit you.” "Things might go better than you expect!” the others joined in.

Tasela smiled in gratitude. He was still feeling distraught by the new turn of events, but the cheering of his friends greatly helped him cope with the situation.

Once they arrived at the gathering rock, the ceremony started, with all the members howling in felicitation. Atop the rock, at the center of everyone's attention, stood Tasela, still in his human form. He wasn't in the mood for the ceremony anymore, his mind was absent. It was a tragedy, truly. The ceremony he'd been looking forward to his whole life, ruined by the very thing he hated the most. For others, the ceremony was just an age and identity marker, but for him, it was an extreme turn of events that would either make or break his life, and in Tasela's eyes, it was the latter.