Moonstruck Hearts

The city of Crescent Hollow never truly slept. Somewhere between the rustle of passing cars, the buzz of late-night neon, and the distant call of sirens, something ancient stirred beneath its glossy, modern surface. But Kai Brennan had long learned to ignore it.

The bell above the door jingled softly as he pushed into the shop, arms full of fresh paperbacks and his hoodie damp from the evening drizzle. The air inside Brennan's Books & Brews was warm with the scent of roasted coffee beans and worn paperbacks-his safe space.

He set the boxes on the counter and exhaled.

"Another late delivery?" came a voice from the back room.

Kai looked up and smirked. "You know them. Fastest three-day shipping in five days."

Elliot emerged, his glasses sliding down his nose, a half-eaten donut in one hand and a spreadsheet in the other. "You say that like it's new."

Kai chuckled. "It never is."

At 27, Kai Brennan looked like the kind of man you'd trust to fix your leaky sink and recite poetry while doing it. Broad shoulders, warm brown eyes, and an easy quietness that made people lean in to hear him speak. But there was always a distance to him, a kind of softness that looked carved rather than grown.

He liked it that way. He needed it that way.

The wolf inside him had been quiet for years.

He hadn't shifted since the night his parents died. And he intended to keep it that way.

---

The first customer walked in just as Kai was placing a copy of The Midnight Library in the front display.

She was soaked, her scrubs clinging to her arms, brown hair plastered to her cheeks. A small, shaking bundle peeked from under her jacket.

"I swear I'm not trying to smuggle anything illegal," she said quickly, stepping inside with a splash of water on the mat. "Just... need a place to dry off for a minute."

Kai stared-not at the rainwater trailing behind her, or the worn stethoscope at her neck-but at the trembling eyes of the puppy peeking out from her coat.

"Come in," he said simply, moving behind the counter. "Towel?"

She nodded, grateful. "Please."

As she rubbed down the shivering pup-a coyote, he realized with some surprise-she muttered under her breath, whispering soft words that didn't quite sound like English. The animal calmed almost instantly.

"Not a dog?" Kai asked, quietly impressed.

She glanced up. "No. Hurt his leg. Found him on the highway. I'm a vet."

"Must be good at it," he said.

"I'd like to think so," she replied with a crooked smile. "You don't seem freaked out."

"I've seen worse. Once had a cat give birth in aisle four."

She laughed, and for a moment, the shop felt warmer.

"Kai," he offered, drying his hands.

"Lena."

The wolf stirred inside him. Just slightly. Barely noticeable. But it was there.

A scent. Warm and earthy. Not like prey-not human.

Something familiar. Something that pulled.

He ignored it.

---

Later, after the lights were dimmed and Elliot had retreated upstairs to play horror games with his headset on, Kai stood by the back door and stared into the night. The city lights blurred in the puddles near the curb, and thunder rolled lazily in the distance.

That strange stirring hadn't left.

He thought of her eyes. Her hands, the way they'd calmed a wild creature in seconds. The whispering in a tongue he didn't know. Her scent.

His pulse kicked.

He hadn't felt the wolf in over ten years.

And tonight, it had opened one eye.

---