For the next month, everything was back to normal - as normal as it could be for a girl who was dating a guy from the Westside who was also a werewolf. Nash continued to be the star athlete in our school and never failed to try to tempt me to rekindle our relationship when he found an opportunity, while Ivy and Abby continued to plan their futures with Dylan and Jake. We three girls were still as close as we always were, talking about guys, love, and the latest fashions. And Brandon and I snuck kisses in between classes and explored the outdoors together after school.
As the next full moon approached, Brandon received a new vial of serum from his scientist father, who had come for a visit.
"This is your vial," Dr. Maddox said, placing it in his son's hand. "It's not for your friends. Or someone you might happen to meet in the next few days. It's not to be shared or given away. I made it for you. It's your cure. So you can be normal again."
"I'm not sure I can ever be normal again after everything that has happened," Brandon said.
"These events have made your life richer, that's for sure," his father said. "But you have so many things to look forward to - and I want you to be able to do them as yourself. Not some creature that has to hide in the woods."
"He's really not a creature - not like you'd think," I said. "He's as kind as a werewolf as he is as a human. That's why he shared it instead of taking it."
Dr. Maddox tapped my shoulder. "I'm glad Brandon has you by his side. He's so lucky he found you. This move was good for him after all, even after everything else he's endured.
"I'd stay and watch you take it this time," he said, "but I have to return to Geneva before the moon hits its full appearance. However, this will be my last trip - I'm making arrangements to stay here for good. It will be wonderful to have everything back to the way it was. Only instead of being in Miller's Glen, we'll be here."
I wondered what it would be like if Brandon had the side effects Ryder had and became a werewolf full-time. What kind of life would we have? He wouldn't be able to go to school, and we'd miss spending our days together. If others found out about him being a werewolf, he'd be forced to live in isolation. He couldn't play hockey, hang out with others, or go to college. What kind of future would it be? I only hoped that he was cured like Nash and Ryder's crew. Then he could be human again - but I knew there would be a part of me that would miss those nocturnal moonlit kisses.
On the first night of the next full moon, it was finally Brandon's turn to take the serum. I was as afraid for him as I had been for Nash and as much as I had been the first time I saw Brandon turn. Now he could possibly turn every night and begin an eternal battle within himself that he wouldn't be able to control. But then there was the other side - I was afraid that I'd be losing the side of him that I'd grown to love just as much. In fact, that was who Brandon was to me: a generous, courageous, thoughtful guy in class and a handsome, hot, heroic creature of the night. Could he be one without the other? For his sake, I hoped so, but I had to admit, I'd always miss that side that I'd fallen in love with as well.
After sunset I found him standing up at the tree where I'd seen him first turn. He was gorgeous in his werewolf form, his hair wildly long, his face dotted with manly hair, his chest strong and lean. He was holding the serum, staring at the antidote. He held his fate in his hands.
"Are you ready?" I asked.
"I'm not so sure," he lamented.
"It's okay," I reassured him. "I'm confident it will work like it did for Nash - and Leopold and Hunter."
"That's what I'm worried about."
"I'm not sure I understand."
"The thought of being a werewolf every night terrifies me," he said, fixated on the vial, "and the idea of never being one again makes me sad."
"Really?" I asked. "I feel the same way."
"You do?"
I nodded. "I like you both ways."
He was obviously touched and drew back my hair from my face.
"You are truly special. My dad was right - I am so lucky to have found you."
We embraced as if we were holding on to all the parts of ourselves that we'd come to know.
"So what are you going to do? Aren't you afraid of transforming again?"
"I was when it first happened. But then - I had so much power, being able to explore nature as I never can as a human."
He turned to me with sad and lonely eyes. I could see him struggling to decide who he really was now. Just as I had struggled, too, in preparing to give up some of the parts of him I loved.
"I'm not ready to give up who I am, what I can be, and how I feel once in a full moon."
I nodded my head. Truthfully it would be hard - three days out of the month hiding him away, being isolated or having to avoid making plans with friends. There would be challenges. But wasn't that what life was about anyway?
"I wouldn't want you any other way," I said genuinely.
Brandon held the serum for a moment, then chucked it with all his might far into the woods.
He drew me to him, his lycan fangs catching the moonlight. He leaned in and kissed me long and with such intensity I thought I might explode. He pulled me in to him with a powerful embrace; I didn't want to be anywhere else in the world but in his arms.
I was going to be dating a werewolf for now and for the future. I didn't know what would happen the next day, but I knew it would be exciting. And we'd always be destined for a romantic adventure every so often....
Or at least once in a full moon.