Fenris, still holding the woman by the shoulders, stared at her some more. He had blurted Luna's name in shock but still wasn't convinced that this woman was her.
But still—
Fenris shifted his face closer to the woman. She had been startled before, but now she looked away in terror. Fenris paid no mind to it. He was solely focused on her features.
Dark eyes, a diamond face. But her hair was short, dark, and slightly unkempt. And her skin had visible wrinkles and her hair– lines of grey.
She was older, perhaps in her forties.
'Is this an illusion?' Fenris thought. 'A way to hide herself from me? But why?'.
If that was the case, Fenris's eyes may have deceived him, but his nose wouldn't. He sniffed her.
The woman's eyes shot open.
"Stop!" she cried.
Fenris released her out of instinct. It was like a shock to his entire body.
"What the hell am I doing?" Fenris muttered shamefully. He did manage to get a whiff of the woman, though. It was her—it wasn't Luna.
Luna had a distinct scent to her, a fragrance Fenris could only describe as a night breeze.
This woman… well, she didn't smell bad. But she carried the scent of the average peasant.
Fenris's gaze landed on her. She was still scared—understandable, given his actions. But he was still left with a choice.
'What do I do with her?'
She wasn't a hunter, so she should be no threat to him. But she did follow him into the alley.
'But she didn't see me shift. It would be different otherwise. But her looks…'
The more Fenris stared at her, the more he saw Luna. It couldn't be a coincidence that they looked so similar.
But maybe it was. Maybe because he had spent so much time searching, he began seeing things that weren't there.
'They don't look that similar anyway,' he thought.
Not saying anything to the woman, who was still visibly shaken by his presence, he decided to leave the alley. He walked away.
"Wait!" the woman exclaimed.
Fenris froze. His face didn't turn back, but his eyes reluctantly did.
"What?" he asked, uninterested. He may not have reacted if the woman didn't have a striking resemblance to the one he had spent so long searching for. It was almost like she had some pull on him.
Maybe he was looking for a reason to remain by her side, even though she was a fake.
"That woman, the one you asked about all over town—who is she to you?" the woman asked.
Fenris made a complete turn. Hope filled his eyes. Maybe there was a connection.
"Do you know her?" Fenris asked, almost out of breath.
Fake Luna kept silent. Her eyes darted around, and her lip quivered.
'She's hesitating,' Fenris thought, rageful.
He marched toward her. "Where is she!?" he roared.
But something surprising occurred. Fake Luna didn't seem scared anymore. Her pulse could be heard and uneven, but she hid it well.
"Answer me first. What is she to you!?" Fake Luna said, standing her ground.
She didn't look away, nor did she waver. Fenris felt like he was staring down another werewolf despite this woman being only human, and even more surprising—he was losing.
With a heavy breath, Fenris swallowed his pride.
"She's my… my friend," he answered.
She was far more than that to him, but friend just made it simpler.
"Friend? My daughter has someone as rude and vile as you as a friend?" Fake Luna asked, slightly worried.
"Daughter?" Fenris muttered, stunned.
'Why didn't I make that connection before?.'
"Your Luna's mother?"
"I'm… I'm not sure."
Fenris raised an eyebrow. What games was this woman playing?.
"We can't talk here. An alley's nowhere to have a proper conversation," Luna's mother said.
She walked past Fenris to pick up the fallen fruits, taking too long for his liking.
'I suppose I should help her,' Fenris thought reluctantly.
Picking the scattered fruits along the alleyway, he approached her, trying to place them in the basket.
The woman shuddered as he approached her. Fenris could have given her words of comfort, let her know he wasn't a threat to her.
But he didn't. Or more likely, couldn't.
Years of solitude and being hunted did that to him.
Picking herself up, the woman did her best to compose herself, not looking Fenris in the eyes.
"Let's go, shall we?"
Fenris followed, but he did so cautiously. This whole situation felt like some sort of trap.
The two ended up in a small house. Fenris, once inside, used his sense of smell.
"Nothing," he muttered, disappointed. If this woman truly was Luna's mother, he had hoped to find her scent here.
There was none except the woman's.
"Take a seat," she said softly.
Fenris spotted her on the dining table, the fruit washed and cut into pieces on a wooden plate.
He begrudgingly complied but didn't eat the fruit and gave no reason for it.
"So tell me…" Fenris paused, leaning closer. "What do you mean you're not sure you're Luna's mother?"
"The girl you described. Purple hair, a likeness of the crescent moon, and a Blessed One. They all fit my daughter. But her name isn't Luna."
"It's Andrea."