Confessing

In the next afternoon, Dan was walking straight to Nome to find Luna, even not knowing were she lived. In front of the city mail post, Dan remembered his wolf enhanced senses. He sniffed the air many times while walking, trying to track Luna's scent. After some blocks, he finally detected it. There was no way he could forget that sweet scent, though he reprehended himself for thinking that. He saw her sat near the drugstore, apparently waiting for her mistress. She saw him, and smiled, happy to see him again. She approached to give him a nuzzle, but he stepped back. The huskie, imanining that he just didn't want to rush into things, didn't mind it.

– Where have you been? I didn’t see you yesterday. - she asked.

Dan knew the time of the revelation was coming. He sighed.

- We need to talk. – he said, serious.

Luna frowned, curious. But before she could say anything, her mistress, Annie, walked out of the drugstore with no one less than Rosie, Jenna's mistress, both carrying small packages. Annie appeared to be around 12 years old. Her hair was light brown, just like her eyes. The two girls noticed Dan. Annie appeared a little scared, noticing his wolf traits, but Rosie approached him, smiling.

- Hey, boy, where did you come from? – she asked, starting to pet the hybrid.

Dan enjoyed her petting, and sniffed her hand. She chuckled, and looked at Luna. After a moment, the girl grinned.

- Hey, Annie, I think Luna’s got a boyfriend. – she said.

Annie looked a little apprehensive at Dan. He approached the girl, slowly, wagging his tail in a friendly way to show her that he didn't want to harm her. Annie lowered herself to pet him too. He sniffed her hand back, and she chuckled.

- Aww, he’s cute. – she said, confident that he wasn't aggressive.

Then, Annie got up, and started walking away with Rosie.

- We’ll leave you two alone. Luna, just be back home before night, okay? – Annie said, before turning to another street.

Dan and Luna then walked away from the town, and sat together at the frozen beach. Luna looked at Dan, waiting for what he was going to say. He was still thoughtful about what was in risk for what he was about to tell, but finally, he decided to finish that.

- Luna… I shouldn’t be doing this. – he started, not daring to look at her in the eyes.

- Doing what? – she asked, confused.

- We can’t be together.

Then he started to tell her. Everything. About his human past, how he had gotten there, how he met Balto, how he felt confused when he met her, about what Nava told him… The sun was about to settle when he was finished. Dan then remained quiet, looking at everywhere but the female's eyes. He waited for her reaction, and knew it wouldn’t be the best.

Luna’s mind was swirling. How could Dan be a human? That was impossible.

- Dan, if this is a joke… - she started.

- No. It isn’t. – he interrupted, still not looking directly at her.

She got wide-eyed. It couldn’t be. He was a human! But her thoughts braked. Nava had told him that he had a wolf soul, and that he had never been a true human... but the mere thought that he was born like that... She felt angry, like the hybrid had used her. Dan knew that she was thinking that.

- That’s why I want you to know. I feel like I was influencing you. I was just too confused to tell you that before… and… I do like you. A lot. I will understand if you don't want to talk to me anymore. – he said, trying not to look lost. - I just had to tell you all that, I couldn't force you to live a lie.

Luna remained silent, as all words seemed to flee from her reach. She had no idea of what to think, or to feel. She could never imagine a situation like that. They could never be together. But she couldn’t help but liking him. It was too complicated...

- Luna, please, say something. – Dan asked, lost.

Luna, trying to hold her tears, ran away, heading back to the town, leaving behind a devastated Dan.

It was it. He had lost her. Snow started to fall, and sun was already set. Dan kept his gaze on the ground. The sadness he felt for losing Luna gave way to the guilt of having tricked and hurt her. He heard someone approaching, and by the scent, it surely wasn’t Luna. He kept his head down. Nothing more cared.

- Dan? - he heard Balto asking him, coming from behind.

Dan turned around and looked at his friend. Balto was sad for him. The canine sat beside him, trying to comfort him. Dan looked to the snowy ground below again, sad.

- I’m sorry. – the older hybrid said. – I shouldn’t have encouraged you.

- Don’t be. It was my fault. – Dan answered, not looking at him. – I shouldn’t have let things get to this point. If I wasn’t so stupid, she wouldn’t even know I exist.

- I don’t know what to say… - Balto confessed. – I’ve never seen anything like this before. I just thought it would all end up okay.

- Luna and I can never be. Even if I stay a dog forever, being a human is still part of me. I can’t do this. – the younger canid said, trying to force himself to accept that.

- Dan, there's a part of everything within us. - the older hybrid objected. - There's a human inside you, inside me, and even inside Luna. Just give her time to understand and things will... - he stopped, noticing by Dan's expression that he wasn't very faithful about that. - But think about it. - he continued. - If you stay here forever, and if it isn’t Luna, who else will it be?

- I don’t know. – Dan got up. – I just know what I did to her was wrong, and she's right being mad at me.

Without anymore words, he turned back and started walking. Balto just watched him leave, and decided not to follow him. He just needed his time.

Dan reached his destination: the top of the mountain where he had been transformed. He just stayed there, looking at the landscape below, blurred by the snow rain.

- I finally get to know who I really am... and it just isn't worth it. - he said to himself, sad.

Everything he loved in Nome, the freedom, the fun, the new people... just seemed to be nothing without Luna. He just just closed his eyes and let the wind play with his fur, not caring about the cold.

Luna was inside Annie’s house, laid near the fireplace. She had dropped some tears earlier, and was still giving some last whimpers. It was a complicated situation, and the most she wanted to stay with Dan, his past would stand in their way. It just felt wrong, and she couldn’t help but feeling angry at him for not telling her that since the beginning. What if he just used her? The husky decided to go for a walk, to clear her thoughts. She crawled through the dog door, and breathed the cold air of the night.

Walking by the dark snowy field, Luna’s thoughts came back to Dan. He was sincere enough to tell her the truth after all. And she somehow knew that his feelings were true too. But deep inside, even if he was somehow a wolf or dog deep inside, he was born