First Date, Full Moon
By Steve Miller
Derek adjusted his collar for the third time as he walked up the front steps of the Martinez house. The porch light cast long shadows across the wooden planks, and he could hear the faint sound of a television through the front window. He'd known Lupe since middle school, but this felt different somehow. More formal. More... expected.
The door opened before he could knock, and Lupe stepped out, pulling a light jacket over her shoulders and red blouse. Her dark hair was pulled back in a simple ponytail, and she wore black yoga pants with broad red stripes down the outsides of her legs, and hiking boots that looked well-worn and comfortable.
Derek suddenly felt overdressed in his navy-blue slacks, button-down shirt, and the dark jacket he'd thrown on at the last minute—his mom's suggestion for looking "presentable."
"Ready?" she asked, closing the door behind her with a soft click.
"Yeah," Derek said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "So, uh, where do you want to go?"
They started walking down the tree-lined street, their footsteps echoing in the quiet evening air. The sun had set an hour ago, leaving the sky a deep purple that was slowly fading to black. Street lamps flickered on one by one as they passed beneath them.
"I don't know," Lupe said with a shrug. "This whole thing is kind of weird, isn't it?"
Derek let out a nervous laugh. "Yeah, it really is. I mean, we've been friends forever, and now suddenly our parents are acting like we're supposed to be some kind of power couple or something."
"My mom keeps asking when you're going to ask me to the prom." Lupe rolled her eyes.
"Seriously?" He winced. "That's so awkward."
"Tell me about it. And my abuela..." She shook her head. "Let's just say she's already planning our wedding."
"Oh God." Derek groaned. "My dad's been doing the same thing. Yesterday he actually said I'd be stupid to 'let you get away.'"
"Like I'm some kind of prize fish." Lupe laughed, but there was warmth in it.
"The worst part is, they're not even subtle about it."
They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes, passing houses with warm yellow light spilling from their windows. A dog barked somewhere in the distance, and the sound of a car engine faded as it turned down another street.
"You look nice," Lupe said.
"Thanks," Derek replied with a grin. "You look nice, too. And comfortable. You were probably smarter than I was in your choice of clothes."
"Though part of me thinks I should have worn a dress tonight," she said, glancing up at the full moon overhead. "You know, just in case..."
"Yeah," Derek said with a knowing grin. "I was thinking the same thing about sweatpants. But can you imagine if I'd shown up in sweatpants? Your parents would have killed me, if mine even would have let me out of the house."
"Exactly. And a dress would have made my parents even more excited about our 'official' first date."
They both laughed again and walked on in companiable silence. Derek felt more relaxed than he had since his mom and dad has informed him of the date they had scheduled with the Martinezes for him and Lupe.
"You know what's funny though?" Lupe said eventually. "We actually do have a lot in common."
Derek nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Remember that camping trip last summer? You were the only one who wanted to hike up to the ridge with me."
"And you were the only one who didn't complain when we had to gut those fish your dad caught," Lupe added with a grin. "Most guys I know would have been totally grossed out."
"Are you kidding? That was nothing compared to field dressing that deer we got last fall. My mom still won't let me tell that story at dinner."
Lupe laughed. "I remember that. You were so proud of yourself."
"Well, it was my first clean shot," Derek said defensively, but he was smiling too. "And you helped me track it for like two hours."
"That's what you do," Lupe said simply. "You don't waste an animal's life by giving up when the trail gets hard to follow."
They had reached the edge of Riverside Park, where the sidewalk gave way to a gravel path that wound through tall oak trees and eventually led to the creek that ran along the far side of town. The park was darker than the residential streets, with only a few scattered lamp posts to light the way.
"Want to walk through here?" Derek asked. "It's prettier than taking the main road."
"Sure," Lupe said. "I like it better when it's quiet like this anyway."
As they entered the park, their conversation continued to flow naturally. They talked about their plans after graduation, about the colleges they'd applied to, about whether they wanted to stay in their small town or see what else was out there. Derek found himself genuinely enjoying Lupe's company in a way he hadn't expected.
"You know," he said as they crossed a small wooden bridge over a dry creek bed, "maybe our parents aren't completely crazy."
Lupe raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, maybe we should actually give this a try. Like, for real. Not just because they want us to, but because..." He paused, searching for the right words. "Because we actually get along. Because we like the same things. Because we can talk to each other without it being weird."
Lupe was quiet for a moment, her footsteps crunching softly on the gravel path. "I've been thinking the same thing," she admitted. "I was so annoyed about this whole setup at first, but now... I don't know. It doesn't feel forced anymore."
"Right? It just feels like hanging out with a friend. Except..." Derek trailed off, feeling heat rise in his cheeks.
"Except what?"
"Except I keep noticing things about you that I never really paid attention to before. Like how you get this little crease between your eyebrows when you're thinking about something serious. Or how you always smell like that vanilla shampoo you use."
Lupe stopped walking and turned to face him, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "Derek Shepherd, are you flirting with me?"
"Maybe," he said, grinning back at her. "Is it working?"
Before Lupe could answer, the sound of voices and footsteps echoed through the trees ahead of them. Derek felt a familiar prickle of unease run down his spine, and he noticed Lupe tense beside him. They both had good instincts about these things.
Five figures emerged from the shadows near a cluster of picnic tables about fifty yards ahead. Even in the dim light, Derek could see they were all young men, probably in their early twenties, and they were walking with the kind of swagger that meant trouble.
"Well, well, well," called out the one in front, a tall guy with a shaved head and tattoos covering his arms. "What do we have here? A couple of kids out past their bedtime?"
Derek felt Lupe move closer to him, and he instinctively stepped slightly in front of her. His heart was starting to beat faster, and not just from fear. There was something else building inside him, something that always came when he felt threatened or angry.
"We're just walking home," Derek said, keeping his voice steady. "We don't want any trouble."
"Oh, you don't want any trouble?" The leader laughed, and the others joined in. "That's too bad, because trouble just found you."
They spread out in a loose semicircle, blocking the path ahead. Derek quickly glanced behind them, but two more had appeared from the trees, cutting off their retreat. They were surrounded.
"Here's how this is going to work," the leader continued, pulling something from his pocket that glinted in the lamplight. "You're going to give us everything you've got. Wallets, phones, jewelry, whatever. And maybe we'll let you walk away without any permanent damage."
Derek felt the change starting deep in his chest, a burning sensation that spread outward through his limbs. His vision was getting sharper, and he could smell things more clearly now – the fear-sweat from the gang members, the vanilla scent of Lupe's hair, the damp earth and rotting leaves beneath their feet.
Beside him, he heard Lupe's breathing change, becoming deeper and more controlled. When he glanced at her, her eyes were reflecting the lamplight in a way that definitely wasn't normal.
"I said give us your stuff!" the leader shouted, taking a step forward with his knife raised.
That was when Derek lost control completely.
The transformation happened faster than it ever had before—adrenaline and anger making the change almost effortless. Derek's shirt split with a series of sharp tears as his shoulders broadened, the sound echoing through the park like gunshots. Heat radiated from his skin as muscles bulged and reshaped themselves, bones cracking and extending with wet pops that made his teeth ache. His jaw stretched forward into a muzzle, gums burning as razor-sharp canines erupted. The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.
His fingernails fell away as claws burst through the tips, black and curved and sharp enough to rend steel. Coarse brown fur prickled across his skin like a thousand needles, and the world exploded into a symphony of scents—fear-sweat, old blood, the ozone smell of terror. He dropped to all fours with a bone-deep growl, then rose again to his full height of nearly eight feet, the night air cool against his transformed flesh.
Beside him, Lupe's change rippled through her like dark water. Her smaller frame stretched and corded with lean muscle, sleek black fur flowing across her skin like spilled ink. The sound of her breathing deepened, became something between a purr and a snarl. Her transformation was poetry where his was violence—more graceful, more controlled, but no less terrifying to witness.
The gang members' bravado evaporated instantly. Three of them turned and ran without a word, crashing through the underbrush in their panic to get away. A fourth dropped his weapon and stumbled backward, his mouth hanging open in shock.
But the leader stood his ground.
"What the hell..." he whispered, but there was something in his eyes that wasn't quite fear. Something that looked almost like recognition.
Derek snarled, a sound that came from deep in his chest and seemed to shake the very air around them. Lupe circled to the left, moving with predatory grace, her yellow eyes never leaving their target.
The man raised his knife, and Derek's enhanced senses caught the metallic scent immediately. Silver. Pure silver. His blood went cold even as rage burned through him. Random muggers didn't carry silver blades. This wasn't just a robbery gone wrong—this guy knew exactly what they were. And he was ready for them.
"Come on then," the man said, his voice steadier now. "Let's see what you've got."
Derek lunged first, but the man was ready for him. The silver blade sliced across Derek's shoulder, sending a line of fire through his body. He roared in pain and anger, swiping with his claws and catching the man across the chest.
Lupe attacked from behind, her jaws clamping down on the man's knife arm. He screamed and dropped the weapon, but managed to throw her off with his free hand. She rolled gracefully and came up in a crouch, ready to spring again.
The fight was over quickly after that. Without his silver blade, the man was no match for two werewolves. Derek's claws found their mark, and Lupe's teeth finished what they had started. When it was over, the man lay still on the gravel path, his blood dark in the lamplight.
The transformation back to human form was always disorienting. Derek found himself kneeling on the ground, naked except for the tattered remains of his jeans. His shoulder burned where the silver had cut him, but the wound was already beginning to heal.
Lupe was in similar condition, her pants now loose and her blouse torn and barely hanging on her frame. She was breathing hard, her hair wild and her eyes still holding traces of the wolf's golden glow.
"Are you okay?" Derek asked, his voice hoarse.
"Yeah," she said, looking down at the body between them. "You?"
"I'll live. That was silver though. Like he knew what we were."
Lupe looked around grimly. "This wasn't random? Someone sent him?"
"Looks like it."
They spent a few minutes making themselves as presentable as possible. Derek's shirt was completely destroyed, but his jacket had survived mostly intact. Likewise, Lupe's jacket covered the worst of the damage to her top.
"We should go," Derek said, taking her hand. "Before someone comes looking for him."
They left the park by a different path, one that led away from the residential area and toward the industrial part of town. Neither of them spoke for several blocks, both lost in their own thoughts about what had just happened.
Finally, as they reached the edge of Lupe's neighborhood, she broke the silence.
"So," she said, a note of dark humor in her voice. "That was our first date."
Derek let out a shaky laugh. "Yeah. Not exactly what I had planned."
"What did you have planned?"
"I don't know. Maybe we'd walk around, talk some more, and then I'd walk you to your door and maybe work up the courage to kiss you goodnight."
Lupe stopped walking and turned to face him. In the light from a nearby street lamp, he could see that her eyes had returned to their normal brown, but there was something different in them now. Something deeper.
"Derek," she said softly. "What we just did back there... we did it together. We protected each other. We trusted each other completely."
"Yeah," he said, not sure where she was going with this.
"That's not something you can fake. That's not something you can plan or arrange or force to happen." She stepped closer to him, close enough that he could feel the warmth radiating from her skin. "That's real."
Derek felt his heart start to race again, but this time it had nothing to do with danger or transformation. "Lupe..."
"I think maybe our parents are right," she continued. "Not about the arranged marriage thing, but about us. About how we fit together. How we understand each other in a way that most people never could."
Derek covered her hand with his own, marveling at how right this felt. How natural. "So what does this mean ?"
"It means we stop pretending this is just about making our families happy," Lupe said. "It means we see where this goes, for real this time."
"And if it doesn't work out?"
"Then at least we'll know we tried. But Derek..." She smiled, and in that smile he saw not just the girl he'd known since middle school, but the woman she was becoming. The partner she could be. "I have a feeling it's going to work out just fine."
Derek leaned down and kissed her then, right there under the street lamp with the taste of danger still sharp in the air around them. It was their first kiss, but it felt like something they'd been building toward for years without realizing it.
When they broke apart, Lupe was grinning.
"Now that," she said, "was worth waiting for."
They walked the rest of the way to her house hand in hand, talking quietly about everything and nothing. About their families and their futures, about the secret they now shared and what it meant for any relationship they might build together.
At her front door, Derek hesitated. "Lupe, about what happened tonight..."
"We'll figure it out," she said firmly. "Together. That's what partners do, right?"
"Partners," Derek repeated, liking the sound of it. "Yeah. I think I can get used to that."
Lupe stood on her tiptoes and kissed him again, softer this time, full of promise rather than passion. "Goodnight, Derek. Call me tomorrow?"
"Definitely," he said. "Maybe we can plan a second date. Something a little less eventful."
"Where's the fun in that?" Lupe asked with a laugh, and disappeared inside her house.
Derek walked home through the quiet streets, his mind racing with everything that had happened. When he'd left his house a few hours ago, he'd been dreading an awkward evening with a family friend. Now he was returning with a girlfriend, a partner, someone who understood him in ways he'd never thought possible.
His parents were waiting up for him when he got home, sitting at the kitchen table with expectant looks on their faces.
"So?" his mother asked. "How did it go?"
Derek thought about the conversation, the laughter, the moment of connection in the park before everything went wrong. He thought about the way Lupe had fought beside him, the way she'd looked at him afterward, the way her hand had felt in his as they walked home.
"It went really well," he said, and meant it completely. "I think we're going to see each other again."
"It looks like you 'morphed," his father said. "Why? How did she take that?"
"She joined me. It was a beautiful night, what with the full moon and all. It felt great to do it together."
His parents exchanged a satisfied look. Derek wondered if he should tell them about the thug with the silver dagger, but decided he didn't want to spoil their happy moment.
As he headed upstairs to his room, Derek caught sight of himself in the hallway mirror. His clothes were still torn and dirty, and there was a thin line of dried blood on his shoulder where the silver blade had cut him. But his eyes were bright, and he was smiling.
Tomorrow he would call Lupe, and they would start figuring out what came next. They would talk about the attack, about who might have sent that man and why. They would discuss how to keep their secret safe while still building something real together.
But tonight, Derek was content to fall asleep thinking about the girl who had stood and fought beside him when everything went wrong, who had looked at him afterward like this was what she'd been waiting for.
Their parents had been right about one thing – they were perfect for each other. They just had no idea how perfect, or how complicated that perfection was going to make their lives.
But as Derek drifted off to sleep, he found he was looking forward to finding out.
--
If you enjoyed this story, allow us to recommend you get Chillers and Thrillers and/or Shadow Stories, both featuring brand-new fiction by Steve Miller and classic comics by Steve Ditko.
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