Archeologist in Heat Ch. 03

Several hours had passed since Cody and Harry trotted off into the woods to howl at the moon. I smiled every time I heard their hauntingly beautiful voices echoing down the canyon. They must be at the lookout by now enjoying a long overdue father-son moment. I wondered to what degree they could communicate while in wolf-phase. Full of questions, I really wanted to be up when they returned, but my eyes grew heavier with each passing minute. Note to self, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have three wine coolers when trying to stay awake and alert. Unable to fight it any longer, I crawled into my side of the two room tent rezipping only the screen flap and collapsed onto my sleeping bag.

What turns a dream into a nightmare is a mystery of the dark realms of the subconscious. Love and pleasure, or pain, hate, and fear can all come together in illogical and terrifying ways. All of my previous dreams of Harry were extremely pleasurable. This one was different, very different. Half man-half animal there was no gentleness in him as he chased me down the trail like prey and threw me to the ground. Clawing at the dirt and tree roots, I tried to crawl away but he grabbed my legs digging his sharp nails into my calves. Crying out, I asked "Why are you doing this? It's me, Kara, don't you love me anymore?" Ignoring my questions, he flipped me over and pinned me down, howling triumphantly up to the sky. He looked like my Harry, powerfully magnificent, his long black and silver gray hair hanging down to frame his beautiful face. But as the moonlight glinted off his long canine teeth I could see there was no love in his ice blue eyes, just primal blood lust. "You will pay for disturbing the graves of my ancestors."

I punched at him ineffectively and he caught my hands easily. He pushed them over my head and held them with one hand as he tore open my blouse, then used his claw-like nails to rip my bra apart and my breasts came tumbling out. I squirmed and tried to throw him off me until he put his index finger to my cheek and dragged it slowly down to my jaw leaving a trail of blood. "Hold still tasty morsel." Then he licked the fresh wound savoring it as I whimpered in terror.

Now afraid to move, I didn't resist as he ripped the rest of my clothes to shreds and I was as naked as him. He laugh-growled at my weakness and let go of my hands daring me to move with his eyes. Harry's evil twin roughly squeezed my breasts and nipped them, then cupped my pubic triangle pulling out some hair before pushing my legs apart and burying his face in my pussy licking up the other fluids my body had to offer. I gasped as he pushed my knees to my chest and shoved his long tongue deep inside me exploring every crevice while his lips sucked hungrily on my labia. He pulled back to lick his lips and said "very tasty morsel" then returned to devouring me with his clever tongue.

Even though I fought it, I began to feel my body responding and he could sense the change as my whimpers turned to moans. Not wanting to pleasure me but torment me, he withdrew his tongue and nipped at my sensitive folds turning my moans back into cries of pain. He howled to the sky again and straightened up kneeling over me, his erection larger than I've ever seen it before. Trembling in fear, I wondered if he was going to fuck me or eat me or maybe both. I had my answer when he turned me over like I weighed nothing and raised my hips up. He was going to satisfy his lust first and dine later.

Waking with a start, still trembling, I realized it was just a nightmare. A frighteningly realistic nightmare. Taking a couple of slow calming breaths, I eventually became aware of the noises outside the tent. The wild boars were back, rooting through the box of food and the trash I forgot to put up. I peered at them through the tent flap. I counted four of them, a large ferocious looking male and three smaller females, all with tusks gleaming in the moonlight. Since they were looking for food, and there wasn't any in the tent, I wasn't too worried about them attacking me. But I was concerned that Harry and Cody might come rushing back into camp unaware of the dangerous beasts running amok. The irony hit me that if anyone got a look at my family, they'd think THEY were dangerous beasts. Wolves are one of the most maligned and feared wild creatures on the earth. The intelligent carnivores deserve to exist too. Lucky for us there's not a smarter carnivore up the evolutionary ladder hunting us to extinction.

(Oh no, not hiccups, please God not now) I pleaded as I put a pillow to my face to muffle the sounds, hoping the boars wouldn't notice. No such luck. The large one raised its head and looked directly at me grunting a threat. He took a few steps towards the tent and my heart pounded in between the spasms of my diaphragm. I inched back into a corner kicking myself mentally for not bringing my airhorn inside when I came to bed. I called out silently to Harry: HELP!hiccup...I need HELP!

Cody and Harry were casually loping back to camp when they sensed danger. They stopped dead in their tracks. (Mom's in trouble!) Cody thought-spoke then took off at a full run. As they neared camp Harry told his son to let him lead.

Coming out into the clearing, Harry quickly surveyed the situation. He saw the large agitated boar ripping at the tent and the smaller ones rummaging through the food and garbage. The male was obviously trying to protect his little harem from a perceived threat. Harry felt no fear as he slowly approached growling deeply, the hairs on his neck standing up menacingly. The male boar turned its head grunting and snorting, then backed away from the advancing wolf.

When I heard the growls relief washed over me followed by apprehension. I looked out and saw the moonlight reflecting off Harry's silver coat through the torn shreds of the flap. Could he handle himself against that many? Where was Cody? Movement caught my eye as the dark form of my son moved out into the camp to stand near his father. Their teeth were barred as they snarled and growled. I watched in fascination as the scene played out. The boars backed away as the wolves kept advancing, eventually turning tail and running off into the brush.

I quickly unzipped the damaged flap and held it aside so they could come in. They nuzzled and pawed me for a minute, knocking me on my butt before backing off. I watched as they shimmered then coalesced back into their human forms. "Are you alright, Mom?" Cody asked and I assured him I was fine. He went to put on some clothes as I turned my attention to Harry. My naked wolfman was squatting just inside the door and flashed me a small smile when our eyes met.

Cody eventually came back with shorts and a tee shirt in his hands and tossed them to his father. "You're gonna need these, dad, though they might be a little small."

"Thanks, son."

We sat Indian style on the floor as Cody told me a little about what happened, describing it as the most incredible experience of his life. Harry sat on my sleeping bag not saying much at all, letting our son tell the tale. I had the feeling he didn't tell me everything, but that was okay. Some things between a father and son should be private. Cody finally yawned and said he was going to get some sleep. He surprised me by giving me a long hug and told me he loved me very much before disappearing into the other room of the tent. I wondered what brought that on, he hadn't been so affectionate in years.

"I've got so many questions that I've wanted to ask you all this time." I asked Harry, laying my hand on his thigh. "What are you? How did you get here?"

He got a far away look in his eyes. "I'm of the KEE-Teh-Wa clan. I've dwelled in these mountains for as long as I have memories. Mostly I slept, in the earth where you dug up the bones, my bones and those of my people." He paused when he saw the puzzled look on my face.

"But how can those be your bones? You're sitting right here and they're in a drawer back at the University."

"I do not know how to explain it. One moment I would be resting with the ancestors, then the full moon would come and touch the earth and I would be alive again."

The warm breeze stirred the trees outside the tent and the loud hooting of an owl interrupted Harry's incredible revelations. I had no reason to doubt him, but it was a stretch of the imagination even for me.

"My grandmother told me stories of a lost tribe of shape-shifters, who could change from man to wolf and back at will but I thought they were just legends."

He smiled and told me that particular legend was true. "When a strange sickness came and many started dying, our last shaman wove a powerful spell in the hope that something of us would survive. A healthy male was chosen, sacrifices were made, and when the last person died the chosen one remained immune and immortal. He was to wait for a suitable mate and pass his seed on, then the spell would be broken. He mated several times over the centuries with wolves and humans, but the ability to shape-shift eluded his offspring who would remain in either wolf-phase or man-phase. He eventually despaired of ever succeeding in his task."

"Maybe it wasn't a dominant gene or maybe it was passed on through the female. Could all your people shape-shift?"

"There were some born without the ability. They were sent away so that the wolf stayed strong in us. They formed other clans."

"Maybe those people were the ancestors of some of the Native American tribes in this area."

"It is possible."

"So, you're the one they choose? But...that would mean you're over 3000 years old." My logical mind screamed preposterous but every other part of me believed what he said was true. He nodded a simple yes.

"Okay, say I believe you. What made you choose me?" I asked quietly.

"You are part of us, I could sense it right away. I knew you were the one. That is why I didn't hurt you, why I had to have you."

"I was scared to death when I first saw you, that was probably fear you sensed." I joked. "I guess it was lucky I'm part Iroquois. If I wasn't would you have eaten me? And how is it you can speak modern English?"

Harry grinned and took my hand sniff-tasting the inner part of my wrist. "Do you want to ask me questions all night or would you rather make love to your "old" man." He saw the answer in my eyes. "Come with me." He pulled me up.

"But what about Cody?"

"Let him sleep." Harry led me to the cave, our cave, the one I searched for all these years. It was right by the burial site in a crevice in the cliff face. I was sure I searched there a hundred times. He started a fire as I got undressed and laid down on the soft rabbit fur and deerskin bed. At least Harry put the skins of his past meals to good use I thought to myself. It was just like I remembered it. I watched my lover stand up and stretch and I was again affected by his animal magnetism which made my pulse quicken. He was exquisitely beautiful, with his olive skin, long salt and pepper hair, muscular body, and eyes the color of a cool alpine pool. I, on the other hand, was just average looking, my grey-green eyes my only claim to beauty. All the more reason to marvel that he was mine.

He came to lay down beside and pulled me close. The sensual dreams we'd shared had been wonderful but only mind-visions. This was real. We both felt it, the passion and desire of 13 years waiting just beneath the surface. It didn't take much before it boiled over in a hot torrent of sexual energy that took us both to new heights. We gloriously fucked each other for hours, resting for a bit then doing it again in several different ways. I loved the feel of his hands on my hips as he took me from behind wolf-style, the angle especially pleasurable for both of us. I didn't think it was even possible to experience that many orgasms. But all good things must come to an end and we eventually fell into an exhausted, contented slumber.

When I awoke Harry was laying next to me looking at me with a question in his eyes. "What?" I asked sitting up on an elbow and stoking his bare thigh, happy that he wasn't anything like the manimal in my nightmare.

"It's been so long since we were together, I almost forgot how your scent affects me." He said quietly tilting his head up a bit and inhaling deeply.

Not what I expected, not even a question. I grinned then noticed the sky was getting lighter outside the cave entrance. If the moon sets any chance for further talk or intimacy would vanish with it. "Harry! The moon!"

"Do not worry." He said mysteriously then pulled me over into his arms and kissed me long and deep. I relaxed into his embrace and kissed him back breathing in his scent too. He smelled of pine needles, damp earth and...tobacco...how odd.

"Have you been out in the forest smoking?"

He ignored my question. "The moon has no power over me anymore. My time here is coming to an end."

"What do you mean coming to an end? You're not going to...to turn back into bones and...and..." I couldn't bring myself to say the word die.

"No. I meant the task given me to sire a child of the wolf clan and to guard the sacred burial ground until then is ending."

I looked guilty and said "I'm afraid I really mucked up their final resting place....I'm sorry."

"What you dug up was a secondary resting place. It was not the burial site of the shaman and elders which is still intact and well-hidden right here in this cave." Before I could say anything about that he added, "Did you ever wonder why your grandmother brought you here every year during the summer solstice?"

"It was a family tradition, she used to come with her mother who came with her mother who started it or so the story goes."

"She brought you because she was preparing you for the day we would meet. She knew the secret because her grandfather was my son."

I stared at him trying to make sense of what he was saying. "But...that would make you....oh God no...that can't be right." The man I love, the father of my son, was also my great-great-grandfather! My head started to hurt just thinking about the incestual ramifications.

"Our mating strengthened the chance of success, the result being our son who can shift. We might even sire more children if we are blessed and he surely will." He grinned. For once I was speechless. I couldn't deny my love for him no matter who or what he was. Four generations removed was a long way back, so far back there probably wasn't even a law against marrying your great-great grandfather, but still it was socially taboo. After the initial shock wore off I tried to see it from a wolfman's perspective. Interbreeding among wolves was common and probably explained why Harry didn't see any problem at all with our relationship.

I eventually chose to accept something that I couldn't change and try to be thankful for my blessings, even if the circumstances were very unconventional. Harry watched the various emotions running across my face but didn't say anything more, just kissed me and got up to put out the fire. We got dressed and headed back to camp. I was starving and a bit concerned about Cody being alone so long. But when we got there he was up making breakfast out of what the boars had left which wasn't much.

"Mom, Dad, I was gettin worried. You hungry?"

"Ravenous." I took the bowl of cereal he handed me and sat down in a camp chair. Cody came to sit next to me. He was in a good mood. I was still trying to come to grips with my little family's lineage and decided it was best not to tell Cody. Harry was gnawing on a piece of beef jerky gazing off into the woods. We had to get back to the city this afternoon and I hoped Harry would come with us. He still hadn't explained everything about how he could be sitting here in the daylight or what was going to happen now.

"Do you want to tell her or should I?" Harry asked Cody. Cody's lighthearted mood shifted in a heartbeat. He acted so mature all the time, it was easy to forget he was only 13. He looked a little worried as he finally blurted out "Mom, something wonderful happened last night, besides the shape-shifting. I went time traveling."

"Time traveling?"

"Yeah it was so cool! I got to meet my ancestors and we smoked and chanted."

"Smoked what?"

"I don't know something in pipes. Kind of made me light-headed."

"Um Cody could you excuse us for a minute?" I asked getting up and grabbing Harry's teeshirt and dragging him off behind the tent. "Are you crazy? What kind of funny tobacco did you give him? I thought I smelled something on you when I woke up."

"I took Cody with me to talk and smoke with the elders while the magic was still strong in me."

"You expect me to believe you took our son on some kind of a vision quest? The scientist in me is pretty sure it's impossible to talk with the dead unless you like one-sided conversations."

"I assure you we crossed over, I've done it countless times. It was necessary to show them their dying wish had been fulfilled."

"You're serious?"

"I would never lie to you." He said calmly.

"It's just so hard for me to except all of this mystical mumbo jumbo. Maybe if you included me I could find all of it easier to swallow. Cody could have gotten sick or stuck in the past or something."

"I regret I did not have the power to take you with us, but he was not in any danger. What is done cannot be undone." He said with an air of finality, like the last piece of a puzzle pressed into place.

"Mom? Is everything okay?" Cody was peering around the tent. I went over to him and hugged him tightly.

"Everything's fine, sweetie. Why don't you start cleaning up camp and I'll help you take down the tent in a minute. You can tell me all about your adventure on the long drive home." He did as he was told and I turned back to Harry who looked so normal and human standing there in the bright sunlight. "Why didn't you vanish with the moon like you usually do?"

"The spell was broken after we journeyed across time, the magic is gone. Cody and I need only return here once a year on the summer solstice, this we promised the ancestors. I would like us to be a family, if you want me, then I can teach the boy how to control his shape-shifting and live without fear." Harry reached out his hand. I hesitated for only a moment before taking it, happy that I wasn't ever going to lose him again. Cody saw us holding hands and smiled broadly.

I knew that our son would be alright now that Harry would be with us. What a story it would be to tell our grandchildren and their children. Cody's very existence had set his father free. Cody was the living connection between the present and the past. That had a certain symmetry to it, like the strands of a long braid weaving all our lives together.

"So, do you want me?" He asked looking down at me with love in his beautiful blue eyes.

"You know I do." I told him. "Just promise me one thing. NEVER call me a tasty morsel."

The End

(written 10/1/08 by AeternaLee)