My Solemn Oath Pt. 03

I plucked a few ripe fruits from each tree, noting that I would have to begin putting up the fruit in my pantry before too long or we'd not have enough to last the winter. Deer around here ate everything, and Harvard only had so much energy to hunt them and keep them away from our goods. Though his hunts provided meat for my table, they often left him feeling out of sorts, which made his demand for tea greater--similar to the way his sex drive worked.

With my bounty in hand, I strolled back past Jarek who was sulking, now on the garden side of the pasture. I threw him an apple as an apology for not being able to please him this morning with a ride, and he bit into its crunchy body. I could see the glimmer of gratitude in his eye. Before I left the garden I stopped to clear some debris from one of my statues. I had hundreds of them placed around my garden, good luck charms, or omens if you will.

The eyes of this one stared back at me, melancholy and heavy. She was a beautiful soul, now memorialized in stone. Her heart belonged to another though, and I respected that. When he was gravely injured in a hunting accident--attacked by a pack of wolves and saved only by his brother and the hunting party--he fell susceptible to an infection my remedies could not fix. She traded her life to save his so that he might be able to live on to raise their son. That son--Harvard Thane--pledged his life to me. Yet another reason why we were inseparable.

I sighed as I cleaned the twigs and the creeping vines tangled around her body. How he must have ached every time he walked past this same statue, knowing what sacrifice his mother made for him. His father, long gone now, visited every moon to honor her and brought meat for my table until Harvard was old enough to hunt.

Prying myself away from the statue and the memory I headed toward the house. Harvard would yet be sleeping, but he would need the tea as soon as he woke. I set about preparing the concoction. My cauldron was heavy, but I managed to hoist it to the hook and light a fire beneath it in the firebox. The tea leaves, apples chunked, pomegranates split open, onions, the thyme leaves, and a dash of cinnamon for flavor all went into the water I used as a base. The tea leaves would soak in the hot water for a few hours and the concoction would be ready for the final ingredient--a hint of my magic.

While the tea was marinating I decided to have a bath. I quietly collected a bar of soap and a towel and made my way outside. The fire was barely flickering, perfect for a bath. There had been plenty of time for the wood stack to burn down and heat the water, and now the single flame left would continue to keep the bath at the perfect temperature. I felt the magic within the soap in my hand tingling. Anyone who was sensitive to it would have, but those unpracticed or unaware would think nothing of the hum of energy within the soap.

The memory of Harvard's mother brought to my mind another memory. Evelyn. I missed her so much, but there was no bringing her back now. Not even my magic could have saved her once she made her choice and to honor her heart, I had done what she asked in order to save her son's life.

After a quick glance around the property to ensure no one crept upon me to spy, I took my clothing off, folded it neatly, and stacked in on the wood pile. For good measure I grabbed another log and placed it beneath the tub then climbed in. My towel draped over the edge of the tub, I took the soap and lathered up, washing my body and face. I hadn't thought to grab my shampoo for my hair, but the bar would do fine. It, too, got sudsed and lathered up, and I submerged myself beneath the steaming surface.

The soap began to work its magic on me, seeping into my skin and stirring my body. I lay back and closed my eyes, resting my head on the metal rim. The tub--an old water trough--was large enough for me to stretch out and relax. My body grew aroused and I slid my fingers into the soft folds of skin between my legs. Evelyn would have done this for me--pleasured me like this. But she was gone and I was here alone.

I pictured her face as usual, smiling at me as she touched me, but the face turned to stone in my mind's eye. Each time I brought her smile to my remembrance, it faded to stone, the still, hollow, grey eyes of the statue at Grafburg town square haunting me. The soap worked on my body, but my memory betrayed me. And at once I saw the face of the curious girl at the market. Her strawberry hair, blue eyes, the way her rosy lips smiled at me. It sent a wave of energy coursing through my body that made it ache for her. I rubbed myself, feeling the urge inside of me building stronger. I wanted her. I hadn't realized it until just now, but something had transpired when she held my hands, a spark of sorts. Her energy met mine and we connected, and now I wouldn't be satisfied until I had her.

The front door slammed and I heard stomping. Harvard was awake. I sat a bit straighter, watching as he walked toward the pasture. My fingers lingered in the thick, sticky moisture between my legs, the ache not fading at all, but my privacy now vanished. Harvard looked agitated, too worked up for his own good. He picked up a bale of hay which I knew was too heavy for his human body to lift, left stacked by the pasture fence, and tossed it over the fence toward Jarek. Then he jumped with one powerful thrust of his legs over the fence and sliced the strings that bound the bale of hay with his claw.

The hay slowly opened up, the roll unraveling across the pasture.

Jarek moved toward Harvard and Harvard backed away, growling. I could see his eyes nearly glowing and knew he was at his breaking point. The tea would still take a while, and he had a need. If I didn't help him he would be off in the woods and I'd have to go searching. Last time this happened, he lost his mind. He went into Kilnshire and scared the locals, who chased him through the pine.

"Harvard," I called to him, but he didn't hear me. I tried to stand, the way my legs shook from arousal made it difficult in the slippery bath. "Harvard." My body was on display for him, a certainty that he would come toward me when he saw me.

His eyes scanned the pasture then slowly grazed across the curves on my skin. He blinked, licked his muzzle and headed my way. He stalked toward me, already tearing at his clothing with his clawed hands.

I hadn't done this for him when he was this far gone in ages, but it was my fault. I hadn't realized the tea wasn't strong enough, and in order to make the tea stronger it needed to marinate longer, and then be dried. In a pinch he could drink the marinade for a bit of relief but steeping the tea in hot water after it had been dried and crushed made it stronger. Still I hadn't even infused it with the magic yet.

"Harvard, you have to be careful." I cautioned him as he tore his trousers, shredding them off his body with clawed hands. He tossed them aside, his cock already erect. He must have awakened like this. "Harvard, please..." I slipped in the bath, losing my balance, but he shot out a hand and wrapped it around my waist. He towered over me, larger than Jarek, his shift increasing his height and the broadness of his shoulders by more than a few hands.

"I need you," he growled, but he didn't have to. I knew he did.

"I know." I smoothed the fur across his chest and looked at the sharp teeth protruding across his lower jaw. I found the man-wolf as frightening as anyone else did, but because I was afraid he'd hurt me. He'd sooner run into the woods and kill or maim a thousand creatures, exhausting himself and passing out. "Let me help you."

Harvard licked my face, his thick tongue leaving saliva across my cheek. He couldn't kiss, but that wasn't what he wanted. I knew he needed something to stop the raging hormones in his body. They were worse as the shift happened, and he was fully a werewolf now.

He didn't even wait for me to turn and bend myself for him. He forcibly grabbed my hips and turned me around. I lost my balance and braced myself on the edge of the bath, the metal slippery from the water. His cock pushed into me, larger than I'd ever felt. It was worse this time. His entire body was enlarging as he became the beast. I felt like I would tear. His body inside of mine made me weak in the knees.

"Gods be!" I panted as he began to thrust. I fell forward, losing my grip on the tub. My chest hit the rim hard and he pulled out, but with a loud growl of displeasure, he climbed into the tub. The tips of his claws pierced my sides as he grabbed me again. He lowered to his knees and his cock found my entrance again. This time when he pushed into me I was prepared for the larger girth.

Harvard pumped at my body, already aroused from the soap. I tried to touch myself but he had me pinned down on the rim of the tub. I felt my arousal growing again, this time from the way his knot swelled against my skin. He thrust harder at me, pulling me as he pumped. It was so large I knew it would bruise me. I whimpered, clambering for anything that might discourage him from being so rough, but he thrust in again, this time tugging my body down around him so hard his body sank into mine.

I felt the first wave of my climax at the same time his release came, pouring into me. It was hotter than the bath water, the fire now gone out due to the water splashing about as he took his pleasure with my body. I closed my eyes and rode the waves, allowing the release to come and sweep me away, though it was no longer the fair young woman from the market in my mind. Harvard had made sure of that. I didn't realize the soap would make his body worse, however, and he began to growl again, clawing at my sides. I felt the tips of his claws scratching me.

"Harvard! No!" I scrabbled, reaching for the tip of a silver pothos vine. He began thrusting again. The soap was driving him mad with desire. It was aggravating the already precarious condition of his body.

He let out a howl and stood, gripping me to himself as he stepped out of the bath. He walked straight to the cabin, pressing me against the wooden beams that it was constructed of. "Harvard, no," I shouted, brandishing my silver pothos stem.

He continued pounding me. I felt my insides bruising, but he slowed. With his body pressing mine to the cabin, he placed a hand on either side of me. His thick claws dug into the cabin. He'd seen the pothos. He knew it was my warning. Silver would bring him a lot of pain. It was my only defense when he got like this.

"Harvard, please. I don't want to use this." He was trapped, stuck inside my body until his erection went down, and I could channel the silver stored inside the plant through my body as a conduit. His growls lessened and he breathed heavily in my ear. I felt his drool drip to my shoulder. "Harvard, you can drink the marinade... it will help, but it won't stop it. The tea will be finished soon."

He whimpered and licked my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Winter. I don't know what came over me."

I clenched my teeth as he moved again, stooping until my feet touched the ground. I held my breath as he stilled himself, his body's swelling going down. He didn't wait long enough to pull out, and when he backed away, probably desperate to drink the marinade, I felt my insides tear, like he was pulling my womb out of me. I cried out and he yelped and backed away.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he held his clawed hands up and backed toward the house. I could hear the pain in his voice. His erect cock still stood on end as he headed for the door.

I limped to the bath. I felt the blood draining down my inner thigh. I had done this to myself. Had I said nothing, he would have raged around the pasture or garden for a time, perhaps had a jaunt in the woods and returned a few times before disappearing. But my heart always went out to him.

I touched my tender folds and pulled my hand away. The blood was from a tear on my skin. It wasn't coming from inside me. This was nothing my soaps and magic could not fix. I climbed back into the bath, feeling the sting on my nether region from the tear and on my sides from his claws. The bathwater tinged red, and I had no more interest in fantasizing about the fair maiden.

If only there were a way to eliminate this problem for Harvard, I would eliminate pain and suffering from myself as well. I lay back again and cried--not for the pain I was enduring but for the man who had lost his mother and the woman he loved at my hand. He'd given his own life and even now he still served me. The love he must have for me... I had to return that love at any cost.

I just wish it didn't cost so much.