She Wolf Ch. 02

Blue Eyes darted behind the shrub and into the den, followed by Fang. Once inside she went to the bed of leaves she had once used to sleep on until sunrise. She shifted and sat cross legged on the bed of leaves, patting the ground in front of her. "Fang, I want you to sit here. I need you to do something."

The large wolf sat before her and waited with his head cocked expectantly.

"I've thought about this, and I need it done this way. I hope you'll understand why."

The den wasn't tall enough for her to stand upright, but she got on her hands and knees and turned around, lowering her upper torso to the ground and her lower body supported on her knees. She spread her legs slightly and turned her head to look at Fang.

He nuzzled her exposed vulva and licked it. "Please?" In a flash the weight of him was on her and strong forepaws held her steady as he plunged into her, mating. She felt the long penis slide in and he humped vigorously, wolf mating with woman. Strong spurts unleashed inside her.

He backed off, panting heavily, and faced her.

Janet put a hand to her vaginal entrance and felt the fluid seeping out. Her other hand touched his face. "I'm your wolf. You're my wolf. But I want the cycle complete. I want all of me to be with all of you. My grandfather was right, it is complicated, but I hope I touched all the bases of complication."

Fang shifted to Charles. "He sounds like a wise man. You know, until you came along I never thought I'd find anyone like me."

"You had a rather forceful way of introducing yourself."

"He laughed "A wolf's gotta do what a wolf's gotta do."

"Another reason for tonight is I wanted a wolf to make me feel clean again." She paused. "I still don't understand how we came to be. I don't understand how my parents are only carriers but not lycan themselves. I'd like you to meet my family and have them share their story. And I'd like to meet anyone in your family and find out your story. I wonder how many of us there are."

"More than you realize. Many are still controlled by the moon. You and I have power within us that gives us more control. But the control is limited. I can't go for extended periods without shifting. There has to be a balance. I don't know if that balance changes as we get older."

"All things I'd like to find out, too. In the meantime I enjoy the night. Cold weather or snow doesn't faze me. It's all beautiful at night. I need to keep painting it."

"And the paintings will sell because they are so starkly beautiful."

"Speaking of which, I saw you on the ledge in the moonlight tonight, outlined against the sky. I want to paint that."

He laughed and they each shifted, cautiously exited the den and raced back to the cabin with the she wolf in the lead.

The following evening Charles came to the cabin and found Janet pacing.

"Why so jittery?"

"I don't know. Something's not right. Something's going to happen, but I don't know what it is."

"More hunters? We ended Will. Jason and Ray don't seem to be a threat."

She shook her head. "Something else. I'm just uneasy about tonight."

"If it's another mountain lion we can handle it."

"Not that, but something..."

"Are you thinking we should stay in tonight? My mother gets antsy like this and is able to sense some sort of trouble before it happens. I never developed that ability."

"I don't know what's different. I wasn't troubled like this by the cat or the hunters. I don't know where the trouble is or will be, so we shouldn't change anything. Tonight is the last of the full moon phase, and I'm going to let the lunar shift take place, but I'll do it here instead of in the den."

As darkness fell Janet became Blue Eyes and Charles shifted into Fang. They left the cabin together at a leisurely pace, Blue Eyes on alert, until they reached the ledge. Once sitting beside each other they shifted back to human and Charles put an arm around her. The air was cool, but not too cold to be naked out in the open. She swept an arm over the scene below - twinkling lights and chimney smoke illuminated by the moon - and laughed with pleasure.

Suddenly she gripped his arm. "It's happening now. Something's wrong down there."

Charles scanned across the valley and suddenly pointed. "There."

"I see it. It looks like a..."

"Fire! It looks to me like where I think Ray's farm is."

"We can get there faster as wolves." They shifted and he led the charge down the side of the mountain, along paths she wasn't aware existed. A fire siren in town summoned volunteer firefighters.

Within minutes they arrived at the blazing structure, finding Ray dazed and confused, dashing about looking for a way in but driven back by the intense heat. At first he shrunk back in terror at the sight of wolves, but quickly recognized them. "I was out in the barn when it started. I got partway in. Elizabeth is in there! And the baby! It's too hot! I saw her running toward the baby's room and I don't know where she is! I can't get in!" He sobbed and held up his hands, burned when he tried to return for his family.

Fang crashed through a side window, Blue Eyes following. Fang found Elizabeth unconscious on the floor in the hallway and grabbed her clothes to drag her toward the front door through the flames. Blue eyes heard a whimper and raced into a nearby smoke-filled room.

Fang dragged Elizabeth outside as two fire trucks rolled up followed by several carloads of volunteers, and they started laying hoses from the pumper. One of the firemen saw a huge wolf dragging Elizabeth and pointed. "Wolf!" He ran to his truck for his gun, but Ray stopped him. "I know that wolf. Look, he's brought Elizabeth out!"

Elizabeth's clothes had caught fire as she was dragged through the flames and, once outside the house, Fang scratched dirt on her to smother the flames. A firefighter trained as an EMT took over, rolling her on the ground until the flames were out and then giving her oxygen until the ambulance arrived.

The chief asked "Where's the baby?"

"Inside. The other wolf went in to get it."

"Another wolf went..."

"Look!" Ray ran forward as Blue eyes raced out, carrying the baby by the neck of its pajamas. Blue Eyes' coat smoldered and the baby wailed but appeared unburned. A fireman ran and grabbed the baby to take it for medical treatment. Blue Eyes staggered and fell over.

Ray ran from his wife to the baby as they were tended. When he turned to see the last of his house go up in flames he knelt by Blue Eyes.

The firefighters were stunned to see Ray crying over a wolf and stroking it.

"I think Charles called you Blue Eyes. Why did you come and do this after what I did to you? I swear I'll never hunt a wolf again."

Blue Eyes whimpered, but looked at Ray. He looked into the blue eyes and didn't see a killer.

"Jake! Get a hose over to the barn. Embers have set the hay on fire! There's stock inside!" the fire chief bellowed.

Several men dragged a hose toward the barn as flames began to lick through the hayloft. Whinnying of terrified horses was heard, but they soon came out one by one.

Ray looked at his horses. "That looks like all of them. All except that newborn foal that's been sick. I guess we lost her."

Once again mouths gaped open as Fang emerged from the barn dragging a horse blanket with the foal on it.

"I'll be damned" the fire chief said, hands on hips. "Now I've seen everything."

Fang ran over to Blue Eyes. She had staggered up and stared at Ray, who held his head in his hands and blubbered.

In the chaos of firefighters and hoses Blue Eyes and Fang slipped away, although they both caught a glimpse of a cat darting off into the shadows. Blue Eyes had lost some fur and much of that remaining was singed. She was burned. Fang's feet and ears were burned.

They slowly made their way across the meadow to the stream that ran beside it, plunging in to let the cold water soothe them until they healed sufficiently to continue travelling.

Fang surmised where Blue Eyes was headed. The den was closer than the cabin. She pushed inside and curled up, and he followed, curling up beside her to sleep while they healed.

Sunrise came while Blue Eyes still slept, so the shift came automatically. She moved gingerly, testing what had healed and what needed more time. To her relief her burns had mostly healed over.

He awoke as Fang but quickly shifted to Charles. "I think I'm better. Feet feel okay. My side's still a little sore but I think the ribs have healed."

"What happened to your ribs?"

"I nudged all the stall doors open so the horses could get out. The last stall had a mare and foal. The mare didn't want to leave her foal. I had to get behind her and chase her out. She gave me a good kick on the way out of the stall. The foal was laying on a blanket so I was able to pull it to safety."

"I hope they were able to save the barn. I heard them talking about Elizabeth's horses."

"She gives riding lessons and some of the horses are boarders. The tack room was in the rear of the barn. It would be devastating to her if she lost all the saddles and other gear. If they were able to confine the damage to the hayloft and roof the gear may have been saved."

"Whenever she's able to tend to it again."

"I'll check and see how she and the baby are doing." He paused. "You know, I thought I might have lost you there. The baby's room was further down the hallway."

"I don't think an ordinary fire can kill us, but I was able to run fast enough through the flames that the baby's clothes didn't catch on fire. I took a lot of heat though, myself."

"I, for one, don't want to test that fire can't kill us. Shall we walk back to the cabin? I doubt anyone would see us naked in the woods."

In the cabin they dressed and headed to The Hen's Nest for breakfast. The fire chief and several of the men who helped fight the fire were there, talking about what they had seen.

The chief came over to their booth. "Charles, you're the expert. Tell me whether I was seeing things last night. I saw a wolf, maybe two of them. I couldn't tell in the confusion. But a wolf brought Elizabeth and the baby out of the house. My men in full gear wouldn't go inside that inferno. And that's not all. A wolf pulled a newborn foal from the burning barn. Is that possible?"

"Well," Charles said as he stroked his chin "it certainly isn't usual behavior. Two wolves? Are you sure you saw wolves?"

"We all saw them come out of the burning house."

Janet pulled out her sketch pad. "Did one look like this? I made a sketch of one I saw one night. I thought he looked distinctive and I wanted to paint the scene."

The chief studied the drawing. "I think I can identify the darker hair over the eyes. That must be the one. What are you doing out alone at night?"

Janet laughed "Exactly what you're looking at. Look at my paintings on the wall over there. They're all night scenes. For some reason the wolf didn't frighten me. I wouldn't say he was friendly to humans, but he wasn't afraid of me, either. Oh, and I'm usually armed when I prowl the woods at night."

Charles changed the subject. "How did the fire start? I saw it from up on the mountain. Looked rather spectacular."

"Can't tell yet. I'm getting some help from the county to investigate. My first impression was that it was deliberate, though. I'll need to talk to Elizabeth when she's able. She's got a lot of burns. Fire apparently hadn't spread to the baby's room yet. The little one has some minor burns but took in a lot of smoke. I tell you, I saw a wolf bring out that baby and feared the worst. The wails were music to my ears - told me she was alive."

The chief moved away to rejoin his men, but Jason, his arm in a sling, sidled over to the table and leaned over, talking low. "Look, I didn't see nuthin' the other night, but I know what happened to Will and what he really was. Ray and I went over to his place yesterday and found he had taken in someone. Fella didn't give us his name, and wasn't too happy to see us. I wondered if he knew about Will and asked a few questions. From his answers I surmised he probably did know about Will."

Jason slipped into the booth and leaned over the table to speak more privately. "I think he knew, and wasn't happy at all to find that Ray and I knew what Will was. I never came right out and said anything specific, but I could tell he knew what I was talking about. He even asked if we'd seen any wolves around. We wondered if he was...like Will."

"That's very interesting, Jason. Very interesting indeed."

"But there's more. He seemed pissed at me and Ray, that we knew so much about Will. He said there were things people didn't need to know about. I swear, as we drove away in the rearview mirror I saw another big cat, like Will, run off. Ray's farm is not far from Will's and I wonder...well you can guess."

"You think whoever you saw may have started the fire." Charles looked at Janet. "I think we need to pay a visit to Will's place."

From Jason's directions they found Will's farm, parking partway up the drive and shifting so they wouldn't disturb the scene around the house with more tire tracks. Inside the house, they shifted back. The house was empty, with evidence of a quick exit. Will's truck was nowhere to be seen.

"You think he's gone?"

"If he suspects others know about him and that we will find out sooner or later...I think he may have set the fire at Ray's and fled in the truck. We can easily find the license plate number and have a search put out for the truck."

"But you don't think we'll find it."

"Oh, the truck will be found alright, but the driver won't. If he shifts he can run a long way, in any direction. He'll find other vehicles to 'borrow' and abandon as necessary. In no time he could be hundreds of miles away. If he found suitable habitat he could find a den and hole up for awhile. He could take a job as a farm worker. I don't know if Jason and Ray can give a good enough description for a police sketch. I think we've seen the last of him around here, but he'll cause some trouble somewhere else."

***

A few days later they sat on a swing on the porch of her cabin. He reached over to put a hand on hers. "Summer's almost over. Come back to Cornell with me."

She tilted her head. "That's rather abrupt."

"But you're not saying 'no'."

"I never thought I would find somebody like me. But this cabin and the land around it are mine."

"I never thought I'd find someone like me, either. Look, Janet, I...we...hell, how do I say it so it doesn't sound tawdry?"

"I understand. We've mated as wolves. I'm your wolf mate. But we've also mated as humans. I don't know what that means."

"It means something to me. What you did for me was...shit, I'm tongue tied."

"I did it to show you I wanted to be more than your wolf mate. But I don't know how that could work."

"I wish there was someone who could help us sort it out. My parents are on the west coast. Yours aren't even lycan."

"But my grandparents are! We need to talk to them. They've been through it all. They're not that far, only in northern Pennsylvania. Grandpa retired as a farm extension agent and they live out in the country. I'll find out when we can visit."

***

A week later they drove Janet's Jeep down out of the Adirondacks and into farm country.

They were met in the yard outside the farmhouse, and Janet introduced Charles.

Inside, they were plied with cake "just to tide you over until dinner," and sat in the living room. Janet's grandparents told Charles to call them Gertrude and Henry. Henry sized up Charles. "So, you're a PhD, eh?"

"But not afraid to get my hands dirty."

Janet outlined their questions and the older couple listened while looking from Janet to Charles.

Gertrude cut to the heart of the matter. "So you want to know if your mating means anything. From what you tell us and the way you look at each other, I'd say it's...what do you young people say nowadays...a slam dunk."

"Grandma, there's nobody I've ever wanted to be with before. But, how did you and grandpa...manage?"

"You mean how did we produce your mother, don't you?"

"Yes."

"You've learned how to control your shifting. You have to decide whether you'll mate as wolves and give birth to wolf pups or make babies and stay in the appropriate form for the appropriate time. We've done both."

Janet gaped. "You...you...had pups?"

"One litter to see how it worked. They're grown and scattered now. Only one turned out to be lycan, the others are wolves. I don't know what happened when they mated and had pups of their own, if any of them carried the trait like your mother. I must say having pups was easier because they popped out a lot quicker than a baby."

Grandfather Henry laughed at the young couple's expressions. "I wish you could see your faces. We had a baby girl, and that was more difficult because Gertrude had to remain human for the entire time."

"God, that was hard. My body wanted to shift several times during the pregnancy, but I had to will it to stay human. That's why we only had one child. So, that's a long explanation for how it works. If you shift back and forth you'll have neither."

Grandfather stood up. "Come on down to the basement. There's something I want to show you."

The basement had been partially finished into an informal room with tables for hobbies and chairs scattered about. He went to a shelf and pulled out a slender volume.

"After the pups were born I, as a human, took photographs. Janet, your parents haven't even seen these."

Janet and Charles leaned over the table as Henry slowly leafed through pages of photographs. "There they are. That's your grandma and those are the three pups. I think they were about three months old when I took these. I had to hide and use a telephoto so the pups wouldn't see me as a human. It was hard for both of us, because we were rarely together. One of us had to be wolf to look after the pups and catch food to bring to them; we were never human together until the pups went out on their own."

"But, where was your den?"

Henry crooked a finger for them to follow him to one of the walls. A small door opened onto a cozy animal den. "There's an outside entrance that's hidden from the casual eye. At times we could go back and forth through here and sometimes we had to all use the outside entrance, depending on the age of the pups. We didn't want them to associate us with humans."

Charles rubbed his face. "I know wolves. I don't see how it would work."

"Try it out yourselves."

"You mean now?"

"No time like the present. Oh, for goodness sakes, there's no need to be embarrassed here. We all know how it works."

Gertrude quickly shed her clothes and shifted. Charles looked at Janet and they disrobed and shifted also, while Henry stood by the door. "You are one huge wolf! I've never seen one as big as you...shoot I forgot to ask your wolf names."

Gertrude wolf walked around each of the others, and they all sniffed each other. Henry opened the door to the den for Fang and Blue Eyes. Once they were inside the door closed and the den was almost completely dark. Blue eyes turned around and found a place to curl up while Fang looked for the entrance, poking his head out behind an azalea bush. The area behind the farmhouse had been made into a natural area covered with grass, shrubs and fruit trees. Vegetation shielded the view of the house, but Gertrude wolf met him there. Soon they were joined by Blue Eyes.

Back inside they shifted back to human. Gertrude asked Janet "Would you mind getting my slippers from my closet upstairs?"

Janet got the slippers and sat on the side of the bed for a moment. This was where she found out what she was. She was twelve and one night felt pain in her bones and was horrified to see fur starting to grow on her arms. She screamed and her mother came in and screamed also. After a quick call Janet was bundled up and brought here. It was in this bed that she first shifted, with her grandmother at her side. Grandmother and granddaughter had curled up side by side as wolves, and shifted together in the morning. It changed her life forever.