A.N.D. - Through the Looking Glass

The false normality lasted until roughly an hour before twilight. Wolf had been watching Food Network (or maybe Animal Planet-it was hard to tell because he referred to both as “The Food Channel”) on the Murray-supplied cable system, while Virginia stood in the kitchen and tried to figure out how to serve a cow. Should she try to cook bits of it, or just warm them up to body temperature? Or just lob them at Wolf and run?

Warming it seemed best. He didn’t like his meat well-done, and his temper was starting to fray even though he was obviously trying to stay calm. Virginia unwrapped a huge roast, dropping it in a pan... then almost dropping it on Wolf’s feet when she turned around and he was suddenly there.

“It’s going to start soon,” he told her without preamble. “I want you to tie me up right after we eat.” He was staring at the roast, and she watched him swallow the drool. “That won’t be enough.”

“That’s all that’s going to fit in the oven. I’ll put more in when this comes out, and I’ve got lots of stuff in pots, too.”

He nodded, never looking away from the meat. “I could smell it.”

“Do you want something now?”

“NO!”

Virginia was stunned-Wolf, turn down meat? Wolf looked instantly remorseful. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that... if I eat before the cramps it’s... bad. Very bad.” He was clutching his stomach the same way he had when he’d eaten the magic bean, and Virginia didn’t need him to draw her a picture.

“Okay, nothing now.”

“And right afterwards you tie me up. Right after!” It was an order.

“Wolf, are you sure? I mean, we’re going to be married. I’m your mate. You don’t really think you’d hurt me?” Please say you won’t hurt me. You’re scaring me.

“I won’t. I could never! It’s not that. It’s... I remember my parents, when the moon was full. They were... wild together. Dad was used to it, he liked it. But you,” Wolf stroked her face, his eyes full of worry and pain. “You’re so delicate. And so human. I don’t want the wolf touching you. I don’t want you afraid of me. I don’t want... if I lose control, I-it!-might force you. And I won’t do that, I won’t, I won’t, I won’t let that happen, I-” He was ranting now, but Virginia gentled him with a touch. “I won’t ever hurt you,” Wolf promised earnestly, but he was starting to cry. Virginia tried to close in for a hug, but he pulled free and bolted out of the kitchen.

So that’s what he was afraid of! Not that he’d run ravening, but that he’d... Her mind shied away from the r word. That the wolf in him would make her fear the man.

She figured the wisest thing to do was to stay in the kitchen and warm as much meat as possible, and try to think this through. Wolf would come back. He’d have to, later, when he smelled the meat.

Forty-five minutes later she heard him groaning in pain in the bedroom. And so it began.

MmmmmmmEAT! Huff puff, all that meat! What a mate he had! Every time he cleared his plate, something else went on it, and none of it overcooked. It was even on the raw side. What a wonderful, understanding, delicious, creamy, dreamy, succulent, appetizing, sensuous, hunger-inducing mate he had.

But that could wait. Oh look! Ribs! He stripped the meat off the bones, then cracked through them, moaning in pleasure as he sucked out the marrow. Oh, yes, so good she didn’t cook it and burn up all that lovely luscious marrow. What a fantastic female Virginia was! So understanding about his appetite. All his appetites. He smiled and she smiled back. But when he reached for her, she pulled back, winking.

Oooo, a chase? He covered his eyes. “One, two, three...”

Soft hands pulled his away. “I’ve got a better idea. I want you to wear the cuffs again. Will you do that for me?”

He would cut off his own tail if it would make his mate happy. Wolf shot out of his chair, fetched the cuffs, and put his back to the pillar in the living room, tail waving happily.

Virginia cuffed him, then kissed him. When he opened his eyes again, she was gone.

Wolf tried to call her back, but could only howl.

Words. What are the words? Call mate!
NO! I won’t let you touch her!
She is mate. Wolf wants to ... mate.
You are an animal! She’s mine. MINE! I won’t let you near her!
Am you.

“No. No! Noooooooooowwwwwwoooooooo!”

Am you. Am part of you. You are Wolf. I am wolf.
NO!
We are one. Wolf will not hurt mate.
Of course not, because you’re not getting close to her!
Want her. Say words to call her! Bring her back!
Nasty thing!
You want her too.
Disgusting, nasty animal!
Grrrrrrr... Am you! If hate wolf, then hate Wolf!

Wolf had no answer, so he just howled in despair.

Virginia huddled in their bed. She put a pillow over her head, but she could still hear him, talking to himself. Arguing with himself. Howling for her. She knew this night would be difficult for him, but she hadn’t known how hard it would be on her, hearing him and unable to help him. While he thrashed and called, she sobbed quietly into her pillow.

Around dawn he quieted. After a long period of silence he said something in a normal tone of voice.

Virginia pulled his pillow from her head. “Wolf?”

His voice sounded rusty, but he had to have strained his vocal cords over the night. “Vir... ginia? Come let me go?”

“Of course, Wolf, of course!” She scrambled out of the bed.

Wolf was kneeling on the floor, hanging from his wrists, head bowed and hair covering his face. Virginia tugged the velcro open and he fell forward onto his hands.

“Wolf? Are you okay?”

He looked up then, yellow eyes shining through his tangled hair. As he smiled, she could see the points of fangs. “Yeeeesss, Vir-gin-ia.”

Virginia couldn’t help it. She screamed and ran.

She didn’t get far. Within a heartbeat she was slammed to the ground, his weight pinning her down, squeezing the breath out of her, his hand on her mouth to muffle her screams, her arms pinned by his knees.

She should have listened when Wendell’s chambermaids whispered about Wolf, should have pressed him when he refused to answer the questions they told her to ask: Did wolves kill people? Had Wolf ever eaten a human?

They did. Wolf had. His tackle was too practiced, too accurate. He pushed her head to one side, baring her neck, leaning forward. Virginia wailed against his palm, waiting for the teeth to descend.

He dragged his nose along her neck, inhaling happily. “Short chase, pretty mate,” he growled in her ear, rolling off her. “Run faster?”

“Wha... wha... wh...” Virginia was sobbing so hard she could barely speak. She didn’t even know what she wanted to say.

Wolf reached for her, his confused look changing to horror when she flinched. “Why cry? Only playing.”

“I didn’t know that!” Virginia shrieked at him. “You scared me!”

His hands had changed too; the fingers he raised to her face were tipped with sharp claws, but he brushed her tears away with incredible gentleness. “Wolf would never hurt you, Virginia. Love Virginia. All Wolf’s life, love and protect Virginia.” He shifted over to sit next to her, holding his arms wide.

Relieved, but too wrung out to stop crying, Virginia buried herself in his chest. He held her until she calmed down, then nuzzled along her neck and cheek. “Feel better?” he asked. At her nod, he started to lick away her tears.

That was... weird. Virginia flinched as she felt his tongue along her cheek, then squirmed as he started expertly nibbling her ear. “Wolf wants to make you feel all better,” he crooned.

Virginia felt herself flush all the way down to her toes. His voice was still husky, but it was becoming smoother, surer. He sounded like he had when he was flirting with the church ladies. Like he had when he wanted to huff and puff Sally Peep’s clothes off.

He was nibbling down her neck now, and Virginia had to fight-not to get free, but to not turn around and start pulling at his clothes. “Wait! Aren’t you hungry?”

“Mmm-hmmmm,” Wolf muttered, pulling the neck of her T-shirt to one side so he could continue from neck to shoulder.

“I’ve got some pork in the kitchen. Can’t you smell it? Pork and applesauce, all warm and tasty.” It had been in the crockpot on low all night, and Virginia prayed that he wouldn’t consider it too well done.

He started sniffing the air, and his tail thumped once on the carpet. “Meat!”

“Yes, Wolf, meat. Good meat, tasty meat...”

“Hhhhhuuuuuunngry!” Wolf let go and started to get up.

Virginia moved more slowly, hoping to make her escape while he was distracted. First she sat up, then slowly rolled to her knees, trying to make no sudden moves.

Never get on your hands and knees around a rutting wolf.

He did not rape her. Oh, he wanted sex, but he didn’t force her, didn’t even reach for her clothing-he just held her in place panting in her ear. Virginia found herself holding her own breath-not out of fear or pain, but open to whatever he would do next. Which was to squeeze the air out of her in a bearhug, then bound for the kitchen.

The original plan had been to distract him and bolt for the bedroom, but to her surprise, Virginia found herself following him to the kitchen. Wolf was trying to fish the meat out of the crockpot without burning his fingers in the applesauce and failing. After a couple of yaps and a growl, he seemed to suddenly remember tool use and went poking through the drawers.

She watched him bobbing for pork with a salad fork and thought rapidly. He’d had a chance to kill her... and had not. He’d had a chance to rape her... and had not. Both of them had been treating his wolf half like some alien entity, as if they’d be re-enacting The Exorcist in the living room every month. Yet he was still... Wolf. A little less verbal, a little more rough, but still Wolf. Was there really anything to be afraid of?

He was tail-waggingly happy to finally get that loin out of the crock pot, and had just splatted it onto a plate when he felt her eyes on him. He looked down at the plate, then used his claws to cut a chunk of meat and hold it out to her. For a split second his eyes looked green again, or was that just a memory of him offering her that cookie just two days ago?

“Eat,” he encouraged, waving the meat at her nose. “Come eat.” He took a breath and tried again, shifting from the primal wolf to the suave, seductive wolf. “Come on over,” he crooned at her, the tips of his canines not distracting from that lethal smile. “The cub needs meat.”

She came.

It must be love that made her want to haul him off to the bedroom. It certainly wasn’t his table manners. Having lured her over with the offered meat, Wolf seemed to think that he’d done his duty. So he picked up the rest of the roast in both hands and started eating.

Virginia watched him, still edgy with lingering adrenaline from that pounce. Now what should she do? For a split second she heard Snow White’s voice again. “Don’t think. Become.” Become what?

Wolf obviously wasn’t suffering from introspection-although if he kept eating at that speed he’d soon be suffering from indigestion. This part of the cycle must be simple for him. He wasn’t thinking, he’d just become... a wolf. Her wolf.

Her mate.

Having, um, wolfed the roast down in record speed, Wolf started licking his hands clean. Virginia reached across the table before she even realized what she was doing, and on impulse pulled his hand away from his mouth.

Still partially wondering what she was getting herself into, she sucked the applesauce off his fingers one by one, keeping a wary eye on his reaction. He was watching her with huge eyes and a happily lolling tongue, and she could hear the whack, whack, whack of his tail hitting something.

There was the briefest of pauses when she finished sucking off his little finger, both of them staring at each other and wondering what was next. That unnervingly seductive smile of his flashed brighter as he dipped his other hand into the cooling applesauce and offered it to her.

She took it, and by the time she had finished with it, Wolf was crooning deliriously.

Virginia nipped a finger, careful of the claws, and Wolf yelped. She let go of his hand and took a deep breath, watching his eyes track her rising breasts.

“You want me, big boy?”

He nodded, open mouthed, then managed to rip his gaze away from her cleavage and look her in the face. Then he smiled, slowly and dangerously, puffing out his chest and squaring his shoulders. Even with the distractions of yellow eyes and pointed teeth, she could feel a very primal part of herself reacting to his male display.

Then he stood up and there was so much more male on display. And it was all hers, hers to play with any way she wanted... Now that she knew she could trust the wolf, the idea of trying out a whole new lover without straying was becoming irresistible. Maybe it was Persuasion. Maybe it was the animal male calling to the animal female. Maybe she didn’t care less why it was. They were going to do it all right, and not because she was sacrificing herself to his cycles. They were going to do it because she wanted to!

“Run.” It was an order.

Virginia shook her head, feeling almost drunk on the sudden rush of power and freedom. “You run.”

He gasped, grinned, and took off like a rocket.

Coming out of the cycle was like climbing out of a dark pit. Wolf felt awareness and sanity returning but lay still with his eyes closed, playing dead while he tried to sort out where he was and if he’d done anything that would get him into trouble.

Carpet. Carpet? Where... Penthouse. Tenth Kingdom. Right.

He cracked one eye open and looked around. Clothing was everywhere, and some of it looked like his. He looked down. That was his clothing all right; he seemed to be dressed entirely in bruises instead. Uh oh. What’d I do?

Wolf started to roll over, only to stop with a groan. Okay, I’m naked, bruised, and sore all over. He swung a hand over to steady himself, then stared at it. Why aren’t I tied up? I’m supposed to be tied up! Oh, NO!

He must have gotten loose. He must have attacked her, and she beat him up trying to escape. But she did escape... didn’t she? Of course she did. He wouldn’t do anything to her. He couldn’t. He... why wasn’t he hungry? He was always hungry when he came out of the cycle, that wolf was insatiable.

Oh, he hadn’t! Not his own mate!

Despite the pain, Wolf managed to drag himself upright, trying to read the disheveled room like he could read a forest floor. There had been a struggle; the couch cushions clearly showed the marks of two bodies writhing. So did several other pieces of furniture and a lot of the carpet. But he couldn’t tell how it ended. He tracked the spoor of the battle as far as he could, then took a huge sniff to try to follow Virginia’s trail.

The scent hit with the pain of a prison guard’s whip. Those two bodies hadn’t been struggling, at least not towards the end. There was no mistaking that smell, and the air was thick with it. He should be relieved that he hadn’t hurt her. Instead, he was furious and jealous. That... that... that... animal had touched his mate!

Quite a lot, part of his mind whispered at him. He couldn’t tell if it was his own fears or the wolf talking back to him. Didn’t matter. He silenced the voice with a growl, realized what he was doing, and swallowed the feral sound. He wasn’t an animal, he wasn’t! He wasn’t that creature! He was human!

Only half.

Be quiet!

He had to find Virginia, see if she was all right. Explain again that it wasn’t him in the cycle, he wasn’t like that, he was okay now, he wouldn’t... wouldn’t...

But you do. You do that with her too.

Shut up! Shutupshutupshutup...

“Virginia?” Even his throat was sore.

“Wolf?” She sounded surprisingly cheerful, her voice amplified by the tiles in the bathroom. “I’m in here!”

His uncertain legs carried him just far enough to collapse gracelessly beside the big tub, where his tiny mate was almost buried beneath bubbles. Wolf’s head was still spinning and echoes of his two halves still fought in whispers between his ears, so he rested his cheek on the side of the tub and concentrated on her, searching her eyes for any hint of fear or revulsion.

She looked very tired, but she was smiling at him. “Feeling better?” she asked softly.

No. The jealousy was getting worse by the second, bolstered by anger. Why wasn’t she mad at him? Why wasn’t she afraid of him? Surely she didn’t like spending a day with a wolf! Or did she? What kind of a person would want to mate with a... The image of his father crossed his mind, and Wolf yanked his train of thought onto another set of rails. What if she’d liked it so much that she didn’t want to spend time with him anymore? The real Wolf?

Am you a fading memory insisted in the back of his brain. He ignored it.

Virginia, however, did not ignore his uncharacteristic silence. “Wolf?” she asked tentatively, reaching for his face. She stank of all the things that she’d poured into the water-he could smell salts, flowers, and was that milk?-but he didn’t care so long as she didn’t reject him.

Her fingertips were gentle as they trailed scented bubbles across his whiskers; Wolf closed his eyes and leaned into her caress. “Did I hurt you?” he whispered.

“No.” When Wolf looked again she was leaning closer, smiling encouragingly. “I don’t think I’d be up to that more than once a month, but... wow!”

Cripes! She did prefer the wolf! He whined, instantly horrified that he was instinctively expressing himself in animal sounds.

Virginia misinterpreted it. “Are you as sore as I am? C’mon in, the hot water will help you.”

Smell like a fairy’s wishing-house on payday or crawl away from her caress. Not much of a choice. Wolf started to climb stiffly in, but lost his balance and fell on top of her. A great wave of floral water and bubbles soaked the bathroom rug and he discovered several new raw places. How did he manage to wrench his tail of all things?

It took more sloshing and groaning and the odd elbow and knee, but they finally got settled with Virginia leaning against the back of the tub and Wolf cradled against her chest. The hot water helped unknot his muscles, the things in the water both stinging and soothing his scraped skin.

“What... what happened?” It was easier to talk about it when he wasn’t looking at her, couldn’t smell her over the bubbly stuff. “Did I break free?”

“You tricked me into letting you go-but it was okay! Don’t you remember any of it?”

He did, moments of it, but he remembered as a wolf. No colors, only flashes of scent and movement, sensory images from senses hyped almost beyond his bearing. It never quite made sense after-there were no words or concepts for a lot of it. His human mind simply tossed out the impressions, unable to categorize them. The wolf never bothered to remember. For the wolf, it was always now. What could there be to remember?

“I-I don-I don’t, don’t re-real-really remember. Nothing clear.” He had to know and was afraid to ask all at the same time. “Wha... what did I do?”

Virginia hugged him in a surge of bubbles and said “Well... you ate. A lot. And we made love. A lot.” She squeezed him again, chuckling a little bit. “Kind of a typical night, except for the yellow eyes and pointy teeth.”

Horrifed, Wolf pulled himself from her arms. “So you think I’m just the same? That I’m always an animal?”

“No! I think you’re still the same Wolf I fell in love with.” She stressed his name, and he flinched from the sound of it.

“Yeah. Wolf.” He made it sound like the canine, not a proper name. Wolf. Dog. Animal. He started to heave a sigh, which was interrupted by a terrific sneeze. “I have to get away from this perfume,” Wolf blurted and jumped out of the tub. He started to shake the bubbles off, but stopped in mid-shiver with another sigh and reached for a towel.

“Wolf, please, tell me what’s wrong,” Virginia pleaded. “Talk to me!” But he was already running from the room. His head was still spinning, and the stink of those nasty bubbles was making him sick. Smell bad. No, animals think about smells. I’m a man! A man, a man, a man, where were my pants, men wore pants, I’ll dress like a man, a man, a man...

The problem with putting on pants were the number of choices he had to make. Dress left or right? Tail in or out? Tail... he had a tail. He was an animal. Just a wolf, no matter what he tried or did, he was still nothing but a wolf.

With a groan, he threw himself on the bed, squeezing his eyes shut.

The silly pink ribbon twisted in his hands as he wrung them. Three more wishes. Everyone knew that magic was dangerous. Never wish for more than you needed.

He needed to stop hating himself. Wolf picked a knot out and said, “I wish I was a human.”

The green mist swirled up, so thick that he couldn’t see or smell through it. When it cleared, he was back in his cell in the prison. What? Something was wrong! He ran to the window and saw her, the Evil Queen, walking with measured steps and looking through the windows. She would pick him, free him, send him to meet his mate...

As if she could hear his thoughts, her head swiveled in his direction and she started laughing. “You? Do you think I’d pick you? What do you have to offer me? I have plenty of human servants!” She swept up the corridor, leaving him behind.

But... This wasn’t how it happened! It’s not how the story went! Wolf flung himself away from the door, pacing along his cell. If he was a man, he wouldn’t even be in jail. His crime was the crime of a wolf, not a human!

As he reached the opposite wall it melted away, and he walked out along the dirt track. The prison was off to one side, just a building now, a terrible building but somewhere he would never enter. It felt great to turn his back on the main door and walk away. Not even walking through the hanging cages could ruin his happy mood.

Until he saw the two in front. Tony and Virginia’s bodies were prominently displayed on either side of a huge billboard announcing FOR CRIMES AGAINST OUR BELOVED QUEEN. Crows pecked at his beloved and Wolf was so shocked he couldn’t even shout to scare them off. Another crow landed for a snack, jarring the cage so that Virginia’s head turned blindly towards him. “Wolf?” she asked him through a slack, gaping jaw. “Wolf? Why did you leave me? Where did you go?”

Wolf gasped so hard he shocked himself awake. A dream, a dream, it was a just a bad dream... Virginia called him again and this time he shouted “I’m in the bedroom!”

She leaned against the door, pulling the tie of her father’s too-large robe around her, and at that moment, Wolf knew she was even more beautiful than Snow White. Such a vision. That dreamy, creamy skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, eyes as blue as a spring morning with the lambs frolicking in the fields... She is truly the fairest of them all.

She sat on the edge of the bed. “Wolf, do you want to talk about it?”

“No!” He never wanted to think about that horrible dream again. Talking about it might make it real.

She didn’t look convinced, but she accepted the answer. “You rest up, okay? I’ll get us some breakfast, and we can talk then.”

Talk. That was it. Talk. He knew how to conquer the wolf now.

Dr. Horovitz glared at him over her glasses. “Talk is cheap,” she snapped in her funny accent. “You do nothing but talk. Are you willing to prove to me that you really want to change?”

“Yes! Anything!”

She handed him Granny’s cleaver. “Then you must cut off your tail.”

“What?”

“Cut it off, chop, chop! Otherwise you will never be anything else than a Wolf in man’s clothing.”

“But... but... I have to think about this!” Wolf darted from the office, still holding the cleaver. Cut off his tail? But it was part of him! And it felt good when it was stroked, it felt very, very good. But, if chopping it off would make the cycles go away-huff puff, what to do, what to do?

His favorite place to think things out was the big park, so he walked up the street to the main entrance, then followed the paths around until he found the one that led to his childhood home. His parents were there, but when he shouted to them and ran up, they turned their backs on him and started walking away.

“Mama! Papa!” He ran as fast as he could but couldn’t catch up.

“We have to leave now.” His father started calmly climbing up the pyre to the stake at the top, leaning down to give a helping hand to his mate.

“We have to go because you don’t love us anymore,” his mother explained as she gracefully climbed up beside him.

Wait! He still had the cleaver! He would set them free, change the story... He looked down at his hand and saw a flaming torch. Whimpering, he looked over his shoulder and saw the whole human village waiting for him to light the fire.

“Do it!” a farmer shouted. “You’re a human, you don’t want any part of those dirty wolves, do you? Burn them!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!” His shout turned into a howl as he jumped up on the pyre and Changed. Why it was so easy to change, and it didn’t even hurt! Everything just clicked into place, with a sound like popping knuckles. He made an impressively big wolf, big as a pony! Only one growl was needed to make the people run away and he pranced happily around the pyre, his tail wagging. He felt his mother start to stroke his tail approvingly.

“That’s better, son, that’s better. I thought you were ashamed of my heritage.”

He changed back so he could hug her. “Never, Mama, I was never ashamed of you. Just myself.”

“Ashamed of yourself?” His father was shocked. “Why should a great hero be ashamed of himself?”

“I... I’m not a...” Suddenly they were all standing in Wendell’s throne room, dressed in their best for the medal ceremony. His mother even had a red ribbon around her tail.

Lord Rupert clapped his hands officiously. “Everyone line up for King Wendell’s Medal Ceremony!” He grabbed Wolf’s shoulder, dragging him to the dais. “Heroes stand here.”

Just as before, Wendell promised the highest awards of the kingdom, then refused him a medal only to call him back and gave him the pardon. But this time, when Wolf waved the parchment in the air he was waving it to a long line of people, so long it snaked through the room and out the door.

At the head of the line was his mother, who gracefully mounted the stairs and licked him on the forehead, as she used to do when he was a child. “Wolf, I grant you my wolfish cunning to outwit the Huntsman, and my sharp senses to protect your mate. And to remind you of these things, I give you my very own tail.” She licked him on the forehead again, then moved to stand beside him.

His father was next, putting a hand on each shoulder. “Son, I give you my brain. Do try to use it properly sometime. And I give you the courage to follow your true love, even though you find her where you least expect her.”

Wolf started to hug his father, but Lord Rupert started fussing. “Time for that mushy stuff later! Can’t keep our honored guests waiting! More awards for the Hero!”

“Who else wou...” Wolf’s voice trailed off with a squeak as he looked at the formerly faceless people in line. Everyone in the whole Nine Kingdoms knew who was next!

They lined up in front of him, The Five Women Who Changed History. Wolf sank to his knees in awe.

First up was Queen Hood, who quirked an eyebrow and cleared her throat, staring meaningfully at the floor. Gretel the Great, round and strong as a farmer’s daughter (which she was) reached around Cinderella to whap Hood upside the perfectly coiffed curls. Queen Hood swayed back on her heels, but cleared her throat again.

Gritting his teeth, Wolf obeyed the unspoken order and went to all fours, head bowed, eyes focused on the span of the floor between his hands. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw his parents dropping down. Everyone knew what happened to wolves and “wolf-loving former people” who didn’t “show proper respect” to the Hoods. Look up or get off all fours, and you would soon be missing body parts.

His mother’s lips curled in a silent snarl, her pretty bright ribbon dragging in the dust of the floor. Fine thanks for saving your granddaughter! Wolf thought furiously. Do you know how many wolves are probably cursing me for that? Bet most of them would rather see your line dead than their own children pardoned!

Queen Hood’s voice was as cold as the marble tiles under his palms. “Wolf, I have already given you your gift. I gave you your name, that everyone will know what you really are.” She made it sound like a curse instead of an award, and Wolf heard another whap! “Well, they’ll need to know he’s one of them to make them listen and follow him!” the diminutive queen snapped.

Now what is that supposed to mean? Wolf wondered as a scarlet hem swirled before his eyes as Queen Hood turned on a high heel and jumped down the stairs. Wolf’s head snapped up to watch her go, but he looked down again as Cinderella clinked up to him in her glass slippers. Better safe than sorry.

Her hands were gentle as she lifted his chin, raising him up until he sat on his heels. Wolf had to blink as he looked at her; as the candlelight flickered on her face she sometimes looked as young as she had been when she married, then the light would shift and she looked as she had at Wendell’s ball.

“I too know what it is to try to seek approval from those who will never give it,” Cinderella told him as she glared over her shoulder at the retreating red hooded cloak. She turned back to him and smiled. “I give you the power to triumph over them as I did.”

Gretel the Great was brisk and businesslike as she stepped up to take her place. “Wolf, I too have already given you your gift. I gave you the attribute we have in common-the cunning to defeat an evil witch.”

The Lady Rapunzel was next, bending over him to shroud him in her hair. She handled her long locks much better than Virginia had, but then, she’d had more practice. “I also come to give you what you already have. I give you what we share,” she told him. “I give you the strength to survive captivity-survive it and live to change history.” She tickled his nose with a handful of split ends and swept away in a waterfall of blonde.

She was next. Wolf’s mouth went dry as the greatest of the great queens calmly strode up. He reached up a wondering hand as she stopped in front of him, then was instantly ashamed as he left dusty marks on her skirt, like a puppy jumping up.

She smiled warmly at him, ruffling his hair. “I give you my grandson.” Wendell waved, and for a moment Wolf would swear he wagged a golden tail. Must be a trick of the candlelight. “Take good care of him. It will be difficult, but he will take good care of you.” Wolf nodded dumbly, and Snow White ruffled his hair again. His mother patted his tail slowly as the queen continued, “I also give you my cottage, where I went when I was cast out. I charge you to deliver it to your outcast kind.”

“Yes, my queen.” It was the first time he’d spoken those words happily, the first time it ever felt right to drop to his hands and abase himself. His mother continued to play with his tail, stroking it and tugging the tip slightly.

“Do that again,” he murmured, and was rewarded with another gentle sweep-tug. “That feels so good,” he told her. “I’ll never cut off my tail, I promise.”

The fingers running through his fur froze in place.

“Cut off your tail?” Virginia yelped. “Why would you cut off your tail?”

Wolf blinked awake. His tail, he still had his tail, the one that looked like his mother’s. “It was a dream,” he told his lovely mate drowsily. “All just a dream.”

“I should hope so,” Virginia answered, going back to her caresses. “I like you just as you are.”

There was something, Wolf thought sleepily as he gathered her to him, that he was supposed to be worrying about. Something very upsetting. But what could be upsetting about waking up and cuddling your mate? That silly, worn, too-big robe gapped as he pulled her to the bed, and Wolf peeked down it, enjoying the view.

Wait... was that a bruise? And that?

“Wolf, where do you get the energy?” Virginia laughed as he pinned her down and untied the robe, pulling it back to expose her body. The cycle. The aftermath. That’s what he’d forgotten.

“What did I-that animal -do to you?”

She looked down at the marks scattered across her creamy skin... and then shocked him by giggling. “Yeah, you are kinda fond of the hickeys during your cycle.”

“Hickeys?”

“Like this.” She grabbed his hand, pulling it to her mouth, building hot fire with a slow, sensual lick along the inside of his wrist. Suddenly, she half-bit him, sucking as hard as she could. A very, very small voice in his brain said that’s going to hurt but it was drowned out as every blood cell in his body shouted with joy and headed south. Wolf yanked his hand away and saw a shadow on his skin, one which experience told him would turn into a bruise very shortly. That explained the marks all over both of them!

Stunned, Wolf looked at Virginia, really looked at her for the first time all morning. If she had a tail, it would be wagging. As it was, something very deep in him recognized the look in her eyes and knew it for a kindred spirit.

“Ahrooo,” Virginia told him, pulling him down for a kiss.

She should have known it was all too good to last.

In the end, they had spent the day after his cycle on the couch in front of the TV, where Wolf proved the universal nature of man by hogging the remote. He didn’t stop flipping through channels until he chanced upon some stogy marathon about great literature on one of those good-for-you cable channels. It didn’t take long for her to just give up from boredom and spend most of the day drowsing on his chest, warm in the circle of his arms.

The morning after that, cold reality once again intruded on their Happily Ever After.