Howling, p.2
Howling, page 2
"Oh, Alanna, I'm sorry. I don't mean to spoil the moment," Helena apologized.
"No, it's fine. I've told Fergus, I am NOT going to let Drew spoil anything in my life ever again."
Helena patted her on the shoulder. "That's the spirit."
"Ready to flap down with Edward?" I asked as he circled once more, clearly worried at why we were up so high for so long.
She nodded. "Yes please, slowly."
"As gently as a feather," I promised.
I made a thumbs-down gesture to Edward, who drew level with us. Talk about a bird's eye view. He was spectacular. Though I would have to ask him about molting feathers.
"Here we go, ladies," I said, and began to flap down, bringing us slowly back to earth.
"Wow, that was so special," Helena breathed, looking as though she still couldn't believe what she'd done.
"Do you want to go up again?" Alanna offered.
"Oh, sure, some other time, but not now. I don't want you to overdo things, and it's getting dark. So, stay for my famous homemade lasagna, eh?"
She began to unbuckle us carefully.
Alanna looked at me.
I winked.
"We would love to, Helena, thank you," she said warmly.
"Garlic bread and salad?"
I replied, "For sure. Let us wash our hands and we can help."
Edward landed neatly in front of us, shook his feathers, and shifted. He was like a work of art as man and hawk.
I saw Alanna looking at his bare body appreciatively, but without anything like lustiness, though I certainly wouldn't have blamed her.
He bent to kiss his wife, then said, "Fergus made an outfit for you like Alanna's. Why not go in and change? We'll start dinner once I get my pants on."
"Oh, wow, how pretty. Thank you," she said, looking pleased, but also slightly worried.
"It's in our room."
"Gosh," I heard her exclaim as she saw it. "And a perfect fit too. Who did you say made it, mih hohtz?"
"Fergus."
She peered around the wall of the hall and stared.
I shrugged. "What can I say? I have good spatial perception."
We all laughed.
"More like you looked at your wife and took a guess at mine," Edward said.
Helena came out and Edward took her hand to give her a twirl. She looked exquisite, and didn't seem to mind how filmy the top and skirt were. But then, she also got naked a lot with the pack when she came out as bear.
"Perfect. Thanks so much. We're about to have dinner with the two most beautiful women in Montana," Edward said, his eyes glowing with love for his wife.
I had envied them those shared loving looks in the past, but there was no need to any more. I had the love of my life now too, and felt confident that no matter what, we would work together for a great future full of joy.
Sadly, life could give, and it could take, in the most unexpected ways….
CHAPTER 2
Since Alanna and I were on a flexible work schedule with our jobs, we made an early start each morning to make love, then get washed, dressed, and off to the woods for some flying, wild fairy or wolfie sex, and time with the pups.
She loved them, and they clearly adored her. She was pretty, affectionate, and fun to be with as both wolf and fairy. She hovered off the ground with some of them in her arms, though she had enough sense not to give in to all their begging to go higher, higher.
I helped with the hunting lessons, and was pleased to see that the three-year olds, who were just about fully mature, were really coming along well in terms of their skills.
I loved being wolf, the rough and tumble, sights and smells, and of course, my beautiful woman to share all of it with. I'd never imagined in a million years I could get past the werewolf part, but now I didn't have too. We could be together as often as we wanted, with no need to compromise.
The hunting was exhilarating with her, and made me randy as all hell. The real issue, of course, was not just that the wild game was thinning out in the forest thanks to illegal logging and hunting.
The worst problem we were facing was that most of the refugees were boys, which meant no chance of having a mate any time soon. Not without creating even more of an issue by turning human women, which of course, Michael had expressly forbidden.
And which would put even more of a crunch on natural resources. We could shop in supermarkets, of course, but we needed to hunt once a month to stay happy and let out our aggressive tendencies. A failed hunt in the past, in the days before Artem and Jaci, had led to some pissiness and even exile for some. That was the last thing any of the local packs wanted.
Michael was a stickler for never turning humans. But I soon noticed a very worrying pattern on the local news: more women were going missing from the area, or being attacked. The females of the city all took to traveling in pairs and carrying pepper spray. The more gung-ho ones even had pistols in their purses.
I didn't like it one bit, and of course, Michael was livid when I mentioned my concerns and suspicions one day when he stopped by the glade to see how the pups were.
"We haven't had any reports of disoriented females staggering around, or coming here to the woods. All the same, there's something really wrong with this situation," I said quietly.
Michael nodded. "I think it's Drew. He wants a harem. He'll control the women, and by extension, he can control the matured pups into doing his will."
"Kidnapping our boys? NO way. Treating the women like sex slaves?" Alanna said furiously. "The bastard. He's going to pay for this!"
"How the hell he expects to feed them all, I have no idea," I said with a shake of my head. "A wolf eats about twenty pounds of meat a day. If he's off-grid with no job, and women who have no idea how to hunt as a pack, well, they're going to starve. Which he clearly has no intention of doing."
Michael looked even more miserable, and he wasn't exactly cheerful at the best of times. Tall, dark and brooding would be an understatement, except if he was with Celeste.
I continued my chain of thought. "Which means Drew's either stealing from stores, or grabbing up livestock and slaughtering them. Which is going to have the local business owners and farmers up in arms.
"If he gets caught on CCTV here in town, there's going to be hell to pay. We will ALL suffer one way or the other if they come out hunting us to try to remove a new wolf menace."
"I would get a group together to track his new pack, but I'm not that keen on stirring up a hornet's nest. If I find him, I'm going to have to either jail him, or kill him," Michael said with a sigh.
"But as soon as he shifted in prison, everyone would know," Alanna gasped. "The humans would go nuts."
He nodded. "Exactly. A human jail is NOT an option. It would be a disaster for everyone at the first full moon. But I do have my lodge up north, with some cages I used to put young males in who were having trouble adapting. I hate doing it, but sometimes it's the only way, other than killing them to put them out of their misery, and save lives."
He sat on the bench in the lean-to and signaled for us to join him.
"We interfere with the delicate balance of nature at our peril. I didn't ask for the refugee pups to come, but I was NOT going to turn my back on them. However, that does NOT give Drew permission to attempt to form his own powerbase via kidnap, molestation, wholesale slaughter, and a crime spree that could call attention to ALL of us."
I nodded. "What does Artem say?"
"He's ordered his helicopters up to see if there's any sign of Drew, or disoriented, injured women."
"I hope he finds some on the one hand, and am dreading it on the other," I admitted. "The only other solution to this mystery would be a kidnapper or a serial killer. Terrible no matter which way you look at it."
Alanna nodded. "I have no idea what would have become of me if it hadn't been for Fergus. Those poor girls. It's still quite cold at night, for all Edward claims this has been a mild spring. If Drew is taking and turning them, well, they might not die of the bite, but they could die of exposure. And I am SURE the only reason I didn't die was because Fergus found me so fast, and all of you helped me. They've got no one except that selfish prick, I bet."
"And Tiffany, who might treat them even worse because she's so jealous. Who knows about the rest of the pack? We need to get a lead on them, sooner rather than later."
"Damn," Michael growled, "I feel like I'm constantly putting out forest fires, me and Celeste. No sooner do we get one under control than two spring up."
"Anything we can do, you have only to ask," I offered.
He patted me on the shoulder. "The two of you have been GREAT with the pups. I wish more in the pack were willing, but it's a big ask when the call of the wild, and the wild thing, are so alluring. No, just keep doing what you're doing, and I'll come out for a night with you and see this young lady go through her paces. I hear you're a natural hunter."
"Well, I was as human, with weapons. Not for years, though. But it's an instinct that never leaves you, I suppose. Not just killing for its own sake, by the way. Killing to eat."
"Good for you. I wish all hunters were like that. I mean, you can't eat a lion, now can you." Michael rose from his chair and began to head for the door. "Anyway, congrats, you two, and let me know if you want to become bonded mates. Though if the two of you were any hotter together, you'd spontaneously combust."
We all laughed.
"Once you bond, well, re-bonds will be even more incredible."
I nodded. "Aye, Raphael did warn us."
"Congrats on the babies, by the way. Though quadruplets is going to be quite a juggling act. Just let us know about how many nannies you need. I'm sure the elves and trolls will LOVE it."
Our jaws dropped.
"Quads?" Alanna squeaked, when she finally managed to speak.
He looked from one to the other of us with his strange pale blue eyes with vertically elongated pupils. "Oh crap. TMI, as Celeste says."
"You might as well tell all now," I sighed.
"Sorry. It was Raphael. He smelled it. Says it's a miracle. A million to one odds. Four boys."
Alanna looked like she was about to faint. I pretty much felt the same.
"Oh, God, Fergus, what do you think it means?" she gasped.
"Nothing bad, my love, I'm sure. Sometimes there are twins. Otherwise, I guess it's just that, well, maybe the wolf within us has enhanced everything. They have four to six pups in each litter, right, Michael?"
He nodded. "I'm sure that's all there is to it."
"Gosh, wait until I tell the grandparents. They're going to faint," I said, chuckling.
"Um, maybe we should just wait until all is well and we can take them back with us for a visit," Alanna suggested timidly.
Michael grinned. "Now THAT I would love to see."
"I love the oldsters to bits, really, but if we tell them, I'm worried they'll come screaming over here on the first flight, and not want to leave. Which would, um, cramp our style no matter what form we take." She blushed prettily.
"I understand, love. So, yes, BIG surprise in a few months. We'll be sure to bring a camera," I promised.
"Anyway, sorry for ruining the surprise," Michael said.
"Oh, er, not at all. I'm just stunned Serena didn't say anything about it on the scans."
"I guess she wanted to be sure. So, well done. Lucky you. I would adore being a dad with Celeste more than anything, but, well, I'm way too old to believe in miracles at this point. Have fun in the forest, and don't scare the pups with your amorous activities."
We both laughed.
"I don't think we will, unless they have x-ray vision, a good pair of binoculars, or love looking up in the trees," I replied.
"Very good. Carry on." He winked and headed back to his car.
After he left, Alanna and I sat on our log for a long time in silence.
"Four," she breathed.
"Boys," I said incredulously.
"Gosh, are we going to be up to this?"
"Says every new parent, or at least every sane one. It will be fine. I love you, and we're in this together. But I think we'd better call Serena for another scan."
"Fairy."
We burst out giggling, though I have to admit, there was a slightly hysterical edge to the laughter this time around.
~
Serena confirmed it on the ultrasound. "Four. Quite the tangle of arms and legs. The good news being they start out very small and thin, but my understanding is that within a couple of weeks of good feeding, they'll be the size of any human newborn.
"So, breast is best, as they say, but Arielle tells me goat milk is a very good substitute. We'll need to start with eyedroppers, then work our way up to four and then eight-ounce bottles.
"You might want to try to breast-feed, but with four babies, I would worry about someone getting short-changed and ending up the runt of the litter. No offence."
"No, I understand," she said.
"You'll need to work out a rota system and an identification system. Names, and colored ribbons, for example. I mean, they might not be totally identical, but don't drive yourself and your nannies crazy."
I nodded. "Good point."
"And goat milk bottles means Fergus and the nannies can help. You could get a breast pump, but still."
Alanna smiled. "I understand. I'll try, and my helpers can go goat."
"Four boys. Goodness, I might be repopulating the fairy race after all," I said, still in shock.
"Ah, yes, Doctor Gallagher over in Ireland says the artificial insemination appears to have worked. Well done."
"Except we're going to have a hell of a lot of kissing cousins if this keeps up," I said with a shake of my head.
"We're still trying to identify the poison Orla gave your menfolk. And if it helps, well, Arielle has offered egg donation for implantation for those eager to be a mom, if the men can get over their issues, as it were. Test tube babies, but still. It might not work, her being part elf, but it's another chance to get new family lines going."
I looked at Alanna, who smiled. "It's not ideal, but again, it offers a range of options if the worst comes to the worst."
"The trouble is, they're, um, more macho than most when it comes to discussing their waterworks, as it were. And seem to have something against, well, wanking."
I grinned. "Oh, yes. Some of the more spiritual types of elementals give up on sex in order to concentrate on higher things, so to speak."
"Well, tell your granddad to get them to start thinking down and dirty if you're going to turn things around," Helena said wryly.
"The magical realm," Alanna said thoughtfully.
We both looked at her.
"Yes, love? What about it?"
"Arielle says there's no, um, stigma there about being fairy. Surely we could find some males willing to help? To cross into this realm, and from there to yours?"
"Sure, it's possible, but tricky given we know the humans are committing all sorts of atrocities over there due to some stupid prophecy. They might leave, but not be able to go back."
She sighed. "I know. I hate what they've done to the pups. What they're doing to this world, sending more creatures into it one way or the other."
"Aye. As Michael said, if even the apex predators of their world are fleeing, like the spidery Arachro, there is some serious shit going down. The trouble with a ripple effect is you never know what's going to buckle and cave in."
Serena looked at both of us sadly. "I sure hope it isn't going to be us. But there's only so much even Michael, Raphael and Celeste can do."
We were about to find out just how serious things were in the magical realm, in more ways than one….
CHAPTER 3
We bought dozens of hankies and wash cloths to use as diapers for our quadruplets, and bought a Ken Doll wardrobe and some larger dolly clothes, until they could grow into 0 to 3 months infant garments.
We laid in a supply of freeze-dried goat milk formula, and bought the largest cradle we could find, and a changing table, so we could lay them all side by side, like a production line, as I said to my lovely wife.
We set everything up in our bedroom, and tried to batten down the hatches as best we could in our lives in preparation for the big event.
It very nearly didn't come to pass, for the simple reason that the one thing I dreaded most actually did.
Drew came back.
And he wasn't alone.
And I was sure he was there for Alanna, and willing to kill if we put up a fight.
The trouble was, he had friends this time. He wasn't just being backed up by Tiffany, but other desperate werewolves from the southern packs, whom he had lied to and egged on into invading us.
The goal was to steal our forest home, and all the meat Michael's friend Raphael had been supplying from his slaughterhouse. The vampires got the blood, we werewolves got the meat, and the local population ended up with gallons of bone broth. A win all around.
Stealing our home and food supply could only happen in one way: By the foul prick challenging Artem for the role of Alpha.
In which case, all the pups would be under sentence of death for sure, not just we three heads of the pack.
Poor Nate. He didn't deserve what his ex-girlfriend and supposed close friend had done, and were planning to do. It must have burned like acid in his stomach to see the traitorous Tiffany walking in like she owned the place, along with some Southern heavies.
As luck would have it, me and Alanna were already in the clearing with the kids when the place started to fill up with strangers. They seemed harmless enough at first, downtrodden even, like whipped dogs, but as the glade filled, they started to become more puffed up and arrogant, not desperate refugees as they'd first claimed to be.
I could scent Tiffany at once. Man, did I loathe the smell of her, not just the sight. It was like old socks, or an incredibly ripe and foul-smelling Camembert cheese.
I could also catch a whiff of Drew, but he wasn't making himself obvious at that point. No, the coward was lurking in the shrubbery, looking for a chance to sucker-punch Artem when he least expected it, I was sure.
The plan might have worked except for one thing: Tiffany had always been a drama queen, so she literally couldn't resist the chance to be center-stage and gloat. I saw Nate in a near panic for a moment as he whispered something to Artem, whose eyes rounded.
