FSE

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Chapter 15

“We’re home!”

So did Anabelle say to Darkhowl as the large lycca welcomed her back to Howling Grove. While they nuzzled each other’s necks affectionately, Duskprowler helped Natalie introduce Adelaide to Elise and the others. “Congrats, kiddo!” animatedly said Rose as she slapped his upper back. “Glad to see your rescue tour went so well you even scored a second vanni!”

Anabelle’s son simply laughed awkwardly. “Y-yes, I hardly believe it myself, Rose-vanni! Although I cannot claim any credit in the actual rescue, as I truthfully played no part in it. In fact, Mother did it all herself almost singlehandedly.”

“Hah! As expected of the only lycca-vanni I would call my match. I bet she didn’t even break a sweat! But anyway: I sure hope you’re not thinking of starting a harem now, lover boy. I mean, you’ve gotta leave something for the others, right?” she said jokingly.

“O-of course! This was only possible thanks to the strong bond Natalie-vanni and Adelaide-vanni already possessed. I simply let them know that all the conditions for a three-way soma bond had been met; the final decision was entirely theirs.”

“So you had to make the return trip on foot? Oh, girl, I hope it wasn’t too hard on you!” Marjorie, in turn, said to Natalie.

“It wasn’t too bad, really. We stayed as wolves the whole time, and even with a few breaks, making it back here in four days was a breeze. Also, for Addie and me, it was our first adventure together as free lycca-vanni. I mean, what was there to complain about? Just the fact that we could trot alongside one another as wolves with nothing holding us back was like living a dream!”

“Oh, I can imagine!” the voluptuous she-werewolf said with a nod. “Nothing like getting drunk on the freedom of the great outdoors, eh? Then again, it’s hard not to enjoy running under the big blue skies on wolf paws when they’re practically made for that!”

“So everything went according to plan, right? That’s awesome!” Elise said to Anabelle.

“Yeah. Well, Adelaide was actually somewhere else, but we still managed,” the white she-werewolf responded with a lazy wave of her tail. “Although... On our way back, there were a couple times when I had this odd feeling, like someone was following us.”

“Oh? There was someone following you?”

“I don’t know. I looked around, but never saw or even smelled anyone, so maybe it was just my imagination. Still, just to be safe, we made a little detour to lose them. I guess it worked, because I didn’t have that weird feeling again for the rest of the trip.”

“Huh. I wonder what that could’ve been...”

As Rose went on to join Marjorie and Natalie’s conversation, Elise’s twins approached Duskprowler with a mischievous grin on their lupine muzzles: “It seems the Goddess has truly smiled upon you, does it not?” he-who-kicks commented, lightly tapping Anabelle’s son in his ribs with a playful fist. “Although I cannot help but feel sorry for you.”

“W-why is that?”

“Because after all the time and effort you spent making your den fit for one vanni...”

“...the Goddess goes and gives you two!” the other twin finished, chuckling heartily.

“Oh!” Duskprowler exclaimed, blinking. “Well, I believe accommodating Adelaide-vanni will not be a problem... Although I might need to make the bedding bigger.”

“Oh? The bed? That is the first place your mind goes?” teased he-who-claws with a snicker. “Well, I suppose no one could blame you!”

“Wait, that is not— w-what I meant—” Duskprowler spluttered, blushing furiously under his fur as he realized the implication.

As Natalie related the details of the rescue to Rose and Marjorie, Adelaide heard the twins’ laughter and turned to see the three young males. Anabelle’s son seemed somewhat mortified, with his ears flat against the sides of his head.

“Ah, those two are my kids. They’re twins,” said Elise to the black-maned lycca-vanni. “Heh, it looks like they’re having a little fun at Duskprowler’s expense. Oh, well, it was to be expected!”

“Is he... going to be okay?”

“Hm? Oh, he’s fine. They’re just teasing him a bit, that’s all,” the grayish-brown she-werewolf said, waving a clawed hand. “You see, Duskprowler and the twins are almost like siblings. They were pretty much attached at the hip as cubs! In fact, he’s the only one who can tell my kids apart, other than my lycca-mate and me. That should tell you how close they are!”

Adelaide noticed that Anabelle’s son had already started to laugh amicably along with the other two. “Yeah. I think I see it now,” she said, relieved.

“Heh, I can already tell you are going to be very happy here.”

The bluish dark-gray she-werewolf gazed at Natalie, who was still busy telling the story of her and Anabelle’s adventure in Roud to her engrossed audience of two.

“Free, and with her by my side, I just don’t see how I couldn’t be happy,” she said with a smile.

~*~

That night, a celebration was held in honor of Duskprowler and his two soma-bonded vanni, with tribal music and dancing, as well as a feast. Adelaide in particular was showered with various presents and gifts — mostly fruits. That poor girl had never felt so overwhelmed with kindness before. She even got teary-eyed at times, still in disbelief that an actual pack of lycanthropes could be so genuinely full of warmth and kindheartedness. After all, most contemporary literature was quick to paint them as godless abominations with a thirst for human blood.

“I told you I had found your happy place, didn’t I?” Natalie said to her with a smile as she gave her a loving hug from behind.

“My happy place, you say?” Adelaide responded, caressing the furred arms of the blond-maned she-werewolf. “No. What you found is much, much better than that.”

The next day, Elise and the others told the two new vanni about the Grand Alpha and the Oneness Test. That was almost immediately followed by a deep dive into Fleetpaw’s history books, courtesy of Marjorie. Then, practical lessons on hunting, survival, and self-defense as wolves ensued. Elise in particular couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about revisiting many of the same lessons she herself had gone through only a few years prior. Of course, she was playing the role of the ‘teacher’ now, which was oddly entertaining to her.

Two sunrises later, Natalie and Adelaide received their respective Moon Stones, which had appeared together on the Moon Pedestal overnight. “You have to wear those on your neck as pendants,” Anabelle explained to them. “Don’t take them off for anything in the world. Keep them on at all times, and in about three days they should start glowing. When that happens, the ivory gate will open to you, and only you. Then you can enter the Grand Alpha’s chamber for your Oneness Test.”

As the lessons progressed, the two new girls found themselves quickly adapting to their new lives in Howling Grove while having lots of fun in the process. However, things between Adelaide and Duskprowler remained awkward for a while, as neither of them was sure of what to do with their shared soma bond. The ice was eventually broken when Natalie convinced the shy girl to join her in bed with their bonded lyccan male.

For their first three-way mating session, Duskprowler took on a fully passive role, letting the blond vanni be the gentle guiding hand Adelaide needed — both figuratively and literally. Little by little, the black-haired one became more comfortable with touching and exploring the lycca’s privileged physique, discovering new sensations she had never experienced before. And so, with Natalie’s help, Duskprowler’s irresistible alpha-male appeal was able to break through that final barrier, and his marvelous werewolf tongue sealed the deal.

Three days later, their Moon Pendants began to glow. Quickly, Elise and the others gathered in front of the ivory gate to see Natalie and Adelaide step into the unknowable enigma that lay beyond. The two vanni went in together, and together they stepped back outside about an hour later. Of course, neither of them remembered anything they saw or heard past the gate’s threshold, let alone what the Grand Alpha looked like, or what the Oneness Test was exactly about, but that didn’t matter. They were still in Howling Grove, the gift of change was still a part of them, and their three-way soma bond with Duskprowler was still very much intact, which clearly indicated that they had passed.

As was customary, another celebration was held that night. Natalie and Adelaide were now officially a part of the Howling Grove pack. Warm smiles and hugs abounded as Elise and the other werewolf girls congratulated their two new vanni-sisters on implicitly earning the Grand Alpha’s approval. Once more, the sacred covenant had triumphed over evil, and two long-suffering vanni had been successfully rescued from the monstrously corrupt clutches of human society.

And so, with good food, a crackling bonfire, and the rhythmic beat of a tribal drum helping spread the cheer, the celebration continued long into the night. A number of soma-bonded couples danced around said bonfire too, including Elise and Fang, as well as Marjorie and Fleetpaw, among a few others. Eventually, the sensual, intimate nature of their dancing drew partners closer to one another, and many passionate rounds of heavy petting and tongue-bonding inevitably followed. Duskprowler, too, took turns claiming the mouths of his two soma-bonded vanni-mates, who themselves could not get enough of each other’s lyccan lips. Thus, safe in the protective embrace of their strong, studly werewolf male, the sapphic lovers began their first official day as vanni-packmates.

~*~

Two sunrises later...

Natalie and Adelaide were quietly enjoying the sunny peace of their woodland haven along with Elise and her friends. Everyone was in their werewolf form, clad in nothing but their lyccan fur.

“That’s a nice little pendant you’re wearing, Adelaide!” cheerfully noted Elise, taking notice of said accessory.

“Thank you! It’s a family heirloom my parents put in my hands before they passed,” the black-maned lycca-vanni explained. “It might not look like much, but... Before Natalie came into my life, the portrait inside was the only thing that kept me from losing myself. So, to me, it’s priceless.”

“Oh, there’s a portrait inside? Can I see it?”

“Sure, no problem!”

Adelaide took off her pendant, and handed it to Elise, showing her the button that opened it.

“Ah, I see you got your mother’s eyes and hair, girl!” said Marjorie, leaning in from behind the grayish-brown she-werewolf.

“So I’m told!” the owner of the pendant said with a smile.

“I’m glad the girls were able to salvage it,” Natalie added. “It was only thanks to them that I was able to give it back to you, Addie.”

“Yeah, that was very thoughtful of them. I wish I could repay their kindness somehow, but... God knows if we’ll ever get to see them again.”

“I hope they’re doing alright wherever they are,” the blond she-werewolf stated with a saddened sigh. “To be honest, I’m still kicking myself for not even thinking of telling them about this place or something. I mean, sure, I guess the only thing in my mind at the time was rescuing you, but I feel like I could have done more...”

“Don’t fall into that trap, girl. Never look for ways to diminish your successes,” Marjorie advised her. “Instead, tell yourself that you braved that hellhole, faced your demons, and won! You saved Adelaide! She’s here, safe and sound, all thanks to you! Hardly a small feat, I’d say!”

“Y-yes, but...”

“But nothing,” Rose interrupted, taking a step forward with an assertive hand-on-hip stance. “Look, the ugly truth is that the pack can only save one vanni a year, because that’s how the call of the forest works. This year was an exception, yes, but the point is that we can’t save everyone. It’s impossible.”

“Not to mention there’s only so many bond-less lycca available in the pack,” Anabelle added, not lifting her gaze off the romance novel she was reading. “And Howling Grove can only fit so many people as well. The way I see it, we have to be super grateful we could save an extra vanni this year, as that pretty much never happens.”

“I... I get that, and I am super grateful,” Natalie said in turn. “It’s just that I can’t help but feel a little sorry for them.”

“Well, girl,” Marjorie said, patting the blond one’s shoulder. “There’s always the chance that the call of the forest will one day guide them here. If that’s their fate, it will happen.”

“Not necessarily,” Rose stated. “Even if they hear the call, that’s no guarantee they’ll come here.”

“Ah, yes, that’s right. I suppose it could also lead them to any of the other werewolf packs.”

Natalie opened her eyes a little wider, blinking in surprise.

“What is it, girl?”

“Oh, it’s just— I guess it never occurred to me that there could be other werewolf packs, that’s all.”

“Yeah, ours isn’t the only one,” the jet-black huntress said, casually shifting her weight onto her other leg. “There are eleven others spread all over the continent, for a total of twelve.”

“According to the origin myths,” Marjorie began, “Mother Moon’s twelve sons — the very first lyccan werewolves — founded one each. In fact, it’s said that our pack was founded by the ninth son, which is supposedly why the annual call of the forest happens on the ninth month of the year for us.”

“So, this call thing happens on different months for each of the twelve packs?” Adelaide asked while Elise continued to study the pendant closely.

“Yep, exactly!”

“Huh, I guess that makes sense. But what about the Moon Stones and whatnot? Do they get their own too?”

“Yeah, I heard that all twelve packs have their own Moon Pedestals and ivory gates. Of course, their domains are also protected by the same kind of magical barrier as ours. So I guess you can say they all have their very own Howling Groves!”

“That’s true,” Rose nodded. “I once visited two of the other packs with Daggerclaw, and it’s just as you say. In fact, I could have sworn their ivory gates were the exact same as the one we have here!”

“Well, if I recall, their original function was to link the twelve ‘Groves’ together. Like, they all opened to some sort of central hub or something. Or at least that’s how the myths go anyway.”

“If that’s how it was in those times, ancient werewolves had it too easy,” the huntress joked. “Now, if you want to visit another pack, you have to go on a month-long trek across half of Galia just to reach the nearest one!”

As her friends discussed such topics, Elise observed the pendant in her hands intently. Something seemed to have caught her attention about it, but she couldn’t put a finger on what it was exactly.

“You know...” she eventually said, more to herself than anything else. “I feel like I’ve already seen these flower engravings somewhere else before.”

“What was that, girl?” Marjorie asked. “You said something?”

“Ah, I was just thinking aloud. I’m trying to figure out what this is making me think of,” the brownish she-werewolf explained, turning Adelaide’s pendant every which way. “It isn’t just the patterns, but the feel of the material, too. I know I once touched something like this, but what was it? God, this is driving me crazy!”

“Well, that’s bronze, isn’t it?” offered Marjorie, and then it struck her. “W-wait a minute—!”

“Ah! T-that’s right!” Elise exclaimed with a shocked gasp, making the same connection at the same time. “It’s just like that old key! T-the one Anabelle had found in her mother’s safe!”

That got the snow-white she-werewolf’s attention immediately. She quickly raised her snout from behind her book, and turned to the others with a puzzled expression on her face.

“What do you think?” Elise asked her as she showed her the pendant. “It’s bronze, same as your key, and look at these engraved flowers! Aren’t they the same too?”

“Let me see,” she said, putting her romance novel down as she reached towards the pendant. Taking it in her white furred hands, the albino she-werewolf thus laid her eyes on it for the very first time.

“Um, w-what’s going on?” Adelaide tried, confused.

“That’s what I’d like to know, girl!” Marjorie replied, scratching the back of her neck. “You see; a few years ago, Anabelle was handed an antique key she had inherited from her mother. It’s made of bronze, just like your pendant, and it looks like their engravings match too...”

“A... key?”

The two female lovers exchanged a surprised look, but before either of them could say anything else, Anabelle found the button on the pendant and pressed it, causing said item to pop open.

“N-no way!” she exclaimed, her emerald eyes nearly bulging out of her skull. “Adelaide, you— I mean, this man right here... Is he your father??”

“Y-yeah?” Adelaide tried, thoroughly disconcerted by the white she-werewolf’s reaction. “Well, he was actually my stepfather. He and Mom both passed away when I was eighteen...”

Anabelle covered her mouth and shook her head as she tried to make sense of what her eyes were beholding. “I— I cannot believe this!” she gasped, and then turned to the black-maned one. “Adelaide, your stepfather... was my dad!”

Various gasps of shock were uttered at once.

“H-he’s your dad? Are you sure?” Marjorie ventured.

“I’m positive,” Anabelle emphatically nodded. “Even though I never met him myself, Mom had a few pictures of him, and this is definitely his face!”

“But— But— How’s it even possible? Didn’t he die in the war?” Elise asked.

“That’s what Mom was told, but... Well, there was no body. All they could ever retrieve of him was a bloodstained identification tag, and nothing else.”

“Hm, I can see why that would be enough to officially declare a war combatant dead,” Rose mused aloud, flicking one ear. “In the chaos of war, his superiors must have assumed he met his end on a Kreuzlandian landmine or something. I remember those things were notorious for being powerful enough to completely obliterate a human body. But if your father lived to marry Adelaide’s mother, then he clearly survived the war.”

“But, I— I don’t understand!” Anabelle exclaimed, her brow furrowing somewhat amidst her confusion. “If he lived, why on Earth didn’t he come back home?”

“I... think I might be able to answer that,” said Adelaide, drawing everyone’s attention — especially Anabelle’s. “He was a concentration camp survivor. As I understand it, Kreuzland’s wartime scientists experimented on him and others with all sorts of drugs. Apparently, they were developing a memory erasure serum or something like that. And I guess they succeeded, because when the Galian forces found him, my stepfather was pretty much a blank slate. His memory was wiped clean, and he remembered absolutely nothing from before the war — not even his own name.”

“Whoa...” quietly said the huntress after a moment of silence. “If all his memories were destroyed to that degree, then I guess it isn’t entirely wrong to say that Annie’s father really died in the war after all.”

“Yeah, and there was no documentation or anything that could help identify him either,” Adelaide continued. “Well, except for that pendant, which one of the scientists had tried to keep for himself. He was forced to return it when the camp fell, but it was empty inside. The scientist guy had destroyed the original portrait, so that was that.”

“Huh. I’d imagine that original portrait probably had Anabelle’s mother on it,” said Marjorie, stroking the underside of her lower jaw. “It’s too bad that it was lost, but at least he was able to get the pendant itself back. Even with the portrait gone, it was still a tiny little piece of the past they stole from him, right?”

“It was better than nothing, for sure. And he held onto it knowing it was probably very important to his past self. Regardless, with no home to go back to, he eventually settled in Roud and married Mom, who was the nurse who treated him after his rescue. The three of us then lived a happy family life until the plague of 1156 took them from me. And... I guess that’s it. That’s his story.”

Another moment of silence ensued as it all sank in.

“Yeah, I... I’m going to need some time to process this,” said Anabelle after a while. “To think that all happened to him... And then I was only able to learn of this because you happened to be the one Natalie had an intervanni bond with? Just... what are the odds?”

“Odds? You think this happened by chance?” said Rose as she turned to the snow-white one. “Nah, the call of the forest knew exactly what it was doing. There’s just no other explanation.”

“Hmm, but that would mean the call has a will of its own, wouldn’t it?” Marjorie mused. “Then again, nobody knows how it works exactly. In fact, nobody could ever know, as it’s simply beyond a mortal’s understanding. Or at least that’s what lycca believe.”

“Well, we can call it a cosmic coincidence, an act of God, or what have you. It doesn’t really matter,” Elise proposed. “I think we learned these things today because we were meant to.”

“That’s one way to look at it, I suppose. But that begs the question: why were we meant to?”

“Uh, I don’t know. Destiny, I guess?” the brownish she-werewolf said with a shrug.

“I think a better question would be: what does Anabelle’s key have to do with that pendant?” pointedly asked Rose, crossing her arms as she leaned casually against the trunk of a tree.

“T-that’s right! I forgot that’s what started this whole conversation in the first place!”

“Well, I don’t know what that key looks like, but I can at least say there’s more to that pendant than meets the eye,” said Natalie. “Show them, Addie.”

With a silent nod, Adelaide turned to Anabelle, and reached towards the pendant. “Here,” she began as she carefully removed the portrait, uncovering what lay underneath. “I wonder if this has something to do with the key you’ve all been talking about.”

Elise and the others quickly gathered around the snow-white she-werewolf as they all beheld the exposed keyhole inside the pendant. ‘C-could it be...?’ was the question in everyone’s mind. ‘Could that oddly-placed keyhole truly be what Anabelle’s antique key is for? And, if so, what will we find inside?’

“...I’ll go get the key,” said Anabelle as she handed the pendant back to Adelaide, right before hurriedly starting towards her and Darkhowl’s den.

She was back with the key less than five minutes later, and wasted no time in giving it a try. ‘Click!’ went the keyhole as the key turned. Everyone watched with bated breath as her white furred hands gingerly opened the secret compartment. Even Rose couldn’t help but join the crowd around Anabelle, despite her best efforts to pretend she didn’t care all that much!

Then, at last, the mystery lay bare before everyone’s eyes.

“T-that’s—!” said Adelaide. “What is that?”

“Uh... What are we all looking at here?” the huntress wondered aloud, arching an eyebrow.

“It looks like some kind of... shard?” Marjorie observed confusedly, picking up said item.

Indeed, the object in question had the appearance of a shard of broken glass. It seemed as though it was made of a hard, glossy material, and was about an inch lengthwise, with jagged, angular edges. It also was dark gray all over, although it seemed to possess a very faint purple glow radiating outwards from its center...

“DROP THAT SHARD AT ONCE!”

All heads immediately turned towards where that loud utterance had come from. There, a few yards in front of them, stood an old man in a grayish-white hood. The six she-werewolves gawked at the unexpected intruder through wide flabbergasted eyes, trying and failing to use their words.

“Wha— Who— H-how did you—??” stammered Rose, her jaw quivering hopelessly with absolute befuddlement.

“Ah, I apologize for intruding upon these lands,” said the man, lowering his hood to let the warm rays of sunlight bathe his moderately wrinkly face. Elise and the others couldn’t help but think that he looked rather gentlemanly and jovial despite his old age. Even the white moustache he wore seemed very distinguished, which only added to the girls’ confusion-fueled stupor. “Certainly I am trespassing, but circumstances—”

“Oh, you better believe you’re trespassing, old man!” Rose shouted, forcing her body to snap out of said stupor. “Do you even know where you are??”

“Well, if I’m not mistaken, this should be... Howling Grove, I believe?”

“So you do know!” the huntress exclaimed, pointing an incensed finger at the man. “Then you should also know that non-vanni humans are not welcome here!”

“Oui, I understand that, but—”

“No, this conversation is over! You have five seconds to leave! One... Two...”

“It’s weird, though,” Marjorie said to the huntress, tapping her shoulder. “I mean, he shouldn’t even be here, right? How did he get past the magical barrier? He couldn’t have just walked through it... or could he?”

“W-wait!” Anabelle said with a start. “I remember now! I saw this man a few years ago, when I went to Roud for the first time! He’s the hooded beggar who was sitting outside the Memorial Museum!”

“What? Is that true?” Rose exclaimed before turning and pointing an accusatorial finger at the old man again. “Just how long have you been stalking us, you creep? And how did you even get past the barrier in the first place? Speak, or else!”

“Ah, non, I... I promise you I’m not a creep. Extenuating circumstances forced me to follow the shard-bearer’s trail to these sacred grounds. It just couldn’t be helped,” the mysterious beggar explained following an apologetic sigh. “However, you can be sure I will take my leave as soon as my mission here is complete. And as for the barrier you speak of, I’m afraid it simply doesn’t apply to me.”

“H-hang on just a minute! ‘Shard-bearer?’ ‘Mission?’ And what do you mean the barrier doesn’t apply to you?”

Having sensed that an emergency situation was in progress, Daggerclaw arrived at the scene at this very moment. He had been alerted by the sudden string of confused signals coursing through the soma bond he shared with Rose. Upon his arrival, the large male promptly stood in front of his fireblood vanni, growling aggressively as he bared his fearsome werewolf teeth at the hooded beggar. Duskprowler and Fang arrived next, standing before their respective vanni-mates as they, too, snarled threateningly at the intruder.

“Oh, mon Dieu. I was fearing this would happen,” the strangely distinguished old beggar lamented. “Ah, please don’t be alarmed, good sirs. I promise I mean the ladies no harm.”

“What is going on here? Who is this suspicious character?” Fang asked Elise, still with his bared namesakes in full display.

“We have no idea! He just came out of nowhere, demanding we drop the shard we found in Adelaide’s pendant! He also said something about a mission, and that the Howling Grove barrier has no effect on him!”

“What? No effect? But that is impossible! No mortal has the power to override divine magic!”

“Unless... Might he be a soma-bonded male vanni from another pack?” Duskprowler offered.

“That’s a good guess, but I’m afraid it’s incorrect, mon ami,” the old man said as he briefly closed his eyes and shook his head from side to side.

‘Mon Dieu? Mon ami? What even are those words?’ Elise wondered, tilting her head as one of her ears drooped.

“Admittedly, the truth is... somewhat complicated, to say the least,” the mysterious old man continued. “So, if you would all please bear with me, I will now try to—”

Two more lycca arrived just then — Darkhowl and Fleetpaw. They stood before their respective vanni while tensing muscles, raising claws, and baring fangs, not unlike the others.

“Are you alright, my vanni?” The larger alpha male asked Anabelle

“Yes, I’m fine,” the white she-werewolf responded. “Then again, I don’t really think we’re in any danger here, although I appreciate the concern.”

“I w-would rather be overly cautious than not before a human who, uh... who has somehow treaded on grounds that should have repelled him,” warily spoke Fleetpaw in front of Marjorie.

“Even ignoring that, there simply is... something eerily unnatural about this person,” Daggerclaw stated through clenched teeth, not taking his eyes off the beggar. “I know not what it is, but my instincts tell me to stay on guard.”

“Non, monsieur loup-garou,” the oddly calm man politely said to Daggerclaw. “Although I understand my presence here might not be agreeable to your instincts, I assure you I am one hundred percent harmless. You can trust me on that, mon ami!”

Fleetpaw gasped.

“T-those words... They’re Ancient Galian!”

More gasps ensued, particularly from Marjorie and Elise.

“Oh, je suis désolé. I should have known some of my vocabulary might have long fallen out of use,” the man said before offering a conciliatory smile. “Old habits die hard, as they say. Regardless, please accept my apologies for the confusion it might have caused.”

“Ah! N-no, but... How??” Daggerclaw suddenly exclaimed as his eyes widened, his stance faltering for a split second.

“W-what is it?” Rose asked him, her ears jerking upright.

“I— I have just realized what has been bothering me!” he said, his voice wavering ever-so-slightly. “T-this man... has no scent!”

Various exclamations of shock and surprise followed as everyone realized that the man, indeed, did not seem to possess a discernible scent.

‘No scent, can just step through the barrier, speaks Ancient Galian, and doesn’t seem to be fazed by the fact that he’s standing before eleven werewolves. What the hell is his deal??’ The jet-black huntress wondered inwardly. ‘What’s more, how did he even come here without making the slightest noise? I mean, at the very least, the grass under his feet should have rustled as he made his way to us, right? So, what—’

Rose’s train of thought stopped dead in its tracks. ‘N-no way!!’ she thought as the unlikely answer stared at her through something she had just noticed at the man’s feet. ‘The grass—! T-this cannot be!!’

After composing herself, the huntress took a few steps forward, positioning herself in front of the group.

“Rose-vanni? What are you doing?” Daggerclaw asked her, confused. “It is not safe to—”

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry,” she said as she stared straight ahead at the smiling old man, fire glowing in her eyes. “There’s one thing I need to test right now. Watch very closely...”

Everyone observed in befuddled silence as she grabbed an apple-sized rock from the ground. She then bounced it in her hands a few times, assessing its heft. Finally, she pointed it at the mysterious beggar. “Hey, you! Catch this!”

She immediately sent the rock flying in his direction. The man only smiled placidly, not making even the slightest attempt to catch the projectile headed his way. Then, the most incredible thing happened: rather than hitting him, the rock simply went through him as though he wasn’t even there! Thus, it landed on the ground a short distance behind him.

Flabbergasted murmurs arose from every werewolf in the group except Rose.

“Yeah, I had noticed that the grass is going right through your feet,” she said to the man, pointing downwards. “So, then, what are you?”

The man smiled.

“You are observant, mademoiselle; even though I had no intention to keep my circumstances a secret,” he spoke. “I am what remains of a man whose mortal body perished centuries ago. My name is Jacques. Jacques Fontaine.”

Rose and Marjorie both gasped in utter disbelief. “J-Jacques Fontaine?” the latter exclaimed, shocked. “As in, Jacques ‘The Red Blaze’ Fontaine? The master fencer who fought alongside Jean-Pierre LeBlanc against The Wyvern? You’re that Jacques??”

“Ah, it’s nice to see that my legend still lives on!” the man chuckled. “Oui, I am the very one, indeed!”

“So how is this even possible?” Rose asked. “I mean, according to history books, you died in the battle with The Wyvern...”

“Regrettably, that is correct. Although I suppose I can’t complain much, since I went down in a ‘red’ blaze of glory, foil in hand till the very end! But to answer your question, it was Zaephirus — the blue dragon — who has worked this miracle.”

“T-the very last dragon to leave this world!” Marjorie exclaimed, surprised.

“So... you’re saying the legendary blue dragon revived you after the battle?” the huntress continued, flicking her ears.

“Not exactly,” the man spoke. “Even with all his arcane magic, bringing the dead back to life was beyond Zaephirus’ power. However, in my case, he was able to do something else...”

The old man Jacques produced something from within his robes. It was a crystalline shard that glowed white as it floated a couple inches over the palm of his hand.

“This shard,” he began, “is the only physical object I can manipulate in my current state — a feat made possible through something called autokinesis. More importantly, it is also the only surviving fragment of the Zeus Blade.”

Various gasps were uttered at the mention of the legendary sword.

“My spirit is anchored to this little shard, courtesy of Zaephirus,” the man continued. “In fact, one could say I’m actually inside it. The body you see here speaking to you is just an outwards projection — a complex trick of the light, if you will. As such, it possesses no solidity, as you’ve already noticed.”

“Why are you here?” Anabelle asked somewhat curtly as other werewolves began to arrive, drawn by the commotion.

“A fair question. Before he departed, the blue dragon entrusted me with a mission of paramount importance — one only I could accomplish, given what I had become. Basically, I am to locate and destroy every last piece of the heart of The Wyvern, so that it may never revive.”

“The heart of The Wyvern?”

“Yes, I’m talking about the Chaos Gem,” Jacques said with a respectful nod. “Basically, that cursed thing was the crystallized manifestation of mankind’s darkest side. Only the holy light of the Zeus Blade could oppose its terrifying power. Still, the two were so evenly matched that they both ended up obliterating one another when the final blow was delivered. But just as this fragment of light survived, so did a few shards of that wretched gem. My mission, again, is to destroy them wherever they may surface.”

“D-does that mean that... the thing we found inside my pendant is, uh, one of those shards you have to destroy?” warily asked Adelaide, raising her head a little from behind Duskprowler’s shoulder.

“Oui, I’m afraid that is precisely the case. That particular one eluded me for decades, and now I see it’s because its container hampered my ability to sense it. I can hardly imagine how much misfortune it must have brought upon those close to it in that time...”

“W...wait, what?”

“Oh, those shards are magnets for adversity. They are, after all, the remains of the most insidious gem the world has ever known.”

Adelaide let out a horrified gasp as the implications slowly dawned on her. “Oh, my God... So, all the horrible things that happened to my parents, Natalie, and me...”

“Holy shit!” exclaimed a royally spooked Marjorie, immediately dropping the shard as though it was a hot potato.

“So, then, would it be safe to assume you will not object to its destruction?” Jacques asked, clasping his hands together.

Everyone turned to Adelaide, who closed her eyes as Natalie grabbed her hand in her own. As the loving memory of her late mother and stepfather brought peace to her heart, the black-maned she-werewolf opened her eyes and simply said: “Make sure there’s nothing left of it.”

“You can count on that, mademoiselle!”

As Jacques approached the shard on the ground, the blond she-werewolf couldn’t help but experience a humbling sense of awe. ‘This man, Jacques Fontaine, the famed hero from the eighth century... Wow. After all I’ve seen and heard just now, it seems pretty clear to me that this is the ‘very wise old man’ abuela Olga had met in her late fifties. No wonder he never returned her feelings, what with his being a ghost and all!’

Natalie’s group formed a semicircle around Jacques as he knelt down in front of the purplish dark shard. The males were still wary of him, even though they knew not much could be done against someone with no true physical presence, whose ‘body’ was but a mirage. Meanwhile, the rest of the Howling Grove pack had already gathered at the scene, quietly watching the proceedings from further back.

The process that followed was very straightforward. The mirage man simply touched the cursed shard with his Zeus Blade fragment, which almost instantly caused the former to dissolve into a swirl of dust, and then nothing.

“It is done, mes amis!” he declared.

“Uh, how come your shard didn’t dissolve as well? I mean, it’s good that it didn’t... but I thought you said the Zeus Blade and the Chaos Gem were evenly matched?” Rose asked, scratching the back of her head.

“Ah, but my shard has something those others don’t. It is infused with the immortal soul of a noble warrior who bravely stood his ground until the very end!” he said with a wink. “That’s the key difference that tips the scales in our favor!”

“What I’d like to know is why my father had something so dangerous in his possession,” said Anabelle, taking a step forward.

“Your father, you say?”

“Yes. It’s a very complicated story, but... Adelaide inherited that pendant from him four years ago, although none of us knew what was inside until today. I never actually met him myself, but she did, except he was essentially a different person by that point anyway. I don’t know the details, but he was apparently experimented on during the Kreuzland war, and got his memory wiped clean as a result. Which means that anything he might have known about the history of that pendant was gone too.”

“Sacré bleu! That... That sounds horrific! Unfortunately, I don’t see how I could answer that question, as I have no way of knowing where that shard had been. I’m sorry.”

“Ah, uh, p-perhaps I would do well in bringing that, um— that old journal here,” Fleetpaw awkwardly said to the snow-white she-werewolf before dashing away in the direction of his den.

“Huh? What was he talking abou— Oh! Right! The journal that was written in Ancient Galian, that he had translated for Annie some time ago! I had completely forgotten about that!” Rose exclaimed before laughing the awkwardness away.

“Alright, guys, if you’d hear me out,” spoke Elise immediately afterwards, addressing everyone else. “While we wait for Fleetpaw to come back with the journal, how about we all introduce ourselves to Mr. Fontaine? I mean, let it never be said we’ve been rude to a beloved historical figure, right?”

“Uh... Yeah, I guess you kind of have a point, girl,” Marjorie conceded.

Elise then proceeded to introduce everyone to Jacques, leaving herself and Fang for last. Fleetpaw rejoined the group shortly after, ancient journal in hand. Upon showing it to the felled hero from the past, more things seemed to fall into place.

“This is such a fascinating find,” he said after reading a few passages to himself. “The author of this journal was quite clearly Dharkan the Dark, formerly known as Dharkan the Light. He was the king’s right-hand man in my time, as well as the royal sorcerer in Roud’s court. Alas, his soul was torn between good and evil, and he ended up becoming the unwitting pawn of the Chaos Gem. He also was The Wyvern’s first victim upon its awakening.”

“Yeah, we figured it was his journal, so no surprises there,” said Marjorie. “But what about that ‘M’ my lycca-mate had noticed in his signature? It confuses us, since there’s no ‘M’ in ‘Dharkan’...”

“Oh, Dharkan’s real name was Marcel. Marcel Lenoir. It was perhaps his greatest secret. In fact, he kept it close to his chest almost until the very end. He only felt compelled to reveal it when he found himself dying in Jean-Pierre’s arms. I suppose he wanted to die as himself, so to say.”

Anabelle’s eyes widened in shock. “Lenoir? That was Dad’s last name! He was a Lenoir too!”

“Oh, my God!” Elise exclaimed, her own eyes growing almost just as wide. “Y-you know what this means?”

“Wait; not so fast, mademoiselle Elise,” calmly spoke Jacques. “I know for a fact that Dharkan never fathered any children, which means his branch of the Lenoir bloodline died with him. However, he did have an older brother, although it’s likely he never knew.”

“Oh!” Marjorie said excitedly. “I remember I once heard that Jean-Pierre LeBlanc and Dharkan were actually brothers! Maybe that’s what—”

“Nah, that silly theory was proven false years ago,” Rose said while shaking her head and wagging her index finger at the gray-furred one. “No historian worth their salt subscribes to it anymore.”

“Oh... Um, okay then, I guess...” she said, deflated. ‘Such a shame, though. I kind of liked that theory!’

After a few more minutes of discussing these matters, Jacques announced his conclusion: “At some point in the last seven hundred years, someone from a surviving branch of the Lenoir family tree must have learned of Dharkan’s roots. They likely also obtained both his diary and the shard I’ve just destroyed. Those items were then passed down from generation to generation as family heirlooms, all the way to the present day. And I’m afraid that’s the best I’ve got in regard to this particular matter.”

“Works for me,” Anabelle declared as she closed the journal. “So Dharkan being a Lenoir was the last puzzle piece we were missing, and now we’ve got it. As far as I’m concerned, this mystery has been solved.”

“Très magnifique! Er, glad to be of help!” said Jacques with a smile. “Well, it seems my work here is done. But before I take my leave, I would like to compensate you all properly for the trouble my presence here has caused.”

“Ah, that won’t be necessary, I don’t think.”

“Oh, but I insist!” he winked. “Of course, my current state as a metaphysical entity limits what I may offer, but I realized I might just have the perfect parting gift for all of you anyway!”

“We’re listening!” quickly said Rose as she not-so-subtly nudged her snow-white friend aside.

“If I recall, the magic protecting this place has the side effect of sealing your memories of what lies beyond the ivory gate in the back of the main area...”

“You knew that too??” gasped the huntress.

“Of course! One does not roam the world for seven centuries without amassing a veritable wealth of knowledge, mademoiselle Rose,” he jovially stated. “Anyway, I’ve noticed that the grove’s barrier consists of a simple time fold. It seems a stronger variant protects the sanctum beyond the ivory gate, which appears to exist within a time loop in the distant past. My theory is that any and all memories you make while on the other side of the gate are trapped in that loop.”

“Oh, wow. That, uh... If that’s what you call ‘simple,’ I don’t want to imagine what something you’d call ‘complicated’ even looks like!” said an overwhelmed Marjorie.

“Ah, the important part is that bridging the time displacement would instantly reconnect you with those memories. I believe the dragon magic in my shard of light should be able to do that, albeit temporarily, and only once.”

“So... What exactly are you proposing, Mr. Fontaine?”

“Simply put, I’m offering one of you the chance to hold my shard for a few moments, which will allow them to remember everything they saw and heard beyond the ivory gate.”

“Only one of us, huh...”

“Oui. Unfortunately, I don’t think I have enough energy to do it more than once, so this is the best I can do. I’m sorry.”

The six lycca-vanni exchanged awkward glances among themselves as each of them waited for someone else to speak up and say something. Eventually, Marjorie took the initiative. “This might be our only chance to peek into the greatest secret of Howling Grove, girls,” she said. “We have to make the most of it. Which means we have to try and pick the vanni most likely to have asked the Grand Alpha all the questions that matter.”

“How do you even begin to determine something like that?” Rose asked as her ears flicked. “Uh, let’s not make this any more complicated than it needs to be, Marjorie. I say we just leave it to chance.”

“Yeah, I agree with Rose. Let’s all draw straws or something, and whatever happens, happens,” Anabelle proposed.

“Ah, alright, fine. I suppose that’s fair.”

And so it was decided. Every vanni in Howling Grove tried their luck in an improvised straw-drawing contest, hoping to be the one. But, of course, there could only be a single winner. In the end, the luck of the draw favored Fang’s vanni-mate: Elise.

“Well! It looks like the straw has spoken!” Marjorie announced. “Elise, the rest of us will have to settle for learning the Grand Alpha’s secrets second-hand through you, so make sure you share everything with us, okay?”

“Sure, I, uh... I’ll do my best.”

Not knowing exactly what to expect, Elise turned towards Jacques. However, before she could take one step forward, Fang stood in front of her. “I am sorry, but I cannot let my mate touch that magic shard before I have made certain that it is safe,” he said to the waiting man. “As any lycca would tell you, our vanni’s safety comes first, always.”

“Oh, of course, monsieur Fang! Your concern is very much understandable. Certainly, you may come and touch it first, if that would put your mind at ease.”

“Yes, I think I will do that.”

The big, imposing male then touched Jacques’ glowing magical shard with his own bare hands. Predictably enough, nothing happened. Eventually, Fang had to admit that the shard truly was harmless, and that it posed no danger to Elise or any other vanni. Thus, he reluctantly stepped aside, letting his soma-bonded vanni-mate come forth to take his place.

“So I just have to touch it, right?”

“Indeed,” Jacques said to her with a nod. “However, please bear in mind that you will forget everything again the moment you withdraw your hand.”

“Got it.”

The grayish-brown she-werewolf drew a big breath, then reached towards the white crystalline shard. Not without some trepidation, her fingers finally made contact with it. At that moment, her eyes grew very big as all the memories of her Oneness Test rushed back into her mind at once!

“Oh, my God...” she gasped. “It’s true, I... I remember everything!”

“Alright, girl! We’re all ears!” eagerly said Marjorie as she, Rose, and the others huddled closer around their friend.

“T-there’s so much, I don’t even know where to begin!”

“Well, how about starting from the beginning?” the huntress pragmatically suggested. “So you stepped past the gate, and it closed behind you. What happened next?”

“Um... okay. After the gate closed, I found myself standing in pitch-black darkness. I couldn’t even see one inch in front of me. And then...”

~*~

And so it came to pass, that Elise recounted her entire experience inside the Grand Alpha’s chamber to her friends. She spoke of the breathtaking garden within, the hauntingly beautiful bed of selenia flowers at the center, the true nature of the Moon Stones, and the Grand Alpha being none other than Mother Moon herself.

Elise described the divine majesty of the wolf goddess to the best of her ability, referencing her awe-inspiring size, the silvery shine of her fur, and the motherly tone of her ethereal voice. She then went on to reveal what the Oneness Test actually entailed, as well as the important role the selenia flowers played in keeping Howling Grove safe.

Of course, the brownish lycca-vanni didn’t forget to also recount Mother Moon’s origin story. She went through it as thoroughly as she could, down to the very last detail. It goes without saying that Fang, Daggerclaw, Darkhowl, and all the other males listened to her with rapt attention. In the end, many a tear was shed as the children of the moon learned of the transcendental miracle that birthed their whole species — a miracle given form by Zaephirus himself, inspired by the tragic tale of an innocent girl and her loyal wolf.

Once Elise was sure she had gone through all of her memories of Mother Moon, she withdrew her hand from the shard. “Whoa!” she said as those experiences instantly vanished from her mind. “That feels so weird! Like, those memories I just talked about? All gone. But I still remember most of the things I said about them! So now I’m like: ‘wait, I met Mother Moon??’ and it’s blowing my mind!”

“You know what’s even more mind-blowing? That we’ve all met her,” Anabelle noted. “Think about it: every single one of us has seen that garden, spoken to Mother Moon, and planted those selenia seeds. Every vanni standing here has had those experiences; we just don’t remember any of it! But at least now we know.”

“More importantly, we learned that the Oneness Test is a test of the heart, and never had anything to do with books or studying,” Rose added. “Which means you now owe me an apology for all the dang books you forced down my throat, Marjorie!”

“I’m not going to apologize for shoving some culture into that thick skull of yours, girl. Besides, any and all time spent on books is time well spent, and I will not hear otherwise!”

“Spoken like a total nerd!”

“What did you say??”

“N-E-R-D: nerd!”

And so on, and so forth.

“Uh... They’re friends, right?” Jacques asked Elise.

“Best friends, believe it or not!” she laughed.

Shortly afterwards, the guardian of the Zeus Blade shard bid everyone farewell. “I must return to my eternal path now, for my mission is never over. Indeed, as long as mankind exists, there will always be another shard of Chaos lurking somewhere in the shadows. Such is the nature of the perpetual battle I chose to wage.”

The werewolves of the Howling Grove pack saw the man off at the gate of the twin willow trees, wishing him well. “Till we meet again, mes amis!” he said back to them with a big bright smile as he walked forth, turning once to wave good-bye from a distance. He then continued on his way, eventually disappearing among the farthest trees on the horizon.

“AH!” Rose suddenly gasped after a few moments.

“What?” Anabelle asked, turning to her with an arched eyebrow.

“I forgot to tell him I’m a LeBlanc!”

“Oh. Well, maybe that was for the best.”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, forget it.”

“No, tell me!”

“Ah, aren’t there other, more important things we should be talking about instead? Like, for example, the fact that that Raoul guy had mentioned the garden of selenias by name? Of course, we had no idea what that even meant back then, but now—”

“No! You’re not changing the subject on me!”

“Eh, it was worth a shot.”

~*~

Life continued on as usual in the forest of Lanea. Every soma-bonded vanni and lycca kept living in harmony with nature, bound to nothing but their undying love for one another. Elise, Rose, Anabelle, Marjorie, Natalie, Adelaide, plus every other lycca-vanni in the pack; they all smiled contentedly in the strong, muscular arms of their furred mates, enjoying the devout love they happily showered them with night after night.

In regard to Fleetpaw, he took it upon himself to write a detailed record of all the events that had transpired on the day Jacques visited the grove, for posterity. It, of course, included a thorough retelling of all the revelations Elise had shared while she had access to her memories. Certainly, the resulting scroll would ensure that the holy truth of Mother Moon couldn’t easily get lost in the tides of time again.

A few weeks afterwards, ‘that time of the month’ made an unexpected return to Natalie and Adelaide’s lives, surprising them both. Until that happened, neither of them truly understood the extent to which the first transformation following an Offering of the Fangs could heal a vanni. They simply had no idea that their bodies had been made whole again! Of course, they were overjoyed, as it meant that both of them could one day bear Duskprowler’s cubs.

Understandably, it was assumed that their wombs had regenerated from nothing, even though that wasn’t the case. Then again, the intrincacies of the magic governing lyccan regeneration were poorly understood. No one really knew that it drew mass from either the original body part — if available — or air, with the former having priority on account of it being the faster method. At any rate, and as far as vanni and lycca were concerned, it was simply magic, and no further explanation was needed.

As for Dr. Einfern and the Blue Diamond Fellowship, it would be years before Elise and the others heard of them again. Certainly, the doctor continued with his unholy research in the shadows of Roud’s underworld undeterred. However, what that meant for Howling Grove will remain to be seen for the time being. Or, in other words, that is simply a tale for another day.

And so we reach the end of this story; the story of two girls whose kindred hearts dared to beat for one another, and the furred hero who readily saved them through his Offering of the Fangs. Together, the three of them would surely live happily ever after, as that is the destiny of every soma-bonded vanni and lycca on the face of the Earth.

As the beastly lords of the night sing their mighty howls to the full moon above, the noble cries of their hearts rise skyward. Unbeknownst to them, the feelings they carry within merge into a wordless call that spreads far and wide, ready to be heard by the somas of those chosen by fate:

“Come to us, vanni of the world! Come to our arms, for in them you will find your home! Come; let us free you through the bite of our fangs! Cast your fears away and come to the sacred haven Mother Moon built for you, where all is wolf, and wolf is all!”

The End (or is it?)

There's an extra surprise coming up next week! Please look forward to it! ^_^