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Kemly woke wrapped in Illeb's arms. The morning still lingered with the scent of their coupling, and a sheen of sweat coated his skin everywhere the wolf touched. Illeb was so warm. Kemly shuddered against him, recognizing he lied on his side now, still tangled together. Kemly nuzzled into his chest fur and sighed, fingers curling into soft auburn fur which faded into a lighter cream color at his front. It felt good to be here. His body buzzed with pleasure he didn't know how to describe. He recognized, idly, the need to relieve his bladder, a slight pinching of hunger, typical needs his body might wake with.

But he clung to the wolf, ignoring those needs to draw out this embrace.

He was not sure how long he savored Illeb's touch before the wolf woke. It started with a rumble in his chest, a deep sigh before those arms squeezed tighter for just a moment. Then Illeb said, “I was worried last night was a dream."

When Kemly looked up, the warmth in the wolf's green eyes left him so flustered he burrowed back into Illeb's chest to hide the effect he had on the human. Happy and confused. That's what Kemly felt. That's what he could name it. No one had ever made him feel this way before.

Kemly said, “I'm glad it wasn't."

“Do you still plan to leave today?"

The question made those blossoming feelings wither a little. He heard it in Illeb's voice, knew the wolf wanted him to stay, too. Kemly groaned before he answered: “Yes… I have to, don't I? I'd have died if Lady Bough'd not taken me in."

A large, comforting hand stroked down his back. “I understand... Hmmph, you are stronger than me, for what it is worth."

Kemly craned his neck back to look at Illeb before he asked, “What does that mean?"

“I… I don't wish to go into it now," Illeb said, his ears pinned back, “But the reason I was exiled is that I put what I wanted over the wolves who took me in. It is good you aren't making the same mistake as me."

Kemly frowned. He touched the wolf's cheek, whose whiskers twitched a moment before Kemly said, “I'm sorry that happened to you, Illeb. But I'm glad we found each other, I'm not sure we would have without that."

“Kem…" Illeb choked on Kemly's name. He took a deep breath. “Thank you, perhaps with time we can both help each other find meaning again."

Kemly smiled as those feelings came back. They were heavy and bright in his throat. He said, “I'm looking forward to it. After I do this, it can just be the two of us." Kemly drew the big wolf down into another soft kiss, both arching their bodies in different directions to meet.

***

Illeb walked with Kemly till they heard the rhythmic work of the logging crews. There, Illeb stopped and said, “If I go any farther, someone might see me with you." Kemly faced the wolf, in the dim light of the Anesh, his fur appeared brown again and his eyes almost hazel instead of green.

Kemly pulled the wolf down into an embrace. They pressed their brows together a moment, staring into each other's eyes. A dark haired human and a bright eyed wolf. Kemly whispered, “I promise I will be back."

“I know, if I don't hear from you I will come looking."

Illeb released him, and with that exchange, Kemly faced the forest's edge. He felt a bit strange, like he left some things unsaid with Illeb. He just felt so strongly about the wolf… and yet he walked away, those feelings slipping into an uneasiness carried in his stiff stride.

Soon as loggers took notice of him their work began to still. Murmurings broke into panicked sounds of alarm, as if Kemly already stood a wolf before them. Carrow must not have wasted time telling the town what happened yesterday. Only yesterday? Men cleared out of the woods, axes and saws left behind. Someone ran for the town for the guard, the rest formed a tight semi-circle to Kemly's right. Big, older bearded men with rugged, sun-wrinkled faces, brandished their axes at Kemly. When Kemly looked them in the eyes they flinched. He was closer to a boy than a man compared to them, but here the whole crew was: four dozen men, scared of a single boy.

One of them, that Kemly knew to be a foreman for the crew came forward and yelled, “Alright, Marked. You better be here so you can get freed from the curse. We heard what that wolf did to you."

The foreman stood about fifty paces from Kemly. Kemly did not feel like shouting back and forth. All he called back was, “There is no curse!" and he kept walking for the settlement. His pace picked up a little as he crossed the clear cut field to Shore's Edge. From the gates a single person ran out, which got Kemly to stop in his tracks. She had to shove her way through a line of guards, who already waited for him with spears set and crossbows loaded. Carrie, Lady Bough's personal servant, came until only a distance of twenty paces separated them. There she stopped as if the miasma of wolf Kemly carried was too strong. On the shoulder of his shirt, dried blood still stained dark the rough, brown cloth.

“Kemly!" Carrie said, “Don't come any closer or they'll shoot. Lady Bough wants to know, some hunter said the wolves took you, said you got bit. She said you'd be back though and here you are. She said, she said," Carrie tripped over her words. Her hair, usually tied back, fell across her face in a sweaty mess. She pulled it back behind her ears before she said, “Lady Bough wants to know if you really are cursed. She wants to know what the wolf told you."

“There is no curse, Carrie," Kemly said, feeling a twinge of grief as Carrie flinched.

“You're sure?" she asked. “Kemly you'd stake all our lives on it?"

Kemly nodded. Carrie lost her son to stop him from turning, and her arm to keep her from becoming cursed when she got bit on the elbow. So many in Shore's Edge lost so much for nothing. Knowing that, the grief twisted back to the anger he had felt before. It was not just Lady Bough he needed to do this for.

Carrie nodded. “I'll bring her here. She'll see to it that you get to speak."

Kemly watched her run back, her stride seeming off balance with an arm missing. Kemly sat at a nearby stump of one of the Anesh to wait.

Originally, they tried to dig up the stumps to clear the way for farmland, but settlers found the roots tangled with other trees. It was likely, Kemly realized, that a single of the Anesh was probably made of many trees. He glanced down at his peg, resting along the dirt. He knew all too well what life was like for those with parts of their body severed off. Yes, it was not just Lady Bough who he returned for.

The guards did not approach, but he saw a train of people making a ruckus behind them. The soldiers parted ways and a crowd broke off towards Kemly. At their front, in her feather cloak billowing in the autumn breeze, was Lady Bough. Most of those following her were servants of the church, fellow Marked. Roughly a dozen in all, some walking on crutches or pegs, with hands or forearms missing. With them were a few others who just served the church, and Carrow—Kemly did not expect to see him again.

Most of those following her stuttered to a stop some paces from Kemly, but Lady Bough marched right up to the stump. She stood over Kemly and said, “Is it true?"

Kemly said, “There is no curse."

“We have seen people of the town turn."

“The wolf who turned was one of them. He says Raysh turned him."

If Lady Bough was surprised by that news, she completely masked it. She knelt down beside Kemly and said, “Kemly, I need you to listen carefully. If what you say is true… there will be a reckoning, but I need you to keep that between me and you. Shore's Edge cannot afford to be plunged into chaos."

“You're just going to let—"

“I did not say that," Lady Bough snapped. “Governor Frault is still out of town. Sir Lyon could bring about marshall law if he wished—kill anyone who did not obey him. We must wait."

Kemly pursed his lips and said, “You're in danger, you know. He'll try to kill you."

“Please, that is hardly news. Sir Lyon would love nothing more to replace me with a more complacent minister from the Empire's interior."

“If you're not going to confront him, can I leave?"

“Leave? You just returned," Lady Bough said. None of the people who followed her crept any closer. Whether it was fear of the curse or Lady Bough's orders, Kemly couldn't tell which was more intimidating to them at this point.

“I told Illeb I would come back."

“Illeb, that is the wolf's name?"

Kemly nodded.

Lady Bough studied his face a moment then asked, “Why do you want to return to the forest?"

Kemly's mind conjured the furs from the night before. The scent of Illeb's musk, the taste of his mouth, the feeling of—

Lady Bough said, “Perhaps it is best I not know."

Kemly realized he was blushing furiously. Lady Bough needed no other clues, but she spared Kemly from saying it. Kemly said, flustered, “I only came back to warn you about the mage."

Lady Bough sighed. “Spirits guide me, boy. You know no one will believe you if the last they heard is you were bitten and chose to live a life with a wolf. They will simply say your spirit turned but your body remained for some reason."

Kemly grimaced. He wanted to say that was her problem, not his. He thought of Illeb, how warm he felt this morning. Kemly glanced back at the woods and then at the group behind Lady Bough. They all watched the two expectantly. She was right. Worst still, they would probably run Lady Bough out of town if he abandoned her now and she still insisted the curse not real.

But before Kemly could work up the courage to tell Lady Bough he would stay, someone else made the decision for him.

From the gate of the settlement came another group. A cluster of guards with the robed mage leading them. These soldiers were not the town guard. The leather of their bright, polished armor was dyed red. Kemly rarely saw them but knew they were Raysh's personal guard, assigned from Emperor Balamot himself. They did not mingle with the townsfolk or the soldiers stationed here. They guarded Raysh's workshop and the mage himself, and they brandished large kite shields with a roc to match the one on Raysh's robes. Swords swung at their belts, but they bore no other weapons at the moment.

Lady Bough fixed Kemly with hard glare and warned, “Do not try to run this time."

She rose and walked in front of her train of followers to face Raysh. The mage stopped a few paces from Lady Bough and announced, “You are on the precipice of the gallows, lady. I would suggest you step aside."

“What business do you have with the boy?"

“I wish to examine him."

“To see if he is cursed?"

The mage said, “To confirm he carries the curse. Then I will put him down for the safety of this settlement."

Kemly stood on the stump to get a better view of the mage. When he saw Kemly's head peek past the people Lady Bough brought with her, the mage pointed at him and said, “His aura reeks of wolf. I can tell from here his spirit has already been replaced."

Kemly took a step back, but remembered Lady's Bough's warning. Those soldiers would likely hunt him down. He glanced back into the forest, wondered if Illeb watched what unfolded here.

Kemly steeled himself and spoke up, “I'm not cursed because there is no curse." Eyes turned to him and Kemly stepped off the stump, Lady Bough's people cleared around him before he stood beside her. He was smaller than both of them, than all of the guards. He did not make an intimidating sight, but he kept up his firm glare on as he said, “Put me in the stocks again for another week. I won't turn."

Lady Bough added, “If he surrenders himself to this, will you let him, Sir Lyon? Silencing him here with steel will surely speak louder than he ever could."

Raysh scoffed. “Please. If I cut him down the people of this town would praise me."

Kemly felt goosebumps rise on his arms, but Lady Bough said, “So you plan not to, then."

Raysh's eyes narrowed a moment on Lady Bough before he said to Kemly, “No. Like you I am curious, and wish to test the veracity of his claim. I will bring him to my workshop and see for myself if he is cursed. I have the instruments to draw out and reveal what spirit propels him, be it human or wolf."

Kemly turned to Lady Bough and whispered, “You can't let him. He's just gonna turn me and—"

“I know," Lady Bough hissed.

“If I cannot know for certain I will simply have him killed," Raysh interrupted them. He added, “Do not make a scene my lady. Release the boy into my custody, I promise you will be allowed to see him."

Lady Bough crouched and grabbed Kemly by the temples to make sure they were eye to eye before she said, “Trust me." Then she faced Raysh, “Take him then."

***

At just a gesture, those soldiers surged forward and tossed Kemly to the ground. One snapped his hands in manacles before they hauled him back into Shore's Edge. They planned all along to bring him back in, which Kemly realized as they approached the mage's workshop. It was a building on the eastern end of town that, unlike the rest of the cramped settlement, had some space between it and everything else. A brick fence twice Kemly's height blocked the workshop's yard from view. An unassuming, two story building rose over the fence but the windows along its face were always drawn close with thick curtains. Raysh's personal guard kept anyone out, and the few fools desperate enough to try and break in were killed soon as they were caught.

Sir Raysh Lyon ran his own world there, and Lady Bough just let Kemly be dragged inside. He was terrified, not of being turned, but of the mage turning him then killing him before the whole town. After everything with Illeb, he could stomach the thought of turning, he couldn't stomach the thought of losing his newfound companion.

Companion… the word felt wrong but Kemly struggled to wrap his mind around calling Illeb anything else.

He fixated on the wolf to cope while they brought him inside the workshop. The building smelled of sulphur and made Kemly's nose wrinkle soon as they stepped inside. Two guards carried him by the shoulders down a hallway left of the front door, which led to a set of stairs the went beneath the building. Down those stairs the smell of sulphur mixed with cinder as they entered a chamber that must have been large as the entire workshop above them. Lit torches in sconces lined the stone walls every ten paces. A set of iron cages big enough for a person to sit in rested on the floor in one corner. Along a wall was a tapestry of a roc in flight, casting a net of flames across a burning landscape. Beneath it was a stone altar with several cuts of wood set out along it, the same dark of Kemly's pegged foot. Staining the altar as well, Kemly realized, was blood, and a few polished tools on the table were carved from bone.

Kemly shuddered while they brought him to one of the cages. There were several other odds and ends. Kemly noticed the wicker baskets he saw Raysh bringing in from the forest two weeks ago. The center of the room contained a raised dais made of the Anesh, and on the ceiling, hanging from a chain were the bones of the neck and face of some great beast leering directly down at the dias. Along one of the walls was a small balcony with a door from another side of the workshop where onlookers could observe the mage at work.

The guards locked him in one of the iron cages. A simple key swung shut before they took it to a desk on the other side of the room and dropped it inside. They spoke no words to Kemly, and handled him as if he was a sack of grain. No one was left to watch him. Kemly sat in the cramped iron cage, back against one end while his legs hung out of holes from the other, he sighed and closed his eyes. If he tried hard enough, he imagined himself back in Illeb's den, instead of this place that felt like a tomb.

***

Kemly had plenty practice falling asleep in uncomfortable spaces. Not a skill one should hone, but one he knew to put to use when he realized all he could do was trust Lady Bough.

Still, when he woke with a hand over his mouth and someone whispering in his ear, he did not react well. Kemly started and quickly grabbed the wrist of the hand's owner and bit down hard as he could.

“Mmph, I'm trying to help!" this hissed angrily in his ear. Kemly drew blood before he realized Carrow crouched behind his cage.

Kemly let go of him and Carrow cursed. He squeezed his bleeding fingers in a dark cloak he wore and said just above a whisper, “I, ouch, see you picked up a wolf's manners since we last saw each other."

Kemly shifted around on his knees to face Carrow. No one else was in the room at the moment. Carrow had a pained smirk, and his body seemed coiled to move at a moment's notice. Kemly asked, “Are you here to get me out?"

Carrow shook his head. “Afraid your luck's not turned yet, Kem. I'm here for Lady Bough."

“You snuck in for her? You know they'll kill you if they find you, right?" Kemly hissed.

Carrow shrugged. “I can handle myself, and Lady Bough might be paying me, but I'm also here for you."

Kemly lips opened and closed, but any words he lost in Carrow's dark eyes. The other man said, “I brought something for you." Carrow reached into his cloak and retrieved a wooden bead the size of an acorn. “It's Thrush wood, hide it somewhere on you and if you think that mage is gonna try anything stick it in your mouth. Lady Bough has another she's wearing as a necklace, whatever this little ball feels the one she has will mimic it. If it gets wet, she'll know you're in trouble. Understand?"

Kemly nodded and took the ball from Carrow. He said, “What happens now?"

“Lady Bough is still trying to work out a way to get you out that's Raysh releasing you, but she's got a whole lot of angry Marked ready to make a scene so I can get you out of here if need be."

“The key's in that desk over there. Just free me now."

Carrow shook his head. “No can do. Raysh'll have Lady Bough's head and yours before we can get you out of the Shore."

Kemly understood. Hated he understood, but understood. He said, “I get it.

“There's a good boy."

“I'm just as old as you," Kemly snapped.

“Yet you keep getting in trouble with everyone," Carrow joked with a grin. He reached through the bars and pulled Kemly's head to the bars. Kemly was surprised when Carrow kissed his brow before he said to the blushing young man, “Take care, Kem."

“Wait!"

Carrow hesitated only a step from the cage.

“Why are you doing this for me?"

Carrow chuckled. “I see you also got a wolf's brains, too. I'll see you soon, Kem."

Carrow retreated over to the balcony, where a line of rope waited. He nimbly used it to scale the wall, retrieved the rope, and snuck out of the room without making a sound. Kemly leaned back in the cage after he had gone and glanced down at the small ball in his hands. He sighed and squeezed it tight before the door Kemly had been brought into the room through opened.

***

The Ache came strong that night. Old pains in Illeb's body, snaking like vines growing beneath his skin, wormed their way first from his hips towards his lower abdomen. He lied in his den on his furs, whining while he thought of Kemly. The small, frail human pulled him into a kiss the night before with a sureness and strength that left Illeb completely arrested. He tried his best not to think of Kemly, to be patient and distract himself, but even at his most serene, Illeb's mind seemed to pulse with his name: “Kem Kem Kem…"

Kemly didn't cause the Ache, though their coupling the night before likely triggered a deeper longing for Illeb's old mate than the wolf felt in years. Which led the pains in his groin, the memory of being tangled in Tuulpen's arms, and being tied elsewhere…

By midnight, the Ache began to fade and the wolf sighed with relief. He lay on his back, the night air cooler and the Anesh stirring outside in the wind. That's when he felt it, a solid punch of anxiety that took hold of him. His thoughts, the whole day revolved around the human, and now he felt something from it. Something not from his body, but another. A crystalline sense of sureness, a single thought: Kem is in danger.

He wove through the forest to Shore's Edge at frightening speed.

***

Lady Bough knew the knock on her door too hard to be one of her own. It came from a gauntleted hand that immediately put her on edge just as she got ready to sleep. Lady Bough yelled to the door, “Just a moment!" while she rushed to get dressed. She threw on a floor length dress and snapped on her feathered cloak next. She answered the door and waiting for her in the breezeway connecting her cottage to the church's backdoor were one of Raysh's soldiers.

The soldier bowed deeply before he said, “My lord wishes you to attend him while he discerns the spirit of the boy he took into custody today."

At the same time this was said, she felt something warm and wet suddenly on her throat. The wooden ball hanging on a necklace beneath her dress.

Lady Bough said, “Very well, I will be there shortly."

“Sir Lyon wishes I escort you there immediately, my lady."

Of course, that's why Raysh didn't send a simple messenger to Lady Bough's door. She said, “Very well, allow me to leave word with one of my servants before we leave. I do not wish for anyone to worry needlessly in my absence."

The soldier nodded. He followed into the narrow rooms in the back of the church: a tightly packed kitchen, the larder, and the servants quarters. Inside, several of the Marked who served the church roused sleepily when the door opened. Lady Bough picked out Carrie's cot and went to it immediately. Careful to keep her back to the guard, she removed the necklace by snapping the leather cord and pushing the now wet ball into Carrie's palm.

She whispered, “Raysh wishes me to join him at his estate. You know what this means," and she squeezed Carrie's hand.

Lady Bough rose and faced the guard. “Let us depart."

***

For a time, Raysh didn't even acknowledge Kemly's existence. He worked a mortar and pestle at his altar, grinding something up. Two of the mage's guards stood with their backs to Kemly's cage. It wasn't until the mage said, “Retrieve the boy," that Kemly pushed the wooden ball into his mouth and under his tongue.

Kemly kicked at the guards, and one grabbed his ankle and tugged. Kemly, holding onto the bars of his cage, felt skin tear along his palms as he was ripped free and dragged across the room by his legs. He grit his teeth and thrashed about on the floor. He did not think he could miraculously escape, but he would do anything to slow them down.

They tossed him on the dais on his back. He lay across its length, held down by the shoulders by one guard while the other grabbed his hands and chained them to manacles bolted to the floor. Each hand cuffed kept his arms open in a Y. The guard did his ankles next, having some trouble with his peg. Kemly managed to slip out of it and slam the end of the peg into the guard. He slammed the man's lips into his teeth, cutting them open. At which point, Raysh said, “Spirits, you don't need to be delicate with him." The guard he kicked backhanded him with a gauntleted hand. Kemly felt metal cut open his skin across his cheek. They took turns punching him in his torso, landing blows on the slim young man that left him gasping and groaning. He tried his best to curl into a ball, but with the cuffs on his limbs pulled tight he could do nothing but be beaten.

Once he went still the guards finally stopped. The one he kicked spat a mouthful of blood on Kemly's face before clasping the manacle around Kemly's shin.

Kemly stretched supine on the dias, overhead the skull of a horned beast stared down at him. He only noticed then a strange glow coming unnaturally deep within its eye-sockets.

Raysh approached him with a bowl and a knife. He set the bowl down and used the knife to cut open Kemly's shirt. Across his torso, large red and purple welts were forming from his beating. Kemly tried to find the will struggle again, his back arching as he tried to squirm away from Raysh. The mage had exchanged the knife for the bowl and now applied a paste onto Kemly's skin. The mixture left his skin chilled and numb as the mage made a series of sigils across Kemly's chest.

Overhead, Kemly heard a door open.

Raysh glanced up from his work and said, “Ah, Lady Bough, good to see you."

“Spirits…" Lady Bough's voice felt confusing. Did she already break into the workshop? Kemly craned his neck to see her on the balcony with one of Raysh's soldiers standing with her. That man had a hand on the sword at his hip, and Kemly realized that the color draining from Lady Bough's face meant her presence wasn't some grand plan. “Sir Lyon what are you doing to him?" she demanded, grabbing the railing of the balcony and leaning forward to look more closely at Kemly.

“A ritual I have been wanting to test," Raysh said. “If successful, it will drive out the spirit of the wolf within the boy and save him. If he can be saved."

“If?"

“If it does not work, it might speed the turning. At which point, if he begins to transform my men will give him a merciful death."

“Sir Lyon… you are—"

“What?" the mage asked with an edge to his voice. “I know how much you care for your Marked. Just think, if we could save this boy, then no one else would have to lose a part of themselves to the curse. A wound could be a wound, to heal like any other."

Kemly coughed and spat the ball from his mouth. He said weakly, “Don't… he's just going to turn me. He's a liar…"

Raysh ignored him, going instead to the now spit-soaked wooden ball on the floor. He plucked it between two fingers and observed it closely. “Interesting toy for a Marked to carry around. Wonder who gave it to you, hmm? But I can answer that question without you. Let us begin, shall we?"

***

Illeb wasn't sure how he knew where Kemly was, but the wolf felt it like a tugging rope fastened around his ribs, pulling him towards the eastern end of Shore's Edge. He carefully circled around to that side, where the Anesh stopped growing in favor of more common trees like birch and oak. Here a road to the southeast led towards the empire's interior.

The palisade that surrounded Shore's Edge was a sturdy wall made of those oaks. Each beam of wood was twenty feet high with a wide ditch in front of them to make that height even greater. Every hundred paces along the wall was a watchtower lashed together with a small bell to ring in case of emergencies. Illeb knew well that soon as he was spotted those bells would ring and every guard in the settlement would come charging towards him.

But then, he spotted something, difficult to pick out with just the moonlight till it carried a glowing source beneath it: a fire from somewhere inside the settlement. Soon after he saw it, bells on the western end of of Shore's Edge began ringing. Illeb didn't know what spirit to thank for the stroke of luck, but he would not waste it.

He barreled out of the woods, running along all fours, his long arms tossing divots of dirt around him as he crossed to open field to the wall in a matter of seconds. No bells along his side of wall rang out by the time he reached the ditch. He leapt across it in a single bound and nearly slammed into the wall of timber posts. Someone overhead yelled, “Wolf!" but Illeb already leapt upwards, digging his claws into the wood for purchase before he quickly scaled over the palisade and onto the wooden rampart, which creaked dangerously at his weight.

In the dark he saw a guard fumbling to load his crossbow. Illeb simply smacked him off the rampart. Nearby a watchtower guard saw him and reached for the bell. He managed to get one, single clear note before Illeb snapped one of the supports for the wooden tower. It came crashing down after the wolf ripped it free. Dust was thrown up, and in the screaming and confusion another bell began to ring, but the guards would be drawn there while he crossed over. He heard the whole settlement in a panic. Militia had already been drawn to a fire on the other side of town which seemed to spread too fast to have been caused naturally.

Illeb landed running when he leapt off the ramparts. The dust of the collapsed tower quickly fading as he ran into the alleyways of buildings. That tug on his ribs still guided him. He threaded his way through alleys, occasionally climbing right over buildings when they got in the way. Humans who saw him screamed, but most humans saw only a massive blur. Cries of “Wolf!" filled the settlement like a wake spreading behind Illeb.

Then the buildings cleared and before him stood a building behind a stone fence. Coming at it from a corner, Illeb noticed a group of humans making a scene at the gate and down the other wall a lone figure scaling the wall. This close to Kemly, the tug on Illeb's chest became a sharp, smashing pain. Like someone swung an axe into his chest.

Illeb growled and ran right for the compound and leapt over the wall. He landed hard on the other side, colliding loudly into the wooden wall of the building. He heard guards face him from one direction, from the other someone said, “You again?"

He recognized the voice: that hunter Carrow. Illeb turned on the guards, two men in armor charged him swords drawn. The closer of the two came at him in a running thrust. Illeb kicked a foot forward, over the sword and into the guard's face. Illeb came down hard on the paw and the guard's momentum swung him on his back before his skull broke under the weight of the wolf's paw. The other guard came sword raised overhead, which made him all too easy to backhand to the ground with Illeb's longer reach. His armor protected his torso, but his helm left his face bare, and Illeb pushed two clawed fingers into his eye sockets to dispatch him. The wolf left the man screaming and thrashing in the dirt.

He followed the scent of Carrow, who entered the building through a side-door that Illeb needed to duck through. Once in the tight hallway he saw another door open and heard shouting and Kemly… screaming.

Illeb snarled and barrelled down the hall through the door. The weight of him going through the door pushed a guard off the balcony and onto the basement room below. The man landed hard on his head, snapping his neck in a moment. Carrow stood beside him, shocked a moment, with a woman at Carrow's side. In the center of room, a familiar dais had Kemly lied out on it, a set of sigils glowing on his chest. His slender body thrashed on top the dais. “A wolf!" Carrow yelled in feigned alarm. On the floor two other soldiers and a mage noticed Illeb over Kemly's screaming. It felt like Illeb's rib cage might be ripped out of his chest wholesale. Above Kemly, the bones of a dragon glowed orange and filled the room with an otherworldly light.

“Kem!" Illeb leapt into the room. The mage ran for his altar and the two guards charged him swords drawn. They timed their attacks together. Illeb managed to dodge one blade, but the other he only had time to block with his arm. The sword split open his flesh and cut deep enough to catch on his bone. The bright lance of pain was nothing compared to what he felt in his chest, however. Illeb punched the claws of his free hand into the gut of the guard who landed a blow, hard enough to pierce his chainmail and dig his claws deep into the man's stomach. His grip on his sword went slack and Illeb shoved him into the path of the other guard. Both went sprawling while Illeb reached the dais. He managed to get a paw around one of the manacles bolted to the ground when the smell of cinder reached him just before a wave of heat and flame roared over him

Illeb backpedaled away and faced the mage, who held up a wand made of bone, the end of singed with fire from his spell.

“Master Lyon!" Illeb heard Carrow before the hunter leapt on his back, jamming a dagger into Illeb's shoulder. It might as well been a wasp's sting for all the wolf felt it. Carrow said in his ear, “Make it look good. I'll get Kem free while you deal with the mage."

Illeb did, grabbing Carrow and ripping him off his shoulder. He hurled the hunter into a cluster of wicker baskets before ducking away to avoid the sword of a guard. Both men were on their feet again, the one Illeb wounded shaky with his sword but ignoring the blood running down his front.

Illeb took another step back while the mage took a step towards him. Illeb thought he might be able to kill the mage with a single swift strike, but a good fifteen paces separated them. He hesitated long enough for the unwounded guard to come at him. At the same time the mage shouted something. Fire erupted from his wand and all Illeb could do was grab the guard charging him and throw the soldier into the flames. The man screamed and the room filled with the smell of burning flesh and singed hairs. But the spell hit its victim like a blow, the flame's sucking towards a single target when it found them and combusting brightly.

Illeb used the bright flash to rush for the mage. He saw the human's eyes draw wide before Illeb reached to slash open his throat. Illeb charged the mage with enough momentum that when the mage's body became transparent the wolf just barreled through him and into the mage's altar. He wheeled around and saw Carrow at the dais, picking the locks on the manacles while Kemly lied with his mouth hanging open and eyes glazed over.

“What are you doing?" the mage snapped.

“The wolf wants the boy, my lord," Carrow said while he worked. Across the room, Illeb noticed movement from the wicker baskets. The mage noticed it, too, cursing. He was still transparent, while shadows from those baskets began to slide through the room like snakes. The smell of coal and ash flooded Illeb's senses.

Carrow got Kemly's hands freed before he noticed the slithering shadows as well. They seemed to feed on the light in the room, leaving a trail of darkness like a slug's mucus.

“Uh, what are they?"

“Nevermind what they are dammit!" the mage snapped before he faced Illeb. “Wolf, if you want the boy take him before I kill you both!" Illeb's mouth hung open for a moment in shock. “I will let you take him if you leave me be so I can deal with these spirits you accursed beast."

Illeb did not believe it, but went to Kemly anyways. With a firm tug he snapped the manacles off the boy and collected him before Illeb faced the mage and asked, “Will he turn?"

“I don't know, the ritual was only half complete. Now go with your prize before I kill you both! Hunter! Get me that wooden staff over there, yes that one!"

One of the serpents slithered to the guard who Illeb wounded. The man watched in stunned horror while it wriggled up his body and into the wound Illeb left him with. His screams followed Illeb as the wolf rushed up the stairs with Kemly in his arms.

***

Lady Bough felt rooted to the spot as she watched the soldier the wolf wounded begin to change. Around the room more of those dark spirits slithered about while the mage screamed orders at Carrow. The soldier reached for the mage while his body lurched stiff. His skin went ashen and his screaming stopped before his armor strained as his body grew. And grew. Till leather and chainmail snapped and slipped away, revealing his legs had grown together into a twisted mass. His head became a misshapen, wooden knot with two, tweaked buds where his eyes might have been. His fingers came long and twisted, arm sprouting growths that budded with leaves until it came clear to Lady Bough that Raysh's guard was turning into a Thrush tree.

As that realization struck, a boom brassy and massive filled the room and pulled all the light out a moment. Shrieks erupted from those spirits, lights flickered and flashed and Lady Bough saw Raysh standing over a basket with the staff waving above it. The spirits, obviously fighting with all they had, were quickly pulled in some unseen whirlwind into the basket. When all were pulled into the basket, Carrow, standing beside Raysh, slammed the lid onto the basket.

It rattled and shook in the silence, Carrow trying his best to hold it still.

Raysh glared at Lady Bough and said, “You had better hope you are not responsible for this mess."

Lady Bough shook her head, thinking of that auburn wolf on the balcony next to her. His eyes trained on Kemly with a fury and hunger and fear. She said down into the room, “I had no idea that wolf would show up."

Carrow said, still holding the now calm basket, “That's the same one that took him in the woods."

“And what is this boy doing here?" Raysh snapped, still facing Lady Bough.

“This boy just helped you save—"

“Enough Carrow," Lady Bough said. She was finding her nerve now that all the otherworldly horrors had been dealt with. “I sent for him. I was not sure if you planned to harm me tonight and I have him on retainer as a protector."

“Hmmph, very well," Raysh said. He approached the tree, which, Lady Bough noticed had split even the stone floor to plant its roots. It now stood ten feet tall and wide as two men. Raysh reached up to one of the slimmer branches and snapped it off.

Screaming, as if coming through a keyhole, started to pour from the Thrush tree. It was the same voice of the guard's. It made Lady Bough sick to hear as red blood dripped generously from where Raysh severed the branch.

Raysh touched a finger to the wounded spot to muffle the screams. He muttered something to himself and when he removed his finger the bleeding stopped. The screams clotted over. That man, Lady Bough realized, was still trapped somewhere within.

It was Carrow who asked, “Is that one of the Thrush?"

Raysh said while studying the branch he tore from the tree. “It appears so. Those spirits I took from the forest, it seems this one thought it might take a body for itself."

“That man…" Lady Bough said, trembling, “He's still in there."

“When humans turn to wolves it is likely they experience a similar, painful eradication of their spirit," Raysh said. “That's why we kill those carrying the curse."

Carrow pointed at the tree, “What will you do with that?"

“Use it in my research," Raysh said, as if he spoke about rock. “Magic is powered by the spirits of the world, boy. There is a lot of work this Thrush can still do for me."

***

Pain woke Kemly: a soreness in his chest, a burning gash in his arm, a sting along his shoulder, a throbbing ache all around his hips and thighs.

And soft warmth, a familiar scent and even breath.

He shuddered and a voice whispered, “You're awake."

Kemly's eyes fluttered open and he saw darkness, the shadow of Illeb wrapped around him. The wolf carried him through the forest, towards his den.

“You saved me," Kemly muttered.

“That mage… I couldn't kill him, but I did stop him from turning you, I think."

“You think?"

“Mmm, how do you feel?"

“I hurt all over," Kemly said, turning best he could in Illeb's arms to face his chest. When he did his cheek brushed fur matted and flaky. Kemly gasped. “Your arm…"

“One of the soldiers in town with a sword, it will be fine. It started healing soon as we returned to the Anesh."

“How… I don't understand…" Kemly touched his arm, his arms unharmed. His shoulder untouched. He said, “Your shoulder too."

Illeb stopped. “Kem?"

Kemly could just barely see Illeb's eyes watching him very intently. “I can feel them… your wounds."

“I… that explains why my ribs hurt," Illeb said.

“You can feel my pain, too?"

“I felt you in danger tonight. I thought the Anesh were sending me another message… I came fast as I could." Illeb started walking again. “I do not think you will turn. I remember how it felt, you would be feeling much more pain right now."

Kemly reached up and stroked Illeb's cheek. “Thank you, though I suppose human or wolf, I am stuck out here with you now."

“Hmm," Illeb grunted and they walked in silence. Kemly could not get a handle on his emotions. He knew since he left Illeb's den yesterday that he planned on returning to the wolf and staying by his side. He did not understand why he felt so much grief, then, till it occurred to Kemly it was not his pain he felt.

“Illeb?"

“Yes, Kem?"

“Why are you sad?"

The wolf paused, then kept walking. “You can feel it, can't you?"

“Yes."

“I… it was a great loss for me when I turned. I lost everything, not just my life but my loved one, the memory of their face, their name. But the wolves took me in, I started over and was able to be happy, till I…" Illeb sighed, “Till I betrayed them and they exiled me. To Shore's Edge, you are not human anymore, and you are not a wolf. I am sad that all you will have for company is a lonely wolf and the faceless spirits of this wood."

Now Kemly felt grief, but it was not for what Illeb described. He asked, “Can you set me down?"

“You will trip and fall if you try to walk through this wood at night—"

“Just for a moment, I promise," Kemly said. Illeb carefully set Kemly down, who found his footing a little unsteady for just a moment. He kept a hand on Illeb's arm for support and said up to those eyes shining in the dark, “Whatever my life might be out here, my life in Shore's Edge was a miserable one. Every day I spent just trying to live to the next, and in one day, one day with you, I felt like I… I… I don't know what I felt! I've never felt it before, that's what I know. But it was safe and good. I want to be here, so quit feeling bad for me."

“Kem…"

A chilly breeze brushed through the trees and Kemly shuddered. He leaned into Illeb and hugged him for warmth. “Now pick me back up!" Kemly ordered. “It's too cold for me."

Illeb chuckled and scooped Kemly back into his arms.

“Thank you Kem… thank you."

Kemly burrowed into the soft fur on the wolf's chest. Warmth poured through him, a flush of feelings, good ones, tightened in his chest and throat. And he knew they were not just his. They were Illeb's too. This wolf he now shared a strange connection to.

***

Lady Bough sighed as she hung her cloak by the door to her cottage. A single night had left her feeling more exhausted than the last few months. Carrow stood in the doorway, waiting for instructions while Lady Bough took a seat on her bed. The young man shut the door against the night's cold and asked, “Raysh didn't seem keen on killing us, so that's good."

“We got lucky with that wolf," Lady Bough said. “Had he not shown up I am sure our interference would have been patently obvious."

“Yeah, well what now?"

“I do not know," Lady Bough said. “It might be best to let things in the town settle for the time being."

“And the curse?"

Lady Bough shrugged. “Kemly did not leave us in a good position… our best argument against it disappeared in the arms of a wolf. If we try to deny it, Raysh will no doubt use his magic to turn one of us into a wolf just to scare everyone back into line."

Carrow shuddered. “I still got Kem's screams in my head. That mage is barbaric."

“We should wait till the governor returns. In the meantime, try to go back to your usual life. Lay low."

“I'm not so sure I can do that, Lady Bough."

“What do you mean?"

“You were upstairs and not in the dungeon when he approached me, but the mage offered me a job. And I don't think it's one I can go about refusing."

***

Exhausted, Illeb folded Kemly against him and they both slept soon after returning to his den. The wolf thanked the forest for returning Kemly to his arms, and both found sound sleep that night. The Ache woke Illeb sometime in the morning. A sore, throbbing pain more urgent than it had been before.

Illeb had spooned Kemly through the night, so when the human doubled over his arm he knew Kemly must be feeling what he did. That soreness Illeb got so used to in his time alone must have been bright and sharp for the boy. Illeb whined while Kemly shuddered and groaned. “It'll be alright, Kem," the wolf cooed. “I'm sorry you're feeling this."

“Spirits… what is it?"

A sharp twinge ran along Illeb's thigh. He grit his teeth a moment while Kemly gasped. He said, “The Ache. It should pass in a few hours."

“Wh-what does 'the Ache' mean?"

Illeb's ears folded. He had hoped, if it ever came up, he could suffer through the Ache in silence—find a secluded spot in the forest and wait for it to pass. But if it affected Kemly as well… “It is… a thing between wolves. When wolves bond they—mmph—find great, uh, joy in each other but when they spend enough time apart they feel the Ache. The withdrawal of that bond." Illeb spared Kemly the details of what made that bond.

Kemly had a hand pushing into his lower abdomen as if it might help. “Yo-you've been out here for years, though."

Illeb grimaced. “And it has still lingered. It comes and goes… this, hah, morning is worse than most."

Kemly rolled over to face Illeb. The boy was shaking, his hazel eyes still sharp and alert, though. He asked, “Can't we—f-fuck—do anything?"

There were solutions. Make a new bond to sate what his body now craved. He still remembered pushing Kemly into the furs. The warmth and tightness of the boy. Had he just tied him… that probably is what caused this particular pang in the first place.

Illeb's ears folded back and he couldn't look at Kemly while he tried to come up with some excuse, but the boy saw right through him. “Illeb, what is it?"

“If I replace my old bond with a new one with you, it should end."

Kemly's brow furrowed. “Why wouldn't we do that?"

Illeb muttered, “But if you wish to leave me, you'll be—"

“Illeb, why would I ever want to leave?" the wolf flinched at the question. The sort of question only a boy would ask.

“Kem…" hearing such a thing should have made him feel a lot more than fear. “You are still so young. Do you really think I will be what you want your whole life?"

The human's small hand disappeared in Illeb's chest fur. The palm pressed up against his heart and Kemly said, “Maybe you won't be, but right now I do want you." Illeb felt his pulse pick up a little, and the pain across his lower body began to fade; withdrawing as if its prey had been promised.

“I don't… spirits Kem it feels like each moment with you I should be more grateful for than the last."

Kemly laughed pulled the wolf down into a gentle kiss. He said, “Just tell me what we need to do."

A flush of embarrassment. Illeb didn't know why he felt it, but in the moment with Kemly's eyes on him with a youth's innocence… “It's… hmm, it should be fairly easy. We nearly did it once you see."

Kemly, at least, reciprocated the feeling with a blush. “Oh, so that's what you meant by joy."

“I did not wish to be crude."

Kemly leaned into Illeb and took a deep, loud breath of his scent. “I want you to be crude with me."

Illeb shuddered, feeling his sheath stir even before Kemly's hand reached down and groped it. “I have to—ah—breed you."

“Yeah?"

“Fuck my knot into you."

Kemly whimpered and admitted to Illeb, “I was disappointed when you didn't that first time."

Illeb snarled and rolled Kemly onto his back. A hunger so deep he felt it in his teeth filled the wolf when he was over the boy. His slender body, waist small enough Illeb could wrap his hands completely around it, but hips just wide enough he couldn't. His olive complexion looked enticingly soft, and with his now ruined shirt open, his belly, his clavicle, throat—it all looked so tender and easy to bite down on.

He growled. He wanted to shred the boy's clothes, but the seasons were changing. Illeb pulled off the boy's trousers while Kemly took care of throwing his shirt off his back. When Kemly was nude, Illeb buried his muzzle against the boy's balls. He inhaled the humans salty musk, sharp with his youth. Illeb likely had been a wolf longer than the boy had been alive. So the smell of human musk was almost totally foreign, a thing Illeb savored by running his long tongue across the human's balls. Kemly gasped. It only took a few laps for the wolf to taste every part of his sack.

Illeb then licked to the shaft. The boy's modest six inches was nothing compared to Illeb's endowment, which must've been twice his size. But Illeb style enjoyed the flavor of his partner. A salty bead of precum dotted his tongue when Illeb pushed his foreskin down with his tongue. He kissed the cockhead before sinking down Kemly's shaft. The entire length of his dick fit snugly inside the wolf's warm maw. The boy moaned and rolled his hips back and forth. A hand rested on Illeb's head, and his tail began to wag a little. He enjoyed giving his human this pleasure, sucking hard on his slick cock till the boy wriggled beneath him. It did not take Kemly much before he whined, “Illeb… I'm gonna—fuck!"

Illeb only sucked harder, working his long canine tongue along that shaft. Warm seed spilled onto the wolf's pallette. The salty fluid strong against his tongue as Kemly tried to hold Illeb's muzzle still while he came. Illeb gave him just the gentlest of sucks, enough to make the boy whine while his cock throbbed and unloaded cum into Illeb's mouth. Illeb did not swallow any of it, but waited patiently through several spurts before he withdrew. The boy, panting, didn't notice Illeb's kiss until their jaws pushed together.

Kemly understood and his lips opened immediately. Illeb pushed in a wet mess of human cum and canine drool into Kemly's mouth. The boy whimpered cutely and wrapped his arms around Illeb's neck to keep him there. Kemly greedily swallowed what Illeb pushed into his mouth before their tongues met. Illeb teased Kemly a little longer before withdrawing. The boy had enough time to take a shaky breath before Illeb pushed two fingers into Kemly's mouth. Kemly groaned and sucked on the pawed digits as they slipped deeper into him.

Illeb slowly sheathed both fingers to the knuckle, watching Kemly closely while the boy struggled to swallow the fingers now in his throat. His cute little blush went all the way down to his collarbone, and he panted through his nose. His cock, filled with youthful vigor, never went soft. Illeb teased his fingers back and forth in the boy's mouth till Kemly reached his limit and started coughing. Illeb freed his fingers and his human took a deep mouthful of air while Illeb reached down with those fingers and teased them around Kemly's pucker.

Illeb pricked Kemly's skin with a claw and whispered in his ear. “Stay very still, hmm?"

The boy nodded while Illeb lied on his side beside the boy. One hand he used to lift away Kemly's leg to spread him a little more. The other slid those slickened fingers against Kemly's rim. The human shuddered. Truthfully, Illeb wasn't too worried about his claws. Though it had been a while, he was well practiced at this. The pads of those fingers prodded at Kemly's rear. The boy quaked, Illeb felt it against his fur and relished how Kemly seemed to melt in his hands. Kemly sucked in a breath as that gentle pressing finally worked him open. His warm walls squeezed a little reflexively on Illeb's finger. Illeb paused until Kemly released his breath and relaxed. The wolf wanted so bad to fuck him. His cock ached in his sheath, but he wanted even more to focus on his boy. To lavish Kemly in the affection Illeb felt for him.

Illeb worked his finger in and out until he reached his first knuckle, then he started to spread Kemly gently with the next finger. The human panted cutely beneath Illeb as that entrance yielded a second time. His fingers, longer and thicker than a humans, worked deeper again. Illeb kept a slow, firm pace. He wanted Kemly to be a relaxed warmth to stir up. He sawed those fingers forward and back. Kemly's cock flexed across his belly, and dripped milky pre onto his olive skin. Illeb leaned down and licked it up, enjoying the way the boy's belly tensed when his tongue worked across his skin.

Kemly asked, “Is… is this part of the process?"

“Mmm, and if it's not?" Illeb said while he continued working his fingers to their base.

“Spirits Illeb," Kemly clenched on his fingers. “C-can't you just, fu-fuck me already?"

Illeb hilted both fingers then. Once he did, he curled them around until he felt something firm, the boy's prostate. Kemly practically buckled. He moaned and pulled himself into Illeb's nearby shoulder to muffle the noise. He felt Illeb's rumbling chuckle sure as he felt those fingers work back and then push against his nut again. Kemly fell back against the furs, back arching while he cried out. Illeb silenced his cries with a kiss. The boy's muffled voice vibrated against Illeb's tongue as the wolf filled his mouth with it. Those fingers patiently stirred him up more and more while Illeb lovingly kissed his boy. It was almost as if Kemly lost control of his body. Each push of his fingers into the boy got a new shudder, clench, gasp, a desperate sound falling from his throat into Illeb's mouth. The boy grabbed fistfuls of fur along the back of Illeb's neck while Illeb rubbed his spot.

It was clear to Illeb, no one had shown Kemly this pleasure. It was a joy that the wolf could.

Illeb felt it when Kemly came again. His insides practically rippled, his body wracked stiff as his balls clenched and more seed spilled across his belly. Illeb patiently let his body work through the orgasm, different from the last one Kemly had. Kemly had stopped trying to kiss the wolf and lay limp against the furs. When Illeb broke the kiss, he wasn't sure the boy even noticed. Gently, knowing the boy must be incredibly sensitive, he began to pull his fingers from Kemly's rear. Illeb admired the little sounds Kemly made as those fingers pulled out, the gentle “Ah" and “Ooh" before the boy simply panted beneath Illeb, too tired to speak.

Illeb smiled down at him and whispered, “You make me very happy, Kem."

Still recovering, Kemly could only manage dumb nod.

Illeb nuzzled the boy's cheek before shifting onto his knees. The wolf collected Kemly in his arms and sat him on Illeb's lap. Kemly leaned against him, the boy's head only coming up to Illeb's pecs. The wolf sighed and he relaxed his arousal. From beneath the human, Illeb felt his canid cock begin to push out into the open air. Kemly shuddered and said, “It's so warm…"

Illeb chuckled and stroked down Kemly's spine. “Did you miss it?"

“Spirits Illeb…" Kemly pressed his hips backwards against the shaft quickly filling out against his rear. “Do you plan to just tease me?"

His boy shivered when Illeb leaned down to lick along his earlobe. “Do you think you're ready?"

“Just fuck me already!" Kemly whined.

Illeb growled, claws digging into the flesh of the boy's ass as he spread it. His pointed tip teased against Kemly's loosened rim, the sheath-slickened shaft piercing it easily. The human acted as if he'd been shocked, going rigid, breath hitching in his lungs while Illeb bared his fangs and rolled his hips. The first third of the shaft caved in Kemly's entrance as it pushed in. The boy found his breath and gasped before trying to sit back on Illeb's cock. His smaller dick was hard again and dripping messy pre into the fine fur of Illeb's belly. The wolf fangs broke into his own moan as he pushed up into Kemly to the hilt. His knot still had not inflated, so Kemly sat against his sheath, panting and looking down at the slight bulge in his belly.

Illeb watched him reach down and run his fine fingers along the bulge. He clenched down and leaned into Illeb's chest to muffle his high moan. Hearing him react, feeling the yielding warmth squeeze around Illeb's cock, the wolf began to ache. Worse, he felt, past Kemly's tightness, the boy's own pleasure simmering under his tail as well. It multiplied what Illeb felt. He'd been so focused on Kemly before he'd not noticed, but when he just took a moment to feel the boy's walls ripple around his dick, Illeb could feel both their pleasure. It made the wolf's massive balls twitch with need. The need to tie, to make that bond. Kemly, a far more feral part of his brain thought, was his. Illeb planned to mark the boy so he never forgot.

That loving affection began to recede in favor of possessive lust. A snarl rose in Illeb's throat, and his hands gripped Kemly tight enough his claws broke skin. The boy didn't seem to mind the pinpricks of his blood smearing into Illeb's hands. Not when the wolf lifted him up and forced him back down on the great lupine prick. Illeb felt Kemly's body bunch and coil around the force of the penetration. The boy was going a little numb inside. Illeb didn't care. What mattered was stirring him up, making the boy loose enough to tie his messy hole. He bounced Kemly on his cock, now risen to his knees. Kemly wrapped legs and arms around Illeb while the wolf fucked Kemly up and down.

The harsh rubbing of fur on his overstimulated cock combined with the rough fuck was enough to make the boy start cumming a third time. Illeb only knew because he felt the tension release from Kemly's balls, the bright spike of pleasure before the boy's walls began to clench and spasm. His ass milked Illeb in firm tugs that became more and more beaten down as Illeb felt his knot swell against the boy's entrance. It did not take Illeb long to reach this point. Not when his need was so great and he felt what Kemly did. He wondered if the boy sensed his hunger. The need to breed this boy, his boy. His mate. He would bond them together and Kemly would never leave his side. Illeb would be sure the boy spent so much time writhing on his cock that he would never want to leave.

With a keening howl, Illeb felt his knot punch inside the boy right as it reached its full width. Kemly cried out, weakly mewling and squirming as the wolf held him tight. He didn't care who heard, but he needed to make a call. His first call in years, so anyone who heard knew Illeb was no longer alone. Kemly huffed against him, squeezing down while that knot left him so filled the boy could not even cum, his prostate pressed tight. Illeb's howl broke into a snarl before he felt his cock flex and a rush of warm seed burst forth inside his human. Cum claimed the human's interior, flooding him with so much warmth Illeb felt it in his belly as well. And the pleasure of that bond, the spike of pleasure, a familiar drug like spike that made Kemly shudder and nearly go limp as his body responded to its first real taste of lupine cum. Kemly's body tried to cum again. His dick throbbed against Illeb while he twitched and gasped, his mind a cloud of hazy pleasure he could barely comprehend. He was totally lost to Illeb now. He would never want to give this up. Illeb knew because he felt it, too, as if claiming and breeding this new mate was all either of them needed. This was the future they shared. He would breed and fill this boy with cum until Kemly was completely addicted to wolf cock.

It took some time before Illeb came to his senses sitting back on the furs, Kemly tied to his lap and dazed. Kemly's belly swelled a little from Illeb's output. His knotted cock still dripped seed inside the human, a tapered flow that would last many more minutes. Illeb licked Kemly's neck, tasting his human's skin. He wanted to leave a deep, marking bite, but worried the boy might be too frail for that. So wolf held Kemly tight, admiring the simple pleasure of their bodies joined.

He planned to join them many more times today.

Perhaps, if the occasion was not so momentous, he might have been more aware of his surroundings. But he did not notice the wolf standing at the entrance of his den until Illeb heard wood stamp on stone. Kemly still worked through his own haze of emotions, and didn't seem to hear, but Illeb turned his head to see standing in the cave was a lean, black and grey wolf. He carried with him knotted staff made from the Anesh. Sharp, red lines dyed the fur on the right side of his grey chest. They worked in angular paths to depict a winding serpent whose tail ended at the wolf's iliac crest. His eyes were a bright blue, carrying a mix of emotions that, in some ways, Illeb knew he reflected back at this wolf.

Illeb's jaw opened and closed before words caught up with his body: “Tuulpen..."

Tuulpen, Illeb's old mate, cleared his throat and spoke to Illeb in the language of the wolves, “The elders sent me here because the Anesh told them to collect a human and the wolf tied to him." There was a twitch at the corner of his lips. “Usually the Anesh are not so literal, but it is good someone has a sense of humor about our reunion, at least."