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Chapter 2: First Lust

Zaldon couldn't bring himself to look at his mother after it was over. He sat up in the snow and dragged his wrist under his nose, quietly sniffling as he listened to his mother gathering her spilled carvings from the ground. She had dropped her velvet bag as Eloein was raping her, as well as her traveling pack, and he could hear her sniffing and gasping quietly with tears as she gathered everything again, frantic probably that someone might see them crying on the ground in the alley and ask what was the matter.

"Zaldy, honey?"

Zaldon flinched and squeezed his eyes shut when his mother placed a timid paw on his shoulder. He was still so frightened and confused! Why had Eloein hurt his mother with his penis? And why had Joli let him? She hadn't even fought back! He wanted to run home in that moment, run home and fall into his father's arms and tell him everything. But he remembered that dagger in the snow, and though he doubted that Eloein would actually kill him to keep him quiet, he had no doubt that Eloein could use his powers to make it look like Zaldon had simply disappeared or run away.

"Zaldy," Joli whispered sadly when she heard her son sniffling. "Oh, Zaldy, I'm -- I'm so sorry you had to see that!"

"Why did it happen!" Zaldon demanded. "Why did you let it!"

Zaldon glowered. His ears went flat on his head and he still would not look at his mother. He felt Joli crawl up behind him, felt the warm brush of her downy fur and inhaled her sweet scent. Just inhaling that scent and feeling those loving arms around him made him relax a little against his mother's warm breasts as she pulled him into her embrace.

"I did what I had to," Joli whispered, holding Zaldon tight, "to protect your father. I did what I m-must . . ." Joli squeezed her eyes shut, and holding back a sob, she kissed Zaldon fiercely on the head. "Don't tell your father, Zaldy! Don't tell anyone! Especially not your brother! We must protect them from the truth. I'm just -- god, I'm so sorry you had to see that!"

Joli broke down crying, squeezing her son tight in her arms, and Zaldon squeezed her arm, gazing up at her in dismay.

"Don't cry, Mom! I'm all right -- really, I am!"

Joli laughed through her tears, because her son's lip was trembling even as he swore to her that he was all right. "Oh, Zaldon! So unable to hide those feelings!" She kissed Zaldon on the head again and laughed sadly. "What would your father, say, hmm?"

Warriors were always supposed to hide their feelings, after all, and Bayne was always complaining that when Zaldon grew up to become a warrior, he would be a very poor one unless he learned to wear a mask.

Zaldon reflected that if his father had caught him crying and sniffling like this he would have whacked him over the head and told him crying was for females. Zaldon climbed at once to his feet, and wiping his tears away with his wrist, he offered his paw to his mother.

"Come on, Mom," Zaldon said, making his black eyes serious and adamant. "Let's get going. We have to make camp before dawn."

Joli smiled up at her son and wiped at her tears with the side of her thumb. "You looked like your father when you said that," she said, taking that small paw into her own. She climbed to her feet and shouldered her bags, then the mother and son continued on their way out of the winter village, and given the masks they wore on the way to the gates, no one ever guessed that a rape had taken place in the alley behind a hut only minutes ago.

It was a few days' travel through the pine forests and down from the cliffs before they reached the summer village, a village of wolves where it was warm for most of the year and only a spare few months suffered snow. Zaldon had seen the summer village before, but he had never passed through: whenever his mother took him and Lynny on her trips, she had always made a point of avoiding the summer village.

The morning they passed through the gates of the summer village, it was a bright and blue summer day, birds were singing, wolves were laughing and chattering in the streets, Zaldon could smell sheep and goats and even chickens, and everywhere he saw little pups running back and forth from wooden huts, chasing balls woven of grass and wrestling and squealing and stopping in the very streets with their ears pricked forward to stare at the strangers.

Zaldon knew why the summer wolves were staring: he and his mother were winter wolves and were, therefore, massive giants to these little summer wolves. Zaldon was only seven but he stood a head taller than every pup that gawked at him. It made him feel bashful and he wanted to hide behind his mother but ignored the sudden urge. His father had told him to take care of Joli, and though he had failed to protect her from Eloein, he would at least do his best to protect her here -- here where there seemed to be no sorcerers or even shamans.

"Zaldon," Joli said quietly as they walked, "I wanted to tell you on the way here, but you were always so tired and you would go right to sleep . . ."

Zaldon swallowed guiltily. He hadn't been tired at all: he had pretended to sleep so that he wouldn't have to face his mother -- his mother, who had let Eloein rape her! He had spent the entire trip blocking out what had happened, trying to forget it and focus his mind on all the new sights he would see, the things he would tell Lynny when he returned home. But sometimes at night he would dream of Eloein -- of Eloein holding his mother against the wall and sucking slowly on her nipple as she sobbed, of Eloein's fingers slipping inside of her until they were shinning with her juices, of that monstrous cock entering his mother -- and he would awake from the nightmare in tears. But he never let his mother know. He would snuggle down under his sleeping furs and sob quietly to himself until he had fallen asleep again.

"The reason I let your uncle d-do those things to me," Joli whispered, "is because I have been seeing another male."

Zaldon looked at his mother quickly and he halted in the street, staring up at her.

Joli didn't seem able to look at her son as she went on. "I fell in love with Melgo many years ago, my son. It does not mean I love your father any less! But females -- a female can not have two husbands the way a male may have two wives," Joli explained, squatting down before her son.

"You still love my father?" Zaldon demanded.

Joli winced at his anger. "Of course!" she breathed, cupping Zaldon's face. "But I love this male too. Your uncle found out about us, and in order to keep your father from knowing, I have agreed to let your uncle do those things to me. It -- it would hurt your father very badly if he knew the truth."

"The way it hurt me," Zaldon whispered angrily.

Joli gazed sadly at her son. "Oh, Zaldon. I would have given anything -- anything! --" she cried, her paws shaking slightly on Zaldon's face, "- to keep you from knowing. Understand that!"

Zaldon stared at his feet and suddenly wished he had just stayed at home. But how could he ever go back home after what he had witnessed? How could he keep these things to himself? He told himself that he would block it out, forget everything, and when his mother stood and took his paw again, that's exactly what he did.

They went to the trading post first, where Joli sold her magnificent carvings in exchange for wonderful little knickknacks. She bought Zaldon a little kite with some of her profits, and Zaldon happily flew it behind him through the streets as they walked for the first time to Melgo's hut.

"Melgo is a very nice male," Zaldon's mother told him as they walked. "Just be respectful and sweet, like you always are, Zaldy, and you two will love each other."

Zaldon nodded nervously, pulling in his kite on the spool. They ducked inside the shadowy hut, and Joli happily called out Melgo's name. Zaldon stayed close to his mother, his eyes hunting through the gloom. It was the typical hut: pots hanging from the rafters, a warrior's spear in a rack on the wall, sitting furs spread beside the barren fire pit, and a curtain that barred off the hall where other curtained rooms branched away. Sitting in a chair beside a window and smoking a long pipe was the most beautiful male Zaldon thought he'd ever seen.

"Melgo," Joli whispered happily and stepped into the room.

The wolf reclining beside the window looked up and smiled. He was obviously way past his first mating season: at least forty. A seasoned warrior. Why, he was twice Joli's age! But his body was hard and sculpted, the arms bulging, the calves bulging as well, and he had the most beautifully slanted black eyes. His fur was a very dark gray and his long dark mane was wild and unkempt. For a summer wolf, he was very big and tall, but his body had a certain grace about it as he sat in repose in the chair: one ankle rested on his knee and Zaldon could see his cock resting against his thigh. Zaldon could not stop staring at that organ, which was so huge even while it was soft. Being from the winter village, Zaldon had seen big cocks all the time, but this one was beautiful. Just the way it looked reaching so dark and thick from that nest of curly fur around Melgo's balls. . . . He could even smell that cock from here: a hot, enticing scent that was harsh against his nostrils. Zaldon didn't know why, but he wanted to touch Melgo's cock the way he had never wanted to touch a cock before, and he knew he had failed to hide his fascination when Melgo let out a laugh.

Zaldon blushed and realized that Melgo's beautiful slanted eyes were fixed on him in amusement. Joli had come to her lover and had leaned down to kiss him. Melgo pulled her into his lap and she put her arm happily around his neck. Zaldon realized that for a summer wolf, Melgo was still so big that he almost made his seven-foot mother seem small.

"And who is this hardy little male? Your bodyguard?" Melgo joked.

Joli smiled mistily at Zaldon. "This is my son. Zaldon, come and say hello!" She held out her paw, smiling happily.

Still feeling bashful, Zaldon came forward, his ears flat on his head. He didn't know why he was so afraid of Melgo: those slanted black eyes were twinkling at him kindly when he finally stood face to face with the hulking dark wolf. He felt so small beside Melgo, under Melgo's amused stare. His eyes darted to Melgo's cock again and he blushed. God, the scent of it was wonderful! And he felt something happen to his own cock when Melgo's great paw ruffled his ears: it tingled hotly.

"The famous Zaldy," said Melgo fondly, smiling down at Zaldon. "Your mother has told me so much about you and your brother. I had to beg her to let me finally meet one of you."

Zaldon was relieved when that great paw let him go. Something scary had been happening to his cock, something he didn't understand, and he tried very hard to keep his eyes on the floor. If he looked at Melgo again, he knew his cock would start that funny feeling.

"Doesn't talk much, does he?" said Melgo in amusement.

"When you get to know him," Joli answered warmly, "he doesn't stop!"

They laughed.

"I'll go unpack and get settled in. Why don't you two get to know each other?"

Zaldon's heart leapt when his mother kissed him on the cheek, gathered her bags, and disappeared behind the curtain barring the hall. His heart hammered in his chest. Oh, god, he had been left alone with Melgo! And now Melgo was setting aside his pipe, Melgo was smiling at Zaldon and gesturing for him to sit on his lap! Zaldon just stood there. He knew if he moved any closer to Melgo that it would happen, that feeling again in his penis, that rushing through his body. God, what were these strange feelings?

"You're not my father," Zaldon said when Melgo gestured again for him to come.

Melgo sat back in the chair and laughed. "No, I'm not. But I'm in love with your mother, and that gives me some authority over you, pup. Now come here! I'm not going to harm you. We must become friends: it will make your mother happy."

Melgo's slanted eyes smiled at Zaldon again. God, he was beautiful! That hard chest, that rippling belly, and the rugged scent of his fur . . . . Zaldon loved the way Melgo's messy mane fell down around his shoulders, and the flexing of those hard thighs . . . Zaldon suddenly wanted to be in his lap and to hell with his hungry little penis. He moved forward at once and climbed on Melgo's knee, feeling his face grow red as he fumbled bashfully with his kite.

"Such a big boy for seven," said Melgo, staring down at Zaldon. "You winter wolves always did grow like trees. You know I'm not really a summer wolf? I'm from the sun village. That's why I'm so tall. But I moved down here to be closer to your mother."

Zaldon stared up at Melgo in amazement.

"That's right, little one," Melgo said with a smile. "I love your mother a great deal, and if she wasn't already married, I would have taken her for my mate by now. Now I want you to understand: I have nothing against your father. Hell, I'd share your mother with him if they let females have two husbands. But they don't, little one. So I must see your mother in secret, and even though she still loves your father, she agrees to come here and see me in secret because she loves me too. Do you understand that?"

"So Mom . . . Mom loves both you and my dad?" Zaldon asked, his nose scrunching up.

"That's exactly it, little one." Melgo fell silent and watched Zaldon curiously, and Zaldon, feeling his face get hotter, looked down again. He saw Melgo's big cock again lying along his thigh. It was so wonderfully close to his knee! He wanted to brush his knee against it, wanted to know what a big male's cock felt like. He had touched other little pups before: he once met a pup who had the same fervent desires as he, and hiding down in the bushes, they touched each other's penises. But he had never dreamed of exploring an adult until this moment. What would Melgo's penis feel like in his paw? He didn't even think he could get his little paw around it. And that smell! That delicious smell! Zaldon stared with hungry eyes at Melgo's cock and was startled into blushing when he heard Melgo chuckling at him.

Zaldon followed Melgo's gaze and realized with horror that his little cock was standing erect. He let out a sob. What was happening to him!

"So early in your lust, little Zaldy. What is your rush, hmm?" Melgo chuckled again, and Zaldon closed eyes in his humiliation, his cheeks burning against this teasing.

"Don't be ashamed," Melgo went on. "It is a common thing with sun wolves and probably winter wolves too: the body develops so fast that little lusts like this come early. Surely you've noticed that you are bigger than all the little pups here, Zaldy. In only a few years that little cock of yours will probably be as big as mine, your voice will have deepened, those little balls will have dropped. Your body will be an adult's body long before any of the little pups around here. Has your father explained this to you yet?"

Zaldon shook his head miserably.

"Ah, but he will. Poor Zaldy," Melgo whispered, massaging Zaldon's ears in sympathy. "So you're a tail chaser then. Your path will never be an easy one. You have my sympathy. Now as for this."

Zaldon's ears went flat on his head when Melgo nodded at his rigid little penis.

"Don't ever let it get hard in public. Ever. Especially not when you are alone with other males. And if the craving gets unbearable, when you are alone night, just stroke it. You will suffer less for your little lusts if you do."

Stroke it! Zaldon couldn't believe he'd just heard those words, and he was further shocked and humiliated when Melgo calmly ordered, "Stroke it."

Zaldon closed his eyes and swallowed miserably but did as he was told. He was amazed that his own paw could feel so good on his hard little organ. He felt something happen -- a building excitement, as if he might burst -- and when he bit his lip and whimpered, Melgo whispered for him not to give in to this feeling but to repress it, to ride over it and keep stroking until his cock went down again. Zaldon did as he was told and was never so relieved when his craving went away. His cock went soft again, flopping against his thigh, and he sagged breathlessly in Melgo's lap.

"Very good," Melgo said, massaging Zaldon's ears again in sympathy. "Now don't be ashamed, my boy. Controlling this desire is something we all must learn. And as a tail chaser, it will be even harder for you because you will be around males for the better part of your life. But it is something you must learn, because showing these desires in public? It is not allowed here, the same way it is not allowed at all in the winter village, am I right?"

Zaldon nodded miserably.

"But understand this, Zaldon," Melgo went on, and his voice was suddenly so grim that Zaldon looked up through his tears, his ears pricking forward. "The moment you show these desires in public is the moment you will lose my sympathy! Understand!"

"Yes, sir!" Zaldon said quickly. He closed his eyes and thanked goodness this strange thing had never happened to his cock at home: he never would have lived it down.

"Good," Melgo answered. "What a good boy you are, Zaldon. Just like your mother said. She loves you a great deal."

Zaldon closed his eyes and wiped at his tears, and he felt a wave of fondness for Melgo when the dark wolf kissed him on the head and held him close. It was a fatherly kiss and reminded him so much of Bayne that he smiled to himself, imagining that he was at home on his father's lap being held by him. He still didn't understand what had happened to his cock, why he had felt those things, but Melgo had told him that as a winter wolf, he would feel them earlier than the wolves of the summer village and that things would be harder for him because he was a tail chaser. Tail chaser. Zaldon had grown up hearing those words all his life, but he hadn't the vaguest clue what a tail chaser really was, only that it wasn't allowed and that wolves who showed signs of being tail chasers back in the winter village were stoned to death. He shuddered at the very thought and vowed to himself that he would never let this thing happen to his penis again.

Zaldon was suddenly very grateful to Melgo, this beautiful dark wolf who had shown him kindness and sympathy, who had instructed him in the ways of controlling his urges. For Melgo could have been so cruel to him, could have smacked him across the face, called him hideous names for his desire, kicked him out into the streets and whipped him publicly -- but Melgo hadn't done any of those things! And Zaldon suddenly realized that if he had revealed himself in the same way in his father's presence, Bayne probably would have smacked him and whipped him and more besides.

"Poor Zaldon. Perhaps I pity you because I know what you are going through: my brother was a tail chaser and my father was merciless to him for it. I saw his suffering firsthand. I know what he endured. But if my brother could endure it, you can too. You're going to be just fine, little Zaldy."

Zaldon looked up into those beautifully slanted eyes and whispered, "Thank you, Melgo!"

They hugged, and Joli returned in time to see the little scene. She smiled when they looked up. This was just what she had hoped for: that her little Zaldy and Melgo might come to love each other. Oh, if only she could have both Melgo and Bayne! Perhaps next year or the year after she would bring little Lynny to meet Melgo. She had left Lynny behind this time because he was just too young to understand.

"Zaldon," Joli said happily, "why don't you go out and explore the village?"

Zaldon sprang from Melgo's lap with a grin. He had been dying to have a look around this place! It was so beautiful and so big and there was so much to see and do. He wanted to go back to the great pavilion near the village square and fly his kite. There was a great field of grass there with many little flowers, many little hills, and he'd seen other pups playing there, little males, mostly, who were beginning their warrior training early.

"Don't go far!" Joli called when her son sprinted eagerly out the curtain. "And come back here for lunch!"

"Yes, Mother!" Zaldon called.

Joli turned happily to Melgo, who rose to face her.

"He's a good boy, Joli. You've raised him well. And he'll be a big and strong male, a fierce warrior so long as you keep him in line. But there's something you should know."

Joli waited, smiling happily into her lover's eyes. "Well?" She frowned when she saw the concern cease Melgo's face.

"That boy's a tail chaser," Melgo said at last, as sadly as if Zaldon had been diagnosed with the plague.

Joli shook her head in dismay. "But -- but how do you know . . .?"

"He got hard when I told him to sit on my lap," answered Melgo with a half-smile.

Joli stared at Melgo with wide eyes.

"Yes," laughed Melgo. "I explained to him that he must learn to hide his feelings. You needn't worry. And I wasn't cruel to him. My brother was a tail chaser --"

"And your son," Joli said as it dawn on her. "The one you said was stoned over at the winter village -- he was a tail chaser!"

"Yes," Melgo admitted, bowing his head. "I t-tried to make him move to the sun village but he never listened and now . . . he's dead. Joli! Keep that boy in line -- never let him make the mistakes my son did!"

"I will, I will," Joli promised, cupping Melgo's face when his mouth turned down sadly at the corners. "Please, don't look that way -- it frightens me!" For she had never seen her Melgo so terribly sad.

Melgo pulled her into his arms and kissed her fiercely on the head. "Protect that boy! Protect him from this world!"

"I won't let anything happen to Zaldon -- I promise you!" She pulled back and gazed up at Melgo, who bowed his head, his ears flat.

"You know what needs to be done, Joli," Melgo told her darkly.

"I can't leave the winter village! You know that, Melgo!"

"Not even for your son!" he snarled.

"How dare you! I love my children --"

"Then put them first, goddamn it!"

"This has nothing to do with my sons! If I brought Zaldon here to live, he'd be hated for being a tail chaser the same as he would in the winter village --"

"But he wouldn't be stoned to death!" Melgo said over her, his eyes alight with the passionate outburst. "So long as he didn't cause any trouble, he'd have a chance to live a quiet life, here where the hatred has not vanished but is subdued. And when are you going to tell your husband about us? If you really loved Bayne, you'd tell him! And you'd tell him if you really loved me."

With that, Melgo shoved Joli from him and disappeared behind the curtain. Joli hurried after him up the hall, tears streaming down her cheeks. She followed him into the bedroom, and he whirled at her so sharply that she screamed, but he only hissed for her to get out.

"No!" Joli shouted and grabbed Melgo's arm. "I love you, Melgo! Why do I have to keep proving it?"

"Because it isn't true! I've just been f-fooling myself all these years," he stammered, twisting to make Joli let go.

But Joli clung to Melgo's arm, and they grappled, their fangs flashing as one sought to get away and the other sought to hold on. Joli managed at last to throw her arms around Melgo's neck, and as she kissed him again and again in a frenzy on his lips, she felt his cock go rigid against her. He cursed her and sputtered for her to let go, to stop these desperate advances.

"I do love you, I do!" Joli vowed. "And I promise that when I return to the winter village I'll -- I'll tell Bayne about us. I swear!"

Melgo pulled back and stared down at her. "And you will bring Zaldon here to live? Away from those barbarians who call themselves wolves?"

"Yes," Joli promised, and her eyes locked with his, unblinking.

"And you will give yourself to me, become my mate, my wife?"

"Yes!"

Joli kissed Melgo eagerly on the mouth, but he frowned and pulled away, as if he was still distraught. Joli kept kissing him, and now she stroked his cock, drawing sighs out of him against his will when she knelt down and took the great organ in her mouth. The thickness of it made her lips sore, but she sucked hard, slurping eagerly with her tongue, working her lips. She pumped her head up and down in long, hungry strokes, and had soon taken that cock so deeply into her mouth that it nudged the back of her throat. But she kept sucking and pulling, the salty taste of Melgo filling her, making her pussy lips swell in her desire, and she was pleased when Melgo whispered her name and cursed her even as his dick threatened to spill its seed in her mouth.

He pulled out with a choked cry when she pulled her lips back and sucked gently on the head of his cock. She saw him sink to the bed and onto his knees, which had been shaking in his strain to hold back.

"Joli . . . I told you . . . to leave . . ." Melgo panted angrily. He sat on the bed, covering his erection, still trying to catch his breath.

Joli smiled and shook her head, her long silver mane a shadow behind her shoulders. "You don't want me to leave, Melgo," she whispered, closing her fingers around his rigid cock. It was still slippery and glossy from her sucking and it was throbbing so thick that she knew he was on the verge of coming. "The body never lies."

Melgo gave a half-smile. "No, I guess I can't hide my desires any more than Zaldon could."

"I do love you," Joli said, drawing closer to Melgo, "and I want to be with you now, not Bayne. To be honest, I've felt that way for years. I'm just -- I'm just so scared!"

"I know," Melgo whispered, holding her close. "I'm scared for you! What if I returned to the winter village with you, challenged Bayne for you --"

"No!" Joli snarled, pulling back. "Have you forgotten? I love Bayne! I wouldn't see him killed by you nor you killed by him!"

"Joli, they could stone you! You're an adulteress! I should return with you. I've been asking to all these years --"

"No!" Joli cried again.

"Then what?" Melgo demanded. "You'll return to the winter village alone, tell Bayne the truth, and let them stone you!"

"Bayne wouldn't do that to me! He loves me!"

"Oh, god, if only he didn't," Melgo said, shaking his head miserably as he gazed down at his lover. "Then it would be such an easy thing to march over there and challenge him, to make you mine -- really mine!"

"I'm yours right now." Joli closed her fingers over Melgo's erection. "All yours."

Melgo pressed Joli down to the sheets. He slipped himself inside and groaned when that tight sheath enfolded him, when her juices throbbed hotly around him. He started kissing Joli's neck, the heaving cleavage of her blushing breasts. He suckled her nipple and whispered against her fur, "You will be mine -- all mine, Joli. You've kept me waiting long enough!"

Joli gasped shrilly when Melgo hunched his back and sank himself deeper. He slid his paws under her thighs, and lifting her legs onto his shoulders, he rode her deep and slow. She panted under him, her breasts riding with his deep thrusts, her little paws caressing her own tits as he pumped into her, and she felt her juices giving, felt her body shuddering as the pleasure washed over her in relentless waves. He leaned down when she offered one of her tits and he sucked her nipple into his lips, wet and slow.

Breathless, they both came, and Melgo grunted as he pressed his hips hard against her, as if to get his seed inside. He then slumped on top of Joli and closed his eyes, relishing in the feel of her slender, shapely body beneath him.

Joli lay under Melgo as he slouched on top of her, as they both panted, their fur glossy with sweat, and she loved the heat of his body on hers, loved his hungry kisses on her neck, his tongue on her cheek. He hadn't pulled his cock out and she didn't want him too: even when soft, it still felt so big inside of her, so warm and thick.

"I bet Bayne has never fucked you like that," Melgo whispered between kisses.

Joli didn't answer. Bayne was a brute in the bed and had actually done more to her and besides. She would miss their wild fucking more than anything when she finally came to live in the summer village, she would miss those long nights of screaming her lungs out and calling Bayne's name as he rode her with a wild abandon, his cock so thick and demanding as it rammed inside of her. God, she would miss that. But she loved being with Melgo too and she wanted to be with him more than anything suddenly: at least Melgo held her tenderly when it was over. Bayne always fell asleep on top of her, and when she tried to wriggle free, his big arm would lock around her and he would kiss her hard in his sleep. She had liked this at first: Bayne was such a big thing, and yet so warm and loving, so possessive of her. This had been his attraction, this fierce protectiveness, those hard kisses he gave her in his sleep. But over the years, Bayne had become so possessive to the point that it sometimes frightened Joli.

"Joli," Melgo whispered. "I love you and I want to spend my life with you. That's all I'm asking for! Either give that to me or it's over. Because I can't do this anymore. I can't sit here alone and wait around, wondering when I'll see you again."

"I'll tell him the truth," Joli promised. "I'll tell him! But I just know we're going to wind up screaming at each other. That's what I'm afraid of. I love Bayne, Melgo. I don't want to hurt him, but you're right: my place isn't with him. It's with you." She kissed Melgo on the lips and they smiled at each other.

"But the really hard thing will be breaking the news to my sons," sighed Joli miserably. "Lynny won't understand. And he'll . . . he'll probably hate me."

"He's just a pup, Jo," Melgo said, stroking her mane sympathetically. "He may not understand until he's much older. But no matter his confusion or anger, he will always love his mother! Wolves aren't perfect -- parents least of all -- and your sons will have to learn this early on. If Zaldon and Lynny come here to live, I will take care of them like my own. This I swear to you."

Joli smiled up at Melgo, her eyes spilling over with happy tears. "Thank you, Melgo! I couldn't ask for a better mate."

"Of course you couldn't."

Joli laughed. "And life would be better here for Zaldon, here where they're less likely to stone tail chasers. He already seems to like it here anyway. If only I could win Lynny over. I don't know how I could leave my little pup behind with Bayne. It's not that Bayne wouldn't take care of him, it's just --"

"You'd miss him to death. You could always go back and visit, Joli. Do you really think I'd stop you? Hell, I think I'll go with you just to make sure Bayne keeps his paws off you."

They laughed together again and started kissing. Joli felt Melgo get hard against her and arched her back, a silent invitation. He thrust inside of her, sighing in her ear that she was so tight, and the sounds of their love making filled the hut as the morning sun streamed in.