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I'd been submissive for so long that life with Emmett sometimes challenged me. I had actual decisions to make about things, and sometimes I'd get stuck on simple seeming problems. The monthly order sheet from the storehouse came around, and I needed to put down what was needed to maintain the house. I knew some of it, but other parts mystified me. How much mead did a household need for a month? How much wood for fires should I ask for? These were small things that I would have known how to do if Voltas had ever let me do things.

I'd gone to get a new dress to replace my one tattered one that I wore while in hybrid form, and Brand had asked me what color I wanted. I'd cried. I didn't know what color I wanted, though maybe it hadn't all be about the dress. Maybe part of it had been that this was the first time I'd come for supplies and spoken to Brand and not Freya. She'd always been a friend, even if she'd been one I couldn't talk to often. My husband had hated her. He'd said she was a camp whore, and the only reason he kept her around was so that his boys could get their cocks wet whenever they needed it.

It had made me sad for her, but then I'd talked to her and she'd laughed it all away. She'd told me she did enjoy sex with many individuals, men and women, but that it was never for money, and never with anyone she didn't choose. She always seemed happy and positive. I returned to the house with a purple dress that I wasn't sure would look good on me and set about preparing a meal for everyone. I was tired of being weak. It was frustrating. Emmett was so strong, and I felt like just about anything could damage me. Voltas had done this to me.

I promised myself I'd talk to my brother and see if he could teach me to be stronger, or show me to someone who could make me stronger. I needed to be the kind of mate that Em deserved. He was a powerful, bright man, and he deserved a wife who could stand next to him, one who wouldn't cower in his shadow, which was all I was really good for. I finished prep for the meal and went to check on the kids who were ripping through the house like a tornado, destroying anything that got in their path. They were kids. It was what they did, and I didn't hold it against them. Neither did Emmett.

He only ever raised his voice if he had to yell over them to get heard, and he'd never lifted a hand to any of them. He had a way of sitting down with them and talking to them that made them understand he wanted to tell them something important, and they listened. I hoped none of them would grow up to be like Voltas, but sometimes Viyya could be downright mean. She had an angry streak wide enough to hold back an advancing army. It was in her to contain that fire, but she didn't seem to want to yet. Children often had trouble with restraint.

Thinking about her anger reminded me of Em's warning from the Seer, about the two children that would cause us heartache. Was Viyya one of the? I didn't like to think any of my children would intentionally try to hurt me or Em, but children had minds of their own, and they grew into adults with minds of their own. Sometimes dark things happened. I tried not to worry too much about what might happen though. It didn't do any good to dwell upon possibilities. For all I knew it could be as of yet unborn children that caused the heartache.

I spent some time playing with the kids, and then checked the time. I figured Em would be home soon. He'd gone out hunting with Fenrick and he'd said they'd be back by dinner. I didn't think he'd be late. It was the full moon tonight, and I doubted he or my brother would want to be too far away when the light started to go down.

I heard Emmett arrive and hand up his bow and then take off his boots. Fen and him seemed to work well together, Fen would chase the animals, even hard ones for werewolves to catch, and line them up for Em to shoot with his bow. In that way, the two hunters could get a lot of game all on their own. Emmett had explained that to me. He liked to actually talk to me, explain things, discuss the way things happened.

"Runa?" He called ahead of himself as he came looking for me, his voice pleased,amused.

I came down stairs, excited to see my husband. “Hey, Em. How did the hunting go?"

He swept me up in a hug. "Mmm, good. I brought home a portion of course." It was hunters' rights to take a bit beyond the normal distribution home with them. "How were the babes?" He released me to get the meat he'd brought home from just outside the door and take it to the kitchen. He chuckled a little, listening to someone yell instructions for a game at the top of their lungs in the upstairs.

I laughed. “Well, kids will be kids. Tivald is doing much better today. I haven't heard him cough at all. He's even been running around with the others. Supper is just about done if you'd like to eat, though it's a stew, so it can cook for a bit longer if you've got things to finish." I nuzzled against his neck.

"Just let me get this goat cleaned up a bit more, then I can eat. You can start the kids in it though." He winked at me and grinned his not-so-innocent-grin. "Early supper, early bedtime?"

I couldn't help but blush. “That's the idea. I hope you're feeling energetic. Things can get . . . quite demanding." I was already beginning to feel a little warm in sensitive places. Normally I would consider myself very aroused, but I knew by the time the moon was coming over the horizon this would be nothing. “We do have chains if you need them." I warned him. I'd spent many a heat chained in the bedroom. Voltas hadn't been interested in me for a long time, so he'd made sure I wouldn't try to mate with him while I was at my peak.

Em smiled just a touch nervously at me. "Oh no, I want to ride out the full moon having wild sex with you, and getting you pregnant." He winked at me. "Though I am a little nervous. I know it's rather rough, and I'm worried I won't be able to perform to your complete satisfaction." He chuckled a little to himself. "It's an adventure! We'll see how it goes." He put down what he'd been working with and stored the goat meat. "Alright, food. I'll call the little ones. He nuzzled and hugged me again on his way out to gather the children.

We had a relatively quiet supper, and then played with the kids for a while before dark started to descend. We tucked the children into bed and headed for the bedroom, shutting the door behind us as the pressing of my lust began to swell to a powerful compulsion that was getting harder and harder to resist. I crawled across the bed in my werewolf form, wagging my tail at Em as heat passed through my body.

I turned back to him. “Join me?"

“Of course." Em grinned at me and undressed, the process seeming to take forever. He came up into the bed after me. He had hungry eyes, but a mischievous smile and he moved timidly. He sat on the bed and leaned back on one arm, stroking himself with the other and just watching me. He was interested, but apparently not going to kick things off for me.

I slid up between his legs and lapped at his cock, rolling my tongue over the swollen hardness and taking the clear liquid oozing from the tip of his shaft. I licked further down his shaft, running my tongue along his testicles, then back up his length, a low growl rising up my throat as I delicately took him into my mouth and wrapped his shaft in my nimble tongue. I pulled away from him and gave him a heated, half-lidded look. “You can be rough tonight, Em. My body wants it. I'll let you know if you're too rough, but I sort of need to feel your desire." I reached down between my legs and slid two fingers into my wetness. I drew them back out and showed Emmett my dripping fingers.

Em chuckled deeply and bit his bottom lip. “I was going to have you control things, but you've gotten me rather riled up." He winked and grinned at me as he got up on his knees to lay me down into the bed. He was still being gentle for the moment, but I didn't think he'd stay that way with the way his eyes were churning hungrily. “My plans can change." He said in a gravely whisper close to me ear before he nipped my lower jaw and sat up to rub his cock against my entrance.

I gave a growl in reply. “You should definitely put that thing inside me soon. I feel like I'm on fire, and only your cock can put it out. I'm going to cum a lot, my sex is already twitching. I'll probably go right after you push that hard, wonderful thing inside me." I told him, talking about it was making my insides clench up in anticipation. A low, rumbling growl stemmed up from inside of me. “Mmm, Em, take me hard."

“It's nice to see you making requests without blushing." He said and sighed, still rubbing against me. “I suppose that means I should give you what you want." Em winked at me, and then slid his hands from my sides to my hips slowly. I felt his hips shift, the difference in the angle of his cock against me, and then he pulled me against him as he thrust in hard and fast, filling me up suddenly. He gave a shuddering grunt of pleasure, and then started working my body hard and fast. His green-blue eyes locked on mine as he pounded into me, his balls slapping my body as he pushed completely inside. “So tight already, its a bit difficult to keep pushing into you." He admitted, expression a mix of desire and pleasure.

I growled and let out a small howl of pleasure as I curled my claws into the bedding. He'd only thrust about four or five times when a wave of pleasure washed through, starting low in my stomach and rippling outward through my flesh. “Em, mmm, keep going." I growled the words, barely able to shape them. I writhed beneath him as he hammered away at my sex. I could feel my wetness dripping down my ass, coating me and him in my excitement.

“Pull my nipples." I snapped, wanting to feel the pleasure that would give me in mix with the slight pain if he was rough about it. “Be rough." I added, to make sure he knew exactly what I wanted. Emmett reached down and squeezed my breasts gently, then took the nipples in his fingers and rolled them as he tugged them upward and away from me. He released one, leaning in to find the erect nub with his mouth. He sucked it in and then bit down, tugging the other at the same time. His hips continued to roll against mine, pressing his cock deep within me and then sliding out quickly to enter me again.

My insides clenched around his shaft again as I couldn't help but roll through another orgasm. I realized I wouldn't be able to be on my back much longer. I'd need him to take me from behind, mate me like an animal. I wanted him to put his fingers in my fur and pull as he fucked me from behind roughly, but I also didn't want to pull his cock out of me. I wanted his cum to splash inside me as deep as it could go, and then for him to keep fucking me, spreading his thick white seed all over my insides. I couldn't articulate any of these desires though because the heat of the full moon was getting to me. If I wanted something, I had to take it, I realized. I crawled and pushed away from him, forcing Em to slide out of me, which was a nearly painful thing to do, and then I leaned over the edge of the bed and draped my tail to one side. I took my claws and grabbed my ass, spreading my sex wide open, and looked back at him over my shoulder. All I could do was growl as I presented my dripping cunt to him.

Emmett had already moved off the bed when he saw me doing so, and he figured out what I wanted quickly. He ran a hand down my back as the other lined him up to reenter me, and then he grabbed my hips and started pounding into me again. He moaned at the feel of me around him. He moved one hand forward, putting it in between my shoulder blades and pushing me down into the bed. His fingers sank into my fur there, gripping it even as he pressed down on me.

I growled and clawed at the furs on the bed, pushing my sex back onto his as he took me hard. It wasn't long before another powerful orgasm tore through me, making my knees shake, and my insides quiver. I howled as I came, the release so powerful it sent waves of blackness through my vision. My body was clamping down hard on his shaft as he pushed into me, trying desperately to milk his cum from him.

His hand tightened in the skin and fur of my back and he gasped. “Ah Runa." His voice was deep and gravelly, and a moment later he let out a soft moan as his movements slowed to pump streams of semen into me. He shifted his hands back to my hips, pulling me back onto him as he thrust forward so he could be as deep as possible. This entry felt difficult, the swelling of my sex working against the orgasm trying to pull him in further. He stopped once he was locked in tight, probably for the difficulty continuing to thrust in posed. The fit was so tight I could feel every pulsing twitch of his cock as he emptied himself.

As his throbbing orgasm finished and my insides began to loosen a little I started to roll my hips against his shaft, wanting more from him, needing more from him. There was cum and wetness dripping down my thighs now, and as I looked back I could see moisture dripping off his balls from where I'd slammed myself against him. This excited me more. I wanted to be fucked more. I worked my sex along his shaft, trying to make sure he stayed ready to service me.

Emmet groaned softly and then chuckled. He looked down at me and smiled, hands squeezing my hips and fingers pulling softly at my fur there. To start he worked gently. “Sometime here love, it's going to be your turn on top." He said, and I thought it was as much because of the physical work he was doing as it was because he liked me on top.

Exercising a phenomenal amount of control I climbed onto the bed and gestured for him to lay down. My insides were aching from his absence, and I had to thrust two fingers into myself and work my body to keep myself occupied. “Bed!" I growled to him, needing him to lay down as quickly as I could get him to do so. My fingers weren't enough, my body was quaking around them, gripping and releasing in painful rhythm, but I couldn't sate myself.

Em had a laugh on his lips and in his eyes even though he was still panting. He came onto the bed and pulled me over on top of him as he lay down. “Going to use me well Runa?" He asked, a bit of teasing wrapped up with his gravelly desire in his tone.

I pushed backwards onto his shaft, replacing my fingers with his cock as I locked eyes with him. I let out a growling moan as his dick filled me up the way my fingers couldn't. I leaned over him and bit down lightly on his shoulder as I began to grind myself against the hardness in my body. I could feel his wonderful meat throbbing against my own swollen insides. I tried to be gentle about it, but as my desire rose I began to slam myself down on him harm, liking the feel of his balls slapping against my asshole. I bit him harder, the feel of his skin beneath my teeth intoxicating.

Emmet moaned, and seemed to like my teeth on him and the roughness. He pushed one hand into the fur at my neck, taking a handful of my skin and fur and squeezing gently every time my teeth shifted or pressed harder against him. His other hand reached down to my ass, squeezing there occasionally too. He was more verbal this way, gasping and letting out small grunt of pleasured pain as I rode him.

My body began to shake as another orgasm approached, and I lifted my head from his shoulder and howled as it rippled through me. I couldn't remember ever feeling so good before. As the orgasm subsided I let out a whimper of agonized pleasure. It was so good I felt like I might cry, but I wanted more. I grabbed Em's arms and pinned them above his head, locking eyes with him as I began to slam my hips down hard on his. A growl slid up my throat, and I couldn't help myself. I slid my mouth forward and grabbed Emmett's neck, not hard, but in a position where I could have torn his throat out at any moment if I wanted to. A feeling of pure power and control settled on me as I rode him with increasing roughness, my jaws locked in position.

I wouldn't hurt him, but I couldn't escape the intoxication of control. I felt like an Alpha in that moment, like I actually wasn't a weak little thing. I wondered if Em knew just how special that was for me. A small part of me worried that he would be afraid, but the lust and the heady control of the moment was too much to let pass. I had to cum like this, and his body had to be the thing to make me cum.

Em's hips were thrusting a bit with mine and he was breathing heavily, with fear or excitement I wasn't sure. “Oh Runa." He gasped, his voice a mixture of several things though pleasure seemed to definitely be at the top of the list. “I'm going to cum soon." He said. “I can't help it."

This just made me fuck him harder. I wanted him to cum inside me. This, I knew, was the end of the heat. After this I would be ready to curl up and sleep, but I needed this. I needed him to give himself to me because he couldn't resist what I was doing to him. An orgasm washed through me and I growled fiercely into his neck as I rode his pole trying to fuck the cum from him. I would have roared and told him to give it to me, but I refused to let go of his neck. It was an implied threat that if he didn't give me his seed I'd kill him, though I would never do anything of the sort. Still, in that moment, I wanted it to feel that way. My insides clamped down on him, milking his shaft hard enough that I feared it would be uncomfortable for him, but really didn't care enough to stop.

He let out a wild cry as his body gave into mine. His hips bucked a bit beneath me, the movements jerky and uncontrolled as his seed spilled into me, my body drinking it up. He came down panting, his orgasm fading slowly. His arms pulled in my grip, not that they hadn't been before on occasion. “Runa?" He asked, voice maybe just a little tentative.

I released my jaws on his neck and nuzzled his neck as I released his wrists. “Em." I growled his name, finding it difficult to talk clearly. “I love you." The words weren't easy, but I made myself say them. My body was still convulsing around his.

Emmett sighed, his body relaxing slowly. He put his arms around me and nuzzled his face against my shoulder. “I love you too." His fingers started massaging my back, a combination of scratching and petting. “I was worried a bit there." He chuckled. “But I liked being a little afraid, having you in control."

I sighed against him and nuzzled closer, licking lightly at his neck that had some rather impressive teeth marks in it. “Thank you." I growled, though I wanted to tell him 'Thank you for letting me have so much control, it was amazing for me. I've never felt so in control before, and it made me feel like a wolf, like one of my people, for the first time in my life.' There was no way I could get all those words out so I just held him close. “Love." I told him, putting as much feeling into the word as I could manage.

Em sighed happily, his body relaxing further. He tilted his head a little to give me better access to the bite, seeming to enjoy my tongue moving across the abused flesh. It was really very trusting of him. “I love you too." He said softly, pleased, and he squeezed me tighter to him for a moment. He released me, rolling me and putting my leg up over his so that we stayed joined but were on our sides facing one another. He yawned as he pushed his face against my neck fur, his breath finally calming to be just a tickle through me fur. “Can you sleep now love?" He asked, sounding just a little worried what my answer might be. “Because if you need a round three I'm not sure I can perform just yet, and I'm exhausted."

“Yes, sleep." I told him, nuzzling him affectionately. We curled up together, and soon both of us were fast asleep.

I felt good when I woke up the next day, a bit later than I normally would. I'd shifted back to my wolf form in the night, something I would have never let myself do back before Emmett had come into my life. I rolled over and found my husband and gave his face an affectionate lick. On a whim I shifted into my hybrid form. It wasn't an easy transition, but I sort of wanted to kiss my husband.

“Good morning, love." I told him, kiss his lips lightly. I figured he could help me make breakfast, and maybe we could talk about the full moon and see how it had been for both of us. Unlike a male, I could remember most of what had happened. I was curious to know how he felt about what we'd done, and I also wanted to let him know how special it had been for me now that I could talk again.

He seemed startled to find me in my hybrid state, but smiled and kissed me a bit more passionately. “I do have to say, I sometimes miss kissing." He said, jovial but groggy. He winced a little and rubbed his neck where I'd bit him, an amused smile coming over his face as he seemed to remember why it was a bit sore. “Good morning." He said in a sort of dreamy voice that I knew was partially teasing. He winked at me as he stretched himself as though testing for issues.

I put my arms around him as he stretched, pushing my larger human breasts against him. I had a sudden desire to have sex with him again, in this form. He'd never had me like this, and I felt like I needed it to complete our bonding. Once he'd had me as a hybrid, he would have had me in all my forms, and that thought made me feel special. I reached down between his legs and took his member in my hand, lightly rubbing my human-like fingers over it. “I wanted to thank you for last night again." I told him, kissing his neck over my tooth marks. “You let me feel in control, and dominant, and I've never really been able to fully let that side of myself out. It felt amazing."

Emmett hummed happily, one of his hands coming up to squeeze one of my larger breasts. “I like you in control sometimes, just like I like to be in control sometimes." He shrugged and smiled affectionately at me. “You don't have to thank me. I'm really glad you enjoyed it." He thrust his hips up a little into my hand, and then reached around my neck to pull me in for a kiss again. He bit my bottom lip lightly, chuckling in amusement as he did.

“I just wanted you to know how wonderful it was for me." I said with a smile, before I kissed him again. I wasn't good at it, I knew. I'd never kissed a human before, not as my hybrid self. I slid my fingers down his length and then squeezed him and stroked upwards deeply before sliding back down. I liked the way he felt against the palm of my hand, and I liked the way interacting with him like this felt. Even if my body hurt a little, it was far outweighed by the pleasure of the moment. “I think I desperately need you to make love to me again, husband." I whispered against his mouth. “Then we can make breakfast, but right now, love me with your body."

Em rolled me gently onto my back, running his hands over this new form of mine, exploring. He kissed down my neck and suckled my breast as his fingers found my entrance and toyed with my folds. “A little more slowly this time, I think." He said, voice a low simmer. His nipped lightly at the flesh of my breast, and then switched to suckle the other.

I let out a bit of gasp and pushed my hips against his fingers. “Mmm, Em, that feels nice." I told him, smiling at him as he worked. I reached up and ran my fingers through his hair, stroking it back from his handsome face, and giving a gasp or moan anytime his his hand touched a particularly sensitive place. I couldn't believe how much I loved this man already. “You're an amazing man." I told him with a pleasured giggle.

Emmett removed his fingers and set to rubbing his cock against my sex instead. “Eh, I'm alright." He said with a wink and a grin. “But you're really the amazing one." He leaned down and kissed me again as he started pushing into me gently. “I love you Runa, so much." He whispered in my ear as he settled in over me, his cock completing it's insertion and his balls pressing against me. He nibbled on my ear and then kissed where my jaw met my neck.

“I love you too, Em." I told him, nuzzling affectionately against him. “Gods, you feel so good." I told him, pushing my hips against his. I felt really full in this form. His cock felt larger compared to my werewolf form, though smaller than when I was in my wolf form, but it seemed to fit with my hybrid form very nicely. Of course, it always felt amazing, it was just amusing to compare the differences. I ran my fingers down his back, feeling the muscles of his powerful frame, and then I touched his ass, which was firm, and I could feel the muscles moving beneath his skin. The experience was intoxicating. I wrapped my legs around him, in that moment wanting to keep him forever like that.

Emmett pushed his hand into my hair and sat up enough to look into my face as he started to move more freely. He cupped my cheek in one hand and kissed me again as he picked up the pace, going faster but not really harder. His hands still liked to roam me as he made love to me, exciting me all over in his explorations. He grinned against me lips. “My probably pregnant, wonderful wife." He said and hummed happily. He kissed me again, lips still vibrating with the hum of his delight.

I savored the sensation of his kiss, and the feel of his hips locked with mine, but my excitement was getting the better of me. I pushed my hips against his a little to make him slide within me, rolling our bodies together. “I want you, love." I told him, my voice a little husky in my desire, even in my my hybrid form. I pulled on his body with my hands, trying to get him to move within me. I wasn't quite as needy as I had been the night before, but I was still very excited.

Em sat up and lifted my legs to his shoulders, obliging my desire for more of him. He nudged my leg with his head affectionately and smiled at me. “You feel good in every form Runa." He said, his own voice still low and simmering. He let my legs back down after a bit, leaning over me and picking up the pace again, one hand squeezing my breast and then teasing the nipple between two fingers.

I moaned as he worked my body. It was as enjoyable in hybrid form as it was in every other. Emmett was a great lover and having him inside of me was a thrilling experience. My breathing began to pickup as his pace did. “Oh, love. I'm going to cum." I told him, wanting him to climax with me. The warning barely had enough time clear my lips and I felt myself slip into a deep, powerful orgasm. I closed my eyes and let myself get swallowed up in the amazing sensation.

Emmett nuzzled his nose against my cheek as he came too, pushing a hand down on my hip to keep my quaking body connected to his as he filled me with cum again. He kissed my jaw and down my neck again, his kissing slowly changing from passionate and loving to a little goofy and excited. He got up on his elbows to grin down at me. “We should get up soon I suppose, or risk being tackled naked and connected by our band of thigh-high charges."

He was right. As pleasant as it was, we couldn't stay in bed forever.

The next couple of weeks went by pleasantly, and I fell into a happy cycle of getting chores done and trying to improve my ability to function outside of the home. Thanks to Em being my mate, people were actually starting to approach me in a friendly manner, and my standing in the pack was going up again. It felt wonderful not to be an outsider, though some aspects of it did still distress me. I wasn't very good at gossiping and making small talk, though it was nice that other parents were letting their children play with mine again, and the kids seemed to enjoy it as well.

Emmett had joined the hunting group with Fenrick full time, so he was gone a good deal of the time during the day, but I didn't mind. I'd stopped being afraid that he wouldn't want to come back to me at some point. It was still a little strange to know that I could rely upon my husband if I needed something. To know I always had his support was a tremendous relief. I felt like I wasn't making a very big contribution to the pack, but I wasn't sure how to change that. It was quite a job just to take care of all of my pups. They tended to run me ragged during the day.

However, with the other mothers of the pack starting to warm up to me, I could sometimes leave my children in their care for short periods of time, which opened up my days to exploring the town and trying to see where I fit in a bit better. I was on one of these trips out when a terrified looking werewolf came running back into town. I didn't recognize him, but he was yelling as he came in.

“Humans! There is a human army coming this way!" He shouted in a panic. “I need to report to Fenrick!"

“Fenrick's not here." I told him with a worried whine. “He is out with the hunting party. They're not due back for a while yet."

“Then I need to talk to Imava." He said, and ran off towards her home. I followed him, my heart beating hard in my chest. He was hammering on the door before I'd caught up with him.

“Imava!" He yelled. “It's Torby, the forward scout for the town, we have incoming trouble!"

Imava emerged, very round with her pups now. “What kind of trouble?" She asked immediately as she tugged a long sweater on around her human frame.

“We have a large human force in full armor marching in this direction, from the outlands, beyond our borders. They look hostile, and they're definitely going to run into this town in the next hour." Torby said, dancing back and forth on his feet like he was ready to go running again.

I was horrified. What would an army want with us? We'd never hurt anyone, and we had children here, pups who could barely run in a straight line, let alone defend themselves.

Imava quizzed Torby quickly on the symbols the army carried to identify themselves. Her fingers rubbed nervously at her belly as she listened, brows pulled down in thought. “Alright Torby, run to Fenrick and tell the hunting party what's coming this way. Tell him I'll have evacuated the young and dependent that I can, but I don't think everyone can get far enough away. The strongest of us left here will have to defend the place until he can arrive. Tell him I'll try to keep things from being violent when they arrive, but I doubt it will work for long."

Imava turned worried eyes on me, taking my arm on her way and talking quietly. “I'm going to send Morin to lead the pups and those others in middling condition that might be able to get away. I'm just too pregnant, I have to stay. Besides, I might be our best hope to hold off hostilities. Who can hold a hybrid form really well, Runa? You can right?"

Imava seemed to have something in mind, but she was nervous and upset. “I can assure you, they've come to take over these lands from monsters. The less like monsters we look to them, the better. And yes, they'll see the pups as monsters. They'll see the animal side of them, and nothing else will matter. That's why I'm asking about people who can hold the hybrid form well." She stopped at Brand's house, getting all the clothing he had there to help dress up whoever could look human enough to pass for a time. Then she headed for the town center, her pace slow due to the difficulty of her condition.

“I can hold a hybrid form as long as I need to, and I know a few others who do it really well. I'll go gather them. Do you want us to meet back at your place?" I looked at her stomach. “Are you sure you're up to this, Ava? You look on the verge of bursting."

She laughed and shrugged. “No contractions or anything yet. I'll be alright. I'm the most human of us, of course, so I should really be the one that does most of the interacting with them if possible." She sighed. “Have them meet me in the town center. In fact, have everyone meet in the town center that you can find to tell. Have the people who can keep their hybrid form gather in front of the Oak tree though so I know who they are. Then get them changed and dressed, please. I'll leave the clothing there. Everyone else who has to stay or is strong enough to fight we'll put inside a few of the houses there." Ava rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. “So much to do in an hour." She grumbled, voice edging on the desperate nature of the situation too, and then she waved me off to tasks.

I ran around the village, going from house to house and getting everyone who couldn't escape, or who was willing to fight to gather as I'd been instructed. There were 9 of us that could pull off a very convincing hybrid form for a long stretch of time, and I drew us all together by the tree, wishing there were more of us. We all shifted and got dressed as we waited for Imava to return, a nervous energy running through our group. It wouldn't be long now and the army would be marching on us. I could hear the sound of armored men on the move. I hoped my children were away and safe.

“Do you think they're here to kill us?" A man named Havard asked me, his hybrid form looking worried.

“I'm afraid so." I said. “They think we're monsters, and they believe they need to kill us to keep themselves safe."

“We're not monsters, no more than they are. This village should be proof enough of that. Gods, we have children, babies, pregnant women. This is horrifying." He sounded deeply upset.

“I know, I know." I told him, placing my hand over my lower belly. I was carrying children as well now. This was not something I needed, and poor Imava was in even worse shape.

Ava smiled though she was tense too as she came up to us. The other wolves were dispersing, either heading for the hills or the homes she'd designated for them to stay in until things either got violent or the army left. "Hello everyone." She looked us over, picking a couple that looked most comfortable in hybrid form, including myself. "The rest of you just hang around, we're going to chat with the army when they arrive." She said. "Mostly I'll talk to them, but they won't like that I'm pregnant." She shrugged and settled down to wait, looking a bit tired already.

“If you need anything, any support or maybe you just need me to talk, I can do it." I told her, trying to sound more confident than I felt. “I have pups to protect, and I'm not letting anyone hurt them. They've had a rough enough life already."

Ava pat my shoulder and smiled. "I know I can count on you."

The army moved surprisingly slowly, entering the town cautiously in their slow, orderly fashion. The men were bogged down by heavy clothing and armour. Horses carried the commanders and those of higher rank. The leader halted the whole progression and looked upon us suspiciously.

Imava had stood long before they were within hailing distance and told everyone but those she wanted with her to remain seated on the ground. Now that the commander had halted the army she advanced a few toward them, her hand under her belly to support it. She was frowning, but of course she didn't look threatening.

"Well met, I am Imava, daughter of the Marques of Mytal(look up later) and wife of Lord Fenrick Steelclaw." She made an impressive curtsy, doubly so considering her condition. "We have not the means to feed an army, and most of our men have gone on a far trip to find food we're in desperate need of." She was making us sound as though we were struggling, though we weren't, the kin were doing well under Fenrick. It had to be some tactic of hers.

"I am the son of the Duke of Mayshire, Preston Filgrad." The commander brought himself and his horse closer to us, and scolded the beast as it grew frightened of us. "Where is the rest of the town?" He said, nodding to our small gathering.

"I told those that are left to stay within their homes. These here are trusted officials and relations to Fenrick and I." Imava explained.

"Left?" The commander asked, his horse jerked its head sharply and he let it take a step backward.

"We recently lost a portion of our population to an illness, though it seems to have passed." Ava said.

The commander let his horse back up another pace and took a handkerchief from a pocket to hold over his nose. "Oh, well ... My condolences. What is the name of this town?" He asked, motioning some sort of scribe forward to take note.

Ava gave him the name, and a population number far lower than the truth. "Very well." The commander said and seemed to lose interest in the scribe. "Now then, we've been instructed to inform villages that you will now belong to King Villiem. Do you and yours have any trouble with monstrous beasts? Do you know where we might find their ilk?"

Ava told them no, that we had stories of creatures in the mountains but that she had never actually seen a beast like the ones they were looking for. It seemed all of her scheming was going to work. Preston spoke to a few other commanders, and with my hearing I could tell he was saying they should go around the town. We didn't have any provisions, he said, and the last thing they needed was an illness to run through the ranks. The other commanders grumbled agreement, and the army started making it's slow, laboured way back out of the town to go around us.

It seemed we were all going to be safe. Horses were being turned about and the army was being turned in place, and then a young one came running out of her house, stuffed toy in her jaws as she ran across the grass whimpering, obviously lost and afraid. She was, of course, in her werewolf form. Her parents had probably been werewolf dominant, so that was her most natural shape.

It all seemed to happen so slowly. One of the officers with the army turned on the girl, drawing a saber. “Monster!" He yelled. “We've been tricked!" The army turned like a wave, the news rippling down the line in a cascade of shining armor and glinting sword points. All of Imava's careful work had been for naught. We were doomed.

Ava whistled to the girl, who was thankfully faster than the army on her heels, though apparently that didn't take much. Ava took the toddler up in her arms, and had already told others to run for it. Our watching fellows, those unable to flee earlier and those able bodied and willing to defend the town, had been watching. The wolves streamed from the few buildings Ava had asked them to stay hidden in, quickly overtaking Imava and the child as they headed for safety and our small band of defenders prepared to make a stand.

The army fell on us like a wave crashing against a crumbling castle of sand. Something inside me urged me on into the fray. I shifted to my werewolf form, letting the clothes I was wearing tatter as my bigger form took over, and then I charged into battle. Claws weren't ideal against suits of steel, but our strength was more than a match for theirs. I'd never killed anything before. I'd never even been hunting, but it wasn't long before I had blood on my claws, and matted in my fur. If we let these men get through us, they'd come for our children, and I couldn't let that happen. We were, however, not winning the fight.

Swords swung and blades bristled. Wolves fell to the ground, never to rise again. We were being beaten back. There was just too many of them, and we couldn't hope to win against their numbers. I felt a searing, terrible pain burn through my lower chest, and that was the only warning I had that I'd been run through with a sword. It had pierced just below my lung, from behind, and was protruding from the front of my body when I rounded on the man that had done it. He scrambled backwards as I turned to face him, and he immediately struck me as familiar. He looked a bit like Imava and Emmett. I tried to charge after him, but with the sword through my ribs I was in no condition to do so. I fell back again, slowly, the army getting emboldened by the number of our dead lining the streets of our own town.

A howl sounded from not far away, and a moment later a new wave of wolves broke onto the battlefield. I saw my brother run headlong into the oncoming attackers, and I glimpsed Emmett as well, but I had to fall back. I was bleeding a lot, and I still had a sword protruding through my body. The world was getting hazy as blood poured from the wound and soaked into my fur, trickling to the ground down my legs. I hoped Emmett would be alright. I hoped he'd take care of the children if I died, because at that moment that seemed a strong possibility.

I stumbled in the direction Imava had retreated, but I didn't get far before I was crawling on all fours, and then finally I slumped to my side and the world went black.