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Chapter 4

What follows is an account of the second day of Elise in Howling Grove, before she had met Rose...

The girl and her lycca were in the main clearing of the grove, both of them in their werewolf forms. The light of the morning sun descended softly through the canopy like thin, slanted cascades of golden shine. In front of the two lycca lovers stood an ornate gate seemingly made of ivory. Adorning its surface was the embossed figure of a lycca howling at the full moon.

"Alright, my Elise-vanni," said he, "this gate you see here... is no ordinary gate."

"I figured as much," she responded, having already noticed that the gate in question didn't seem to be attached to anything.

"So, how do I explain this..." he began. "Hmm, well... Just as it is the case with packs of regular wolves, at the head of our pack stands a powerful lycca to whom we all bow in respectful subservience. We call him 'Grand Alpha,' and he resides in the chamber that lies beyond this gate."

"I see..." said Elise, peeking past one side of the gate, visually confirming that there was nothing but an impassable thicket of trees behind it.

"You will not see the chamber from this side of the gate, Elise-vanni. It is concealed by a magic similar to the one that conceals the whole of Howling Grove itself from the outside world."

'Hmm, must he always call me Elise-vanni? I know it's their way of addressing us politely, but... Frankly, I wish he'd just call me Elise,' she briefly thought to herself. 'Ah, maybe I'll talk to him about it later.'

"Now," Fang continued, "you may find this hard to believe, but I must say that our Grand Alpha has never left his chamber, and likely never will. His very identity is a mystery to us all."

"Really? None of you have ever seen your own alpha?" she asked, puzzled.

"He works in mysterious ways. We can only trust that there is a very good reason behind his decision to remain forever locked behind this gate."

Elise returned to Fang's side, scratching her furry lupine head in confusion.

"So... this is always closed?"

He let out a long sigh before answering. It was clear that he wasn't thrilled about having to explain what came next.

"No. It opens about... once a year," he carefully said. "Come, follow me, please."

And thus, Fang led Elise away from the ivory gate, and towards the center of the clearing, where a stone pedestal stood. On its top was a basin-shaped concavity filled with water.

"This is the Moon Pedestal," explained Fang. "At this moment there is nothing here other than water... But in a few days we will likely find a very small stone lying in the center of the basin. It will be round and white, like a diminutive moon. We call them Moon Stones."

"Oh. I thought it was a drinking fountain of sorts."

"No, you cannot drink from this water, or even disturb it in any way. A barrier of some sort protects it at all times... except when there is a Moon Stone in it. You see, one always appears a few days after a new lycca-vanni has joined the pack. We do not know where they come from. Some say they come into being spontaneously. Others say they descend from the moon itself. Regardless, once a Moon Stone has appeared in the basin, the barrier will permit that new lycca-vanni to reach in and claim that stone for herself."

Elise was still a bit confused as to where Fang was going with all that, but she was still trying to pay attention and follow along as best as she could.

"So, I'm going to get one of those Moon Stones?"

"Yes, you will. And then you will wear it as a pendant for about three days, at which point it will begin to glow. When that happens, the gate to the Grand Alpha's chamber will open for you."

"I... what? You mean I'll meet the alpha? The same alpha none of you has ever seen?"

Fang sighed again. He was already dreading the inescapability of having to mention the fabled test.

"Every new lycca-vanni eventually meets with the Grand Alpha in this manner. It is something that only occurs once for each one of them, always within the first ten days of their new life in Howling Grove. That is why I said the gate only opens about once per year, since that is roughly how often a vanni will hear the call of the forest and form a soma bond with one of us."

"So... what you're saying is, every lycca-vanni in Howling Grove has already seen his face once? Then, how is his identity still a mystery?"

"Because none of them remembers anything that happens inside his chamber."

Elise froze.

A shadow of worry appeared over her face. The implications of that last statement, intended or not, were far too _sinister_to ignore. An avalanche of questions flooded her mind. There were so many of them, she didn't even know where to start, or how! Thankfully, Fang was quick to notice the early signs of distress in her eyes before she could even open her mouth.

"I know how that sounds, but I promise you that nothing of what you are thinking is going to happen," he said. "In fact, many lycca-vanni had examined themselves and others immediately after exiting the chamber, and none could ever find anything amiss. Rest assured, whatever happens in there, you can count on your honor remaining intact through it all."

"Alright..." said Elise, somewhat relieved to hear Fang saying that. "But I still don't understand what that meeting is for or what it's supposed to accomplish, if I'm not going to remember any part of it anyway."

Fang averted his gaze, seemingly struggling inwardly with himself.

"This... is the part I was not looking forward to," he said. "According to the ancient scripts, there is a test every new lycca-vanni must go through... in order to determine whether they will be a harmonious addition to the pack or not. It is called 'the Oneness Test.' We think the Grand Alpha conducts it, but no one knows exactly what it entails."

"A test..." echoed Elise. "Okay, so... what would happen if I failed it?"

"You... would no longer be accepted in Howling Grove," he somberly declared, still not finding the strength to pull his downcast gaze off the ground.

"Oh," she said, seemingly not too distraught by that prospect. "Well... if that were to happen and I was kicked out of here, and assuming you wouldn't want to be separated from your pack, I suppose I could live in that cave near the entrance -- the one you had called your 'temporary den,' where we slept together for the first time. Then we could still spend most of our days in each other's company, even if we had to sleep under different roofs in the night."

"Y-yes, indeed..."

"So, why all the reluctance in telling me this, then?" she asked.

"B-because... learning that there is a test always seems to put considerable pressure on vanni. Many had lost entire nights of sleep stressing over it, and I do not believe that helps at all. Personally, I feel that a test of this nature should not be feared, but approached with firm, secure steps and a confident smile."

"Well... it doesn't really sound like something worth losing sleep over," she said with a shrug. "I couldn't imagine why those other girls could have stressed so much over maybe losing access to this grove. I mean, yes, it's a nice magical shelter of sorts, but... it's not like the rest of the forest is that dangerous once you are a lycca anyway, right?"

"Right, indeed, yes..."

Suddenly, an irate lyccan foot stomped the ground nearby.

"That isn't very nice of you, handkerchief boy!" declared a booming voice, startling Fang.

"M-Marjorie-vanni..." dejectedly said the latter, turning to meet the angry gaze of the newcomer.

"Ah, it's always the same with you, boys! You are always trying to leave out the important parts, all in the name of protecting us from stressing too much!"

"Margie?" asked Elise. "W-what are you talking about?"

"Why don't you tell her, Fang?" said the robust female werewolf to the male one. "She is your soma-bonded lycca-vanni, isn't she? Don't you think she deserves the whole truth, warts and all?"

"...Fang? What is going on?" Elise asked him, now slightly alarmed.

"Elise-vanni... Regrettably, Marjorie-vanni is correct," he began, defeated. "The ancient scripts state that lycca-vanni who fail the test... will have their soma bond severed, their memories erased, their vannihood revoked, and the gift of change forcibly removed from their bloodstream. Their lycca mates, as well as everyone else in the pack, will also lose all their memories of them. In effect, a lycca-vanni who has failed the test will wake up somewhere outside the forest, with no recollection of having ever met us. It would be as if she had never heard the call of the forest in the first place. And since she would no longer be a vanni, she would never be able to soma-bond again."

Elise was speechless.

For several long moments, she was unable to utter a single word. But the expression on her face said it all. She was horrified.

"No..." she finally said in a quiet, trembling whisper.

"I am sorry, Elise-vanni," said Fang, holding her in his arms. "I was only trying to spare you from having to experience this kind of despair. I suppose it was foolish of me to think I could do that."

"They all try that, girl. It was the same with my fluffball too," spoke Marjorie to Elise. "Ah, but I suppose they can't help it. After all, they are naturally averse to causing us distress. It's in their blood, I think."

"I... I can't lose you, Fang," she cried. "I can't, I can't... I just can't."

"And you won't!" quickly declared Marjorie. "Anabelle and I will help you prepare for that test, girl! We'll make you the best wolf you can be, you'll see!"

"You... promise?"

"Of course! I would never leave a sister hanging!" she loudly proclaimed, banging her chest with a proud fist. Then, she turned to Fang and gave him a couple condescending pats on his shoulder as she said:

"Alright, Romeo! If you don't mind, I'll take it from here."

~*~

Vanni - Defining traits:

· Fertile human female.

· Aged 18 - 45 (Note: receiving the Offering of the Fangs eliminates the upper boundary).

· Driven by a subconscious need to pair up with a suitable lycca (dubbed "the call of the forest").

· Tends not to have many ties to the human world (which facilitates the concretion of the previous point, but other factors may apply).

· Although rare, male vanni have been known to exist.

· Male vanni can soma-bond with lycca, but cannot bear offspring.

_ _

Soma-bonded mateship - Characteristics:

· Strong spiritual union between compatible lycca and vanni.

· Doubles sexual gratification among the two bonded mates.

· Inhibits sexual drive toward third parties (exceptions have been documented).

· Once forged, the union can only be broken by the death of one of the partners.

· The surviving partner can seek another mate to form a new union with.

· Vanni who lose their bond in this manner do not lose access to Howling Grove. Likewise, they do not lose the benefits bestowed upon them by the Offering of the Fangs either.

· A method known only to the Grand Alpha allows for a soma bond to be undone without fatality. It is, however, one of the punishments reserved for those who fail the Oneness Test.

_ _

Howling Grove Barrier - What we know:

· Cannot be perceived through any of the five senses.

· Encloses a circular area of the forest of Lanea.

· Diameter is estimated to be one mile.

· Vertically, it appears to extend infinitely in both directions.

· Only has one entry/exit point, marked with a pair of willow trees.

· Attempts to enter/exit it from any other point only transports the traveler to the point diametrally opposite to it in the circumference.

· The transportation occurs seamlessly. The traveler does not notice it.

· Furthermore...

Elise slammed the book shut.

"Ughhh, there's so much!" she protested, slumping over the rough wooden table in frustration. "I'll never memorize all this stuff!"

"You have to endure it, girl! We all had to!" said Marjorie, patting her back lightly. "You want to pass that test, don't you?"

"Is the Grand Alpha really going to quiz me on these things?" asked the grayish brown female with an exasperated groan.

"Who could say? There's no way to know exactly how he tests whether we are worthy of earning a place here in Howling Grove. You have to be prepared for anything! So, like it or not, you'll have to learn all this boring stuff. And we'll also work on building up your strength and stamina later; and your speed as well! We have to make sure you become a she-wolf he wouldn't want this pack to go without, girl!"

"You really don't remember anything?" tried Elise.

"I really don't," she responded, shaking her head. "Why, I might as well have turned back immediately after I crossed the gate! But everyone told me I had been in there for an hour, so... yeah. And if you asked any of the other girls, I'm positive they would all tell you the same."

"That's so strange..." muttered Elise. "But I wonder: if no one remembers what happens inside the chamber, and vanni who fail the test are completely erased from everyone's memories here, and they themselves are transported away and made to forget that they had even met a lycca once... Then how do you know whether anyone has ever failed it?"

"That's a good question! And the answer is actually quite simple, I think. When they are magically transported outside the forest, their belongings are left behind. You know, things like clothes, jewelry, diaries, that kind of stuff..." explained Marjorie. "So, whenever we find something like that just lying around, and we can't figure out who it belongs to, it's a safe bet to say that it belonged to someone who had failed the test."

"I see..."

"Yeah. Which is why many write letters to leave behind before entering the Grand Alpha's chamber; you know, just in case. Personally, though, I think that's a defeatist thing to do, so I wouldn't recommend it. If you have time to write a letter, girl, use it to study some more, am I right?"

"Alright, alright... But tell me: how often do you guys find leftover belongings lying about?"

"Not too often, really," answered Marjorie. "I think last time was like... eight years ago? Something like that. We still had a new vanni that year, though. So it's likely that when a vanni fails the test, another one will hear the call of the forest to take her place. That's my guess anyway."

"Hmm, okay... And who wrote these books in the first place?" asked Elise, flipping through the pages of the one in front of her.

"Well, the originals were written by some studious old lycca who lived centuries ago. These are copies made by hand by my fluffball. He's something of a scribe, you know? But enough talk! Hand me that book; let's see how much you've learned..."

~*~

Two hours later...

The big gray she-werewolf, Marjorie, was leading a burned-out Elise somewhere else in Howling Grove.

"I never imagined there was so much to learn about lycca!" exclaimed the latter, still overwhelmed. "In my old storybooks, werewolves were just creepy stalkers who ate grannies and harassed hooded girls clad in red. There was nothing in them about Moon Stones, Grand Alphas or Oneness Tests!"

"Disappointed?" asked the former with a wide grin.

"No, it's just... Trying to cram all that stuff in my head gave me a bit of a headache, that's all."

"That's just what preparing for a big test feels like, girl!" heartily laughed Marjorie. "As I always say, you know you're learning good when your head's hurting good!"

Perhaps not too shockingly, Elise wasn't quite convinced about that last statement. She thought it was dubious at best, but chose not to comment on it.

"So, what now? Where are you taking me to?" she asked instead.

"Now it's time to train your body! We have to teach you things like stealth, tracking prey, hunting, fighting... Namely, all the survival skills any wolf worth their salt is expected to have!" enthusiastically replied the taller female. "As for where we're headed to... Well, we're going to see the best trainer I know. Her name's Rose, and she's a pretty damn tough girl. So tough, she can kick some serious ass even in her human form! Problem is, she can be a bit, uh... difficult sometimes."

"...Difficult, how?" asked Elise, raising a canine eyebrow.

"Well, to put it bluntly, she only trains those she deems worthy of her time."

"Huh..."

"Yeah, she's that type," sighed Marjorie. "In the last three years, she had only agreed to train a single newcomer. That's just how picky she is. And even then, she only did it because she saw something wild in that girl's eyes, or so she claims. But we're still going to try and see if she'll take you!"

"Oh, boy... I haven't even met her yet, and I feel like she's already rejected me," said Elise, her lupine ears and tail drooping.

"Ah, you of little faith... How can you say that when we have a secret weapon to convince her to train you?" bombastically proclaimed the big gray she-werewolf.

"Huh? A secret weapon? What secret weapon?"

"We have Anabelle! She was the newcomer I mentioned before! If we get Anabelle to vouch for you, I'm sure Rose will agree to train you! Oh, but first I need to go get her. Hopefully she isn't, uh, busy with Darkhowl, if you know what I mean. Ah, I swear, those two are worse than rabbits... Anyway, you stay here, girl! I'll be right back!"

And just like that, Marjorie disappeared among the trees, presumably headed to Anabelle's den to fetch her. Elise simply stood there, alone, hoping it wouldn't be too long before they returned. 'Can they truly make me a wolf worthy of Howling Grove?' she wondered. 'Well, they've been here for much longer than I have, so I can only trust that they know what they're talking about.'

She sat down against a tree. Only the chirps of a few birds broke the silence on occasion. Grabbing her big lycca tail, Elise then began to play idly with its soft fur as she waited for Marjorie to come back, hopefully with Anabelle in tow.

'Hmm, something wild in her eyes? I wonder what Margie, or rather Rose meant by that... Why, if she had the purest, most innocent green eyes I had ever seen!' mused Elise inwardly, reminiscing the moment when Anabelle sniffed her neck fur at the entrance to Howling Grove and gave her a friendly welcome lick on the cheek.

'Heh, that was a bit awkward, but I could tell she's a very nice girl, if just a bit too quiet...' she thought to herself with a smile. 'Hmm, actually, come to think of it, I don't believe she had broken her silence even once in the twenty-four hours I've known her for. I know Margie said she was a girl of few words, but... that's a bit odd, isn't it? I mean, it's not like she's shy or anything...'

Elise briefly recalled what Anabelle was doing at the moment she saw her for the very first time. 'Had I been in her place, I would have died of embarrassment! But she... She didn't even bat an eye!'

As she continued thinking of her new friends, and still stroking her own tail, the brownish she-werewolf just sat there waiting, and waiting, and waiting... But then, her lupine ears twitched. 'Huh? What was that?' she wondered, somewhat jostled back to reality. 'I could swear I heard... something.'

The werewolf girl turned her head to one side, then to the other, while her ears flicked every which way in an attempt to catch the elusive sound she had just heard. But try as she might, nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the soundscape of her surroundings. All she could hear was the birds from before and little else of note. And then, just when she was about to dismiss it with something like: 'maybe it was just my imagination...'

"There! I heard it again!"

Now she was sure of it. It was very faint -- so faint a human ear wouldn't have picked it up, but it sounded like... a metallic ring of sorts. Almost like... a chain?

'It came from over there,' Elise thought to herself as she stood up, her gaze transfixed on the point where she believed she had heard the mysterious sound coming from. Her curiosity was fatefully piqued, and before she realized it, her strong lycca legs were already carrying her there with slow, careful steps.

As quietly as she could, the werewolf girl made her way between the trees, attracted to that strange metallic noise like a moth to a fire. 'It's like chains,' she thought again. Finally, she arrived to a small clearing in the forest, and the source of the noise revealed itself. A shocked gasp escaped from her lips as she stared at what lay before her eyes.

It was a lycca -- a male one, big and dark, not unlike Fang. He was on his back, bound and gagged, tightly staked to the ground with silvery chains. At first, Elise didn't know how to react. She would have never expected to see something like that in her life, much less within Howling Grove! Finally, she pushed through her shock and ran into the clearing, kneeling before one of the four stakes.

"I-- I'll get you out of here! J-just let me see if I can get this loose!" she told the struggling lycca as she grabbed a chain, trying to figure out how to undo the bindings. However, she could barely even begin to do anything before a loud commanding voice stopped her in her tracks:

"What the hell do you think you're doing??"

Startled, Elise turned around and saw an imposing female werewolf with wild, unruly jet-black fur, standing there with her arms crossed and a very annoyed look in her eyes.

"That's MY lycca there!" she barked, walking closer. "Don't you have your own?"

Elise was shocked speechless. Yet the voice of that female werewolf commanded such authority, she couldn't help but to let go of the chain in her hands and back away on instinct. Meanwhile, the annoyed lycca-vanni with the black coat of fur simply proceeded to sit on the stomach of the bound werewolf as though it was little more than a rug to sit on.

"Here's a piece of advice for you: don't touch what isn't yours!" she huffed indignantly. "Who are you anyway? I don't remember seeing you around."

It took Elise a few moments to force herself to stammer out a response.

"I-- I-- I'm Elise..."

"Ah. The new girl. Yeah, I heard about you," said the jet-black lycca-vanni, seemingly not as annoyed anymore. "So, what were you doing here? Did you get lost or something?"

"N-no, I, uh..."

Elise couldn't help but notice that the black she-werewolf had begun to stroke the bound lycca's muscular thigh idly.

"I... I was with a friend, but, uh... She left me alone nearby t-to... to fetch someone else. W-we, uh, we were on our way to meet someone named Rose..." she explained.

A gleam flashed in the eye of the black-coated lycca-vanni.

"So you were looking for Rose..." she said, still stroking the bound werewolf's thigh.

"D-do you know her?" ventured Elise.

"Heh. Yeah, I do. And why were you looking for her?"

"W-well... Margie said she could help me prepare for--"

"--the Oneness Test, of course," finished the jet-black she-werewolf, cutting off Elise. "And what makes you think she'll train you?"

"Ah, y-yes, well..."

Elise watched as the hand of that female lycca slowly wandered up the chained male's thigh.

"...M-Margie said she'll have Anabelle v-vouch for me," said the brownish female, slightly distracted by the placement of that wandering hand.

"Hah! As if that could work!" exclaimed the other female with derision. "Let me be very clear, girl. Rose will never agree to train someone like you."

"W-why not?"

"Because you're nothing special," she affirmed as fact. "I know your type. I've seen it dozens of times before. And I can see, clear as day, that you're a naive, pure-hearted girl who wouldn't even swat a fly. Those types bore her to death. So, take my advice and stop wasting your time here."

"I... uh..."

By this point, the hand of the curt lycca-vanni had already reached the root of the bound male's thigh, and was beginning to stroke and massage the thick fur covering his bulging pubic region. 'W-what on Earth is she doing??' Elise thought to herself, bewildered.

"I-- I know I'm nothing special," she said still, trying her best to ignore what that hand was doing. "B-but Fang believes I am, and I can't just let him d--"

"Fang? That's the name you gave your lycca? Not terribly imaginative, are we?" she chuckled. "And of course he believes you're special! You're his soma-bonded vanni! Every lycca thinks he's bonded to the best vanni in the entire universe, don't you know? We're like goddesses to them!"

A muffled moan escaped through the gagged male's lips as the she-werewolf sitting on him began to knead his rapidly engorging flesh. Flustered, Elise averted her eyes. She just couldn't understand how that female could be so shameless! 'T-this can't be happening!' she thought to herself in utter disbelief, trying not to pay attention to the rhythmic motions of that skillful hand.

"I-- I know that. B...but i-it's not-- I, I mean... Fang loves me... a-and I love him, so, uh--"

"What? You've never seen a handjob before?" gleefully asked the audacious lycca-vanni, clearly amused by Elise's reaction. "Heh, I'm sorry if your virginal eyes are too pure for these things, but nobody asked you to stick your meddling nose in my private playground, and right when I was in the middle of something with my lycca toy here. Still, if I were you, I'd be taking some notes. Your Fang would appreciate it, I'm sure!"

Deftly did her clearly talented hand slide along the sizable shaft of the male, paying particular attention to the sensitive flesh of its bulbous end on occasion; its entire surface already slick and glistening with its own leaking fluids. More muffled moans and gasps were heard despite the gag trying to silence them. However, most striking of all was the unshakeable nonchalance the black-coated female displayed through the whole process.

"I... don't know if I want to... t-take notes from someone who... treats her lycca like a slave... and a toy," muttered Elise just loud enough to be heard. Her flustered gaze was cast firmly on the ground, her anger slowly mounting. "That isn't love. That... is abuse."

"Oh? Is that what you think is happening here?" responded the black she-werewolf with an amused smile, her hand never stopping its masterful work on the chained lycca's engorged malehood. "My, you're more naive than I thought! Heh, I guess I see why Marjorie took a liking to you."

The chains jiggled noisily as they were pulled taut when the werewolf howled his mighty climax through the gag. Throughout his whole body, his powerful muscles jerked and contracted rhythmically as he relinquished his plentiful seed into the air. Then, once the last spurt had nourished the land, his muscles began to relax as he arced his lupine head back, panting in exhaustion. The black-coated lycca-vanni seemed very pleased with herself.

"Silver chains are amazing, aren't they? Any other kind of chain would have snapped long ago, but silver resists the strength of a lycca like nothing else in this world does. So, no matter how hard this toy of mine might struggle against these nice, shiny chains, they'll never break. He belongs to me forever, like the good little slave he is," she perversely declared as she stood up, asserting her dominance over the bound lycca by pressing one strong canine foot on his chest in the process. "Wanna give them a try, Elise? I have a spare set you could borrow," she added with a wicked wink.

"H-how can you be so cruel to someone who loves you?" suddenly shouted Elise, snapping at the other she-werewolf at long last. "He is not a toy! D-don't you care about his feelings?"

The lycca-vanni with the black coat of wild fur almost doubled over laughing.

"Oh, my god..." she wheezed, "...The things I have to hear sometimes!"

"I... I'm serious! I mean, what kind of horrible monster abuses their partner for their own sick amusement like this? Does your soma bond mean so little to you? I just-- I can't believe they'd let someone like you here in Howling Grove!" angrily exclaimed Elise, shaking her head in shocked disbelief.

"Yeah, I'm the worst. Now, the question is: what are you going to do about that? Are you going to sit there and do nothing like a cowardly chicken, just wasting your breath on some pointless lecturing? Or are you going to stand by your words, channel your precious soma bond into your blood and fight me like a true lycca would?" pointedly asked the black she-werewolf with a very pronounced grin on her canine muzzle. "Well? Which is it going to be, Elise? I'm waiting! Don't you want to show me the error of my ways with your righteous claws of justice?" she exclaimed mockingly, making a big show of letting her arms hang by her sides, her open palms facing forward. The jet-black lycca-vanni clearly wanted Elise to know that her guard was all the way down.

A tense growl floated gravely in the air. The grayish brown she-werewolf had bitten the bait. She lowered her posture, tensing her muscles and baring her teeth threateningly at her odious opponent. All those inflammatory taunts had triggered something primal within her, and it showed in her eyes. It was like a glowering fire burning deep inside her soul, fueled by her stoked anger.

"Ah, I like that look you're giving me!" exclaimed the one with the black coat of fur. "You're embracing the wolf within, aren't you? Oh, boy! I can absolutely see the fury burning in your eyes! You hate my guts and I love it!"

The low rumble of Elise's sustained growl permeated the space that separated her from her opponent. The former stood frozen in her tense combat-ready pose, eyes angrily focused on the black werewolf that stood three or four yards in front of her. The latter simply kept her relaxed stance, making no effort to assume anything resembling a battle posture. All she did was just grin as though she was having the time of her life.

"Heheheh, you're just dying to claw my smug grin off my face, aren't you?" she sardonically spoke. "Too bad you'll never attack me, even though I'm just standing here, claws down and all! Your instincts will not let you make the first move, because they know you have no chance against me. And they're right. I have more battle experience in my left pinky than you do in your entire body. That's why you can't do anything other than growling uselessly at me!"

Elise cursed inwardly, but she couldn't stop growling. Somehow, she felt trapped, locked in place by her own sense of self-pride. It simply wouldn't let her back down easily, even though she knew her chances of winning were zero.

"But I wouldn't hold that against you," continued the antagonistic female. "After all, your instincts are there to help you, and always listening to them is rule number one in any kind of confrontation. So, why don't you relax a little? I want to show you something."

Elise blinked confusedly, but stayed alert. "Why should I trust you?" she asked.

"I don't know. Why don't we ask _him?"_the black she-werewolf said, turning to the male lycca that was still staked to the ground. "Show her, Daggerclaw."

And then, before Elise's eyes, the male lycca began to shift and change into his quadrupedal form. His arms and legs shrunk and thinned somewhat as he did, taking on a more canine shape. Finally, once the transformation was complete, he had no difficulty crawling off the now very loose chains. Afterwards, he changed back into his larger bipedal form, took the gag off his mouth and stood beside his vanni.

"See? Not everything is always as it seems," said the latter, throwing an arm around the waist of the male. "My Daggerclaw could have freed himself anytime he wanted, as you've just seen. He was there of his own free will."

"But-- but--" sputtered Elise.

"But there are many ways for a vanni and her lycca to express their bond, and this is ours. You may think it's weird -- and maybe it is -- but it works for us, and that's what matters, don't you agree?"

At last, the naive lycca-vanni dropped her stance as her anger was replaced with confused bewilderment.

"So... All those things you said about him being a toy, and..."

"Yep. That was just a game we play. Nothing more, nothing less."

Elise remained silent, taking a few moments to process all that had happened in that small clearing. She was, after all, the daughter of an impoverished seamstress in a small rural village, and didn't know much about the world outside her storybooks and her flowers. Bearing that in mind, it should come as no surprise that she had no concept of such 'games' even existing between consenting sexual partners.

"Still, I have to say I was wrong on one thing," added the jet-black she-werewolf with a flick of her tail. "You aren't as boring as I thought, Elise. Turns out there is some fire within those big, innocent eyes of yours. You keep it very well hidden, that's for sure, but it's there. Heheh, who knows? Maybe Rose will agree to train you after all..."

"Oh! I, uh... A-are you going to vouch for me?"

The black she-werewolf laughed.

"Sure, why not?" she simply said.

And then, right at that moment, Marjorie and Anabelle hurriedly entered that small clearing.

"Elise! We were looking all over for you!" shouted the more robust one before stopping in her tracks. "W-wait, you already met Rose?"

"I... what?" said Elise, turning to her two friends.

"Hahahah, how's it going, Marjorie?" casually said Rose, waving hello to the taller lycca-vanni. "I was just telling your friend here that I'm going to train her!"

The big gray she-werewolf turned to Elise in utter disbelief:

"Wha-- H-how in the world did you convince her??" she loudly exclaimed, her eyes wide in shock.

"I-- W-what? B-buh-- How--" incoherently stammered the brownish one, even more flabbergasted than before, repeatedly turning back and forth between Marjorie and Rose. The latter simply laughed out loud while Anabelle just stood there, shaking her head silently at her.

"Hahah, what?" said Rose upon noticing the look of disapproval in the emerald eyes of the white she-werewolf. "I _had_to do it! It was so much fun!"

Then she kept laughing some more.

~*~

And that's how Elise met Rose on her second day in Howling Grove, marking the beginning of her lupine training under the latter's tutelage (and losing some of her innocence in the process). Four or five days later, she would obtain her Moon Pendant, which she would wear for three additional days as she was instructed to.

Meanwhile, in the far end of the main clearing in Howling Grove, the ominous ivory gate stoically waited still...

To be continued...