Collar 11 -- Memento Mei
I woke slowly to morning light trying to peek around the drawn curtains in a bedroom warm with the scent of recent lovemaking and the feel of a beautiful young wolf in my arms. Like me, he was shifting gently, not yet awake, not entirely sure he wanted...
The First Door
"Dr. Spenser? Benedict?" "Here, Zachary." "Why is it dark?" "I just asked you to keep your eyes closed for a little while. Do you feel ready to open them?" "I'm not sure. I have a feeling I know where we are." "We're in two places, Zachary. One is...
Dispatches
Benedict Spenser, Personal Notes Re: Zachary Parker Session 1 (Tuesday) Mr. Parker made his appearance at the Dean's office yesterday, as requested. After a remarkably brief bit of finagling, I managed to get him to agree to two sessions per week,...
Tea is Served
"Like something from _The Addams Family."_ "Not nearly so ooky." As Cory Windrunner pushed the button that sounded a Westminster carillon, she had to admit that Gabriel had a point. The house was huge and sprawling, a mansion to lesser beings,...
Dancer From the Dance, Part 1
_Mozhem li my otdelit' tantsora ot tantsa?_ _ _ Some very few, very fortunate, souls are born into a real family; the rest of us have to spend a lifetime searching for it, and of those, some very few, very fortunate, actually find it. Only in this...
Trouble Shared
Benedict looked up in surprise at the knock on his open office door. "My dear Dr. Wind Runner!" he offered with quiet yet sincere enthusiasm. "Whatever are you doing in this chilly if venerable building of what we hope will be education?" The...
Quiet Voices
**_Saturday Afternoon_** Emmanuel had run at a maintenance pace for the past five or six kilometers, enjoying the fresh air of the country rather than the less-than-pleasant air of the city or the canned air of an indoor track. Running was his...
Collar 9 -- Faith
The next few weeks were a study in contrasts, from frustration and relief (careful where you go with that) to hectic and calm. I announced my guardianship at both Sunday masses, receiving a positive response from the vast majority of the congregation....
Dinner
Lyal's keen hearing caught most of the conversation between the badger and the meerkat. _Truest words are spoken when thought unheard._ It was an old lapine saying that he hoped was true. It was also a saying brought out when one of his species began...
Research
Technically, the night was still young, particularly for a Saturday, but Barton felt rather as if he'd already spent a whole week's worth of energy on the situation. Not unhappily, at least in terms of how things had ended up, but he was more tired...
The Kiss
"I still can't believe that I let you talk me into this." "C'mon, it'll be fun, and it's for a good cause." "Good intentions pave the road to Hell." "That's not even your old self talking." The bespectacled and well-dressed giraffe, forepaws...
Waking
Lyris had slept soundly until she heard Lyal's cough, which woke her instantly. For just a moment, the doe felt a bit of panic; she was warm (which was unusual enough these days), and she was comfortable, and she smelled something other than herself...