I had little feelings for my best friend’s sister.Gwaniella Wells was a certainly a beautiful woman, one with a lovely figure and an exceptional elegance in her way of dressing, walking, talking, and so on.In addition, she was from a moneyed family, so one could never accuse her of gold-digging. Her wealth matched mine—unlike the family resources of Adara Huntington, however appealing I might find her.Gwaniella’s family lineage was old and illustrious, reaching back to royalty.But to her everlasting embarrassment, they’d fallen on hard times in recent generations.Indeed, a hundred years ago, her ancestors were what people referred to in those days as the “genteel poor.” To literally keep themselves and their families from starving, the daughters were doomed to work as governesses, and the men entered the military at best, or at worst became tutors or scriveners or clerks.However, fortunately for the
The beautiful woman in green, Gwaniella, was introduced to us. She was initially cordial, but after a few pleasantries she alienated us with her ill-mannered remarks, sarcastically suggesting that Fawna and I get ourselves scratched or bitten so we might remain on Vukasin Island during full moon week with our parents.It was an incredible breech of good etiquette, suggesting such an awful thing. And it embarrassed everyone present. A chill came over the room, Dane blanched, being a Lupine himself, and his friend’s face turned bright red. Everyone was mortified by the remark.Everyone except Gwaniella, of course, who couldn’t understand her own faux pas.Her brother Edin came to everyone’s rescue, breaking the wall of ice that had formed, by suggesting we all take a walk along the shore to his house next door, for lunch.As soon as we got outside and descended the steps from Dane’s veranda to the beach, Gwaniella stepped forward and
I entered my friend’s house with his sister Gwaniella literally clinging to me. She held, by turns, my hand, my wrist, my arm, my shoulder. I wanted to cry out, “Do stop touching me.” But of course, in deference to my friend, Edin, her brother, I kept silent. To bear her displays of affection, I steeled my mind and pretended it was Adara who was pawing me. With that in mind, it didn’t feel like pawing at all. It felt like a pleasant kind of foreplay, a precursor to intercourse. I imagined the different ways I might have her: both of us standing, her sitting on my lap facing me, her sitting on my lap turned away from me, in bed in missionary position, in bed in wolf position, not to mention the feeling of her sweet mouth on my cock and my tongue inside her. These thoughts, these lusty fantasies, aroused me, of course, and I casually put my hands in my pockets, but stayed close to Gwaniella. No doubt her eyes were frequently on my crotch, but by staying close I
As Edin led us through the salon and into his luxurious dining room, I noticed, with great disappointment, that Gwaniella was clutching Dane’s arm. I had hoped to be seated beside him at lunch and perhaps overcome his reluctance to engage in conversation. Perhaps his behavior wasn’t arrogance, but shyness? I wanted to find out. But Gwaniella spoiled that plan. She managed to be seated beside him. He didn’t seem to resist her affections, and I assumed there was something between them.That was fine with me. Dane Wiltshire had shown himself to be rude, arrogant, and condescending. So what did I want with him? Yes, he was handsome, but, how does the saying go? “Handsome is as handsome does.” I think the word in the saying is “pretty” and that it’s applied to women, but no matter. I applied it here. Let Dane have Gwaniella or vice versa. The two of them were nothing to me.Meanwhile, Edin sat at the head of the table with his
I watched as Adara so sweetly sought to soothe her sister.“Fawna, you’ll be fine.” She crooned repeatedly, in a voice as smooth as honey.I longed to hear that voice whisper in my ear as I kissed and licked and sucked at her nipples and my hand moved between her legs.But sex was not my concern at the time. My concern was that the poor girl on the sofa had poisoned herself on a plant from my garden. My plant.As Edin sat beside her pressing a cool cloth to Fawna’s forehead, inwardly I cursed myself for keeping my eyes focused only on Adara and not being more vigilant over her sister when we were in my garden.Women are always attracted to beautiful flowers, and perhaps nothing growing on Vukasin Island was more beautiful than aconite: wolf’s bane, the Queen of Poison. Perhaps because of the nature of Vukasin—perhaps for another reason, I don’t know—the aconite that grows here was not only the most de
We were just about to have the servants carry my sister into the bathroom, to submerge her in the tub of frozen water. I hoped this would at least bring down her fever, for even though unconscious, she was still perspiring profusely, and her forehead was almost scalding hot.Suddenly there was a knock at the door. And not just a knock, but a hard and loud and insistent pounding that sounded threatening and seemed almost to portend danger.But instead of danger, it brought the promise of potential cure for my dying sister.The servant opened the front door, which was visible from the salon where my sister lay unconscious on the sofa. On the front step stood a short, fat, balding little man with a black bag in one hand and a bottle of wine in another. Behind him stood the servant Edin had sent to fetch the doctor.The little man rushed in, not waiting to be invited or announced by the servant. “It’s aconite poisoning, yes?”“Y
The doctor had finally arrived.It was he who was banging so insistently upon the door.Having been on Vukasin Island for quite some time, I recognized him, of course. He’d once treated my sister for the flu when she’d been visiting from the mainland.But I was so agitated, and so caught up in my efforts to control my distress and so avoid Lupinization, that I couldn’t remember his name. Thus, rather rudely, I didn’t introduce Doctor Hendricks to Edin and Adara when he entered.As he entered, I noticed he was carrying his doctor’s bag in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other. I knew—every permanent resident of Vukasin did—that he was an alcoholic. But he’s a most effective doctor who, in spite of his drinking, takes his work seriously. And he never drinks on the job. Therefore, his act of carrying about the wine so openly rather surprised me.His manner was gruff, as always, which was no surprise
The next hours were torture.After pronouncing that he’d done all he could, Doctor Hendricks asked Edin to show him to a bedroom where he could lie down and rest. Edin obliged and led the doctor up the long winding staircase in the foyer, with a servant trailing behind.That left Dane and me together, alone with my sister.A servant came in, bearing a tray with the chamomile tea the doctor had ordered.I thought, Has so little time passed? It has seemed like an eternity.I could tell by Dane’s rather startled expression, upon seeing the servant with the tea, that he was thinking the same thing.He invited me to come into the dining room, to sit at the table and partake of the tea, as well as the sandwiches the servant had brought us.Instead, now that the doctor was gone, I resumed my place on the carpet beside the sofa, by my sister’s side, holding her limp and deathly pale hand.“You should ea
I slept late the next morning.I had dreams all night long.In one, a nightmare, I was desperately trying to capture an Enforcement Officer. I chased him to the mainland, where I was terrified of being recognized as a Lupine and being shot for escaping from Vukasin Island. I awoke in a sweat before I caught the Officer and before I myself was caught by the authorities.In another, I had Fawna pinned down, and I was stuffing aconite—the leaves, the roots, and the flowers—into her mouth. I struggled not to do this, but in the dream, it was as if my movements were not my own. I couldn’t control what I did. Then Fawna metamorphed into Adara, and now I was taking off my clothes and preparing to have sex with her. But after my clothes were off, instead of making love to her I began cramming gold coins into her mouth. She struggled against me, shouting, “You’re wrong. You’re wrong.” She begged me to stop hurting her. But I cont
The next morning I rose early, packed a spare dress to replace the one that had been ruined by wine stains as the doctor had struggled to cure her, and rushed to see my sister, Fawna.I feared I might encounter Dane Wiltshire at Edin West’s home, Seaview, where I’d left my sister to recover from almost being poisoned. But that thought couldn’t keep me from going.Now, as I walked through the park, of course I passed Chalmer’s Grove. I thought about how I’d made love to Dane in the darkness among the trees the previous evening.I remembered the sweetness of his touch, the delight as he’d pushed inside me, the ecstasy of my shuddering orgasm, and the pleasure of holding him as he’d climaxed, too.Forcing these ideas from my mind was the second memory of my conversation with Lantac Golgor later that night.Had he been speaking of anyone else, I’d not have believed him. But I knew—everyone on the is
I sat there with Edin in his study. By now, due to my revelations about Fawna, he was extremely despondent.“Despondent” is not a strong enough word.He was practically crying into his brandy.He had downed one drink after another since I told him the truth about the Huntington girls—that they were gold-diggers, that Fawna’s feigned interest in him was mere opportunism, and that I’d even heard their mother plotting with them to catch rich husbands.That he had to rid himself immediately of Fawna, the lovely girl he’d fallen in love with that very day.Just as I’d fallen in love with—or thought myself in love with—her sister, Adara.“It can’t be,” he was saying, his voice laden with disbelief.Edin is not like me. I’ve been called dark and moody. This was true even before I was bitten and turned into a werewolf. Perhaps that’s why my sire was unable to
As we all sat in the living room with our guest, the Enforcement Officer Lantac Golgor, my mother suddenly realized that Fawna might be truly ill.“Wait.” She scrutinized my face and her tone shifted from the happiness of a moment before to one of suspicion. “Wait a minute here.” The veins stood out on her knitted brow. “Fawna’s illness was so bad that a doctor was called?”“Er, yes, Mother.”“What are you not telling me?” Her voice rose quickly to a screech. “I will not be lied to by my own family.” She seemed to forget her manners, to forget that she had company. “A lie of omission is still a lie.”“Calm yourself.” My father patted her arm.“Calm? Calm? You be calm.” She turned back to me, her voice still high. “What’s going on? Adara, I demand that you tell me.”Everyone in the room, including our guest, was
Lantac Golgor—a hated, evil man.Not all Enforcement Officers are evil. I know this, of course.Some are decent, upright, honest, and conscientious.I don’t know if they’re in the majority or the minority. I’ve not had many dealings with the red-coated patrollers.But I have had dealings with Lantac Golgor. And I personally know him to be evil.Worse than evil. Corrupt, heartless, and cruel.I’d been extremely disappointed to see Lantac Golgor—my sworn enemy—seated in the Huntington living room, being entertained by the family, charming them, ingratiating herself with them.As I made my way back through the park and approached Chalmer’s Grove, I pictured Adara sitting there beside him, mesmerized by his slick manners, his quick wit, his intelligence, and his amiable conversation.I stopped on the path and stared into the woods to the place where we had, not even an hour before, ma
Lantac Golgor—such a charming man!I slipped around the side of the house to the back door. Because I’d seen a guest in the living room, my strategy was to enter through the back door, call my mother into the little breakfast nook off the kitchen, and there tell her about Fawna.I knew she was likely to become upset, and I didn’t want to cause the ruckus that was bound to result from her hysterics. I especially didn’t want that kind of disruption to happen in front of a guest.As soon as I closed the door behind me, I heard my mother’s voice ringing through the house. “Adara? Fawna? Is that you?”I hesitated, then answered. “Yes. Mother, can you come here a moment, please?”“What on earth for, you silly goose? You come here. Come into the living room. We have a visitor whom I’d like you two to meet.”“Of course. But first, I need to talk to you.”&ldqu
I’m not sure why, but it seemed we had little to say to each other after we had sex together.We stood quietly for a while, among the trees in the afterglow, catching our breaths after the experience of making love.It had been magnificent for both of us.I’d held back long enough for her to climax, and then I’d released, pounding into her and shuddering with ecstasy.Now we stood together, still pressed against the tree, both panting a bit from the exquisite delight of the experience. A light breeze stirred the night air, blowing the pleasant and clean scent of pine trees in our direction, as owls and other nightbirds called out in the woods—perhaps because they sensed a wolf was nearby.I kissed the top of Adara’s head. Then I pulled away and dressed, quickly pulling on my trousers.She, meanwhile, was trying to arrange her clothes, and doing a poor job of it. I managed to keep from laughing, and I moved to he
I was stunned.I couldn’t believe it.I’d let Dane Wiltshire make love to me.In public.Standing up against a tree.Not that it wasn’t great sex, for it was.Better than great.Magnificent.But I didn’t even know this man.I’d been about to have an orgasm, and I’d wanted to feel him inside . . . when he’d pulled away.But then, just as I was thinking he didn’t want me, he’d pushed his manhood inside me, taking me violently, like the ferocious beast that really was inside him. But with my consent.He’d been urgent and demanding, and I’d gasped as he entered me, as I felt the brutal push of his huge erection. It was painful—and delightful at the same time, if such a thing were possible. I’d never before experienced this kind of passionate intensity, and it was exhilarating.It was as if this Lupine, this half-wolf half-man,
Could it be that she desired me too?I asked myself this question, and yet, being a wolf, I moved forward in my passion.Of course, being a gentleman, had she said “Stop” I would have stopped.But she didn’t say “Stop.”In contrast, everything about her behavior said, “Continue.”She willingly and ardently gave in to me. Far from crying out, even as I inflicted pain on her with my fingers squeezing and pinching her nipple. Indeed, this pain seemed only to increase her ardor. She moaned in ecstasy; her moans were suppressed only by the pressure of my mouth on hers.By all these signs, she communicated that she wanted me as much as I wanted her.Meanwhile, being a wolf, I was, of course, overcome by my lust.Making love is difficult for Lupines in human form. In wolf form, wolves are so violent with their passions during love making that it’s not unusual for one to kill the other&md