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When he told her, she threw her head back and laughed out loud.
When the laughter died, though, she looked at his face and saw how serious he was.
“You’re kidding, right?”
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and shook his head.
“No, actually. I’m very serious.”
Karen sat there in bed, blanket precariously wrapped around herself, and looked at him.
“I should have told you sooner, I’m sorry”, he said, deep voice and he really was serious, this wasn’t a joke. “It’s just… I never planned this, you, I never… “
He looked nervous, tortured, so she scooted closer to him, feet touching the cold floor and took one of his hands.
The look he gave her almost broke her heart, so she pulled him off the chair he had sat after bringing her snacks from his kitchen, because she had told him, while he was still naked with her and his hands wandered up and down her back, among kisses and nibbles, that she was hungry. Now, with his pants back on, she brought him back and he leaned his face into her hand, closing his eyes, breathing out.
The news about werewolves had broken about two years ago. There was a panic, there was an emergency meeting at the White House and all forms of government in the world, to decide what should be done about this new development.
They were still figuring it out. Hunting was now illegal, everywhere. No more recreational shooting of foxes and ducks for rich people. Farmers were in uproar, the campaigns of “Go Vegan!!!” gained new force, it was all a mess. New world order and what not.
Karen had been, so far, unaffected. It’s not as if New York had seen many of them. They learned early on that the vast majority of werewolves tended to live deeper into the country.
Frank explained to her that while yes, most of his kind usually avoided big cities like New York, there were some here. In Chicago. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami. There was a big concentration in Louisiana, for some reason. The ones in New Orleans were responsible for dealing with the government.
Karen had never thought about them as less than human. And it was clear, from the beginning, that they did not hunt humans, so she never felt afraid. And now, looking at Frank, apprehensive, wondering if she was going to leave, having known him for the total of six months before tonight, that didn’t change.
“Can I see it?” was the first thing she blurted out when he asked if she had any questions, which made him let out a breath of laughter, sounding relieved. He picked up one of her hands and kissed it, lifting his face and looking at her.
“Is… Is that something you want?”
She nodded, looking into his eyes, curious, so curious, like she haven’t been so far.
“We can arrange something”, he said, leaning in to press his forehead against hers, pulling her closer to him, moving to run his right cheek on her left one, and Karen’s hands lifted to run from his elbows to his shoulders, hugging him to her, but pulling her face away from his after he kissed her for a few seconds.
“You can’t show me now?”
“No”, he said. “I’d break everything, it’s not practical.”
“Why would you break everything?”
He frowned at her.
“You’ve never seen a werewolf, have you?”
She shook her head.
“We’re big, sweetheart. I could barely fit in here, let alone let everything in one piece.”
.:.
It was almost a month before he finally took her on that trip.
It was a house his father had built before he was born, he explained, so he could have a place to run and not worry about running into people. It didn’t really have easy access, so it was hidden enough from the town it belonged to, a small hike being necessary to reach it. He filled the truck with supplies, and they drove off on the weekend, both taking Friday off work.
They spent the entire day wrapped in each other, enjoying the quiet of the lake, and she almost forgot the purpose of the trip. She remembered quickly when, suddenly, there was the loud thud of something running, heavy, she could feel the ground shake under it’s weight, and then there he was, jumping from behind the house, running all the way to the lake and back towards the porch, towards her, slowly, and she was floored.
There was no light, except for the one he had left on inside, bleeding through the open door and glass windows. Other than that, there was the moon, full and big, shining down on him, this big, huge wolf, but not a wolf, so much bigger.
He had told her he was big. And she had seen some pictures, but she had no idea. No idea.
He was bigger than a bear, and she found herself looking at him with big eyes, her mouth hanging open while he stood there and looked at her.
After a moment, she shook herself out of her stupor and got up from the bench she had been sitting on. Slowly, she made her way down the five steps that separated the high porch from the front lawn, Frank’s pitbull running past her towards him, looking like a small puppy in comparison. He jumped up in greeting, not even reaching the huge creature’s snout, circling a paw until it lifted and bumped against him.
While Karen walked to him, Max lied down a few paces away, watching the whole thing. When she was close enough, she lifted her hand and he leaned in and felt the rough fur on her palm.
She laughed out loud, her heart pounding, when he leaned into her hand, just like he did, like he always did.
He took a step closer and she had to look up. He was taller than her. Karen closed her eyes and, for some reason, felt like crying when he closed his own eyes and touched his forehead to hers, again, that touched that was his, he loved that, and then his face slid to the left, and she raised her arms to touch him with both hands, to feel strong muscles under skin, warm skin.
She was looking in his eyes again when those tears finally came down.
“Frank”, she breathed out and he bowed his head, taking another step forward, making her take one back, arms around his head again, looking at the rest of him, she couldn’t believe just how big he was.
And then he was shrinking, slowly, and then fast, and then he was standing up on his back paws, and then he was Frank again, her Frank, the one she met all those months ago, the one that fascinated her, the one that she was pretty sure she was falling in love with, and his arms were around her, a hand on her back and another on the back of her head, his skin still warm, so warm, hot, feverish, and she closed her eyes, lifting her arms the best she could to hold him back.
“I’m sorry”, he was saying against her hair. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m sorry, I’m sorry-”
“What? No”, she said, moving back to look at his face, and his eyes still had a different color, brighter than usual. “You didn’t scare me.”
He searched her face brought the hand that held her head around, thumb caressing her cheek like that.
“You’re crying.”
“Oh”, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, smiling up at him. “I think I’m just… Overwhelmed, that’s all. You didn’t scare me.”
That seemed to relax him. He relaxed his hold on her, bringing his arms down, settling his hands on the curve of her hips, and she ran hers around his bare chest.
“I didn’t know you were this… Huge.”
“I told you.”
“No, you didn’t tell me. You told me you were big, you’re big right now. That’s not big, Frank, you’re… I’ve never seen anything like that.”
With that charming chuckle, he pulled her to him again and she closed her eyes, holding him, looking at the lake behind them, her heartbeat finally slowing down.
“Let’s get in, you’re naked.”
And then her heart was speeding up again at the sound he made in the back of his throat.
It sounded a lot like a growl.