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The Wolf came to the first brother's house and said, "Nice place you got here. Very state of the art. Very sturdy."
"Of course," said the first brother. "If you're going to build a house, only bricks will do."
The Wolf leaned against the wall casually and nodded. "Where've you been getting these bricks, anyway? You fire 'em yourself?"
"Of course," said the first brother. "And I dig the clay personally too, even though to be frank that part is disgusting and miserable."
"Hey, maybe I could do it for you instead," the Wolf said brightly. "Clay doesn't sound too bad, and since I can see you've got a brick oven around the back let me just tell you that I do accept payment in pizza."
"It would be good to have an assistant," the first brother mused. "You're hired."
"Sure thing, boss!" said the Wolf. "Just take me down to where you dig the clay and I'll get started."
And so the first brother led the Wolf to where he dug his clay. It was a deep, muddy pit, slick and shiny with recent rain, and when the Wolf experimentally shoved his hand into the earth, he found he could sink his arm all the way to the elbow with little resistance.
"Oh yeah, I can work with this," said the Wolf, and then he grabbed the first brother and shoved his face into the wet clay and held him there until he suffocated.
The Wolf came to the second brother's house and said, "Nice place you got here. Very rustic. Very cozy."
"Thanks!" said the second brother. "If you're going to build a house, it should be wood, so you can paint the walls!"
The Wolf sat on the front step and made himself at home. "Where've you been getting this wood, anyway? You cut it all yourself?"
"Yup!" said the second brother. "I go out into the forest and find the best ones to chop down. It takes a lot of time, though, I wish I could just focus on my art."
"Hey, maybe I could do it for you instead," the Wolf said brightly. "I'm not so bad with a blade myself, and since I can see you've been building bookshelves with the extra let me just tell you that I do accept payment in comics."
"Oh, that would be awesome!" the second brother cheered. "You really want to help?"
"I so want to help," said the Wolf. "Just take me out to the forest and I'll get started."
And so the second brother led the Wolf to where he cut his lumber. It was a dense pine forest, the air thick with the scent of fallen needles, and when the Wolf ran his hand through them and the sharp branches and prickly bark that littered the ground alongside them, he found it must have all been building up there for years.
"Oh yeah, I can work with this," said the Wolf, and then he struck a flame and trapped the second brother there in the forest until he burned alive.
The Wolf came to the third brother and said, "What, uh… what have you got going on here, bud?"
"I'm building a house," said the third brother, who was sitting on the ground and tying a bundle of straw together at either end.
The Wolf crouched down next to him, squinting at the work. "Any particular reason you're using this stuff?"
"It keeps the rain out," the third brother said, pulling the cord tight and gathering up what was to be the next bundle of straw. "No need to get fancy with it."
"Huh. Sure, okay," said the Wolf. "And where are you finding this straw?"
"Around," said the third brother. "You know, here and there. That's why it's taking so long to put together."
"Hey, maybe I could do it for you instead," the Wolf said, desperate to pull this conversation back on the rails. "I'm pretty good at, uh. Finding things and bringing them back. And since I… Hm."
"Sure," said the third brother. "It'll be big enough for both of us to sleep in, if you don't mind being paid in room and board."
"Room and board sounds great!" said the Wolf. "Just take me to where there's plenty of straw and I'll get started."
"Like I said, I just kind of find it around," the third brother said, waving the Wolf off. "Maybe try that direction first, I haven't looked over there in a while."
"Sure," said the Wolf, and he saw himself off.
The next day the Wolf came to the third brother and said, "Oh, hey, you're making progress."
"Yeah, I went out and grabbed some more myself since you didn't come back yesterday," said the third brother, who was weaving a cord back and forth around several bundles of straw to bind them side by side into a wall.
"I got lost," said the Wolf.
"Not sure how a Wolf gets lost," said the third brother.
"Whoa, hey, who said anything about Wolves," said the Wolf. "Have you been seeing Wolves around here? I haven't seen any Wolves around here, you've gotta warn a guy about these things, what if I just blundered into one and got myself killed because I didn't know any better?"
The third brother paused in his work and looked at the Wolf for a long, long moment.
"Stop looking at me like that," said the Wolf. "You are showing a downright callous disregard for your fellow man, you know that?"
"You're one to talk," said the third brother, and the Wolf—
—the Wolf—
—the Wolf scoffed and said, "Well, I can see you're in a bad mood today, so I'll just see myself out." And he did.
The day after that the Wolf came to the third brother with his arms full of straw and said, "Wow, roof already?"
"Yeah, it's going to rain tonight," said the third brother, who had finished binding the walls together and was indeed now arranging the last of the bundles into a pointed roof. "I thought you didn't like my bad mood?"
"Oh please, that was ages ago," said the Wolf. "Ancient history. Water under the bridge. Don't even remember what it was about." He dumped the straw he'd brought on the ground and frowned at it, then at the roof that was nearly finished. "Do you even need this?"
"Not really," said the third brother. "But you did bring some, so once I get this finished you can spend the night."
"I can help you tie the roof on," the Wolf offered.
"No, it's okay," said the third brother. "I don't need your help."
And that was true, and in no time at all he had finished the entire house by his lonesome.
The third brother invited the Wolf in, and fed him, and smoothed out the ground on one side of the house's earthen floor so that he could rest on it. All the while he insisted that the Wolf, as a guest, should not lift a finger to help him, and so the Wolf took the third brother's hospitality and did not offer his help again. In this manner they passed the entire evening, and then the third brother laid down to sleep and bid the Wolf to do the same, and this the Wolf did without complaint.
The Wolf awoke in the night to discover that it was raining just as the third brother had said, and that there was a leak in the ceiling.
"Are you kidding me!" the Wolf yelped, trying to roll out of the way of the water dripping onto him. However, he found that while he had been sleeping, the floor beneath him had become soaked, and had turned into thick mud. "Hey, gracious host! Your stupid straw house isn't keeping the rain out!"
"Guess it's not," said the third brother as he got to his feet.
"Yeah, I guess! Now help me up!" said the Wolf, finding that when he tried to get his arms under himself they simply sank into the earth.
"Let me go fix the leak first," said the third brother. "Otherwise it's just going to get worse."
"Wait," said the Wolf, because—because—
"It won't take long," said the third brother, and he stepped outside.
Rain dripped down onto the Wolf from the hole in the roof just above him, but otherwise the straw of the house had kept dry. And though the rain was loud, it was not loud enough to hide the sound of a flame being struck just outside.
"Wait!" cried the Wolf. "Wait, no, please!"
The third brother came to stand in the door and look down coldly on the Wolf. "You're never going to hurt my family again."
"I didn't mean to," said the Wolf. "I didn't, I swear!"
"Are you gonna tell me it's just in your nature?" the third brother asked, as the straw crackled and smoked.
"It is," said the Wolf. "I didn't want to!"
"I feel sorry for you," said the third brother. "I feel too sorry for you. That's why I gave you the chance to run away. So why didn't you?"
"I didn't mean to," the Wolf sobbed again, giving up on struggling. "I didn't want to. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. I should have never gone near them."
"I forgive you," said the third brother, and he stepped away to let the house burn.