Why were bifocals so fascinating? Wolf examined them and replaced them on the tip of his nose. He peered down the length of his snout and watched as the view changed. He settled back onto the bed and smiled, patting his bulging stomach. His claws traced lazy patterns on the nightgown material that stretched tightly over his midriff.
"I haven't been this full in years!" he said. He sighed with a lazy smile, then paused. His ears pricked up when he heard the creak of a door opening. A grin stretched across his face as he whispered, " … and now for dessert."
Then Wolf winced as he heard the shrill tones of the little girl from the wood's voice, "Granny, I'm here!" Why did her voice grate so? Couldn't she lower it a notch or two?
He felt the contents of his stomach move at the words, Maybe I shouldn't have swallowed her whole. Oh, well. Too late now! He gave his stomach a hard shove, yanked the night cap down, and then pulled the covers up to hide his nose. Maybe she won't notice the hair around my eyes.
"Granny, I'm here!" she repeated, her already shrill voice rising in pitch.
Better stop her from panicking. He cleared his throat, "In here, dearie."
Footsteps approached and the bedroom door swung open. Wolf tried to hide his disgust. That red cloak, though. So tacky.
The four or five-year-old girl climbed up on the bed and was staring at him, "Granny, why're your eyes so big?"
A red panic strobe light flashed in Wolf's head, It's the first thing she noticed! What now? He felt his heart rate increasing, not good. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
The little girl was still staring at him, her eyes narrowing the longer it took him to respond. He'd have to act quickly. I'm Alpha. I ran my pack, didn't I? I can do this. Never mind that they all left me. No, don't think of that, I can do this! "The better to see you with, dearie." The crack in his voice lent itself to the feeble grandma waver he wanted and he pulled the blanket higher and coughed. He wanted to eat her later, not right now! "Why don't you let Granny sleep, dearie. We can talk later."
"Why're your hands hairy?" She sat cross-legged at the foot of the bed and squinted at him.
Wolf looked down and yelped out loud, I didn't think of that! Drat this pest! His eyes flicked from side to side, "So I can warm your cold little hands." His ears twitched.
The girl's eyes flicked to his ears, her head cocking to one side as she stared, "What's wrong with your ears?"
"Ah, I grew them out so I could hear you better." He winced. That sounded terrible, even to him.
The girl shook her head in confusion, "No, ears don't grow like that, silly. Momma said that I'm gonna have cute little ears forever."
Cute little ears forever? Your mother is lying to you, child! You ask too many questions. You see too much. Your voice is too high. Your cloak is hideous. A strange boiling sensation was building inside of him and covering his brain. His breathing picked up and suddenly the blanket blocked his oxygen intake. He pushed it down and tried to get ahold of himself before he lost it. He looked up, the girl now sat dead still, a horrified look on her face.
"Granny? What happened to your mouth?" She slowly scooted backwards on the bed until she hit the foot board.
Wolf crossed his eyes as he looked at what she was looking at. Way to go, genius! Way to give the game away. Now you can't have dessert. You have to eat her now! With a growl, he came up with his wittiest response, "I grew it out to eat you up!"
She screamed and lunged for the side of the bed. Wolf followed her, and face planted on the hardwood floor as the blankets tangled around his legs.
Still screaming, the girl ran for the door.
Wolf grinned and leapt with both legs still wrapped in the sheets. His outstretched front paws swiped at her legs and she fell. Her head hit the floor and she went limp, like a dead deer. Wolf shredded the sheets with his claws and stood up on his hind legs, "Oh good. I can still have dessert later." Inside his stomach he felt Granny pummeling the lining of his stomach.