I never meant to abandon this story, but since none of my secretive readers felt like suggesting anything for a follow-up, it took me a while to find something that would be equally as realistic as the wolf pack. I was reading an article on aggressive animals, and this one startled me. Obviously I had to write a chapter about it.

And honestly, everyone loves Flipper.

This chapter is a little darker than the last one, so if you're having second thoughts about continuing with this story, I won't be offended. Honestly, I'm amazed I haven't been flamed already :D

(and I promise that the next chapter will have what everyone's been waiting for)

- Lupin's Magelet


Numair rolled his stiff shoulders. How long had he been sitting in the library reading? He looked around, but there was no Daine to laugh at him and tell him that he'd been lost in his books again. The thought of her brought a smile to his face. Right now she out doing some research on marine life for him, and when she got back…

His smile stretched to the point his face ached. Spending time with Daine was one of Numair's favorite things, but lately their disagreements had gotten more intense. It was utterly ridiculous, but something inside of him had snapped after their trip to visit Daine's furry family. The fact that he had gotten jealous of a wolf was slightly disturbing, especially considering that Brokefang hadn't really done anything to her. And Numair had already seen other men ogling the object of his affection. No, jealousy was nothing new for him.

What had really gotten to him was the way that Daine had addressed the topic. She'd been too embarrassed to warn him about what they would most likely encounter when they met with the pack, yet she'd explained away the occurrence like it was the most natural thing in the world. Daine's comfort level with Numair was clearly higher than he had expected. Numair, having once feared stealing Daine's innocence, now wondered if she was really ever as innocent as she seemed to him. Even as a virgin she seemed to know as much as he did about 'the mating process,' and her exposure to the animal world afforded her with a more intimate understanding of the way the world worked than most humans. Numair had firsthand experience of how enjoyable intimacy was, but Daine had undergone a different kind of exposure. Animals lacked the shyness humans possessed in regards to mating and reproduction, so Daine had witnessed just about anything and everything.

Numair didn't like to think of himself as a deluded romantic – he'd been with enough women to know that the life of the court flirt was not for him, though still enjoyable – but his talks with Daine had turned more uncomfortable. After all those hours spent pounding biological information into her brain, Daine had decided to use that information against him.

"This book says that most animals only come into heat once or twice a year."

"And?"

"Well, animals are driven to mate when the females go into heat, right?"

"Yes. The cycle established by the female's heat ensures that offspring are born into a suitable climate."

"But it still doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't make sense?"

"Humans are animals, too: why is mating among animals so different from human sex?"

He paused here, wondering where she was going with her current line of questioning. "Daine…The mechanics are all very similar. I'm not sure what you're confused about…"

"You know. Romance. Passion. Pleasure. There are very few species that mate for life, and even fewer that actually enjoy it."

"Enjoy 'it'?" he'd asked tentatively.

"Yeah. I mean yes. In most cases, the males force the female into submission in order to show that he is a respectable mate. But humans consider that type of behavior to be inacceptable and have entirely different criteria."

"Daine…"

"No, I'm not saying that rape is a good thing, I'm just trying to point out that breeders encourage their prize stallions to essentially rape mares, and most women demand flowers and jewels and the like before they will so much as pay attention to a man." He'd looked at her like she'd grown a third head and she'd dropped the subject. "Nevermind. Forget I said anything."

He suspected that the conversation had meant something, but he wasn't sure. Daine wasn't the type to crave tokens of affection. She didn't wear jewelry unless she was forced into a dress, and she was always sure to fight on those occasions. She also wasn't one to bring up painful subjects, and he knew that her final encounter with Ozorn continued to trouble her dreams.

Numair wasn't quite sure what was happening with them at present. Daine had become more…assertive, he could say, and he in turn had become more possessive. He knew that being possessive of his much younger love interest would not help diminish the rumors at court, and though he really didn't care what they said about him, he knew enough of Daine's past that she didn't need more people talking about her. Rather than ensuring that they had their secluded daily encounters to sustain them, Numair had backed away, afraid to just admit to himself that he wanted her. That he needed her.

Frustrated that he couldn't concentrate on his tome, he leaned back in his chair and began to calculate how long he should wait before heading down to the beach after his magelet.


Alanna surprised her by laughing at her retelling of their visit with the pack. "Of course, you would think it was funny. He won't even look at me and you think it's hysterical." Daine adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder as she walked along the coastal wall of the keep.

"Oh, don't exaggerate. You know that that man is head over heels for you."

"Then why doesn't he ever do anything about it?"

Alanna coughed. "Have the two of you finalized your engagement yet?"

Daine stumbled over a loose stone. "Well, no, but I don't think that—"

"Ah ah—you know very well why he wants to wait."

Of course I do, she thought, but that doesn't make the idea any less pathetic. She tried another approach. "Are you expecting me to believe that the most powerful mage alive can't create a simple conception charm?"

"Do you really think that is the reason he's been fighting you off?"

Daine did a double-take. "What is that supposed to mean, may I ask."

"Don't go asking questions that you already know the answer to." They paused at the shoreline, knowing that Daine had no room to argue that she'd not been forward with her mage. Alanna watched silently as Daine placed her bag atop a rock, far from the reaches of the ocean. She shivered as a cool breeze swept over the water, chilling her to the core. "Numair really wants you to do this now?"

Daine plopped down and began unlacing her boots. "He just wants me to do it eventually, but I figure that I may as well since they're here. I've no idea where to find them the rest of the year."

"But isn't it a bit…cold?"

She flailed an arm in the direction of the water in response. "Do they look like the cold bothers them? Besides, I could do with a cold bath right now."

The sounds of playful dolphins drew Alanna's attention. She watched them jumping and splashing, so intently that she nearly missed Daine's bare form diving headlong into the surf. Rather than her soppy brown hair, a sleek grey head appeared and clicked a goodbye to Alanna. "Just remember what the fishermen warned you!" she called after her.

By that point Daine was already getting reacquainted with the dolphins she'd met during her first visit to Pirate's Swoop. She asked as many questions as she could remember discussing with Numair, eventually allowing the dolphins to do all of the talking.

"Isn't this more fun than paddling around like a drowning dog?" chirped the female dolphin to her left.

Daine sped to the surface and somersaulted through the air in response. "Yes, I believe it is." Diving back into the water, Daine circled effortlessly around her companions. She spent so much of her time dealing with inland matters that she rarely had the chance to enjoy a swim in the ocean.

"Have you really never swum in dolphin form before?"

"Isn't it obvious? She flounders about like a calf." Daine's impression of the dolphins was mixed. On one hand, the way they glided through the water made her reluctant to return to the land and her human form, but at the same time the group she was with were getting on her nerves. "The next thing you know she'll ask us to take her to the surface for air."

The female chided her male companions, but they paid her no mind and clicked and chirped their amusement. Emboldened by his friends, one of the males swam up to Daine and propped her up as a mother would her calf when teaching it to swim. Two more joined him, and before Daine could squirm away, the leader of their merry band swam beneath her, making sure to press the length of his body against hers. She tried to bite him as he swam by, but his friends butted at her with their noses and tails, spinning her until she was too dizzy to remember which way the surface was. She could hear the insulting comments they made, but they moved around too fast for her to place a voice with a body.

Dazed and beginning to panic, Daine was an easy target for the rowdy males. "Stop it!" she screeched at them, but they ignored her as they had the female.

They were really enjoying this.

First the wolves, and now the dolphins—was she ever going to be left alone? She loved the animals dearly, but they were driving her nuts. The only male who should be interested in her nether regions was Numair, who had been unusually distant of late. Infuriated by the dolphins' treatment and her sexual frustration, Daine resorted to shifting her head into that of a great white shark. She was disoriented for a moment, shifting from mammal to fish, but once she'd adjusted to breathing with gills, dealing with the dolphins was a piece of cake.

At least, it was easier with her having a gaping mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. The dolphins continued to provoke her, ramming into her sides and brushing against her underside with theirs, but she was too angry to care about that. Rather than bother snapping at them until they decided to give up, she turned tail and headed in the direction she instinctively knew the shore lay in. It was awkward swimming with a shark's head and a dolphin's body—the two were not meant to work together at all—so she settled back into her dolphin form and rocketed through the water. The others were faster, though, and soon caught up with her. Sensing the shore at last, Daine propelled herself into the air and once more changed forms. As a sea gull, she circled over the furious dolphins, who were leaping into the air in an attempt to pull her back down to the water. She emptied her bladder into the face of one of the males and continued towards land.

Numair was waiting for her, holding a cloak out. No doubt he'd seen a dolphin change into a gull mid-leap and had assumed that it was her. She flew straight into him, changing as he wrapped his arms and cloak around her. Rather than gathering up the cloak in her fists and drawing it closer, she struggled to wind her arms around Numair's waist. Daine's sobs rose over the noise of the crashing waves and the angry clicking of the pod, though she didn't bother explaining what had happened. He understood that something was wrong and swept Daine up into his arms and, checking that his companion was fully covered, headed towards her quarters inside the Swoop.

She couldn't be sure if they passed anyone on the way, as her face was burrowed into the safety of Numair's neck. Occasionally she heard him growl in distress, but she was unable to discern the rush of fleeing footsteps over his foreboding stomping.

A wave of Numair's hand sent the door to Daine's room flying open and a fire roaring in the fireplace. He settled down upon the sofa in front of the fire and cradled Daine to him. Her tears continued to fall, but she was more embarrassed than anything. What would Numair say when she explained everything to him? He'll pull away from me even more, that's what'll happen. Another sob wracked her body as she allowed Numair to rock her, gently stroking her hair and whispering soothing words to her as he did. When she'd finally calmed her breathing, she laughed sardonically. "Well I s'pose it serves me right for going out there as I did. Cloud and Alanna warned me, but I ignored them, didn't I? Mithros, I ignored the fishermen!"

He shifted her in his lap for a better view of her face. The look in her eyes made him worry that she blamed him for whatever had happened—hadn't he been the one to encourage her to research pod life? It only stood to reason that he was at fault, but at fault for what exactly he didn't know. "Daine, sweet, what happened?"

"Oh, Numair! I was so foolish!"

"What do you mean?"

"Even knowing what I did, I ignored the signs. I was so happy playing in the surf with them that I forgot how…how…how…" She threw her hands into the air, knocking the robe from her shoulders and exposing herself. She didn't appear to notice, or if she did, she didn't care that she sat half-naked on Numair's lap. He wasn't so upset that he didn't notice, but he did have the good grace to push those thoughts aside for later. His magelet was upset and he needed to help her. He pulled her hands from her hair and held them in his, resting them atop the folds of fabric in her lap. Her eyes, reddened by the salt-spray and her tears, pled for something beyond his understanding. "I'm not even sure how it happened."

"Why don't you start from the beginning." Now that he knew how to broach subjects she tended to avoid, the task of urging her to open up to him wasn't quite as daunting as it had been when they'd first met. She trusted him far more than he would have ever expected her to trust a human, and constantly he reminded himself that he could never take advantage of that trust. "You found me in the library and told me that you were going to swim with the dolphins. What happened next?"

She took a deep breath to steady herself and launched into her story, making sure to leave out the conversation she'd had with Alanna on the beach. "I've been talking to the sailors about the pod's seasonal habits and such, and yesterday one of them warned me that…that dolphins can be very aggressive. I just brushed it aside because most humans fear animals that they don't understand, and I've never had trouble dealing with aggressive animals before. When they do try and assert themselves, I still have my magic to make them listen to me. So when I went down to the beach today, the pod was already waiting for me and I just dove in to join them. They taught me so many things, Numair, like how they hunt in murky water and like to follow ships in the open sea. They're so smart, almost like the griffins."

"That sounds wonderful," he confessed, still confused about how this experience could've end so badly.

She nodded against his shoulder, once more seeking the comfort that only Numair could give her. He righted the cloak around her shoulders again to stop the sudden chill making her shiver. She continued. "They're so smart, I didn't figure on them being so much like humans. You remember what I said about humans being the only ones who enjoyed…"

"Canoodling?"

"Mhmm. Well, it seems I was wrong. The dolphins enjoy it too, but they're less picky then humans are."

He had a sinking feeling that he knew where this was heading. "Are you saying that they…I mean, they didn't, did they?"

Her tears turned to guilt and hatred, though not at the dolphins. "They were just playing around like men do when they're showing off, but you see, to them I was practically in heat, and they didn't care that I wasn't really a dolphin. To them, I'm People. That's how most of the People see me, and the dolphins didn't seem to care either way. One of them actually told me he wouldn't mind if I changed back."

Numair's jaw dropped. "You mean to say that those dolphins tried to get you to have…" he trailed off, unsure whether this behavior even qualified as sex.

"Yes. Instead of just willing them to go away, I kept trying to explain that it was wrong and that I wasn't a dolphin like them. This one really big male asked me why it was wrong when I hadn't been claimed yet. Numair, they could smell me. You know I can't hide my feelings easily, and they kept pestering me about why I was so worked up and not mated yet…" She abruptly stopped talking and toyed with a strand of Numair's hair that the wind had pulled free of his hair tie. As her hands moved to pull the rest of his hair free, the robe slipped from her shoulders again and Numair's gaze was drawn to what lay hidden underneath.

It wasn't the sight of her bare breasts that got to him. He'd seen them many times before, as Daine frequently forgot when she was clothed and when she wasn't.

Instead, his gaze was drawn to the bruises that were blossoming across her pale flesh. Her chest, her shoulders, her ribs—turning her around he could see her back was battered as well. There were small puncture wounds along her arms which he took for bite marks. "They did this to you?" She nodded. "Why did you let them?"

The tears returned, her pain intensified under Numair's touch. He wasn't hurting her, but the pain in his eyes increased the guilt she felt. "You know I hate forcing the People to obey me—I thought I could talk to them. And they're smarter than other animals, so I had more trouble using my will. Eventually I tried to fight against them, but they enjoyed that even more so I swam back to the beach as fast as I could. Naturally I couldn't outswim the bigger males, so I took to bird form and that's when I found you." She winced as he brushed the pad of his thumb against a scrape on her shoulder that was beginning to bleed.

"What else hurts?"

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"Daine you are not fine. I'm not good with internal injuries—should I fetch Alanna?"

"Really, there's no—ouch!"

Numair set her down on the sofa and grabbed a nightdress from her dresser. "Let's get you dressed properly before I go find her, and don't say you're alright because you clearly aren't."

"You know that if she comes to heal me, she's just going to have me undress anyways, don't you?""

"Humor me." She cried out again as he tried to slip material over her head. "Alright, then, at least cover up in bed. You're freezing." He kissed her forehead as he tucked her in. "I'll be right back with Alanna."


When Alanna left Daine's room, Numair was waiting for her. He jumped up from his spot on the floor and ushered her into his quarters. "Is she alright?"

The Lioness put her hands on her hips, glaring up at the mage who towered over her. "Yes, no thanks to you."

"Me? What did I do?"

"Exactly my point!"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Numair, you great dolt—don't you understand what happened to her?"

"Yes! She was nearly gang-raped by a pod of dolphins!"

"Because of you!" Catching herself, Alanna lowered her voice. "She's sleeping next door, and I want her to stay that way. Her bruising was extensive, but I couldn't find anything more serious than a cracked rib and a sprained wrist. She should heal up nicely." Numair relaxed into a sitting chair, but Alanna wasn't through with him yet. "You really are thick, you know?"

"I still don't understand how this was my fault. She went down there of her own accord—I didn't force her to do anything she didn't want to. If I had suspected that the dolphins would treat her like that, obviously I would have prevented her from joining them." She actually slapped him. Right across the face."WHAT! TELL me what I did wrong!"

"You idiot—what reason would a pod of dolphins have for trying to mate with a human? Think very hard, Numair."

Why doesn't she just tell me already if it's my fault? "I told you that I have absolutely no idea. Daine said something about them thinking she was one of them, one of the People, I mean. But I didn't think that dolphins typically mated in the fall."

"My dear Lord Mage, pray tell if you have, perchance, taken any walks with the young Daine around my home lately?" Her voice was threateningly sweet.

Like a fish to a hook, Numair answered, "Well, no, not really. I've been busy compiling my research for Jonathon…"

She gave him an evil grin. Of course she already knew the answer, but one had to take their time when explaining things to Numair. "Then it will certainly have escaped your notice. I see." She raised a brow, daring Numair to question her further. He had nothing left but to ask what she meant. "The way the animals have been acting, of course. The mounts are bashing at their stalls in an attempt to escape and frolic in the fields, the dogs are in heat and sneaking off into the bushes whenever they're outside, and that's the least of your problems."

"My problems? I don't see how this has anything to do with me."

Alanna puffed herself up like she did when she let loose her anger on her husband or her soldiers, turned to take another look at Numair's door as though she expected the wild mage to enter at any second, and faced Numair again. "This is all your fault, nimwad, because you haven't done so much as held Daine's hand since you returned from Dunlath! Oh, she told me what happened with the wolf pack, but you've got another thing coming if you think that I'm going to believe you're still trying to protect her innocence." He had the gall to still appear confused, so she continued. "She's been in a perpetual state of sexual frustration since then, and you haven't done anything about it! You've been hiding in my library instead of locking her in your room or throwing her up against a tree, and she's going crazy because of it!"

"She's going crazy? What about me? I'm practicing restraint while she throws herself at me whenever she can, and—"

"—and she wouldn't keep throwing herself at you if you would give in already! It's not as though she enjoys all of these horny animals. Onua has been forced to keep a rope on Tahoi because he wants to help Daine 'take care of her problem.' Shut your mouth, it's unattractive to let it hang open like that. Most of the animals seem to be dealing with Daine's hormones with their own kind, but some of them, like those dolphins earlier today, have been driven to help her out in a way that you can't seem to find the time to."

"This is ridiculous. I shouldn't have to explain my reasons for sleeping or not sleeping with Daine to you." He was pacing now, black sparks beginning to crackle around his imposing form. "I'm not going to bed her just because you told me to."

As she surveyed Numair, a certain part of the mage's anatomy rose to protest. Disgusted that she'd stared in the first place, but amused that not even Numair could fight off Daine's power, Alanna decided to leave her friend with a few choice words that Thayet and Onua had demanded she convey to the mage. "Numair, you know that we all care for you, and for Daine, and we respect that the difference in your ages may be something to contend with, but the simple fact of the matter is that if you don't bed that girl soon, we'll find someone else who is more than willing to."

"You wouldn't dare."

"No? Well, if the animals are back to normal in a few days and you haven't done anything, I suppose you'll have your answer," she called as she left Numair alone with his thoughts.


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