Disclaimer: This is a complete work of fiction, there's no resemblance to actual persons or events or places. If so, it is utterly not intended. I do NOT own Monster High, or anything to do with it. This is all completely non-profit, just for pure entertainment. Thank you.

A / n: Hello again, it's so great to see there's still interest in this story! You all just make my day with reviews and suggestions and favorites and all that you do. I mean it! There's nothing better for me than to come home to even a single review. It fuels my creative energies right away and it's just, fantastic. Thank you very much for that :)

Biting Paws

Chapter Eleven

Clawdeen Wolf's nose sniffed and twitched mercilessly as she voluntarily sat down in the un-living room next to Toralei, who had no choice but to remain where she was seated, due to limited space. And with Scarlet expecting news soon on having more pups sometime in the near future, a move needed to happen – but for right now they were comfortable in their comfy, cozy little home until then. "So tell me, Stripe." As her parents went out to grab some after dinner desserts together, this was the time she chose to strike up a conversation. "Why are you really here? You wanna scope out what we have? Steal it? You're already stealing my goulfriend's boyfriend, whom just so happens to be my brother-"

"He's my brother too y'know." Howleen interrupted subtly, receiving a glare from her older sister.

Toralei scoffed, "Not all of that is truth, but some… I guess is."

Clawdeen raised a skeptical eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

She heaved a sigh. "I know it's bat shit crazy… but I can't get Clawd outta my mind. Believe me, it's confusing me too! I just think about him constantly and get this; I even smile when I do." She shuddered, brushing some orange hair back as she slouched over again. "That's so not me. I don't do that warm and fuzzy stuff, but I just can't help it y'know."

Clawdeen's jaw dropped, but it wasn't ready to snap at anything… yet.

"You… you have feelings for Clawd? Really?"

Toralei nodded. "Believe me; I'm just as repulsed as you are about this whole situation. But he just has this toothy canine grin and it just, ugh!" She lightly tapped her chest. "Gets me right here and I loathe it. But I also adore it." She growled lightly. "I'm one sick kitty. And lovesick, I'm talking about. Anything else is debatable."

Howleen shifted her gaze to the two of them. "Maybe talk to Cupid at school? She could give you a few tips to either date or ditch."

Clawdeen tapped her chin, "She could. But… Toralei, I don't know if this is such a good idea. It might just be right to stop it now and nip everything at the bud before anything gets too far."

Toralei's eyes actually began to sparkle with the beginnings of wait, why did she care either way? Why did those simple words, hurt her in such a way she'd never been wounded before, she'd never know. "Wh-at?"

The older wolf ghoul sighed, her own eyes dulling in lustre. "Toralei… I'm not saying this to be mean. But our parents… heck, our whole clan expect us to all find mates and keep the family growing, keep it…" she scrunched her own nose up. "Populated. It's not a compromise of do you want to. It's just, expected of us. I'm having a hard time keeping them off my back, as apparently I should be searching for a forever mate, but I just wanna be a young ghoul while I still am and not be so serious about forever, right now." She weakly chuckled. "Y'know how it is… ghouls just wanna have fun."

The werecat nodded, this was a good point Clawdeen brought up. And it was starting to clear up why she wasn't so boy-crazy as say… Draculaura or as even Howleen was getting to be. She just had to bring up a thought that entered her mind though. "Okay so you're playing the, 'if we mated we'd have weird babies' card on me, but you didn't with the veg-head, vegan, whatever-the-hell-she-is vampire, Draculaura?"

Clawdeen put up her hand. "I'm not finished explaining yet."

Toralei shifted and gave the other her undivided attention. If she wasn't going to be good enough for Clawd, there was no need to start something that wouldn't last. Or be that great and just have stress and tension on everyone. She didn't want to be another relationship like what he had… or has – whatever they are. If she was going to get with Clawd Wolf, she'd show him things he'd never seen before. And that – she wanted to last. "Go on." She mused solemnly.

"Okay well, in all reality Clawd would've had to end it soon with Draculaura anyways, because of what I just told you. A vampire/werewolf hybrid… would be rather rejected in our family. And we're a pretty accepting bunch. I think they would honestly accept you before Ula-D, and as much as that rather hurts to say… because she is such a dear ghoulfriend of mine… it's because at least the both of you are… well, animals. She's… not so much an… animal. Immortal yes, sure. But not… an, animal. Or… beast."

Toralei gave a slow nod. "Right, I always kinda wondered how that… factor of a relationship worked between the two of them."

Clawdeen shuddered with the thought.

Toralei smirked, "I know right?"

Even Howleen scrunched up her face a little bit with the thought of her brother's intimate love life; in general it wasn't something she quite wanted to discuss. Clawdeen shook her head, "Don't take it as a free invitation to trounce in here and get him all smitten and then break his heart. Don't…" Then a recent memory struck her mind. "oh man, do what I did earlier." She sighed, putting her head in her hands.

Toralei slowly gave Clawdeen's shoulder a single pat. "There, there. Nothing's that bad." An extra awkward pat to the shoulder right then.

"Yeah it is. I… when Draculaura left the other day, I automatically took her side instead of my brothers'. Family… is for undead life. Friends, even the best of them… they come and they go. I didn't mean to automatically take sides. I guess the heat of the moment just got to me and I get a little uncontrollable and hard to deal with when that happens. Kinda like a full moon."

Howleen chimed in, "Y'think?"

Clawdeen narrowed her eyes, but sighed. "Now he's off no-one-even-knows-where, and I can't tell him I was the biggest jerks of all jerks ever."

"He's at a friend's house for the weekend." The sisters both looked at Toralei suspiciously. How did she know that? "Your mom told me that earlier. But anyways, taking sides when you know and love both sides… me-ooww. That's tricky and sticky."

They nodded in agreement.

"However, he knows that you love him. You're siblings; you all love one another even if you get on each other's nerves. He just probably needs some downtime."

Howleen couldn't get over the fact of Toralei 'like, like'-ing her brother. It seemed so… surreal. "Howcome you're just telling us now? You don't like, blush around him and stuff. Do you?"

Toralei hid her faint blush well. "I… didn't really know I did until, now-ish."

Howleen's eyes flickered with mischievousness. "Just because we are immortal doesn't mean we have to wait forever. You… Stripe, are gonna flat out tell him how you feel. And no riddles!"

Uh oh, Toralei's eyes widened in pure fear as for what happen next.

Please take the time to R & R, because I read every single one and love them all,

it's always appreciated. :)