Midday was not a good time for a wolf to steal out into a town, especially if he was a wolf that was hated for eating some of the town's citizens. The Wolf hated sneaking through the snow-plugged alleys, wading through piles of snow that reached as high as his stomach, but he hesitated to wander out into the main streets. If someone saw him, there was a possibility of police sprinting out with their guns, pinpricks of pain, having to run away from a mob of angry mothers and fathers and townspeople.

He finally managed to find his way out of town, but not before two little children making snowmen saw him and were so consequently eaten. Now, patting his rumbling stomach gently as he sat down upon the log in front of his mate's grave, he smiled softly before whispering, "… You should see Peter…" He scooped up some snow off of the makeshift grave. "He's such a good boy… Nothing like me." He paused, seeing the brown of dirt, and sighed, "Definitely nothing like me…" He paused, stared down at the grave, and then sniffled violently, eyes moistening. How could he have given away his mate's necklace? He suddenly wanted it back so very much.

He sat there for quite a few minutes, restraining tears, and then jerked violently when he heard soft murmurs from down the hill. Wiping hurriedly at his eyes, he glanced down, forced a smile when he saw Jhonen and Marquis gazing up at him, curiosity plastered across their face.

"Oh… it's you two… I thought you went back to wherever you-"

Together, Jhonen and Marquis questioned, "Where have you been?" They stilled, glanced at each other, smiled.

Marquis finished the question, "We went to the cave, but you weren't there. And you weren't at the house either, so we thought we'd check here. Where were you?"

The Wolf motioned to them, throat choking up, "Come here…"

Quickly, Jhonen and Marquis came up to him, and the Wolf tugged them down to sit them awkwardly on his lap. As he hugged them, he coughed, trying to clear the stiff feeling in his throat.

Jhonen and Marquis returned the hug. Softly, Jhonen asked, "Are you sad?"

The Wolf nodded into his fur, knowing that if he tried to talk, he would start crying.

Marquis reached up, stroked his father's ear, "It's okay, Papa… We came to see if we could find you… You didn't forget what time of year it's coming around to, have you?"

After a few deep breaths, the air rasping down his throat, the Wolf whispered, "What?"

"It's almost our birthdays, dummy!" Jhonen flicked at his ear.

The Wolf chuckled softly, "Of course… How could I forget? What's the date today?"

"Twenty-seventh of January."

"Oh… We missed Christmas, didn't we? Huh, now that I think of it, we didn't celebrate it at Red's house either… Maybe 'cause she's used to living alone, I think… Oh! And that was when that stupid Hansel killed my back!" The Wolf's sadness disappeared into an angry, thoughtful look.

"Papa?" sighed Marquis. "Our birthdays are this Tuesday… Tomorrow… We want to spend time with you and Peter… Don't be mad..."

"Oh, yes… Sorry…" The fury in the Wolf's eyes slowly died down to be replaced with fatherly love. Hugging his two sons close, he rubbed his furry cheek against theirs before whispering, "What do you two want for your birthdays?"

The Wolf returned to the house that evening, Marquis and Jhonen at his tail. Red, startled at the sudden appearance of the two black wolves, hurried to find extra food to accommodate them.

Peter was ecstatic when he heard his brothers' voices from the next room. Red could hear his yelling, "Marquis! Jhonen! Come here! Come! I want to tell you something!"

Jhonen smiled, glanced slyly at Marquis, "Did you hear something?"

With mock innocence, Marquis put a hand to his chest, sniffed prissily, "I heard a little brother in want of a tackle."

Before they could race off to pounce upon their little brother, however, the Wolf grabbed them by the scruffs of their necks, "Hey, hey… If you break his legs, then you two are not going to be having a very happy birthday."

Jhonen wiggled, "Papa! Have we ever hurt him before? We love little brother!"

Marquis nodded, "We just have a very physical, 'let's tackle people' love."

Snorting a laugh, the Wolf released them, watched them tear down the hall, find the door to Red's room, and then sprint inside. The next moment, he heard Peter's surprised shriek before it died to howling laughter.

"No! No! No! No tickling! You're killing me! Ah! Papa! Help!"

Chuckling, the Wolf turned, saw Hansel's disgusted eyes upon him, and then quickly glanced towards Red. He opened his mouth, ready to joke about her poring through the cookbook, but the words froze in his mouth when he saw the necklace. What a wretched but wonderful memory it brought! Taking a deep breath to compose himself, he whispered, "… Red?"

"Yes?" Red glanced up from her cookbook.

"What… do you think of my… belated Christmas present?" The Wolf made a small motion towards his neck, ears twitching a bit.

"Oh, you gave this to me?" Red glanced down, fingering the sapphire, and then smiled, "I really like it… It's very pretty."

The Wolf felt Hansel's glare intensify, willed himself not to look over. Slowly, he stammered, "Really?" Oh, what he wouldn't do to hide that away! What devil had possessed him to give that to her? Peter? Why the necklace, then? It hurt him just to look at it!

Red stared at the Wolf, whose body had suddenly started to twitch. "…Yes… Are you… okay?"

The Wolf coughed, clearing his throat, and then whispered, "I'll be right back…" Turning, he scurried out of the kitchen, down the hall, and into Red's bedroom.

Jhonen and Marquis were sitting at Peter's sides, petting him gently as Peter grumbled, still annoyed at his older brothers' tickle attack. The twins glancing up as their father entered, Peter muttered, "Is that papa?"

Jhonen smiled, patted him softly, "Of course. Papa, why the look?"

Shutting the door behind him, the Wolf leaned back against it, clutching his chest, "Peter, tell them about the present thing."

For the next two minutes, Peter happily squeaked out their little plan, and Jhonen and Marquis finally glanced back at their father, asked, "So…?"

"I gave her your mother's necklace."

Jhonen and Marquis froze, staring at the Wolf in startled disbelief. Peter, however, grew angry and pounded at the blankets, "You gave it to her already? You said you would wake me up and I could give it to her!" He crossed his arms furiously and glared down at the blanket with blind eyes.

"You gave her… mama's necklace?" Jhonen finally asked quietly.

"And it's killing me! I can't look at her without thinking about-"

Marquis sighed, "Is it the necklace you gave her for your first-"

"Yes."

"The one you took off of her after-" Marquis paused, glanced back at Peter, and then mouthed, "she was dead?"

The Wolf stilled before nodding miserably, "Yes…" He was happy that Marquis hadn't said the 'dead' part aloud. Peter still had his hope that his mama was still alive, and, sometimes, he was sure that it was the only thing that kept him happy.

"And it has the big, blue pebble on it?"

"Yes! Please! I have to get it off of her! It's killing me!" The Wolf slid to the floor, put his head in his hands, and groaned loudly.

Peter squeaked angrily, "You can't do that! You already gave it to her as a present! And mama always said that you can't take back a present 'cause it's rude!"

Jhonen and Marquis smiled sadly, patted Peter's shivering head softly, "Peter… Papa's hurting right now… Just be quiet, okay?"

"But then what will be Marie's present?" whined Peter, his whitish-blonde ears laid back against his skull. "And Papa can't be rude! He says being rude is like killing a little bunny!"

The Wolf couldn't help but chuckle. He had tried to explain why being 'rude' was wrong to Peter and had used that little metaphor, for Peter held an unnatural love for rabbits. "It's not the same here, Peter."

"Just ask her." Suggested Marquis.

"Or we can hold her down." Smirked Jhonen, who then flinched as Marquis shoved his shoulder with an annoyed look on his face.

"We couldn't do that to Red! Remember, she's Peter's friend!"

"But the-"

Jhonen interrupted the Wolf, "You'll get it back, papa, don't worry. Just do it tonight while she's sleeping."

The Wolf licked his lips before taking a deep breath and nodding, "Yes… I'll do that. Okay… Peter! Nothing of this to Red or Hansel!"

Peter fumed, "Rude, rude, rude!"

For the rest of the day, the Wolf avoided directly looking at both Red, because she had the necklace, and Hansel, who was still suspicious after that morning's events. Curious about the Wolf's behavior, Red turned to Hansel and Peter more than once and asked, "Is he okay?"

Peter's answer was always the same, always said in the same sullen voice. "Papa's okay… He's just sad today."

Hansel's response would scare her: "Why do you care? Do you have feelings for him? Do you?" This was always accompanied by a reddening face, gritted teeth, narrowed eyes, and an accusing tone.

Finally, night came, and the house quieted as the occupants wandered to their beds.

Hansel went to bed early, claiming his bare side room and the wrinkled, dusty blankets as his as usual. Peter slept by Red in her bed, and Jhonen, Marquis, and the Wolf slept in the kitchen next to the warm stove.

The Wolf, however, was not asleep, but waiting. When he was sure it was late enough that no one would be even slightly awake, he crept up, eyes glinting, and stole over his sons to the kitchen door. Tiptoeing into the hall, he glanced secretly up and down, making sure there was no Hansel, and then hurried to Red's bedroom door, creaked it open, and slid inside silently.

The window was covered by curtains, making the room turn a blinding black when he closed the door behind him. Stealing forward blindly, he found the corner of the bed, sighed in relief, and slowly pulled himself up. He found the raised lumps in the covers that were Red's legs, softly felt upwards to see if he could find her neck and the necklace he so desperately needed to be rid of.

He never saw the musket's hard barrel swing harshly towards his head, but only felt the piercing pain as it connected with his skull. Almost instantly, he slid off the bed, thumped to the floor, and lay there, unconscious.

Hansel grinned sharply, dropped his musket, and bent. He had stolen to Red's room several hours before, had let his eyes grow accustomed to the dark. He had known that the Wolf would come in, trying to realize his twisted desires, but he had been there to stop the beast.

But what to do with the Wolf now that he was at his mercy?

Hansel jerked when he heard a little whimper. Narrowing his eyes, he glared over to where Peter was shivering, his eyes wide, his ears twitching. Instantly, Hansel stalked over Peter's side of the bed, leaned over, and hissed softly. The sound enough was scare Peter out of his wits. Curling up, he whimpered through his sobs, "Please… Please don't hurt me… Please don't hurt me…"

Grabbing Peter by the scruff of the neck, Hansel hauled him up, whispered into his ear, "What did you hear?"

"Papa's steps and a whoosh and a thump and… and… Please don't hurt me…" Peter cried, little tears staining his fur. His little fingers came up, covered his face.

Hansel smiled, bent his head, and softly murmured, "If you tell Gretel, I will make you disappear."

"Don't… please…" Peter's tail dipped between his legs, trembling with fright.

"As long you don't tell, I will do nothing to you." Hansel pulled down the covers, set him back down, and then pulled the covers up again. With a small, happy sound, he patted Peter on the head, turned, and then grabbed the Wolf's hind paws. He dragged the Wolf out of the room, leaving Peter to cry underneath the warm covers.