Moonpriestess30: Glad you're still here!

Ch31- It is yummy, I make them all the time!

Ch32 - I'm glad, I do worry!

Ch33 - I love writing him, he's in this a lot more than the previous fic

Ch34 - I love writing the Carta piece and I can't wait to get there in this one!


Chapter 37 - Now you mention it

Makatza rolled onto her back and stretched out with all four legs, she groaned happily with a slight howl before rolling onto her front and practising her downward dog pose, flicking her tail from side to side with a satisfied yowl. Varric chuckled and flicked a twig at her which she snapped out the air with humour. 'At least somebody seems to have slept well,' he commented. Bubble slunk past her with a slight red patch on his rump where she had nipped him. 'I guess we know who the Alpha of the pack is,' he adds with a smirk as he looks at Garrett.

'Serves him right from what I got, he was teasing her about mating customs,' Hawke sniggers, both Varric and Garrett jump as at least three people who were drinking at the time begin to choke on their tea.

Silvanus scowled, 'tis better be a jest,' he says as he looks over at the Prince who was red in the face and wiping his mouth. Surprisingly the other person was Aveline who had turned her slip into a full coughing fit and managed to turn away from them all. Hawke raised a brow, there was something that Aveline was hiding and he was pretty sure that he knew what it was. Makatza completely oblivious to what happened wandered past and stood on her back legs to greet her father as she attempted to hug him. 'Hello, Lethallan,' he laughs lightly sparing a moment to glare at the men in the group. He kisses her snout several times, chuckling as she licks him up the cheek, she immediately improved his mood and the tension dropped a little.

It quickly rose again as the subject of the mirror was brought up, Merrill was trying to get it into the cart but Fenris wasn't having any of it. Marethari had left earlier that morning her worries about her clan meaning that her duties were elsewhere. Anders was actually backing Fenris up which worried the others more. 'Oh shit,' Hawke said as Merrill shouted at them both and Fenris' face fell his markings lighting up. He began to run over but was beaten by Makatza who had loped over and barked roughly at the two men who were antagonising the situation.

'It is because of this blasted mirror that you are in this position,' Fenris snapped at Makatza who simply bared her teeth as she stood in front of the blood mage.

'I hate to say this but Fenris is right,' Anders said simply. 'We should leave this thing or push it off the cliff, I don't see what good taking it back to her home is going to do,' he said rubbing his temples, Justice was trying to voice his opinion and this wasn't a good time for him to appear. Hawke came over in an attempt to diffuse the situation but kind of just made it worse. They all began to argue amongst themselves about the idea of leaving it in the forest. Makatza sighed heavily and looked at the artefact, she hated it, she really despised it but it wasn't her decision. It was Merrill's project and the young elf wanted to continue with it. With a frown she jumped onto the wagon and faced all of her friends and family.

'Enough!' Makatza barked at them and they all stopped in shock. They had heard a large bark along with actual language, Katza rolled her tongue around her mouth there was magic in that voice. She concentrated and felt her mana flow into her throat, 'this isn't helping anyone! We're taking the damn mirror back to the city so that nobody else gets involved with it's stupid mistakes. Leave it here and somebody else is bound to get wrapped in this shit...' Makatza growled at them then she shuddered it was very tiring talking as a wolf.

'Okay...' Isabela said while comforting Merrill, 'guess that decision has been made for us,' she shrugs a shoulder. Makatza swayed and stumbled on the grass as she got down from the cart, she felt very weak all of a sudden and she could feel the wave of primal instincts wash over her. She had to be careful, Wither Fang warned her about the call of the wild. Not wanting to argue with Katza her friends simply got on with packing up the camp and she laid down next to the wheel to rest.

Fenris felt bad for snapping at her and pulled a face of annoyance, she hadn't hesitated to bare her teeth at him. Grabbing a skin of water and a bowl he walked over to her and poured out some water. 'I did not mean to argue,' he says quietly.

Makatza lifts her head and nods her thanks as she sits up to drink, she paused as she concentrated, 'it's okay... I have different instincts as a wolf, it's confusing. Don't worry, this form will wear off soon. I've just got to be careful about turning wild,' she said quickly and softly and then sighed. It was exhausting to speak Ferelden, her anatomy simply didn't work that way. Fenris stroked her ears fondly.

'Wild? Is that as if you were to turn feral?' He asked in the form so that she could simply nod or shake her head. She nodded. 'Hmm, that could be problematic,' he says as he thinks. 'Is the feral switch a permanent change?' She shook her head, that was a relief. A thought hit him and he chuckles, 'was Bubble really teasing you about mating customs?' He asks with a grin, Makatza growled and he laughs lightly. 'Very well, that explains a lot. Do you feel different as a wolf? Regarding that side of your life?' Fenris asks curiously. He wondered if her feelings towards anyone would change, animals tend to be very basic when it came to their choice of partners. 'You clearly feel like the Alpha from the way that Bubble slinks around you and the others certainly did not argue with your decision,' he smirks.

Makatza tilted her head, she hadn't thought about that before. She would have said that either Isabela or Aveline would have been the Alpha in the group, Aveline certainly was in her job yet she tended to relax around Hawke and step back. She didn't know what to say to Fenris so she simply shrugged her shoulders and lapped up another drink. Varric wandered over, 'has she said any more?' He asks kindly not wanting Makatza to have to repeat herself. Fenris explained what he knew about her shift, that it was only temporary. 'Hmmm. Well you're certainly making your voice heard, Petal, almost crapped me kecks when you spoke.' He laughs as he pats her on the back, 'Bubble was saying something about Alpha's huh?'

'No, no-' Fenris tried to warn him not to say anything but Makatza had started to growl deeply before he could say any more.

Varric jumped and laughs, 'ancestors, you scare the shit outta me,' he says in good humour. 'Let's see,' he says looking about, 'if you're the top dog- sorry, wolf of the women, who's the is the man?' He teases. 'What makes an Alpha?'

'I feel that you are forcing this subject for some revelation that is only going to amuse you,' Fenris states rolling his eyes as he leans against the wagon. 'Let me guess you are trying to match make,' he says dryly.

Varric plays fake astonished. 'Me? You wound me sir, as if I'll have any ulterior motives!' He says in a fake huff. 'Play along anyway,' he adds with a smirk.

Fenris sighs. 'In animals, it is strength, intimidation, the ability to protect an offspring,' he says simply answering Varric's question. Makatza chuckles and wags her tail a little, she was curious to see what Varric was going to come up with.

'Hmmm. Let's see. Anders has Justice tagging along and he's browbeaten often by Hawke. Chantry boy can't make a decision to save his life and Elthina has her thumb over him. I am happy to go with the flow and don't wish to lead, Hawke... Now he could be an Alpha...'

'I feel that there is a ''but'' coming,' Fenris says simply as he looks down at the dwarf who was wearing a shit eating grin.

'How did you know?' Varric chuckles. 'I would say Hawke but you said intimidation no?' Fenris refrained from rolling his eyes and simply nodded. 'Hawke isn't scared of any one, not really, the arrogant bastard. He does refrain from stepping on a certain someone's toes though,' he smirks as he looks at the elf. Makatza snuffles in laughter getting a look from Fenris with a raised brow.

'Your point?' Fenris asks bluntly as he crosses his arms.

'You're the Alpha,' Varric laughs with a playful slap on Fenris' thigh making him jolt. 'Intimidation? Check, you're practically a manual on brooding. Strength? Check, you're an accomplished warrior. Ability to raise offspring? I have no doubt that if you ever had a kid you'd be terrifying,' Varric teases moving away from the furious elf. Makatza felt a ping inside and her heart jumped a little.

What the fuck was that? She asked herself mentally, she felt her pulse rising and she looked at the floor as her mana began to rise, she was suddenly far too hot under her collar. Looking at Varric did nothing but when she looked at Fenris there was something inside that clicked and she felt a pull towards him. What did Wither Fang say? I would have more canine dispositions? What counts as a trait of canines? Then she remembered, Wither Fang said something just as she was falling asleep, what was it? It hit her like a bolt of lightening, -'your family is looking for you, along with your mate'- Makatza stood up without warning making Varric jump. 'Bubble!' Makatza howled as she realised what Varric had just done. She forced herself to run away from the situation ignoring their questions as she searched out the Mabari. She found him by the tree line, he had been chasing squirrels but had started to come back when he heard her call.

'What? What's the matter Mistress?' He asks as he sniffs her to make sure everything was okay.

'Varric was prattling on about Alphas or some shit and that I was an Alpha and then he said that Fenris was an Alpha and this... this feeling inside me like clicked and now I am terrified because there's some sort of pull towards him and that's not normal,' she said quickly in panic. Bubble didn't do anything for a couple seconds and then smirked at her the best a dog could.

'Oh that! That's been here since you came back. It is why I spoke of the mating customs. Master Fenris is your mate, that's easy to smell. The Prince wants you as well but he would have to fight Master Fenris for you, Dwarf Varric must have just made you realise that's all. You'll imprint soon enough, looks like your canine side is making itself known,' he explains to Makatza's horror.

'It'll fucking what?!' Makatza said in a high pitched yowl. 'You gotta be fucking joking me! I haven't decided who I want to date, if I even want to date and now I've got some stupid canine instinct telling me who I'm apparently supposed to be with? God damn you Wither Fang, you knew and you weren't going to tell me,' she snarled baring her teeth. 'This is ridiculous, I can't imprint on him, I can't that is just too fucking messy. No, there has got to be a way to stop this,' she says simply.

'Wolves are pack animals, Mistress. You need a mate, your body demands it. When you go into heat-'

'Heat? Dear fucking god... I think I'm going to collapse,' she says weakly her mind reeling as she sat down defeated. She laid her head down and covered her snout with her paws. 'This is a horrid dream...' she sighs and looks at Bubble. 'What is going to happen with this imprint?' She asks, might as well know what is going to happen. Bubble explains that it's a gradual thing, he'll be able to understand her body language more and pick up on her feelings easier. He wasn't sure if they'd literally be able to converse because of her magic but it could happen. Reluctantly with her tail between her legs and her head bowed she wandered back into camp where the others had packed up and were ready to go back into the city. Her mind reeled, was this going to be permanent? How the hell am I supposed to explain this to Fenris? How was he even going to take it? Fuck me, she mentally swore as she jumped into the wagon and curled up next to Isabela ignoring everyone that was trying to talk to her. Apparently they were going back to the Dalish camp to drop off Silvanus and Merrill wished to ask the Keeper for some sort of tool. Makatza didn't care, all she could think about was the way her body longed to be next to a certain someone and it had put her in a foul mood.