"I thought you said we would be roughing it," Santana said staring at the large log cabin in the woods. It looked modern, it even had a two-door garage. Sure, Judy had said it had modern conveniences but Charlie had made it seem like some dilapidated place in the woods that at least had running water and a working toilet. "This isn't what I envisioned!"

"We are going to be roughing it, there's a few snacks Santana but mostly we have to catch our own dinner," Charlie pointed out.

"Catch our own dinner?" Santana repeats, flushing a bit. "Charlie, I can't hunt. I don't know how to use a gun—we're supposed to be here for the long weekend. Do I really have to listen to Rachel go on and on about how great it is?"

Charlie hesitated for a moment, she had been excited for Santana to see her hunt. She wanted Santana to be impressed with her in her natural environment. She wasn't the most graceful chasing squirrels and Santana tended to be highly amused by her antics she just wanted Santana to see that side of her. "It's not about Rachel. Rachel is probably excited about her first hunt but that doesn't mean she's ready for it. I mean up until recently she was a vegan, and I'm still me sort of when I'm in my wolf form. It's one thing to eat meat, it's another thing to actually do the killing." Charlie pointed out. "This weekend isn't about them, if it was going to be just about you and me."

Santana swallowed and nodded, she knew that Charlie wanted her to watch her hunt, she'd been talking about it for days. "I know, I know, but I mean they seem so happy together and I know you said you're happy right now, I know you say that now. But when Rachel and Quinn have little demonic children around, you'll probably want them too."

"Santana—"

"And I know that you say that right now you're not thinking of kids, and I know that adoption is one of those weird things that is completely dependent on your wolf—"

"San—" Charlie tried again trying to get a word in before this could devolve further.

"I don't want you to resent me. I don't want you to hate me for being human when there is a viable alternative, that by all accounts works. I mean doesn't it bother you? Everyone is telling you openly that it's better that what they have is better than what we have. They get to have everything you can't and I know you're you and you're cheesy and a bit of a dork and promise me that I'm all you need and if you were just human I would believe that. But you're not. I mean we broke up when I was sixteen because I didn't really understand anything and there is plenty I don't understand now." Santana gasped for air when her little rant was done and studied Charlie.

Charlie stares for a moment, there was a lot to unpack there and it wouldn't be long till Quinn and Rachel arrived in their fancy car, and began to grate on her senses about what was right. She needed to choose her words carefully. "Santana do you remember how you found me? High as a kite, battling my wolf side to just remain in control? On a copious amount of horse tranquilizers? Look at me now, I'm here, I'm healthy, I'm not getting into fights with other alpha's. I'm just here. With you, happy. I am happy. I mean sure we could probably have sex a bit more—"

"We are not going back to sex five times a week. I need sleep," Santana snaps and rolls her eyes when Charlie grins at her. "Be serious."

"I am. I prefer this, honestly. I prefer you being human. I mean it may seem like Rachel and Quinn have it all together now, part of that is the new bond, part of it is the fact that Rachel has just turned, but that does fade. You think Rachel won't eventually realize that she basically married my sister in the most permanent of ways? She's trapped in a relationship with Quinn for the rest of her life and someone like Rachel, it might not hit her now, but one day it will. One day she'll want to do something and Quinn will be annoyed because it's Quinn and she'll say no, not as her girlfriend or lover or wife or whatever, but as her alpha. And trust me there will be resentment. Especially in their case because Rachel wasn't raised in the culture."

"Are you trapped? Loving me? Does it feel that way?" Santana asked after a moment.

"Fuck no. Loving you is the best thing in my life. Who else am I going to pester to rub my belly?" Charlie asked seriously. "I mean I'm an alpha and you're a human and you take care of me, and honestly I like it. I like that everything isn't on my shoulders. I mean when I was a dumb teenager I thought what Quinn and Rachel have, what my parents have is what I wanted. Guess what? I don't even really like children. They're the worst and if we have them then I'll be down to sex once a month if I'm lucky. And you'll want to scratch their bellies, and you have to housebreak them. Ugh, it's a nightmare. I'll have to share my food Santana."

Santana blinks and tries not to laugh at the distressed look on Charlie's face. "I worry about you," she teases nudging Charlie gently. It takes a moment for Charlie to flash her that grin of hers and pull her into a hug. "If that changes—I mean we can compromise, right?"

"On the sex?" Charlie grins when Santana pinches her side and smiles for a moment before nuzzling her. Santana didn't understand what this meant to her. She was human and she was choosing to stay with her, that she had chosen her despite the fact that she was part wolf. "Kidding, mostly. If anything changes with me, I swear I'll let you know. If you eventually want little ankle biters then let me know, we'll figure it out, but I'm not going to share my food."

"Noted," Santana says with a laugh as a car pulled into the long driveway. She bites her lip, sure Charlie's car was old but it was well maintained, and she narrowed her eyes slowly. "I know you're not the best hunter Charlie—"

"Who said that?"

"Me. I've seen you attempting to catch a rabbit." Santana pointed out. "I just—you can beat Quinn, right? I mean like in hunting if she brings back some poor defenseless baby deer or something can you just—"

"I'll bring home the stag all by myself," Charlie promises.

Santana shakes her head, she had no idea why she felt this need to show Rachel up, but she wanted everyone to know that Fuzzbutt was the best and Fuzzbutt was hers.

~O~

"Shouldn't they be back by now?"

Judy glanced over at Santana who was pacing by the window and studies her for a moment. "Sometimes it takes a day or two, sometimes only a few hours it depends. Relax, Charlie's done this a million times. She's only gotten lost once."

Santana snorts and bites her lip but takes a seat by the fireplace. "She was shot," she reminds Judy who frowns slightly at the memory. "Sorry I just—"

"You care about her, I know. I do as well. I was the one that insisted that Russell bring her back into society, before she became feral. So, I know that everyone is telling you all these things and it's a lot. Everything is a lot to take in, but I want you to know that if you do to choose to remain human. I support you, I haven't seen Charlie this happy—this engaged since well she met you. She's finally found her balance. So, I know things may seem tough and Quinn and Rachel are putting all this pressure on you. But you two are adults and you need to figure out what's right for you."

Santana nods, it was something that she had needed to hear. She had expected spending the day with Judy would be one of those awkward things but Judy had been good to her. "I don't want her to resent me."

"Even when she was freezing in Alaska, she didn't resent you. She just wanted things to go back to the way they were. She wants you happy and if you being happy means that you stay human than that's what she's going to want," Judy said before tilting her head to the side. "They're back," she hummed getting up.

Santana strained her ears but couldn't hear anything. That would be a nifty trick to have and she gets up and grabs the robe for Charlie and heads outside. She waits for a moment till she spots Charlie carrying a massive stag, that's slung over her shoulders as she makes her way back to the cabin. Santana's eyes widen as Charlie smirks at her. It takes her a moment to realize that Charlie is very naked and quickly hops down the stairs so she can wrap Charlie up. "I've seen you hunt no way you took that beast down by yourself," Santana mutters mostly in shock.

"Rachel and Quinn will be back soon, Rachel didn't like it and Quinn had to take care of her," Charlie explained as she dropped the stag unceremoniously onto the ground. "Had to outthink the damn beast, it's what took so long. Nearly got gouged by the damn thing as well," Charlie bitched. She shivers as Santana helps her put on the robe, and there was a part of her that wanted to transform so Santana could see how smug her wolf was being right now. "As you asked, the biggest game belongs to me. Which means we get the best cuts."

"I didn't ask for you to get yourself killed, I just said bigger than whatever Rachel and Quinn got," Santana reminded her. She was about to lean in and kiss Charlie's mouth but as usual Charlie's breath after her transformation smelled like death. She was definitely going to need to attempt to brush Fuzzbutt's teeth. She instead chooses to rest her hand on Charlie's chest.

"Yeah but I wasn't sure if they were going to try again so I went for the biggest thing I could see and find, took me all day chasing the damn thing down and tiring it out." Charlie bent down and grabbed the stag and adjusted the creature so it was on her shoulders. "I wish there was someway you could watch me, like I'm far more impressive than anything you see on national geographic."

"I don't know about that," Santana says with a laugh, turning when she spots Quinn and Rachel pull up and she watches as Judy moves to go and cover them. She's quiet for a moment Rachel looks a bit dejected by her failure and she shakes her head. "Charlie told me you did really well for your first time," She lies watching as Rachel perks up a bit at the compliment.

Charlie hummed as she carried the stag back to the garage where her mother would skin it and begin the process of making a feast. She stops after taking a step and nuzzles Santana before heading on her way. If this meant that Santana and Rachel would stop trying to battle for some weird form of dominance that wasn't physical then she was all for it. Quinn had been to excited and instead of trying to ease Rachel into it, had rushed straight to the big game. Rachel simply hadn't been ready for that. With a bit of effort, she dumps the dear onto the table and pulls off her robe so she could transform once more so her wolf could curl up with Santana. She definitely deserved to have her belly rubbed and Santana was going to do that.