Minerva sat on the edge of the bed, looking out through french doors, over the deck, past the fire that she had lit and out into the gathering darkness. It had been over two hours since Hermione had left and sunset came pretty early at this time of year. The witch knew logically that her wolf was more than able to take care of herself, but she couldn't help worrying. She fiddled with the coat she had placed on the bed next to her, struggling to wait patiently.
Something outside caught her attention - out on the lake two eyes reflected the firelight back towards her. Minerva stood, walking closer to the glass and focussed on the twin greenish blobs that were glowing in the darkness. The witch grabbed her coat, pulled it on and zipped it up - then unsheathed her wand, just in case. The witch slid the door open just enough to slip out before closing it behind her.
Minerva sat down on a wooden chair next to the fire and watched as an animal drew closer, skirting the most slippery section of ice. Once it drew closer the witch recognised the dark canine form and raised an eyebrow at the reindeer hanging over her shoulder. She jumped up onto the decking with less grace than normal and let the animal slide off of her back onto the wooden boards with a sigh.
The witch smiled as the obviously exhausted wolf walked over and collapsed at her feet. Her fur was damp with blood and Minerva cast a scourgify to remove the worst of it. "Is any of that blood yours?"
Hermione started to shake her head but stopped herself before she actually lied to her lover. She rolled onto one side and revealed the minor wound on her ribs, worrying at the fur with her incisors. Minerva slid off of her chair and kneeled down, pushing the large head away with a gentle hand, then carefully parted thick fur with her fingers. The wound was shallow and had stopped bleeding. "This would be easier if you changed form."
Minerva watched the wound morph shape and reopen as the wolf obediently changed back into a human. It was longer now but still shallow, surrounded by a minor abrasion and skin that was already beginning to purple. The witch waved her wand, "There doesn't appear to be any broken ribs, you were lucky." The oozing stopped and the cut knit back together. Minerva didn't try to heal the bruising, she was only field trained in emergency healing and it could be cured with a potion later. "It might still be a little sore."
"It's ok." Hermione stretched, feeling the tender flesh pull a little but it was an ache rather than a pain. Despite the scourgify, the young woman was still dirty, coated in scratches, dry blood and her hair was quite frankly a mess.
"You alright?"
"Tired." The young woman rolled onto her hands and knees and stood up. "For a sickly bag of bones that thing could certainly run." She reached down, offered a hand to Minerva and helped her to her feet.
The fire in the brazier kept the deck tolerably warm for Minerva, and Hermione cast an unfamiliar charm that formed a barrier to keep in the heat. "Couldn't you have killed a duck or something? You know, instead of Rudolph?"
Hermione smiled softly, gesturing at the animal, "Rudolph was dying anyway. I'm not part of our conservation team, but we have a policy of removing suffering animals from the herds, and thin them out occasionally to prevent overpopulation." She looked at the reindeer sadly, "If something large had to die for this ritual, I'd prefer it to be something that was going to die anyway. He'd had a long life and was probably a magnificent animal in his prime. It wouldn't have been fair to leave him suffering."
"You're right," said Minerva, looking over at the duck she had killed.
"Don't worry about the duck. There's always a surplus of males, besides we needed something for dinner anyway." Hermione summoned two bowls, a plate and a knife from the kitchen, then a plastic tarpaulin from the woodshed, her effortless magic once again impressing the older witch.
Minerva dispelled the stasis charm that she had placed on the bird earlier, impressed with her own spellwork, as she saw still fresh blood well up in its neck wound. Hermione handed the smaller bowl and knife to her witch, watching dexterous hands manipulate the tool with some experience but cautiously, as though she were out of practice.
The older witch was aware of the scrutiny, "We didn't have a lot of money when I was a child, so my father used to shoot grouse, my brothers and I learnt fairly early how to handle a bird." She let the bowl partially fill with blood and placed it aside when Hermione indicated that she had enough.
"Is that why you picked a duck?"
Minerva smiled, "I saw a flock land at the edge of the lake, while I was in the kitchen and it seemed… kismet."
Brown eyes shone with amusement but Hermione said nothing and watched the older witch break down the duck carcass, placing the breasts and legs on the plate. She seperated the heart from the other viscera and popped it in the bowl, casting another stasis charm on the contents. Minerva handed the knife over and opened the side door into the kitchen, walking into the cabin to place the plate of duck in the fridge and wash her hands.
By the time she returned to the decking, Hermione had already removed the reindeer's heart and the second bowl was mostly full of blood. The wolf placed the carcass on the tarpaulin almost reverently. Minerva flicked her wand casting another stasis charm. "What are you going to do with all this?" By this she meant what was left of the duck and the venison.
Hermione used a slicing charm to separate the large animal into quarters. "Watch this." She levitated the whole tarp out onto the frozen lake, close enough that the cabin illustration cast some light onto it. She inhaled deeply, lifted her head and let out a howl. It wasn't as loud or deep as she could make in her wolf form but the sound resonated, bouncing off of the wooden cabin wall and out across the lake.
The naked young woman sat down next to Minerva's chair and nuzzled against the older witch while they waited. A few minutes passed and three familiar grey wolves loped onto the ice, two staring up at the cabin while the third grabbed a haunch of venison and the three left as quickly as they arrived. "That's Andrew and the twins, the rest of the patrol team are probably in the treeline."
"It was too much to ask for total privacy then?"
"Yeah." Agreed Hermione with a sigh, "But at least they're subtle and discreet." Another minute passed and a small black shape darted out of the darkness, grabbing most of the duck before scuttling away. "Wolverine. Small but not to be messed with."
"They're supposed to be vicious."
"Oh they are. They leave us alone for the most part but best not to get too close to one."
"What's next?"
Hermione sniffed the air, paused and sniffed again. "Bear. A female, heavily pregnant. She's probably after a few final meals before she dens somewhere nearby."
"The animals here use you as a dinner bell?"
The wolf chuckled, "Well, naturally all predatory animals scavenge too, so as soon as a kill is sensed or announced, there will be predators assessing the situation. They need the food, we don't." True to her prediction a few moments later with a growl a massive animal grabbed the largest chunk of meat and seemed to glare at them before moving off.
Several minutes passed without development, Minerva asked, "What else is around?"
"See the faint eyeshine over there now and then?" Hermione pointed at a point beyond the reach of the light. "That's a mother lynx and two half grown kittens. There are also a few foxes around but they seem a bit shy tonight."
The female lynx stepped into the light and looked directly at the two watching humans, eyes reflecting brightly as she stared. "She's beautiful," whispered Minerva in awe. Hermione rubbed her cheek against the older woman's leg again, loving the joy that her lover took in their surroundings. The animal seemed to identify them as not a threat and allowed her offspring to approach the carcass.
The adult lynx continued to watch the humans curiously, sniffing the air but let her kittens gnaw at the fresh meat in peace. Minerva gently ran a hand through Hermione's somewhat tangled hair, teasing out a few twigs and dead leaves, "Are they dangerous?"
"They won't attack unless they feel threatened."
Hermione raised an eyebrow, then dug her nails into the wooden boards under her hands in an attempt to restrain herself when the witch changed into her animagus form and slunk over to the edge of the decking. She stayed where she was and didn't shift - because while she wasn't sure what the wild animal would make of a tabby cat, she knew that lynx, like most animals were not fond of wolves.
The larger cat seemed nonplussed by the sudden presence of another feline. Minerva remained on the edge of the deck, curling her tail around small paws as she looked at the other cats. The male kitten, bolder than its sibling and more foolhardy than its mother, left the reindeer and bounced over towards Minerva playfully. Even less than half grown the animal towered over her.
The witch was very aware of the protectful gaze of the kitten's mother but responded playfully when the young animal tapped her with his paw. Hermione watched in awe from her seat on the floor. The adult wild cat let out a chastising yowl and the juvenile backed away. With a final look in their direction, the lynx slunk over to the tarpaulin and grabbed the smallest piece of reindeer in her teeth, having to lift her head up high to do so, reminding Hermione of the tabby trying to carry a duck earlier - then the felines disappeared away into the darkness, leaving a surprisingly bereft Minerva behind them.
"That wine merchant was right. You do have massive balls."
Minerva turned back into her human form and guffawed at Hermione's statement. "Perhaps I merely have little fear when it comes to fluffy animals."
"Just don't go near the bear, ok? No matter how fluffy she is."
"Agreed." The witch walked back over to her and grinned, pulling her up. "You, my dear, need a shower and a vigorous session with a hairbrush. I'll make dinner and then we can spend the evening getting you filthy again."
Hermione chuckled naughtily at the older woman's words, letting her mind wander for a moment, as images rushed through her mind. Gentle fingers lifted her chin and Minerva kissed her, passionately, letting her hands ghost across naked skin - making the younger witch tremble in her arms. "I love you, pretty girl."
Minerva wrinkled her nose and theatrically rolled her eyes at the endearment, "Love you too, little wolf." Hermione raised both brows in response to that moniker, "Well remember, if you are going to start using ridiculous pet names... Two can play at that."
It took a while in the shower for Hermione to feel really clean again and not just physically. She liked the physical exercise involved in hunting and the chase was thrilling but she had always preferred leaving the actual killing part to others. The wolf had been a bit surprised when Minerva hadn't batted an eye at her appearance when she got back, her own glance in the mirror before having a shower making her more than a little embarrassed at just how dishevelled she was.
About thirty minutes later she emerged, her skin was pink, flushed, and her unbound hair was still wet. She'd put on her shorts from earlier and paired it with the dark red shirt that Minerva had seemed to like a few days earlier, the cotton rapidly turned darker as it soaked up the residual water. She padded into the kitchen on bare feet, grinning broadly at the sight that met her.
Minerva was standing at the stove and was finishing off dinner. She had made an easy meal of cooked greens, pan fried duck breast, mash and gravy. Her cooking skills were a little rusty, so she had stuck to something simple, despite an almost irrepressible desire to impress the younger witch.
"I'm a lucky woman."
Minerva smiled at the sound of Hermione's voice from behind her, a grin that only widened when strong arms slid around her waist and a curvy form pressed against her back. "What makes you say that?" She was only partly teasing, the witch wanted to know what her wolf felt and needed to hear it.
Lips brushed the back of Minerva's neck before the younger woman spoke. "You're amazing, talented, beautiful, funny, smart and passionate. I never imagined that you could cook too, much less break down a duck carcass. You're also powerful, opinionated and more than a little feisty."
The ebony haired woman chuckled. "You like feisty?"
Gentle teeth nipped at Minerva's shoulder, prompting her to make a sharp indrawn breath. "Oh yes, very much so."
It was Hermione's turn to chuckle when Minerva rather abruptly turned off the flames under the pan, turned around and grasped her by the hips. The sound turned onto a gasp when she was pushed back against the dining table and lifted onto the surface. Minerva's lips were a little aggressive and possessive as she stepped between Hermione's parted thighs, shifting one hand to tangle in chestnut hair - the other sliding up a muscular thigh. The wolf moaned into the kiss, and tightened her legs around Minerva's hips, wantonly pressing her body against the older woman's. Then they lost all track of time.