A/N: And here is the next chapter. As I'm aware, this is pride month. And while I can't post a chapter to demonstrate it, I will remind you all that Wendy happens to be Bisexual. And later on, there will be some future chapters that will demonstrate it. I won't say who she'll fall for, but you can bet that it'll be interesting to see. :) For now, though, it'll have to wait until we get to that bridge.
Chapter 4: Dawn of a New Life
Meanwhile, far away in the woods, a lone black wolf was walking on its own, although he was limping every few steps. He had just been through a tough fight, being scuffed up with sticks, rocks, and leaves in his messed up fur, and a sour expression on his face, or rather, what was left of it. Its nose appeared to have a scar going down one nostril, and it seemed to have been a long time ago. The wolf was limping towards the camp where the Night Claws were residing, but before he could take one more step, his ears perked up from hearing the bushes rustling.
The wolf turned to the source of the noise and began to snarl. It couldn't use its nose with that scar, so it had to assume the worst. The Black Wolf braced itself for another fight, but just in that moment, the wolf was instead met with a surprise. The source of the rustling turned out to have been Apollo and Sköll. Upon seeing them, the wolf ceased its growling and looked up at the two of them. Apollo took notice of it and spoke up in relief prior to his partner speaking up to him about his absence.
"Fengári! Thank goodness, you're alright."
"Where have you been? We haven't seen you since two nights ago."
"We feared something might have happened to you."
The black wolf, apparently known as Fengári, only bowed his head down to the two alphas before he spoke in slight regret.
"I'm sorry. I could've been back sooner, but I had to deal with a… complication."
Sköll saw the black wolf's face turn away with a hint of anger. He could only imagine that he must've been through a lot since last night, whatever happened to him.
"Do you need anything? You look like you could use some rest."
Fengári looked back to the two of them with a small glare. Despite how he looked, he didn't think it was as concerning.
"I'm fine, okay? I know how it looks, but I'm okay, really."
However, Sköll wasn't convinced. He could practically tell that something was on his mind.
"Are you really sure…?"
Before Sköll could interrogate further, Apollo cleared his throat, stopping him from pressing his questions onto him. It was plain to see that he was tired, but pressing him on it wasn't going to get him better. Beside that, there were more important things to tell him.
"Well, however you're feeling, we've come across a… surprising development."
Fengári became puzzled. What could've happened while he was away?
"What's that?"
"We've recently acquired a new member of the Night Claws, Wendy. She had achieved her wolf form by being bitten."
Fengári began to look shocked for a moment. Apollo wasn't lying. It was a surprising development. It was a very rare thing for a human to be turned into a werewolf from being bitten, especially with the risk that played for both of them. Either a human dies of the curse, or the wolf itself would die from overexertion of the bite itself. Those were always the most likely scenarios. After a short moment, though, Fengári changed his look of shock to a look that showed he understood.
"Huh. Kinda reminds me of Asena. How'd she take it?"
Sköll answered him next, remembering how stunned they all were.
"Well, she was just as surprised as all of us. Although, I can't help but think she may have found someone to relate to."
Fengári then made a sputter from his lips before he made a small laugh. He could easily see how Wendy's situation would end. What he'd said would basically be a joke.
"Yeah, right. I mean, it's not like she's gonna stay with us."
There was a long pause, followed by a serious look from the two alphas. Fengári began to grow worried about their answer.
"Right?"
After another short moment of silence, Apollo spoke up to the black wolf.
"I didn't believe so, either, at first. But I saw her spirit up close and personal. She had a stronger will than I've ever seen."
Fengári was thrown into disbelief as he stammered.
"W-Wait. So, y-you're saying she's staying here? With us?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying."
Fengári began to get infuriated as his pupils dilated and his eyebrows formed a scowl on his face, something Apollo caught onto and began to glance at him with an even sterner tone in his voice.
"Is there a problem?"
Angry as he was, Fengári didn't want to start a fight with the alpha. He knew that even if he did want to challenge him, he'd most likely lose and be banished. And he couldn't afford that. He only held his head down before speaking solemnly.
"No…"
"Good. Then follow us back to camp. We'll fix you up. After that, you get your rest. You will give me your report on the hunt from last night in the morning."
Fengári nodded to his alpha before he tiredly followed them along as they headed back to the camp. But as he did, the alphas were talking amongst themselves with Sköll whispering about a matter of the bite itself. They hadn't seen Fengári since last night. And coincidentally, Wendy was attacked that same night. It couldn't have been a coincidence.
"Hey, you don't think Fen might have bitten her, do you?"
Apollo was aware of that possibility as well. He saw it when he noticed Fengári's bitter look from hearing that she's staying.
"That is a possibility. Just to be safe, I'll need you to keep an eye on him for the time being."
"Oh, I'm all over it."
As they were walking back into camp, Fengári began to hear a howl from a distance. From the sound of it, it appeared to be in unison, but he was certain he never heard one of them before. It must be from this Wendy Apollo told him about. Fengári began to make a withering glare in the direction her howl came from before he walked along.
Meanwhile, Wendy, Selene, and Luna were sitting on a hill where they had the most amazing view of Gravity Falls. She was divulging Selene and Luna with her family history, the former becoming quite intrigued.
"And then this one time when we were kids, my brother Marcus nearly got himself killed trying to chop wood with my dad's axe."
"Really? How?"
"Dude, that axe was placed on that fireplace so precariously, it was begging to chop off someone's head! And it would've chopped his head off if I didn't get him away in time. A lot of good that did, though. I still ended up being the one in trouble. That axe got him on his cheek pretty good. But at least he's alive."
"Oh. I hope Marcus is doing alright."
"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?"
Wendy and Selene shared a laugh together before Luna bore a soft look. She recalled the moment when she witnessed the brief skirmish between Wendy and Marcus out in the woods when she was hiding in a bush. It was nice to see Wendy smile about that despite how hurt it made her back then. And if Wendy were to go back, Luna wouldn't know how she'd handle Marcus now that she knows she's a werewolf. The poor girl began to get worried as she looked solemnly at Wendy. The redhead became puzzled to see her sad look.
"Hey, what's wrong, Luna?"
"Well… I was just thinking. If you go back… what are you gonna do about Marcus?"
It was Wendy's turn to hold a sad look. The last time she saw him, she told him to leave her alone, not to mention when he accidentally hurt her arm from their tug-of-war for the axe. She then remembered how sad he was when she left. He sounded almost… sincere. That was something she never expected from her younger brother. And she repaid it by walking away from him. But that wasn't what bothered her.
Her father and her brothers were always terrified of what they didn't understand. If they knew she was a werewolf, she'd either end up evicted, or she'd end up on her family's wall. Wendy took a deep breath as she let it all sink in before she spoke softly.
"Well… I don't know. My bad mood yesterday already made things bad enough, but this? After all this… I'm not sure how I could face my family. Or even if I could."
Luna crawled over to Wendy to sit beneath her. She knew exactly how Wendy felt, at least in some way.
"I know what you mean. I'm not sure if I could go back to my family. Even if I wanted to…"
Wendy looked down at Luna in curiosity. Then, she remembered something Luna told her before her transformation.
"You mean when you got cursed by a witch?"
Luna gave her a sad nod before she spoke softly.
"My mommy and daddy were really nice. They always gave me hugs and kisses and we'd snuggle together. They made me feel like I was warm all the time. But not that kind of warm that's outside and makes you sweaty, but like, inside and comfy. Then, I got cursed. And when I transformed, I was… pretty scared. But, I think they were even more scared. I don't know if it's because of what the witch did, or… or if they're scared of me. One day, they took me to the woods here and dropped me off. When I looked back… I never saw them again."
Wendy could only think of one reason they'd do that.
"You mean they straight-up ditched you?"
Luna made a sad grumble as she buried her head in her legs. Wendy looked to Selene for an explanation, only for her to speak with a soft tone that was just as sad.
"We don't say that around her. It's just too much."
Wendy began to feel guilty for letting her big mouth ask that as she laid herself around her, as if to act as a shield for her.
"I'm sorry, Luna. Let's forget I asked."
Luna only shook her head gently as she replied gently.
"It's okay. You just didn't know. Besides, I'm not mad at them. If anything… I wanted to thank them."
Wendy perked her ears up in puzzlement. Why would she want to thank her parents for dropping her off here?
"What? You want to thank them? Why?"
"For letting me have Selene. Because they didn't know how to help me, and I needed her."
Hearing this context, Wendy began to stumble upon a new theory. Maybe her parents didn't abandon her outright. Maybe they didn't know what to do with her since she wasn't like the other children. Although, she wasn't certain if it was the case.
"But how do you know that?"
"My mommy always used to tell me something before I transformed. If you love something, you have to let them go."
Wendy's face softened from hearing this. Corny as it was, it sounded like her mother must've loved her so much she had to let her go with Selene. If that wasn't something a true family would do, she wouldn't know what is. Luna then wiped her small tears away before she spoke out of curiosity.
"What about you? What's your family like?"
Wendy made a small frown on her face. Trying to think of them only made it worse for her as she thought back to the good times she had with her father and brothers. One memory of such a good time was when she was cutting down her first log with her father watching over her, feeling very proud of his daughter as he gave her a huge bear hug. Another example was when Wendy was holding Marcus in her arms when he was just a little baby. Thinking back on those precious moments, Wendy began to reply sadly to Luna's question.
"Well, my family can be crazy, loud… and kinda dumb, but… at the end of the day, they're still great and really sweet people. They'd always have my back, even if they can be super annoying."
Selene and Luna smiled back at her as they went by her side with the former of the two interjecting with Wendy.
"It's okay. We know the feeling. The Night Claws are kinda like that, too. It can be crazy, they can fight a lot, and they'd be incredibly annoying, especially Apollo. I don't think he ever took me seriously. But, like you said, they have our backs, and we love each other, even if they do fight a lot."
Wendy began to form a small smile on her face before she replied.
"Huh. What are the odds?"
Selene and Luna became puzzled as they looked at her curiously prior to Selene asking her.
"What odds?"
"We both have dysfunctional family dynamics. It's almost like fate moved me to another crazy group like the Night Claws."
Luna gave her a small, cute laugh before she concurred.
"Yeah, they're pretty crazy. But as far as they go, I'm probably the least crazy one around here."
However, what she was doing as she told Wendy this only contradicted her point. She was standing on her head and making a silly face as she did so with Selene and Wendy laughing at Luna's spontaneity before the Wolf-Girl fell on her back and laughed with them. After a good laugh, Wendy looked at Selene with a smile.
"But seriously, it's been really fun hanging out with you guys. And I really appreciate you helping me through this."
"It's really fun for me, too, Wendy. Especially for Luna."
Selene's point was proven as Luna went near Wendy's lap again.
"You're like the sister I never had."
Wendy became puzzled. She would have thought Selene would have been her sister.
"Wait. Wouldn't Selene be your sister, though?"
"Actually, I'm more of a mother figure for her."
"Oh. Well, that's cool. I mean, my little brother Gus always thought I was his mom."
Luna became puzzled. She never thought a brother of hers would call her a mom.
"Really?"
"Yeah. He does that a lot. But… I guess that's one good thing my brother does. He always reminds me of my mom, so there's that..."
Selene didn't know what to make of what Wendy had just said. She had a sad tone in her voice along with a small tear coming out of her eye, but at the same time, she was smiling about it. She had to be sure.
"Does that… bother you?"
Wendy only wiped that tear away before she replied.
"No. Believe it or not, I'm actually okay with that."
Selene gave Wendy a smile as she spoke softly.
"That's good."
The trio of werewolves looked back out to the horizon before Wendy spoke again.
"You know, after I got bit, I had this nightmare that made me pretty scared that I might be a werewolf, but… after tonight, I think I can sleep a little easier, now. Thanks for that, you guys."
Selene maintained her smile as she replied softly.
"Sure. Anytime."
Just then, as she gazed out at the horizon, Selene realized that the sky was turning bright red at the bottom. That can only mean that the sun was rising back up. Selene made a worried gasp and spared no effort to sit up and push Wendy and Luna away from the hill afterwards.
"Okay! It's time to go!"
Luna made a grumpy moan before she voiced her complaint as she and Wendy were headed down to the trees at the bottom of the hill that they came from.
"But I wanna play some more…"
"Come on, Luna. You know we can't stay for long."
Luna made a small frown as she regrettably agreed.
"I know…"
Wendy, on the other hand, became puzzled about it. The sun was rising of course, and she knew it meant that they would turn back to normal. All the same, Wendy had to wonder why it was necessary to get down from the hill where nobody else could see them from far below. At the same time, the sun was rising into the sky, bathing the forest in a warm glow. On their way back, Wendy pondered the reason aloud as she spoke up from behind with a somewhat nervous tone.
"I don't get this. Why do we need to rush?"
Just as she asked, however, Wendy was struck by a sore feeling in her head as she groaned before Selene answered, as if she expected it.
"That's why. We're gonna change back soon. And before we do that, we need to be back at the camp where we transformed before anyone else sees us, unless you want other people seeing you in the buff."
Wendy began to blush at the very idea before she replied with a tone of understanding. The secondhand embarrassment from seeing Selene and Luna in the buff was especially strong for her, Werewolf or not.
"Oh. That, I get. But what's gonna happen?"
As if to answer, the sunbeam from the new dawn hit Wendy and the others. When it did, the redhead felt the pain get even worse. Much like when she transformed into a wolf, Wendy felt the sensation of a thousand suns exploding in her skull, followed by her whole body. It was so devastating that Wendy had stopped in her tracks and began to scream her head off. Not long after, she began to groan as her muscles spasmed, feeling as though they had been pushed and stretched out past their natural limit. Nevertheless, Wendy tried to push herself forward to rush with them as Selene and Luna were. Stricken by the unbearable pain as they were, their bodies practically shaking from it, they kept running forward, so why couldn't she? In the next few seconds, however, her body stiffened, and Wendy fell to the ground screaming as her body shook and twitched in unbelievable agony.
As if that weren't enough, her bones were breaking apart, only to put themselves back together again like a jigsaw puzzle, all while growing thinner. The bones were becoming less of a wolf's and more of a human's structure. And her fur even began to shed itself from her body in places, although some of it began to retreat back into her body. As her tail twitched, it began to lose its fur before it began to shrink, making unsettling cracking noises before it had slung itself back into her lower body. Her back was expanding out before it flattened itself again with countless bones that made it up rearranging themselves. While Wendy was screaming almost deliriously from the pain, she watched as her paws' fur began to shrink back into her body, and the four stubs began to spread themselves apart slowly as the claws began to dull themselves into nails. When it was done, her heel began to shift itself down to join her toes as they lost their sharp claws and fur as Wendy began to succumb to the resulting pain, her vision becoming blurry.
She could barely make out Selene and Luna's situation as they changed back. They were going through the same thing she was. They were basically transforming backwards to be frank, but unlike her, they were holding back their screams of pain into groans. And the two of them were headed right for her slowly in spite of the cracking their bones had made and the stretches their muscles have endured. It was at that moment when Wendy finally gave in to the pain and fell unconscious Seeing this, Selene and Luna looked over her, the latter becoming worried for her.
"Is she…?"
Selene placed her ear on Wendy's chest, hoping to hear any heartbeat. Fortunately, she did. She heard a casual thump-thump in her body before Selene sighed in relief before she answered her.
"No. She's just unconscious. I'm just surprised she was able to be awake for this long."
With that, Selene picked up Wendy bridal style with her legs in one arm and her head resting on another. With her wolf strength, this was hardly heavy for her. It was almost like carrying a bag of feathers. Luna went up towards Wendy and had an idea as she looked up at Selene.
"Can I get a ride, too?"
Selene gave Luna a stern look. With her arms full, she felt as though the little girl would at least know better than to ask that.
"Luna, my hands are literally full at the moment."
"But maybe I can ride on top of her."
Selene lost her stern look. Sure it was no trouble to carry Wendy by herself, but with Luna on top of her, she didn't know if she could manage it or not. Beside that, she was concerned about how Wendy could be affected by it. While she did recently acquire her werewolfism, she didn't know if she had acquired the strength of it as well.
"Sorry, Luna. Maybe next time."
"But my legs are tired."
Selene wouldn't blame her. Although Luna was more used to transforming, that didn't mean her body wouldn't get sore from it. And even though Luna was capable of walking, Selene would rather not hear her complain the whole way. Selene only made a sigh at the situation she's faced with.
Later, Luna was seen snuggling against Wendy as Selene carried the both of them in her arms. Selene looked at the little girl, seeing how snug Luna was as she let out a soft yawn. If her hands were allowed to stroke her head without dropping Wendy, they could. But all Selene can manage was a simple smile as she spoke softly.
"What am I gonna do with you, Luna?"
She then turned her attention to Wendy. As it turned out, she began to form a smile of her own as she slung her arm over Luna like she was a doll for her. Selene was about to crack a laugh, but stopped herself before she spoke to her, though it was mostly to herself.
"Actually, I think you can handle that, Wendy. Sure, you're sleeping now, but… she can be a handful."
Despite her words, Selene began to reconsider what she'd just said. If she is a handful like she said, then she knew Wendy would need that rest before looking after her, not that she'd be looking forward to that so soon.
"Eh, you know what? Forget what I said. You've earned your rest. I just hope you'll have better dreams this time…"
Little did she know of what went on in Wendy's dream…
Wendy was moaning as she slowly opened her eyes. The last thing she remembered was her transforming back to normal. The pain from that was even worse than when she turned into a Werewolf to begin with. Her going unconscious has proved that. She began to sit herself up as she rubbed her head, feeling the headache lingering around as she spoke under her breath, still trying to wake up.
"What happened…?"
When Wendy's vision had cleared, she found herself in a small, wooden room with no windows, a wooden round table, two comfy easy chairs with a gold trim around it on each side of the table, which held a single silver candle burning a light in the middle of it, brightening up the otherwise darkened room. Behind the left chair were three wooden shelves full of odd stuff on them, even weirder than what Grunkle Stan would've come up with. They ranged from abstract shapes to a glass tube full of deer teeth, The abstract shapes consisted of a circle bending around itself in a twisted into a double knot, a small triangle folded into a reached-out hand, blob-like shapes found in lava lamps floating and moving in mid-air, a rectangle swirling itself around into a spring, a box cube shape resizing itself as it spun around, and a human skull shape that breaks itself apart into dust before reforming itself back. Wendy was simply mystified, as well as confused, to see such a variety of bizarre stuff like that. Not even the Night Claws had this stuff, as far as she knew. That left one more question in her mind.
"And where the heck am I?"
As if to answer her question, Wendy heard a shuffle from a deck of tarot cards, Wendy turned to the source, only to find that a black hooded figure was shuffling the cards. The rest of them were lined up on the left side of the table near the left chair. As he shuffled, the figure spoke to her with a deep and ancient voice.
"That is the question. But it's not the right one."
Wendy went towards the hooded figure to get a better look at him. When she sat down on the vacant chair, mainly due to the vertigo from her waking up in a cabin, the redhead tried to get to the bottom of what he meant and who he was. However, in her dazed and confused state, she also noticed that she was stripped bare of her clothing, possibly from the effect of her earlier transformation.
"What? W-What do you mean by that? Who are you? And… where did my clothes go?"
The hooded figure finished his shuffling before he answered, but not in the way she wanted him to.
"And neither were those questions. Especially that last one. But regardless, I'll answer them."
The figure spread out five cards onto the table. One of them was a hangman that looked like her father as he held out a rope. Another card showed a dark tower with a background of cloudy weather with lightning. The third showed a full moon with wolf eyes above it. The fourth showed a jester card. But what really caught Wendy's eye was the fifth one.
It showed a silhouette of a woman falling into a glowing blue portal at the hill. It was just like that nightmare she had after being bitten. She wanted to know what that meant, along with why he had it to begin with as she looked at him. But, her state of confusion couldn't allow her to finish before he interjected.
"Why do you…?"
"To answer your first question, you are asking the wrong thing. It's not where you are, but where you'll go from there that matters. To answer your second question, I am many things. A healer. A guide. Even a god. But for now, I am your teacher."
Wendy became confused by this cryptic answer.
"My teacher…?"
"Yes. Your teacher. And for your third question, you should ask Selene."
As the hooded figure made a slight chuckle from this, Wendy became more concerned with what he said about being her teacher.
"Wait. My teacher for what exactly? What's going to happen?"
The hooded figure picked up the full moon card before showing it to Wendy as he spoke cryptically again.
"This will happen much sooner than you think. And I will arrive when it does."
The figure then slammed the card on the table, causing the environment around them to turn white as the background spread from the card like a shockwave. Wendy looked around in surprise as she looked all around the chaos before she looked back to the hooded figure.
"W-What's going on?!"
"You're waking up. But don't worry, though. I'll be around to lend you a hand."
With that, the hooded white figure faded into the white background as a blinding light took his place, causing Wendy to shield her eyes from the blinding glow just as she heard a familiar voice.
"She's… she's waking up."
Wendy began to groan again as she fluttered her eyes open to see Selene and Luna watching over her with a smile. Of course, the oldest of the two expressed relief while Luna made a small laugh.
"Thank goodness, you're alright."
"You drooled on me in your sleep."
Wendy moaned louder as she sat up and rubbed her head, still recovering from the pain of transforming as spoke in a daze.
"What happened to me?"
Selene helped rub her head as she answered.
"You were transforming back to normal, and then you went unconscious. I had to carry you all the way back to that spot when we transformed together."
Wendy looked all around her, finding that she was back at the spot where she, Selene, and Luna transformed.
"You… actually carried me back here?"
"Yeah. But don't feel too bad. Transforming back from a werewolf is actually more painful, like 'working out your body for three months straight' painful."
Wendy remembered that moment when she could barely see before she fell victim to slumber from her body's change.
"Oh. Right. Am I gonna be doing that a lot?"
Selene had a look of unease, not quite sure what to tell her but the truth. Then, she thought of a way to help Wendy come to terms with that.
"Well… yeah. But you know how muscles are. If they're rested well enough after stuff like that, they come back stronger. I'd say you'll get used to it in a few days no problem."
"Oh. Well, that makes me feel a little better."
As Wendy looked around at the woods, she did feel better. The pain that came from her turning back to normal was starting to fade away. Adding to it, she was mystified by seeing this part of the woods in the morning. But as she looked at the ground, Wendy noticed something odd. She found her old white tank top torn to shreds, along with her jean shorts, her socks, and her boots. The only thing intact was her green flannel jacket she took off in the nick of time. However, upon seeing them, Wendy remembered what happened when she first transformed.
"Hold on. Aren't those my clothes?"
Selene and Luna looked behind them to see what Wendy was talking about before the latter answered her.
"Well, they were."
Wendy then looked down at herself, confirming what she was afraid might be true: she was stark naked! She blushed beet red on her face as she covered herself before looking around in an almost instant panic.
"I cannot be seen like this!"
Fortunately for her, Wendy found a bush to hide in, making no effort to rush towards it before jumping inside as Selene was laughing a bit to herself before Luna took notice of the berries in that bush. They were blueberries. She considered them a good find as she spoke out to Wendy.
"That's a nice bush you got there."
Wendy made an audible gasp before she covered her lower area and popped out her head, her cheeks more red than before.
"LUNA!"
Luna, in her good-natured way, only told her what she meant by it as she explained herself.
"What? It really is a good bush. It's got those super-yummy blueberries."
Wendy looked down at the bush and realized what Luna was talking about.
"Oh… Uh, thanks."
Wendy then sunk back into the bush with Selene struggling to hold in her laugh, puzzling the little girl.
"What was that about?"
Selene cleared her throat once she got the laugh under control before she rubbed her head.
"Trust me. You'll understand when you're older."
Selene then walked towards Wendy's bush before she reassured her.
"It's okay, Wendy. Nobody's gonna see you like that. Well, nobody who cares."
Wendy popped her head out, showing a frustrated look as she replied.
"I don't care! I don't want anyone to see me like this, especially not Luna!"
Selene only shrugged her shoulders as she tried to reassure her.
"Yeah, she already knows what our privates look like, Wendy. It's not anything she hasn't seen before."
"So? This is still way worse than the locker rooms. At least people had the decency to wear towels and avoid eye contact."
Wendy was blushing very hard as she remembered the daily routine in the girls locker room. In Gravity Falls High, this was the one thing she hated the most. What she was thankful for was that it was only for five minutes to get dressed. However, she wasn't alone in that. Even one of the prettiest girls in the school was just as embarrassed. She had blonde hair at shoulder length and had a towel over her chest like the others. She spoke very awkwardly to Wendy, the both of them blushing their cheeks off.
"Uh, Wendy, do you have, uh… an extra hairbrush I could borrow?"
Without bothering to look at her, Wendy opened her locker and saw what the girl was looking for as she took it out before answering her.
"Yeah. It's right here."
Wendy didn't turn her head. She wanted to avoid making eye contact. Like most of the girls there, she's afraid of accidentally spotting someone in the buff. She only reached her hand in the direction she heard the girl's voice. But the problem was, the girl was trying not to look, either. She only reached for where she assumed the brush would be, repeatedly missing it. It went on for a few seconds before she finally felt Wendy's arm and trailed it up to her hand before she finally got the brush before she spoke again.
"Thanks. See ya."
The girl then walked away as she and Wendy both drew sighs of relief.
"It's a miracle we didn't accidentally take someone else's towel."
Selene only rolled her eyes. She didn't have anything against her finding it embarrassing. But she knew it was Wendy's own fault for not taking off the clothes sooner. She even pointed that out as she gestured to the remains of her clothes.
"Well, why do you think Luna and I undressed ourselves? So that this doesn't happen to us. Besides, what did you think was gonna happen anyway, Wendy? That your clothes would magically grow back?"
Wendy only groaned miserably from Selene's remark. She understood very well that she should've taken her advice when she had the chance.
"No…"
Selene saw the look and felt bad for her. She couldn't blame her for not wanting to get out of her clothes. But she can't deny that she paid the price for that. Despite it, Selene had an idea as she tried to cheer her up as she rubbed her head softly.
"Hey, don't worry. At least your jacket's still okay. And I think we can make something new out of these clothes."
Wendy looked up at Selene puzzledly. She wondered what the Werewolf girl had in mind.
"Like what?"
Selene only gave her a smile as she replied.
"You'll see."
Within the hour, Selene had gotten around to work on something new out of her shreds of clothing. The damage wasn't too bad for her tank top. In fact, Selene looked at it as a crop top. She considered letting Wendy keep her green flannel jacket, but it'd already been torn up at the sleeves before she transformed to begin with. For that, among other things, Selene had to pick out which outfit she wouldn't miss and suited Wendy the best.
Out of those items, she picked out a set of ripped jean shorts, black hunting boots, a purple scarf with a blue line pattern on it, a light mint green beanie, a red and black flannel jacket, fingerless gloves made from Wendy's socks, a beige sling-over-shoulder travel bag, and a pair of sunglasses. She tried them out on Wendy adding such details onto her body. And when she was done, Selene was holding a mirror in her hand, showing Wendy the new look as she spoke with a smile to her.
"So, what do you think?"
Wendy made a gasp of pleasant surprise. She could hardly tell it was really her. The outfit was especially fitting for the summer, what with her green flannel jacket wrapped around her waist.
"Wow… I think… I think it's amazing, Selene. Thank you so much. I'm really grateful for that."
Luna, however, had one note to make of it.
"I don't see what the big deal is. You'll just grow out of clothes once you get used to transforming a lot."
Wendy only drew close to Luna and gave her a stubborn look as she spoke in a similar tone.
"Never!"
Selene then stuck up for Wendy, knowing that she had a family to go back to, and she knew that they wouldn't have liked to see her in the buff any more than Wendy did.
"Oh, just let her have this, Luna. I don't think her family would've liked to see her naked."
Speaking of her family, Wendy made a loud gasp as she came to a realization.
"Oh, right! My family! I didn't get to go back to them last night!"
Wendy then took off like a bullet as she shouted and waved to them.
"Thanks for helping me, guys! See you soon!"
When Wendy had gone away, Selene and Luna looked at each other with a smile as the former spoke up.
"Well, she passed."
"So, does that mean she can stay with us when she gets back?"
"Maybe. But we better tell Apollo how it went first. He's gonna need to hear this."
Selene then brought Luna up onto her shoulders as she giggled, remembering how easily she scared Apollo with her eyes.
"I like how she scared him so good."
That crossed Selene's mind. She'll find it hard to believe that the other Alphas would take him seriously after that. If anything, it was somewhat of a mild catharsis as she made a small smile.
"Yeah, me, too, Luna. Me, too."
Meanwhile, back at the Corduroy Residence, which was basically a miniature log cabin, Wendy had just come back home, but she lingered in the shadows after seeing the state her Marcus was in. He was waiting out on a lounge chair out in front of the house, holding onto the axe that hurt Wendy in the arm. Ironically, it was also the same axe that gave him his scar. Marcus parted his hair on the right side of his face, exposing not only his freckled cheek and his eye, but also his scar that had been there since that day Wendy told Selene and Luna about. He couldn't help but laugh at how Wendy always tried to look after him. But if anything, it made the guilt even worse. And he wasn't the only one.
Wendy remembered what she'd said the last time she saw him. She told him that he and the rest of her family only ever thought about themselves. Yet, here was Marcus, practically mourning for Wendy as if she'd died. As far as he knew, she might as well have. As Wendy's face saddened at the sight, Marcus made a sigh of regret as he set it on a patch of grass just underneath it on the right side. It was right around that time when Kevin and Gus came out the front door. They looked just as upset about what happened as Marcus was, if not more so. Marcus took notice of them and spoke miserably prior to Kevin checking with him.
"Oh. Hey, guys."
"Did Wendy come back yet?"
Marcus began to reply almost bitterly toward him, taking Kevin and the young Gus aback.
"No, Kevin. I couldn't even sleep after what happened between us! I think I'd have let you know if she did!"
Shortly after, Marcus caught on to his temper and began to have a look of regret on his face almost immediately.
"I'm so sorry, guys. It's just— it's been hard without her lately."
"You think we don't know that? Dad's practically crying his eyes out. And he never cries."
To prove his point, Kevin opened the door, showing the once Manly Dan, now a sniveling crying mess. He was crying fountains of tears from his eyes, holding a picture of him and his children as he struggled with the guilt. Even Wendy could see that from far away. She wouldn't have believed it if she didn't see it with her own eyes. While Wendy became further surprised by her family's mourning, Kevin closed the door before he spoke to Marcus again.
"And before that, he looked all over the town with us last night. And nobody said that they saw her. Not even Mystery Man. How else are we supposed to feel?"
Marcus looked at Kevin as he continued on just as Wendy became surprised to hear that.
"He… looked for me?"
Wendy realized in that moment how much she impacted her family. And that only made the guilt even worse than before, for her and for Marcus. All either of them could do was listen to Kevin's words.
"Wendy's our sister, too, Marcus. You're not the only one who misses her."
As if there wasn't enough proof already, Gus went up closer to Marcus with a sad look as he inquired to him sadly.
"Do you know when mommy's coming back?"
Marcus didn't have the heart to tell him that Wendy wasn't his mother this time, nor could he give the answer he wanted. Speaking of Wendy, she began to feel especially sorry for the little guy. Who knows what he had to go through because she wasn't around to be with him?
"I'm sorry, Gus. I just don't know."
Just then, the trio of brothers heard rustling leaves up ahead. They all looked to the direction it came from, wondering who would be heading their way. And to their surprise, they noticed someone dressed up in a red and black flannel jacket, ripped jean shorts, a purple/blue scarf, and a green beanie on her head. When she came up closer, the boys recognized her as she waved to them with a sad smile on her face.
"Hey, guys."
Marcus, Kevin, and Gus's faces instantly showed surprise and joy as the trio instantly ran over to her.
"Wendy!"
"Mommy!"
In a matter of seconds, Wendy was dogpiled onto the ground with the brothers hugging her as they spoke intermittently.
"I am so sorry I ever read your diary!"
"We thought you'd never come back!"
"Where did you get those clothes?"
Wendy sat up straight as she tried to get a word in.
"Hey, easy, guys. One thing at a time."
At that moment, they heard the door open. Wendy and her brothers looked behind them. Manly Dan was opening the door to see his children all together. He could barely see through his teary eyes, but he could make out that all four of them were together again. And that was only possible because of…
"Wendy?"
Wendy began to smile at him with tears forming in her eyes. She saw and heard for herself how much they cared about her, and even her father was no exception. He searched all around town for his daughter, and when he couldn't find her there, he was heartbroken at the thought of never seeing her again. All of it was just too much for her to think about. She couldn't play it cool around that.
"Hey, dad…"
With that, Manly Dan, now invigorated with joy, ran towards his daughter and lifted her and her brothers up together in his arms and gave them the manliest hug he could ever give, all while shouting with joy.
"You came back! Oh, thank heavens you came back!"
Manly Dan's hug became so huge that it practically began squishing them on his chest with his arms, forcing Wendy to speak up before he broke one of their backs.
"Okay, dad! Simmer down on the manliness."
Manly Dan set his children back down on the ground with a face of overflowing joy and relief as he looked at Wendy.
"I thought I'd never see you again…"
Wendy smiled a little bit, knowing for herself that Dan had missed her so much. But the moment couldn't last when he immediately changed his happy look to an angry one.
"How could you desert us like this?!"
Wendy's face began to frown into a sad look as her father scolded her.
"We had no idea what happened to you! We were worried sick all day! What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?!"
Wendy's face sunk low as she felt the guilt and regret come at her full force once again. She began to explain herself with a miserable tone in her voice.
"I'm sorry, dad. I had something personal happen to me a couple of days ago. And I may have been in a bad mood, but it didn't give me any right to make you guys worry so much. I see that now. What I did to you guys was… it was so wrong, and… I have no excuse for it. Again, I'm sorry."
As Wendy finished, her family's faces showed remorse for her before Dan made a soft smile and gave her a gentle hug, being careful not to squish her this time as he spoke softly.
"It's okay, Wendy. I'm just glad you're safe."
Her brothers joined in on the hug as Marcus, Kevin, and Gus replied.
"Me, too."
"Me, three."
"Me, four."
When she felt the hugs around her body, Wendy began to form a smile as her tears finally slipped away from her eye, only to wipe it away with her shoulder. They shared a tender moment for a while until Manly Dan spoke up.
"But you still have to cut extra wood for me for a month."
Wendy's eyes opened, realizing that prior to her leaving, she and Marcus were placed on the duty of cutting firewood for their argument at breakfast. She had an embarrassed smile on her face as she made a small laugh before she replied back to him.
"Yeah. Saw that coming..."
When Dan had finished the hug, Wendy looked around at her family before Kevin went up to her, wondering what had made her so frustrated yesterday morning.
"So, how come you were so mad before? What happened?"
Wendy looked at Marcus in puzzlement. She would've thought that he'd told his brothers about Wendy's journal like he used to do. She looked at him for any confirmation of whether or not they knew what happened, only for Marcus to showcase his blissful ignorance on that subject.
"Don't look at me. I had no clue, either."
Wendy made a small smile his way. What Marcus basically told her was that he'd kept it to himself. She can only assume that her being gone must've changed him. Or at very least, it made him rethink his stances on telling his brothers Wendy's secrets. Either way, she was grateful that he didn't spill the beans. Of course, she's still upset about him reading her journal in the past, but she'd sort it out later, she thought. Right now, she had something to get off her chest.
"Okay, well… I don't expect some of you guys to understand, but… Me and Robbie were dating for a while, and…"
Before Wendy could finish, Manly Dan immediately showed anger. He never really approved of anyone dating his daughter, especially when her boyfriends lacked redeeming qualities, and in his case, muscles.
"You were what?! What did I tell you about dating, let alone with one of your scrawny friends?!"
Wendy would've rolled her eyes at this, but she needed to get it off her chest. And she couldn't do that if his overprotectiveness got in the way of that.
"Dad, can you let me finish, please?"
Angry as he was, he didn't know what Wendy had been through since she ran away. He owed her the chance to finish her explanation as he replied with a sigh, though he still kept a sour look.
"Yeah…"
"Anyway, it was supposed to be different from the other boys since we knew each other for a long time, but… it ended up too good to be true. He lied to me about writing a song that showed how sorry he was. So, I broke it off with Robbie, and I've been very sour about it ever since."
That made Marcus remember the time Wendy tried to chop down the tree out front that had a little heart with their initials in it.
"Oh, that's why you were trying so hard to chop it down earlier. I had no idea."
Wendy looked at her family with a sad look, personally stunted by the fact that every other boy she met was selfish and jerky. Was there ever such a thing as a boy who's selfless and caring? That luck doesn't seem to exist with her anymore.
"Yeah. I guess I'd never be as lucky as my mom was to find Dad…"
Normally, Manly Dan would've been happy to hear that she wasn't dating anymore, but seeing the sad look on her face, as well as hearing about him and her mother, changed his tune before he even played it. He remembered when his wife was still around. Not a day went by that he didn't think about her, how she got along with him, and how strong she was. Granted her strength wasn't jacked like his, but when it came to the heart, she's got twice the strength his muscles had. She wouldn't have wanted to see Wendy's diminish away. Manly Dan knelt down beside Wendy before he gently placed his massive hand on her shoulder, making her look at him as he spoke to his sons.
"Kids, I need you to go in the house. I, uh… need to have a talk with Wendy."
Marcus had a bad feeling about where it was going. He knew he hated it when Wendy went out with any boys, and if there was any doubt, his earlier outburst chased them away. He looked to Kevin and Gus before he egged them on into the house.
"Come on, guys. Let's give them some space."
They got the gist of what was going to happen, too as they went onto the pitch steps before heading back inside. Once they'd gone inside, Wendy looked up to her father, expecting a lecture for her dating (in his eyes) a scrawny kid. And she was right, but it wasn't the lecture she thought it would be. Dan had an almost contemplative look as he spoke to her.
"Listen, Wendy… I used to think the same thing. When I was a young lumberjack, I didn't think any girl would like me other than for my muscles. But then, I met your mama. She had a heart twice as big as my muscles, but she looked past that. Sometimes when we went out together, I would mess up a lot, more times than I could count, but every time, she'd laugh it off and call me her sweet, lovable giant. And every time, it's not on account of my muscles. But it's because of who I am on the inside. Wendy, if this old lumberjack can find love from your mama, then you can find love, too. Maybe not today, but someday."
While Wendy became touched by his words, Dan seemed to be just as touched by his own as tears began to leave his eyes, though he'd force himself not to cry again.
"Someday, you'll find a… a guy with a heart as big as your mama's. And I swear, I'm not gonna let you go until you do."
Wendy couldn't believe it. It was the first time in a long time that he'd ever talked to her about her mother. The way he told it, Dan said it like he'd never forgotten about her. Of course, he was still being overprotective, but at least, he's willing to let her grow. Wendy felt her tears coming back as she hugged him tightly, trying hard not to sob on him as she spoke with tears of joy.
"Thanks, dad. So much…"
Manly Dan then proceeded to hug her back before he patted her back gently.
"You're welcome, Wendy."
Unbeknownst to him, Wendy took notice of a pair of wolf eyes in the bushes watching from afar. She recalled when she found out Selene and Luna were watching her. Wendy didn't know if either one of the two were watching her, but all the same, she was happy to see them checking on her to see if she was okay. She gave the eyes a gentle smile before she nodded and closed her own eyes, letting herself be in this moment before the eyes sunk further into the bushes and went away as they rustled.
A/N: And voila! Wendy comes back home to her family. Although, she'll need to figure out how to get to the Night Claws without her family knowing about her werewolf side or the Night Claws. It'd be pretty difficult, indeed. And you can also expect a moment between Wendy and Gus in the next chapter. And I should also tell you that Fengari will be portrayed by Kyle McCarley. Beyond that, that's all I have to say. For now, I hope you have a good Summer. ;)