Chapter 4

Channon was up before anyone else. He quietly dressed and left his room; he discretely sniffed each doorway trying to discover which one was Reilly's. He was dismayed when he was unable to pick up her scent. He was walking down the long hall when his tail accidentally knocked over a large bucket. Wolf was instantly in the hall prepared to pounce. He calmed when he saw that it was his brother.

"Mornin" Channon said softly. Scratching his forehead in the solemn wolf signal.

"Same to you brother." Wolf smiled, closing the door to the room he shared with Virginia, "How did you sleep?"

"Wonderfully, you and your lovely wife are excellent hosts." He smiled softly "Thank you brother."

"So… ready for breakfast, …it's bacon." He scratched his head and smiled. "Virginia needs her rest I will wake her later. Let's go down to the kitchen." Channon followed Wolf down to the kitchen, he was dismayed to see that Reilly was not there either. He sat on the stool near the counter while Wolf cooked them breakfast. Virginia came down as they were sitting down to eat. Wolf bounded up and pulled out a chair for her, "Sleep well my little dumplings?" He ran back to the stove to fix a plate for Virginia.

"Yes Wolf," She smiled sleepily, "How did you sleep Channon?" she asked.

"Fine thank you ma'am." He replied.

"Please call me Virginia, we are family now." She smiled warmly patting his hand.

"Sorry, Virginia," he smiled back. "May I ask a question?"

"Certainly," Wolf and Virginia answered in stereo.

"Where is Reilly, is she not your sister? Does she not share the house with you?" He asked cautiously, aware that Virginia had noticed his attraction last evening.

"Reilly has a suite at the Inn. She wanted to give us our privacy and have some privacy of her own." Virginia smiled, "and, as you have probably guessed now by our scent, Reilly is not actually my sister, her family members were killed by Trolls in Beantown, her fiancé, Thelen, died protecting them. She has become like a sister to me and Dad needed someone to care for now that I am married." Wolf placed a plate in front of Virginia and sat down next to her. He rubbed her stomach quietly before beginning his meal. "She does not usually eat with us in the morning, she likes to walk in search of flowers and plants for decorating the restaurant." Virginia took some of the food on her plate and made a small bacon sandwich, "would you like to take this to her? I know she does not always remember to eat in the morning." Virginia saw the sparkle in Channon's eyes as he took the sandwich and made one for himself. He wrapped them both in a napkin and stood up.

In the full light Virginia realized how much bigger he was compared to Wolf, he was a good 3 inches taller, he was broader across the chest and his silver-blond hair was past his shoulders, he had it pulled back with a black velvet ribbon. As he turned Virginia noticed his tail, it was the same color as his hair with a small bit of black on the tip. It was longer and bushier than Wolf's. Channon turned back to face Virginia and Wolf, "Tail or no tail?" he asked.

"No tail would probably be safer at this point. Huff Puff, there still are some who feel threatened by wolfies." Wolf responded. "I keep mine tucked in while cooking for cleanliness reasons." He smiled at Virginia, "Cripes, my cream puff, you have not touched your breakfast, please eat."

"I will in just a minute, quit being a dwarven housewife." She stood up and picked up a small orange, "take this, I know that Reilly likes these, especially in the morning." Virginia handed the orange to Channon. He smiled and walked from the room. Once he was back in his room to put on his boots he tucked his tail into his trousers and put on his good velvet vest. Soon he was outside and headed into the woods. It did not take him long to lock onto Reilly's scent. He caught up with her in no time. He stood behind a tree watching and inhaling her wonderful scent for a moment before clearing his throat to get her attention.

"Brought you some breakfast," he smiled showing her the sandwiches he was carrying, "and Virginia said you especially like these." He handed her the orange, she took it from his hand and smiled sadly. Channon was shocked, "Did I do something wrong?" he asked whimpering. He sat on a log near where Reilly was standing.

"No, sorry," Reilly replied as sat next to him. "Thelen used to bring me oranges when he would come back from his travels." She smiled slightly, "but that was a long time ago and that part of my life is done." She turned to face Channon. "I'm sorry. Thank you for the breakfast. The orange looks lovely, and let me guess, a bacon sandwich, right."

"Right." Channon smiled and took a bite of his own. He handed her the sandwich and grinned. "You know Wolf and his obsessions, food, Virginia, food and food."

'You are so different from Wolf, definitely not as skittish. Though you seem to have the same appetite." Reilly took a bite of her sandwich. It seemed to cheer her up.

"Wolfies like to eat." Channon replied.

They ate in silence, when they had finished their sandwiches Reilly peeled the orange. She handed a piece to Channon who graciously accepted. When they had finished eating they sat quietly looking at the forest and each other, enjoying each others company in the silence. A bird flew up to Reilly and began to sing a soft song.

Channon broke the silence, "So do you enjoy living here so near the forest? Virginia tells me you are from Beantown." He moved slightly closer, "I hear there is not much in Beantown now that the Trolls wrecked the city."

"I don't know anymore, I left the night Thelen and my family were killed. My family had lived there in the same house my grandfather had built. Now it is all gone, but you probably don't want to hear about that."

"I don't mind, I lost those I loved a long time ago, until a few months ago I thought I was the only member of my pack alive until I heard of what Virginia, Wolf and Tony had done and I knew I had to find my brother." Channon stood up and held his hand out to Reilly. "I believe we should get back, they might start worrying about you." Reilly took his hand and stood up. "You are in the woods with a big bad wolf."

"You're big but I don't believe you are bad. However we should get back, I believe Dad was going to come by this morning for a visit without Wendell." She dropped his hand and gathered up the basket where she had been placing the flowers and greenery. Channon took the basket from her. He held his arm out to her, Reilly slipped her hand around his elbow, like she had been doing it forever.

"It is the least I can do to thank you for sharing your morning with me."

"Thank you for bringing me breakfast, though don't tell Wolf, I am tired of bacon sandwiches."

"No one can tire of bacon sandwiches." Channon replied. "One can never have too much meat."

Reilly smiled, "You and your brother are two beans in a pod when it comes to food."

"And when it comes to finding beautiful girls." He replied.

Reilly blushed as she looked away. Her mind was racing, was she falling for Channon?

Chapter 5

Tony was dismayed to see Reilly emerge from the woods holding onto Channon's arm. He knew he was Wolf's older brother, but, another daughter and another wolf. It made him uneasy, though he smiled, trying not to ruin the morning. Reilly let go of Channon's arm and ran up to Tony to hug him.

"Dad, good morning." Reilly said as she reached up to kiss him on the cheek.

"Good morning, Reilly." He replied kissing her forehead. "Find anything good this morning?"

"Just some blue bells and some little white flower, I am still learning all the flowers in this Kingdom, all we had near home were bean stalks and the flowers were not that pretty. Plus the giants kept most of them anyway." She took Tony's outstretched arm as Channon handed her the basket of flowers. Channon quietly walked away, he could feel the apprehension in Tony and did not want to alarm him. "So why did you come to visit our humble abode? Tired of working on Bouncy castles already?"

"No, I have some interesting news for you. Let's go in and find Virginia and Wolf."

"Okay."

Channon watched Tony and Reilly enter the house. When they were out of sight he ran into the woods. He was very restless, the full moon was only three days away and he was already feeling the burning in his blood, was it Reilly or the moon or both? Maybe a run in the woods would help release some of his built up tension.

Chapter 6

When Tony and Reilly entered the house they saw Virginia sitting on the couch and could hear Wolf banging around in the kitchen. He came leaping into the living room as Tony closed the door.

"Tone, how's it going? I see you have found our little sister the wood nymph" Wolf said as he leapt over the couch and landed next to Virginia, causing her to drop the book she was reading, she glared at him. "Huff Puff, sorry love." He said apologetically. Wolf picked the book up and handed it back to Virginia. She found her page, placed her bookmark in it and put it down.

"I am fine, but, I have some interesting news to share." He sat on the couch across from Virginia, Reilly sat in the chair between the couches. "Well, Queen Cinderella has invited me to come to visit her and said that it would be okay if I bring a traveling companion." He smiled at Virginia, "As I know it is very near a full moon and you will be closing the restaurant for a few days, I was wondering if I could convince Reilly to come with me. Wendell has given us permission to use his carriage and footmen. It will only be about 4 days." Tony turned to Reilly, "there are quite a few eligible bachelors in Cinderella's castle."

"Dad," Virginia glared at him. She could tell by the look on Tony's face that he must have seen Reilly and Channon exit the woods together, he had the same look on his face the day she and Wolf had played "Hide and Seek" when they were supposed to be gathering wood.

"Sorry Reilly. Would you accompany this old man to visit Queen Cinderella?"

"Yes," she smiled "I would be happy to." She patted his hand. "You're not that old…yet."

"I don't know about th…"Wolf chimed in before Virginia elbowed him in the ribs. Wolf sat quietly fidgeting for the rest of the discussion.

"Well then, it is all settled. We leave first thing in the morning tomorrow. I will be here bright and early. No wildflower picking tomorrow." He stood up. "Unfortunately I have get back to the castle, I have to help Rupert prepare for the trip." He paused trying to sound casual, "Would you like to come with me now, I could wait?"

"Dad, we need her here for tonight." Virginia said quickly, seeing the dismay on Reilly's face. "We are closed starting tomorrow for the next 5 days." She knew what her father was up to. Maybe she should cancel the whole trip, make up some excuse about needing Reilly around during the full moon and send someone else with her father. Virginia could not come up with a better excuse, but before Reilly left she would make sure to bring up Channon and see what kind of feelings Reilly was having about the older wolf. She could see what was happening between Channon and Reilly. She knew her father would try to persuade Reilly to become involved with someone besides a wolf, maybe King Wendell, he had mentioned it a few times before.

Tony glared back at Virginia, knowing he was caught. "Alright, I will be here first thing in the morning."

Virginia walked Tony to the door. "Dad, please do not interfere, let her chose on her own." Virginia whispered as she kissed her father on the cheek. "Please…"

Tony just nodded. He climbed back on his horse and was quickly out of sight.