Wolf's brow furrowed as he turned from rinsing the last of the evening's dishes in the sink. He and Missy were on their own tonight, Scarlet being out on the town (if one could call the village an actual "town") with Emilie for their monthly girls' night. She needed the break—keeping up with a busy eight-month old was taxing, even with Scarlet and Wolf trading off with baby and farm duties—and Wolf never minded looking after his girl. He was good with kids, especially his own. It wasn't a problem. But, as he glanced across the table to where Missy was strapped into her high chair, babbling a string of nonsensical sounds and gnawing on one of the teething toys Kai and Cinder had sent in their baby shower gift, he was…concerned.
Something had caught his eye when he turned, something different, something…off. His nostrils flared, searching the air for any sign of sickness or…uh…other bodily situations that might cause a baby discomfort. Missy noticed his attention and flashed a gummy grin, throwing her chubby arms wide with a squeal. Normal enough, but—
Wait.
Was…was that a tooth?
"What've you got there, pup?" Wolf crossed the kitchen in a few long strides, a smile tugging at his lips as he dropped into the chair adjoining the high chair and leaned in for a closer look, getting bopped on the snout with a plastic teething toy for his trouble. He and Scarlet had a bet going on when the kiddo's first tooth would make its entrance. If today was indeed the day, then that put Wolf's guess squarely in the winning range. He extended a finger and gently nudged Missy's upper lip upwards to expose her gums. There it was, a single flash of white against an expanse of white, but…Wolf's heart seized in his chest.
It wasn't the tiny, round front incisor the baby books had told them to expect. A single, glaringly white canine protruded from her upper gum, short, as it likely hadn't poked entirely through yet, but tapering to a sharp, vicious point. Gleaming in the dusky evening light. More fang than tooth. More wolf than human.
Just like him.
Missy gurgled merrily, discarding the toy in favor of gumming his finger. Wolf just sagged back into his chair, somehow both panicked and numb simultaneously. They'd known shortly after she was born that she'd most certainly inherited his voracious appetite, but that could hardly have been taken as an indicator of wolfish things to come. There was her mop of unbearably thick, reddish hair, but Scarlet's hair was thick, too. No warnings there, either. But this…the fangs were unmistakable. Missy was going to be like him.
Wolf blew out a shaky sigh, both of his legs starting to bounce in a frenetic rhythm. This wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't to even be possible for this to happen. Inheriting his problems, his curse, was something he would never wish on anyone, something he had hoped against hope would never happen…Yet here it was, happening right in front of him.
"Ze'ev? Is Missy still awake? That store downtown had those teething cookies she likes in, and…" The front door banged and Scarlet's voice carried through the front room and the hall separating it from the kitchen until she appeared in the doorway, face flushed from the chilly evening air and a handful of shopping bags dangling from one hand. Her bright smile waned at the expression on his face, eyes snapping between him and Missy. "What's wrong?"
"Teeth." He whispered, gently extracting his finger from Missy's stubborn jaws. Scarlet arched a brow at him and dropped her bags as she moved closer. Wolf slumped forward, resting his elbows on the table and drumming his fingers on the hardwood as a thousand scenarios rolled across his mind. Schoolyard bullies with taunting laughs. Bitter Earthens with memories of a savage war. Superior Lunars with smug smirks. With his genetics, she'd encounter them all someday.
"Already? Guess that means you won the…" Scarlet brightened, moving to tickle Missy's ribs until she grinned broadly, exposing the infamous tooth. Scarlet stilled, eyes widening. "…bet."
"If she inherited that, then it won't be all she inherits." The muscles that ached from being too much for the human frame that carried them. The enhanced senses that could nearly drive him crazy with the overload of scents in a crowd or the sheer volume of a busy tavern. The violent urges that made him wonder how much of himself was still human and how much had been stolen from him.
"Huh." Scarlet fell silent for a moment, studying the tiny, pointy problem with pursed lips and furrowed brow. Missy's happy little sounds and the steady drip of the faucet Wolf had yet to fix the only sounds in the room. Scarlet finally brushed a hand over Missy's auburn curls and rose to lean against Wolf's chair, slender arms circling around his neck. "Well, if she does, she'll have a good example to follow while she figures out how to handle it." She pressed a kiss to the scars along his jaw. "The best example."