Rating: NC-17 with WARNINGS, see first chapter.
Ruby slid the white blouse over her long arms, buttoned it up, and tucked it into her short red skirt, feeling like the whole situation was rather odd. Her life had been completely torn upside down and yet apparently, the world had continued on as if nothing had happened. She hadn't been sure what she would face when she decided to return to town, but it hadn't been this. She supposed she expected the world to have stopped - or at least slowed - in reverence to the weight she now carried inside her chest, where her broken heart lay. Maybe coming back was a mistake. Doubt and trepidation oozed through her stomach, slithering like a snake through her chest, her throat tightening to keep the blackness from emerging from her lips. Maybe I wasn't ready. She suddenly felt overwhelmed, unsure of the wisdom of her decision. She recalled the insufferable boredom she'd endured over the past month, however, and knew she'd been right to come home. Still, the terror she was experiencing at the thought of being back indicated a deeper truth; she obviously wasn't as healed as she'd supposed, either. Out of pure habit, she slid on her knee-length white stockings and 4-inch block pumps. It's funny, she thought suddenly, how things like getting dressed for work became so ingrained, they practically happened without her. She barely remembered putting on her skirt, let alone her blouse, nevermind the stockings and shoes. There was peacefulness in such a mundane activity, she supposed, and for a few moments, she finished dressing herself without further contemplation or introspection.
Her brain wasn't interested in staying quiet for long, though. The reality was that Red was about to start her first shift at the diner since she'd been back. Her heart was beating so hard, she was certain everyone out on the street could hear it. She sighed dejectedly, angrily, to the empty suite and collapsed back on her bed, knock-kneed like a child, hands flying to her face, wondering if she could really do this. Things had seemed so safe in the middle of Nowhere, Maine, and she'd thought she'd dealt with so much out there on her own. But she realized now that she'd been kidding herself. Her heart was racing, her throat a vice, and adrenaline pounded through every vein and muscle in her body - all at the thought of returning to this town, to where she lived, the beautiful one she'd ruined... To say Ruby was panicking was an understatement. What if I see Belle? Jesus. How the hell am I supposed to do this? Racing thoughts of self-hate crowded in on her, bullying her, as she abruptly sat up, and set her elbows on her knees– hands still clutching the sides of her face. She had her Gran, and she was thankful, so thankful. But while the older woman had saved her from a drastic unchangeable decision, love and compassion lighting Red's darkness, there was only so much the elder Lucas could help her with. Ruby sighed once more, thrusting the air out of her lungs to the empty room with a groan of disapproval, before standing. She moved over to the mirror above her vanity and tied her silk sash around her neck. When her fingers grew still, their banal mission completed, she watched herself, trying to find something to say, to bely some vote of confidence to her image about her situation, but there was nothing. Her eyes met in the mirror and she hated everything she saw. You disgust me, you disgust me, you disgust me, "YOU DISGUST ME!" It was the mantra in her head, having grown louder and louder until she had squeezed her eyes shut, held onto the vanity table with all her might and screamed it out loud. Panting from the emotion she'd thrown out into the silence, she tried to pull herself together, and opened her eyes. How are we going to survive this? she whispered to her reflection, tears brimming her eyes. There was, of course, no response, and after one last frightened pause, she turned away, wiped her eyes, grabbed her jacket, and slammed the door behind her.
Belle glanced at the hands in her lap, her hands, and tried to focus. Tears brimmed in her eyes and she was trying hard to stop them from falling, trying to hold onto reality. She couldn't believe the words she had just read, but found herself re-reading the passage before she could stop herself. The similarities were uncanny, and she was simultaneously intrigued and frightened. She imagined she heard Mr. Talbot narrating the event in her head:
I followed the Pack from a distance tonight. Something unusual was to occur. I had sensed it, billowing beneath the wind on our backs for days, only becoming more powerful each dusk, culminating in the odd behavior I witnessed this eve. It was as if they were hunting, but this time they split off from one another, following different darkened paths, all headed for separate local townships. The Pack rarely split up, so this was surprising in and of itself. Additionally, none of them had changed into werewolf form. True, it was the day before the full moon, but if it wasn't something ruled by the lunar cycle, what were they doing out here? And splitting off alone? I chose to follow the youngest female, Frajeh, to the outskirts of the local towne, Gladusri. "I can smell you, you know," she whispered back at me, irritated. I knew she could sense me, but having not wanted to interfere, only observe, I'd tried to stay hidden. "Pretend I am a breeze..." I whispered back. She nodded, more amused than angry, and suddenly stretched herself up, hands over her head, to her full height, unfurling her long golden locks around her shoulders. She whimpered painfully for a few minutes then returned to her normal posture, staring at the city below, almost as if some transformation had occurred. As I tried to figure out what was different, my vision was drawn to a new bulge beneath her skirts. I was intrigued. Before I could inquire, however, she lunged down within the city's boundaries. I gasped, completely overtaken by this boldest of moves. I stayed in the brush but followed her around the edges of the city, watching. I noticed that she was careful to stay between the lamplight, strictly within the shadows, while moving silently further in towards the towne center. I was mystified. What on earth could this She-Wolf want from a city? The Pack's food was symbiotically obtained from the forest; there was neither rhyme nor reason for any of them to step one foot into a towne.
I was more confused than anything and almost stumbled down the embankment into the towne myself, having become engrossed in tracking the beast below me. I caught myself however, and after a moment of soft curses, saw that Frajeh had stopped as well, staring intently across the center towne square. I followed her gaze only to see a young human female, no older than seventeen, locking up a shoppe and headed back into the residential regions, most likely on her way home. Frajeh herself was only fifteen and I was amazed she'd been bold enough to enter this city alone. It was madness. I was on the brink of heading in there and telling her so, risking possible death and dismemberment myself, when she looked up at me, eerily calm, and brought her fingers to her lips, requesting my silence. It was if she'd sensed I might do something rash. Her eyes glowed a bright amber and I sat back, fearful, as she lunged after the girl we'd both seen. I moved my position to look down at the dusty street below as she overtook the girl with ease and forced her unwillingly into the shadows near the center towne stables. I struggled to see them within the dark, but there was no mistaking the events that transpired next. Frajeh pushed the girl face-forward against the outer wall of the stable, lifted the girl's dress, tore off her undergarments, then reached under her own dress and fidgeted with something there. A moment later, I couldn't believe my eyes. By the Fates, I had seen, in the flicker of lamplight, the sheen of a thin, adolescent penis in her hand! I was astounded! What on earth could be the purpose of this? I was bewildered, but transfixed. Frajeh moved behind the girl and shoved inside her roughly, expertly, her free hand pressed tightly over the other teen's mouth, forbidding her to cry out. The Wolf (and I had no doubt The Wolf was in control as I watched Frajeh's eyes roll into the back of the head, obviously completely consumed by instinct) spent several long minutes pushing in and out of the girl in front of her feverishly until she came, convulsing behind her, before slowing, and finally stilling. I watched, my hand still covering my own mouth to stop me from screaming in horror and alerting the entire town to what I had just witnessed. Frajeh collapsed against the other young woman in a tired heap. Within minutes, however, she was revitalized and began again; after many more minutes and finally loosening her seed deep inside the older girl for yet a third time, Frajeh finally pulled out her now-flaccid member, having utterly exhausted herself. It hung between her legs limply, like an empty sack, and there could be no mistaking what I now saw or the testicles hanging beneath it. She rested her entire body weight against the girl in front of her, her head lowered against the back of the other girl's neck, suddenly behaving incredibly gentle, as if this had been a consensual coupling, obviously soothing and reassuring this girl, whispering things in her ears I couldn't hear from where I sat crouched amidst the brush, and tenderly kissing the other teen's back and shoulders. Suddenly, she released the sobbing girl and ran back up the embankment bordering the towne and disappeared into the forest, howling all the way. I struggled to keep up with her, still absolutely mortified by the events that had just transpired. When we reappeared at camp, all of the werewolves slowly trickled in from their own scandalous misdeeds I assumed, all similarly exhausted, and headed straight for their sleeping areas, falling quickly to dreams. Several didn't even remove their torn and tattered clothing before falling into their down and feather nests and drifting off. I went to my own bed they'd provided for me, thoughts racing, hands trembling while writing down everything I had seen, knowing I would need to talk to the den mother in the morning about this terrifying ritual I'd witnessed.
The following morning, the Den Mother, Gretaj, and I wandered off a ways from camp and spoke in private; she very thankfully and patiently allowed and answered my questions, which I now chronicle here. It would appear that female werewolves can become intersexed upon mating time and potentially can mate with either males or females, depending on their innate sexuality. The homosexual male Wolves did not participate in the Mating ritual, as they cannot become intersexed. The young female Wolf I had followed, Frajeh, was drawn only to females and therefore her body had created for her the appendage it needed to procreate. The Wolf is drawn to an intense physical and/or emotional attraction to a mate, and cannot control the impulses that come next. They are therefore forced to copulate, without exception. The mates are chosen by their inner Wolves months before the first coupling. After being chosen, the same human is usually selected again and again, as Wolves typically mate for life. Any Wolf who fails in this attempt to complete the mating process is seen as weak and unworthy of pack integration, and may even be cast out, as the Den Mother has seen fit to determine. From the Pack point of view, with any luck they had impregnated their unwilling partners (although it appeared some of the Pack actually had somehow established relationships with the humans they mated with), and would soon be parents. Not that, if they were unattached heterosexual men or homosexual females, they would help raise the children they sired, as their job was finished with the siring alone. Upon birth, the babies borne to human mothers were retrieved and raised by the heterosexual Pack mothers and homosexual Pack fathers (who interestingly enough, developed temporary mammary glands to help feed their young), along with their Pack-borne cousins. This process of seeking mates from humanity ensured the survival of their kind, eliminated in-breeding issues, and only occurred once every two years if pregnancy was achieved. Otherwise, the attempts continued with each lunar cycle until a viable pregnancy was produced. These wolves were creating werewolves through biology, not just from exposure to a bite or a scratch, in the purest lycanthrope form. it is intriguing to note that while werewolves apparently could mate with each other, the infant was almost always too scrawny and weak to survive, and therefore the practice was discouraged. I was aghast at how absolutely barbaric and equally scientifically sound this process was at the same time. Nature always finds a way.
Belle looked over the long table to see Dr. Hopper studiously bent over a medical journal, taking notes. She squirmed a bit in her seat. She had known Ruby was a werewolf. Ruby had explained it on their second "date that wasn't a date" - Belle called it this to herself because neither girl had been ready to talk about what they were feeling for each other yet. Red had decided that there was something Belle needed to know and had just laid it on the line and told her. Belle had accepted the information, and her friend, just the way she was, much to Ruby's relief. Belle could see the fear in the tall, lanky woman's eyes as she'd spoken and knew the waitress had expected rejection, and had therefore had found great comfort in the hugs and soothing words that had followed the conversation. But this... this mating ritual, Ruby had never explained to her. Belle blushed. Not that she didn't understand completely why; it was intimate and probably not "second date that wasn't a date" material. Still... she was in shock. Was this really how it worked? She wiped her eyes. Had Ruby been "intensely physically and/or emotionally attracted" to her? She mulled over her mixed emotions a few moments longer before her stomach rumbled. She looked at the clock and saw it was a quarter after twelve, definitely time for some lunch. She also felt some fresh air would do her good, maybe help her shake off some of the crazy she was feeling. She got up and crossed to the doctor's chair.
"Archie," she said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I'm headed to the diner to grab our lunches. Any special requests?"
**A/N: Oooh, shit maybe gonna happen soon now, what! lol. Thanks for sticking with it, you guys. It's coming along slowly for me but I appreciate the fic love, it means lots. I will tell this tale, so help me baby jesus! :D Please review if you get a chance, btw; feedback helps me become a better writer. xx!