Mother Wolf Ch. 13

"Spectra Vondergeist here. Coming to you live from Monster High," the ghost hovers around her makeshift office. "It has been a month since I asked the question. Who is the father? And it seems that we have an answer," Spectra flies to a screen and several images start popping up of Howleen and Bram together. "I have official sources that confirms that Bram Devein is the father to Howleen's children."

A video of Spectra in front of Bram starts playing. "Bram, is it true that you're the reason Howleen Wolf is pregnant?"

Bram sighs. He is no longer wearing his uniform from Belfry Prep and is in jeans and a white shirt with orange cross bones. "Yes, it's true."

"You admitted that rather quickly given that the mother had seemingly sworn your identity to secrecy?"

"Howleen is a sweet and kind ghoul," Bram unknowingly smiles. "We talked about whether or not we should tell others and we decided that there's no actual reason to hide it. I honestly had no idea I was the father until about a month ago," the blond explains. "She did not want to name me as the father due to not wanting to disrupt my lifestyle."

"But didn't it disrupt everything?"

"I'm not going to lie. Everything is very different from what I'm used to. However! I do not regret anything," he smiles back into the camera.

"Now, one more question," the reporter insists. "What about your relationship with Gory Fangtell?"

"That is a completely different matter," Bram warns. "It's unrelated to Howleen. So, I suggest you drop it."

The screen switches to a different video with Howleen. "We're not dating! Bram is just a good guy," the werewolf insists. "He feels responsible about what happen even though neither of use were aware of it," she strokes her belly as smiles down at it. "Despite me telling him he doesn't have to; Bram insists on doing whatever it takes to make up for it."

"That is so nice to hear, Howleen. Now how did his parents take the news?"

Howleen's ears droop. "That, that is something Bram should tell you. Not me."

.oOo.

Clawd turns off his iCoffin. The team captain growls as he turns to his teammates. "Alright everyone! Practice is over. You did great everyone!" he praises everyone. "Except you, Bram!"

At the call of his name, the vampire sighs. Knowing what's coming.

"You're slacking, Bram. I'm giving you some extra drills," Clawd didn't even give him a chance to protest as he turns to leave.

As they enter the locker room, Deuce approaches the werewolf. "Clawd, dude. I know that he messed with your sister. But don't you think you're going a little hard on him?"

Clawd lets out a growl. "This is me going easy," then he sighs. "Let's just not talk about this, man. You and the rest of the guys still on for Monster Burger?"

"You know there's no way any of us would say no to a free meal, dude."

"Who said it was free?"

"Well, you did. It was your idea. Therefore, you're the one paying."

.oOo.

Howleen sits at the top of the stairs in front of Monster High. Watching as all the other kids are getting to be normal.

"Hey, Howleen!"

The werewolf sighs at the familiarity of the voice and turns to find Gory approaching her. She knew that this was going to happen eventually. Wonder what took her so long. "What do you want, Gory?"

The vampire says nothing as she sits next to Howleen. "You just seemed lonely." The lack of a mocking tone surprised the expecting mother.

Howleen looks down at her stomach "I'm sorry about you and Bram."

Gory squints at the wolf ghoul. "Me and Bram?" then her eyes widen. "Oh, my ghoul! You mean he never told you?"

"Told me what?"

The vampire lets out a chuckle. "Bram and I broke up about a month before the party."

"So, it has nothing to do with…" she glances back down at her belly.

"None at all," Gory laughs and then sighs. "The breakup was mutual."

"Why would you do that? You two were in the top three of hottest couple of Monster High."

"Only top three, huh? Well, you see—" Gory is stopped when the doors open. The two stop to see Catrine walks out.

"Excusez-moi!" the purple haired cat ghoul walks around them. "Congratulations, Howleen."

"Thank you, Catrine," the werewolf automatically responds and Howleen and Gory watch the retreating Scaris ghoul. Though, the Wolf ghoul notices the vampire's gaze lingers longer than it should have.

"Oh?" she realizes. "I see."

"Huh?" Gory turns to her and notices Howleen's smirk. "Y-yeah."

"If that's the case then why were you with Bram? When you two first got to Monster High, you were hardly apart."

Gory sighs. "Our parents are old fashioned and traditionalists. The only reason Bram and I were together is due to an arranged marriage. I was maybe five-hundred and twenty-four when mom told me that one day I would be the wife to the son of a Vampire Lord. As children, we always had playdates together. Once we got into middle school six-hundred years ago, we just started dating."

"When'd you figure it out?" Howleen asks. "You know? That you like ghouls."

"Bram actually figured it out long before I did," the vampire smiles. "Back at Belfry Prep, he noticed that I hardly paid attention to any of the guys and rather spend my time with ghouls. I told him that it was because we were dating. But after coming to Monster High, there were these two ghouls that kept on getting on my mind. I found it annoying, so I picked on them. It wasn't until after that Shadow Genie thing that it finally clicked. Turns out that me messing with them was just me confused by my feelings," Gory then laughs. "When I let Bram down easy, he told me 'It's about time you figured it out.' He then took the fall as to why the marriage was called off so that I don't have to explain to my parents that I don't want a husband."

"Wow! That has to be rough," the werewolf tells her. "So, who were those ghouls?"

"Well," the former Belfry Prep student looks across the schoolyard to see a certain group of ghouls. "There was Draculaura and until then, I never thought I'd be jealous of a werewolf. No offense."

"None taken."

"As for the other ghoul?" the vampire refuses to meet the younger teen's eyes.

"Wait!" Howleen's eyes widen. "You had a crush on me? Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining. But, why me? I'm just a plain ghoul."

"Why not you?" Gory asks. "You were cute, easily excited, and the way you tried standing out was adorable. Not to mention your pouts were irresistible."

Howleen pouts, "Please don't call me cute."

"That! That right there is what I'm talking about. And I know you've been conscious of your weight, but those chubby cheeks just add to it!"

The werewolf blushes at that. More out of embarrassment at being called cute than her weight consciousness. "I can't say I'm not flattered. But I'm just not into ghouls."

At that, Gory smirks and glances at Howleen's midsection, "So, I've noticed." The werewolf blushes even more. "Maybe in a different life?" she sighs.

"Maybe," the pink haired ghoul looks down as she starts rubbing her stomach. She glances up and notices the vampire just watching over her doing so. "You wanna feel?"

"Uh?" Gory's eyes widen. "You sure?"

"I'm asking you, ain't I?"

The vampire smiles and just before her hand touches the belly, it was smacked away. Before either ghoul knew it, a certain orange werecat sat between the two.

"Whatcha doing?" Toralei asks, innocently looking at Howleen.

The vampire just waves her off, "Oh, we were just discussing what to do about Bram."

"I see," the werecat glares at the vampire. "Look! I don't care how close you were to him. But if you ever—"

"Toralei!" Howleen snaps. "Bram and Gory broke up long before the party."

"Really?" she gets a nod of confirmation from them. "Then, why talk about him?"

The werewolf glances over at Gory, "Well…"

"We were thinking about how to help him," the vampire explains. "He may be my ex, but Bram's also one of my oldest friends."

"Fine!" Toralei crosses her arms. "I'll believe you for now. So, Kitten tell you about him moving in with her?"

"What!?" the vampire's eyes widen then glances over at the werewolf. "You're living with him!?"

"It's not like that!" Howleen glares at Toralei. "When he got kicked out, my parents offered him to share a room with my brother."

"You're still living under the same roof," Gory points out and had to resist the urge to awe at her blushing cheeks. She then turns to Toralei. "I heard it from my dad after Bram's dad called to inform us that he had been disowned."

"He that powerful?"

The Belfry Prep student sighs, "There are perks to being a Vampire Lord."

"What's a Vampire Lord? You keep mentioning it."

"The Vampire Queen rules over all vampires, but they are governed by the six Vampire Lords. They hold the greatest amount of power. Only the Queen is above them," she raises a brow at the two. "Figured you know this being friends with Draculaura? Her dad is one."

Howleen and Toralei looks at one another and Howleen mentions, "Draculaura doesn't really talk about her dad's job. She respects his privacy."

Toralei adds, "I was never really close to her," and shrugs. "Not until recently, anyway. But if her dad is one of these Vampire Lords, then can't he help? Or even Elissabat?"

"Afraid not," Gory shakes her head. "This is considered a family matter. Vampire Lords are forbidden from interfering with the personal lives of other Lords. And the Queen cannot meddle in their family affairs unless she was directly involved," the vampire then starts thinking. "There is one person who might be able to do something due to him having that much respect and pull. But to get in contact with him is hard. Even for Vampire Lords."

"So, Bram's life is forever ruin?" Howleen droops her ears. "Because of me."

"Figured you would have known him better than that?" Gory stands. "Bram ruined his own life. If my story is anything to go by, he's the kind of guy who assists and protect those he cares about. Just know this. If Bram has gone far enough to accept being disowned by his family? It means that he genuinely cares about you." With that, the vampire leaves the two.

Howleen looks back down at her bump and starts rubbing it.

Toralei leans over to get a better look at her face. "Something on your mind, Kitten?"

.oOo.

Clawd and the rest of his team walks into Monster Burger.

"You guys find us some seats," Clawd tells them. "I'll go order."

Manny shouts, "Don't forget to make mine a large!"

"Manny, I'm the one paying."

"Okay. Then, make it extra-large."

"Hey, wait!" but the team captain's complaint goes unheard. He just sighs and walks up to the counter.

"Welcome to Monster Burger," a familiar voice says.

"Huh?" looking up, Clawd is surprised at who is there. "Bram!? What are you doing here?"

"I work here. Now, may I take your order?"

"Uh, yeah! Four Monster Burgers and one Seaweed Special, all meals, and we're eating in."

"Okay then," he types in the order. "Would you like to supersize them?"

"Just one of the Monster Burgers."

"Okay," Bram says and lets the werewolf pay. He then hands over a ticket. "We'll bring the order to your table when ready."

Instead of going to meet up with the other guys, Clawd just stands still. "When did you get a job?"

"A few days after I moved in. Why do you think I always come back to your home so late every night?"

"Oh! But, why?"

"I told Howleen that I'd take care of her and our children. Since I am cut off from my family, I had to find a job so I can start saving."

"So, you've been working here for almost a month?"

"Actually, this is my third job. I got fired from my last two jobs for being late."

"Sounds like you need to better manage your time, dude."

"Which is why I'm considering leaving the team."

"What!? Why?"

"Why do you think?" Bram glares at Clawd. "I'm always late for my shift because someone gives me extra drills during practice and I'm already on my second strike for tardiness and cannot afford a third."

"Bram!" a gremlin looks over at the register from the kitchen. "Stop talking to customers. The line's backing up!"

"Yes, Mr. Creep. Sorry," Bram apologizes before turning back to the werewolf. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to work."

Clawd steps away from the register. Briefly glancing back at the vampire.

.oOo.

Next Day

"Bram!" Clawd calls out at the end of practice.

The vampire sighs as he turns to the werewolf. "Look, Clawd. Before you dump more drills on me. I—"

"No drills."

"Huh?"

"You better get going or you'll be late for your shift," the captain pats him on his back. "You can't take care of my sister if your broke, dude."

Bram blinks at him in disbelief and then smiles. "Thank you, Clawd," he goes to take off only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't think this means I like you," the werewolf glares. "I'm just doing this for my sister. I will not tolerate any funny business."

"Noted."

After a quick change, Bram makes his way out of the school and just as he passes the fountain. His name is called.

"Bram!" Howleen walks up to him.

"Howleen?" the vampire turns to her. "I would love to stay and chat, but I'm going to be late for work."

"I know and I appreciate you doing that. But I have this crazy idea. You don't have to answer right now. You can think about it during your shift."

The Vampire smiles. He really enjoys the ghoul's enthusiasm. It's rather cute. "Well, then. What is this idea of yours?"

"Now hear me out," Howleen smiles up at him. "Let's go out sometime. As a date."

"What?"

"I mean, it makes sense," the werewolf starts pacing back and forth. "You are so insistent on being stuck with me. We should do something to see if we're a match in anyway. If not for our sake, then at least for the sake of our pups. It does not have to be anywhere nice or fancy. It could just be the food court at the Maul. So…" she turns back to Bram. "What do you say?"

End