Wolf Moon
During the month of August of Freya's eighteenth year, Alexandra Wolf came to visit.
Her last visit had been during Freya's sixteenth year and it had been in an official capacity as part of Queen Henrietta-Maria's security detail.
This time it was strictly for pleasure.
One of the top floor servant's quarters was dusted off and the furnishings uncovered for her use.
As a favor to Roger, Sheila Ericcson had come up from Los Angeles to spar with Alexandra and further hone her combat skills, a task that Viktor Wolf, her father and head of Queen's security approved of.
While she had yet to draw blood in her Majesty's service, the skills she was learning from Sheila Ericcson, a former claymore warrior would lessen the likelihood of her shedding her own blood in the service of her queen.
With Roger and Freya visiting her family up in Canada and Anita busily working on her latest book.
Warren Johnson as usual, was busy at the library while Flora Oakenwood took care of the huge draft horse named Samson and his stable mate Moonbeam Stormwind, the great white stag.
A refugee from a 'Hunter's moon' wild hunt, he had elected to stay where he would be safe from the dark god's pursuit.
With little to do besides relaxing, Alexandra mostly worked out with and sparred with Sheila, thus keeping her finely tuned body in tip top shape.
Joining them on their daily runs was Axel, Anita's huge lupine companion and eldest son of Sasha and Goldeneyes, the giant wolf couple living at Wolf Hills Manor.
For the last couple of days, Alexandra had been dealing with her monthly and bearing up to 'Eve's curse'.
After all, wasn't it part of the burden of being a woman?
She could only put up with it like so many women before her had done.
It didn't mean she had to like it!
Like her 'other curse', she fought it every month and could largely ignore the cramping, it was the 'other curse' the moon curse, she could not ignore.
It was a mid September night and the golden moon rose above the trees to the east.
Alexandra had been feeling sick much of the day, between her damnable monthly and the impending bone bender, she dreaded the moon's rise.
With Sheila's aid she sought out a hidey hole in the basement where she could lock herself in for the night and simply endure until morning's light brought relief.
Alexandra smiled bravely at her friend and mentor as she closed the heavy door to the basement storeroom and locked it.
While most everyone at the manor knew of Alexandra's being a werewolf that could change at will, they had not had to deal with a werewolf undergoing the change forced upon them by the lunar cycle and impossible to ignore or control.
Locking the doors, windows and hanging a sprig of Wolfsbane on each opening seemed to be the only solution at hand, that and not drawing the moon crazed werewolf's attention to begin with.
Anita anxiously checked her door and windows one more time, while they were all tightly secured and guarded by Wolfsbane sprigs, her fur clad companion Axel was nowhere to be found and neither Sheila or Silky would allow her to go looking for him.
He would have to 'fend for himself' as Sheila had put it.
It was now close to midnight and Alexandra's howls could be plainly heard coming up from the basement storeroom.
The sound of breaking glass interrupted the howling and suddenly the howling had ceased, only to begin anew some distance away, closer to the wooded area of the sprawling property.
Evidently Alexandra had escaped by breaking the small window and was headed towards the wooded area, God only knew what she could encounter in there!
Anita leapt out of her bed, threw on some clothing and her boots, then opened her door only to find Sheila standing outside her door as she asked, "And just where, do you think you are going, young lady?"
Anita cried,"Alex has escaped, we've gotta find her!" and tried to dodge around the towering Sheila only to find herself deftly steered back into her room with the explanation, "There's nothing much we can do right now, the spriggans are likely watching over her and keeping things under control."
She looked up at the towering former warrior and said, "Can't you handle her?"
Sheila smiled and replied,"Yes, I can handle her, but I'd likely have to hurt her to really subdue her, and that's not an option."
The rest of the night was spent listening out for any news and waiting for the gray light of predawn to arise.
Anita awoke from a fitful slumber interspersed with dark dreams, filled with dread.
She found Sheila standing over her with a blanket draped over one arm and a smile on her face.
"You're as ready as you're going to be, let's go find her before she awakes!"
Anita mumbled a reply and pulled on her boots.
Leaving the house, they headed towards the wooded area up behind the barn and corral.
Making sure that Flora and the animals were okay, they continued deeper into the woods until they found the unmistakable signs of a struggle, tufts of fur here and there marked the way until they found a quite naked and rather filthy Alexandra, curled up on the forest floor and snuggled around her in a protective manner was Axel, Anita's gigantic wolf companion.
Sheila and Anita both stopped and stared at the scenario before them, it looked rather incriminating.
Had they mated somehow?
Axel lifted his shaggy head and wagged his floofy tail at Anita as he continued to protect Alexandra's sleeping form.
With a soft groan Alexandra opened her yellow eyes and looked around.
Seeing that she was naked, in the woods and snuggled up against a gigantic and quite male wolf, she gasped and sat up in time to see first Anita, then Sheila who was handing her a quite welcome blanket.
She asked hoarsely, "What happened last night?"
"You escaped and evidently found Axel who stayed with you last night." Replied Sheila.
Alexandra drew the blanket tighter around herself and muttered, "I was on my monthly and last night's full moon couldn't have come at a worse time!"
Anita looked slightly puzzled and asked, "How so?"
Alexandra sighed and remarked bluntly, "I was a female wolf in estrus and he was right there! If I didn't get pregnant last night I'd be totally surprised!"
The implication of her remarks sank in and Anita cried, "Oh shit! What happens next?"
Rising to her feet Alexandra shrugged slightly and said, "I have no idea. Females like me are kinda rare and for someone like me to get impregnated by an actual wolf is even rarer, and for that wolf to be a giant wolf like this fuzzball is unheard of!"
She raked her grimy fingers through her tangled iron grey hair and muttered, "Dad, is gonna flip!"
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