Page 19 of The Wolf Professor

The pixie grimaced and batted her away. “Hey I might be bi, but that doesn’t mean I’m into you, Si.”

Simone pouted. “But I need practice.”

“Practice on Charlie.”

The nagi flicked her blue forked tongue suggestively at Charlie.

Charlie shook her head, laughing. “Nope, Gina’s right, that’s testing the bonds of friendship.”

Their laughter was interrupted by a new voice. “Hi girls, you look like you’re having fun.”

All three of them looked up. A pretty female with sharply angled features stood by their table. She was wearing a leather skirt and a matching laced-up bodice, her bare arms liberally covered in tattoos. Her nose sported a pierced septum, and three studs were strung along each eyebrow. Charlie wondered if she’d met her before, she looked vaguely familiar.

“Yeah,” Simone grumbled. “Just trying to spice up our non-existent love lives.”

“Maybe I can help with that.” The girl slid in next to them and brought out some flyers from her purse. She splayed them ina semi-circle on the table. Her long-shellacked silver nails made Charlie think of claws.

“My name’s Taryn and I’m out promoting the Winter Solstice Rut. Ever heard of it?”

Charlie’s ears pricked up. Everyone nodded.

“Up until this year the ruts have been on the fringe, y’know, but our Summer Solstice Rut got triple the numbers of last year. So we’ve decided to go mainstream,” Taryn explained.

“Are you LGBTQ friendly?” Gina piped up.

“Of course.” The girl smiled. “We have been for years. And apart from that with so many human Furries around who want to get involved…” She glanced at each of them, her golden gaze lingering on Charlie. “You’re a human, right?”

Charlie nodded.

“I love your look,” Taryn purred. Her nostrils dilated ever so slightly, her head ducking toward Charlie. Was she sniffing her? “Does the idea of being chased appeal to you?” she murmured, close to her ear.

Charlie felt heat spreading up her neck. “I’ve really never thought about it before.”

The girl laughed softly. “Maybe now’s the time.”

“Are you one of the organizers?” Charlie asked, crossing her legs and hoping her scent wasn’t giving away her interest.

“I designed the posters and the website.”

Charlie picked one up. It was beautiful, a forest interspersed with images of intertwined bodies, wolf ears and snouts, all kind of ghostly through the trees.

“So this is your work?”

“Yeah. I’m studying graphic design at Motham College.”

“You’re very talented.”

“Thanks. My parents do most of the organizing, with the rest of our pack chipping in now that the event’s gotten so much bigger. It’s a real family-run enterprise.”

Charlie read the information with avid interest.

The Twenty-fifth official Winter Solstice Rut

Hosted by The Hunt pack

Her head jerked up. “Y—you’re Hunts.”

“Yeah, is there something wrong with that?” the girl asked. “We’re a non-feral wolf pack. No links with organized crime. We fund all this out of our family business.”

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