Page 29 of Homecoming

“Wait, I don’t understand. How is it she can’t shift? There must be a mistake, Digby and you, it’s…”

“Because she’s not Digby’s. Evelyn, she’s not Digby’s pup.” Kat stares Darius in the eyesand forces him to focus on her. “She’s yours.”

There’s a momentary silence; a pause in time. Then, as the reality of her wordssinkin, Darius staggers back from the desk.

“That can’t be. I told you before, that can’t be a thing. Kat, you might want that but…” he sighs, “we both know that’s not possible.”

“But it is. I read it.Goddammit, I have to find that book and I will prove to you—she is your pup, but that also means—that she’s only half wolf and now she’s trapped. I did that to her.”

“Kat it’s… it’s fine. It’s alright, we’ll fix this. We’ll find a way—there has to be a mistake.” Darius turns from looking out the window slowly smiles. It’s like a key in a lock clicking open on a box of secrets. “Could she really be mine? You really believe that?”

“Yes. And I know it’s true.” Kat nods. “Evelyn is your pup.”

He gaspsandgrabbing her cheeks, he kisses her. “I have a pup… Really, truly? That’s not a mistake because I couldn’t bear for that…” pushing her back onto the desk, he beams as the enormity of her words sinks in. “Holy fuck!But that can’t be true. I can’t have a pup!”

Kat smiles as she strokes his faceandpressing her head against his chest, she sniffs his scent. The wood of the desk is smooth and cool against her skin. Kat’s face is flushed as her heart beats more rapidly. Darius’ breath now feels unusually warm against her neck. “It's true... You’re her daddy.”

Pausing for breath, Kat stares over Darius's shoulder and something catches her eye in the moonlight outside the window. “What the fuck!” she pushes him back and stepping down from the desk, she goes to the glass and stares out over the lawn. “Fuckin assholes!” she growls loudly in a curse.

Then, before Darius can make any sense of what’s happening, Kat is at the door. Opening it, she strips her shirt, drops to the floor in front of him and in a fast-shuddering moment, she shifts.

The huge silver wolf roars loudly and before he can call “wait”, Luna is down the hallway headed towards the kitchen.

“Fuck!” Darius stares out of the window and as he does, he now notices the matted fur of a skinny hyena leaping fast across the grass. Its clothes are tangled around its body, trailing across the grass as it hurries to disappear back into the hidden safety of the forest.

In the darkness, outlined by the moonlight, shimmers the glistening fur of the large silver wolf. She stands with her head in the air and momentarily hesitates. Taking a long sniff, she lookstothe clouded night sky and releases a sustained howl into the air.

It sends panic through Darius’s bones. “Fuck…” He hurries to zip the front of his pants before he heads quickly down the hallway. Spotting Marco as he wanders towards the living room, he snaps a loud click of his fingers. “Hey… grab Bud and Oz. We need to go outside. Marco…Now!” he snaps the order.

“Oh, uh, Bud and Oz are not here. They’re down at the party with Digby and Zak.”

“Fuck… Alright,c'mon, come with me. Marco, I said,c’monI need you. You’ll have to go after Luna.”

“Holyfuckin'smoly… Wait, you can’t be serious? Darius man, I can’t keep pace with her. If you haven’t forgotten, I only have three legs—she’s afuckin’Luna wolf with four!”

“Stop talking. Now, shut the fuck up and do as I say—go after Luna and stop her from killing thatfuckin’scrawny hyena.”

“What the… Holyfuckin'swiss cheese!” As Marco grapples the buttons of his shirt, he drops the plate from his hand. The white china smashing with a loud bang against the patterned ceramic tiles and as the pastrami and cheese sandwich spills across the floor, he curses loudly.

“Go… I’ll follow!” Darius opens the front door wide and setting Marco’s mottle furred wolf free, he watches at it scampers with an obvious limp across the lawn.

Dariusrunsthroughtheforestand pushes through the dense undergrowth at a relentless pace.

A stiff breeze in the trees buffets him with the heady scent of damp animal fur, and as he breaks through into the clearing, he can hear the increasingly loud growls of snarling wolves interspersed with the begging cry of a fearful man’s voice.

The wolves were fast in their pursuit and Darius parts his lips to take a breath, as hands-on-hips, he stares at Marco’s wolf.

The large three-legged beast is positioned next to Luna as she holds a man gurgling for air pinned beneath her paws. She continues to snarl, her mouth open to reveal a menacing set of sharp teeth between her drooling jaws. The skinny man’s face has a deep scratch and blood is smeared in streaks down his cheeks. Held firm to the ground, the man calls in desperation for help.

With Luna’s snarling snap of teeth, Darius’ mouth drops. He swallows his immediate concern and raises a hand, offering reassurance. “Whoa…c’mon, don’t do this.” He stares deep into the wolf’s emerald green eyes before he sees Marco shift from a mottled wolf to a limping man who falls to the ground.

Hearing the soft thud of his body against the leaf-covered soil, Luna’s head whips around and her bright eyes focus on him.

“Kat…” Darius calls, trying to distract her. “Don’t do this.”

“What took you sofuckin’long?” Marco snaps, rubbing the stump of his leg as he searches for a branch to use as support. “You’regettin’slow in your old age,” he smirks as he and Darius stare at each other.

“We need to do something. We can’t let her kill him or we’re going to have more than a small problem on our hands—we’re going to have every damn clan of hyenas in the area taking it out on the commune. They’re going to want blood.”

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