Wolf’s Bane

“Hallooo? … Big brother, there’s nobody here…”All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

“Here I am… Good morning, Katya… Hello Macky…”

The teenager and the young lass swiftly looked towards him and both their eyes grew wide…

“WHOA! You’re so biiiiig!”

“Uhhh, thank you, Katya, just let me finish dressing up, alright…”

“Wow Eron… I didn’t realize… your muscles are… big… I mean, really biiiig!”

The tall muscled man had his wide back turned towards the kids since he was hiding his blushing face as he was putting on a black sleeveless runner’s shirt. Thankfully, he already had his jeans on and he just let his heart rate calm down and his blushing to abate before turning around to face the children.

“Thanks guys, but I don’t think I’m that muscular. You should see my male bestie! Now he’s got really massive biceps and a huge bulging chest and…”

“Oh, but I think you’ve got great-looking muscles, Eron. Yours are even bigger than Jack’s!”

“Ahaha, just don’t let Jack hear that, Katya, or he might get jealous of Eron.”

“Hehe, I got to agree with Macky since he’s my boss and I don’t want him thinking bad thoughts about me… uhhhh… I mean, I don’t want to get him mad at me for that,” The Charmer said as he finally turned around to face the kids as he grabbed his leather jacket from the pile and proceeded to put it on. “Ok, here I am.”

Admittedly, he was still horrified at the thought of still being naked when the kids barged into his room as he turned around and smiled at them. Good thing that his wolf speed was even faster than a typical werewolf’s abilities due to his training, regular practice, and assassin experience.

Besides his Alpha blood, which was a part of him that he’s almost forgotten, though not exactly by accident, was another factor for his superior lycan skills…

The little girl ran straight into him, arms outstretched. She bumped into his legs, her face landing on his shirt which was covering his well-defined lower abdomen, while the happy lass hugged his hips with all her might.

“Oh hey! Hahaha! Easy there, you might hurt yourself, Kat.”

“You have a hard tummy too, Eron, and it’s not as tough as Jack’s when I hug him. And I don’t think he’ll get mad about your musk-kles because he likes you a lot!”

“Uhhhh… yeahhhh… thanks Katya. But I’d rather we don’t talk about that when he’s around, ok?”

“Ok, that’s fine with me… Oh, I came here to show you my favorite plushie toy! I’ve got lots and I’ll show you the rest of them later but right now I want you to see Wuff Wuff!”

And just like that, his view of Katya was completely covered by a large stuffed toy. The first thing he noticed was that the light brown/reddish hue of the wolf plushie’s fur was very similar to his own hair color.

Then he noticed the eyes of the furry wolf toy…

His thoughts: How the hell did the manufacturers of this plushie get a hold of plastic optics that look like my own hazel eyes? It is even more green than brown which is exactly like mine!

Eron reached out and took the little girl in his arms, carrying her up in one smooth movement. She was now face to face with him, still holding the toy wolf which easily was more than half her size, and said the exact words that he wanted to say.

“He looks just like you…”

More of Eron’s thoughts: And it has to be a damned wolf plushie, too.

“He’s got the same color of hair…”

Eron, you gotta wonder at this. It’s too much of a coincidence…

“You both have the same eyes…”

I just wonder what would happen if she ever found out about me being a werewolf…

“You’re both nice and friendly and huggable…”

Or if the other kids find out…

“And I really, really like him…”

Damn, what if Diwa finds out…? Awww hell, no…

“Wuff Wuff is my ultimate bestest friend in the world…”

Especially since everyone seems to be afraid of wolves in these parts…

“And I want you and him to be friends, too…”

No, I can’t… I mean even Jack hates those wolves!

“Can you please be friends too? Please…”

I think I really need to find out more about the village’s wolf stories.

“I know he would love to be friends with you…”

And I think I know who I should start asking…

“So, will you be friends with him, Eron? Puh-leeeeasssse…”

Eros reined in his internal thoughts and focused on the little girl that he was carrying. Fortunately, that was another skill that he had. Somehow, he could have these monologues in his head and yet he could hear the conversations that were being spoken around him.

It was a very useful skill for an assassin, However, he found it endearing to be able to use it on his newly found family.

Family… And there was that feeling again!

“Ok, OK! Let me talk with him on the bed. I’d like us to get to know each other better. Is that all right, Katya?”

The little girl nodded then pushed her Wuff Wuff towards Eron’s chest. The man then took the soft plushie toy and walked towards the bed.

“Come and join us, Macky. We need you as a witness.”

“Ok,” the young boy said with a grin then bounded towards the bed, sitting there before Eron and his sister were able to reach him. “Come on, slowpokes. We still need to have breakfast.”

Eron laughed as he placed Katya on the bed right beside her brother, then he put the stuffed toy on his lap, facing him. “Hi, Eron! Welcome to our house. I’m Wuff Wuff and I’m Katya’s bestest friend, and I want to be your friend too!”

The little girl giggled and the young boy laughed as they watched Eron move the stuffed toy as if it was alive and talking. Of course, the new renter was using a cuter, scratchier version of his own voice for Wuff Wuff to use.

“Hi there, Wuff Wuff. I’m so glad to meet you and everyone else here in the house,” continued Eron while quickly shifting back to using his own friendly tenor voice. “Yes, I would like to be your friend but I was wondering, can you help me with something?”

“Sure Eron, anything for you as long as you will help my bestest friend.”

Eron then looked at Katya and then whispered back to the stuffed wolf, “You know, I would really like to help her by giving her advice but I don’t know how she’ll take it, Wuff Wuff. Can you tell her what I’m about to say?”

“Sure Eron, what is it?”

At this point, Katya sat up straight and looked at the muscular renter intently, her attention now fully focused on the amateur puppeteer.

“Can you tell her that she shouldn’t be running into other people’s rooms without knocking first? And she should wait for the person to open the door or say ‘come in’ before she enters?”

“Ooooohhh, OK Eron. But she’s right there, maybe you can talk to her about it. I’ll ask her first, okay?”

“All right, you can go ahead and do that, Wuff Wuff. Thank you.”

Eron then turned the wolf plushie towards Katya and started to make that rough but cute voice again, “Bestie Katya, Big Brother Eron has something important to say to you. Is it okay if he tells you now? Because he really cares about you.”

The smiling lass nodded, then scrambled over to the muscled lumberjack’s lap and whispered at him, “I heard you and Wuff Wuff talking and I understand. But what about the time when we had to save Mama from that bad man in our house? We didn’t knock on the door then but we saved her.”

“And that was a very brave thing you and your siblings did back then, Katya. But when it’s someone you know who’s in their room, you really should knock first, OK? Then wait for them to answer. It’s the right thing to do, alright. I hope you understand…”

Both children were now smiling so warmly and widely at him and he could feel their agreement and acceptance of what he said. Soon they would both be hugging him and promising to always knock before entering any door.

Somehow, that just made their day…

All of them…

Including Wuff Wuff…

Inside Eron’s head: Hey, I guess I can really be a part of this family after all.

Within Macky’s mind: Yeah, I think he’ll be great for us… and Mama.

From Katya’s thoughts: He’s really like my Wuff Wuff. Too bad he’s not a real wolf…