He lowered his head allowing his body to stiffen; his fur was fluffed around his shoulders and neck. His tail held stiff out. He didn’t answer her as she spoke. That would give him away and this was only to be meant to be a lesson. He had no intentions of harming her and even his wolf for the time being was silent. He had been for a few days now which only mean that he would come back with a vengeance when he did rear his ugly head again. However for now, Felix was taking advantage of the situation. He could smell the fear wafting off of her in waves and could imagine he little heart rapidly beating against his chest. His jaws parted and a pink tongue slipped out from between his teeth and in that moment she sprang to her feet and went running.

It was a surprise.

The sound stopped as eyes watched her briskly run away. It immediately made the predator in him lurk with the need for a chase but he stamped that down fairly quick. She ran blindly and it only gave him time to duck and stalk after her. Eventually though he spied her falling and then falling for a second time. She gave a soft sound of pain which caused his ears to prod forwards. She was shifting around in the grass looking for him. Once he was sure she wasn’t moving around anymore that was when he approached her. She looked hurt, grasping onto her ankle with a pained but fearful look.

He approached slowly allowing her to clearly see him. He stepped with precision, weight shifting from one paw to the next until he was literally towering over her. A soft growl escaped his throat. Lowering his head as fangs still remained bore as he drew it close to her, lips suddenly fell and a pink tongue soon slipped out licking at her face. ”Are you alright?” he asked, his voice cascading into her mind. ”I just wanted you to see being out here by yourself in the dark is a bad idea.” He backed up a bit and allowed his rump to fall into a sit. The large black wolf stared at her with a mix array of golden blue eyes as ears sat tall on his skull. Compared to the shadows around him he almost blended it if it weren’t for the glow of his eyes. ”Why are you out here alone? You are lucky it was me.”

He couldn’t say he was sorry for scaring her as that was his prime intention. He wanted to scare her and much to his dismay he found that he kind of liked that he did. However…. ”I didn’t mean for you to have fallen and gotten hurt.” he said with a voice was low and his ears tipped backward in an apologetic response. The fear was an easy thing to get sucked into as that was how he had hunted. How he had managed to nab different girls for his job. Though he was no longer working like that anymore it was hard to cut old habits. He ran on doing those trickery type of things that it sculpted him into the man before her.

pretty was the word she described him as which made him chuckle. ”You sure I am not more menacingly handsome?” Besides if she knew the true personality that was on the other side of this form she wouldn’t think him to be so ‘pretty’. That was a dark form that even he couldn’t control.

She spoke and he tipped his head for a moment as she said she was just trying to give herself a little ‘pick me up’. ”Tired? Have you not been sleeping well?” he asked. That was a little strange as he never knew Larkin to be the type to not just sleep anywhere. Then again she was also the type of person who seemed to do better on physical contact. Was she scared of something? ”Did the fresh air help?” He was concerned even though she probably couldn’t see it. He was more puzzled and attempting to figure out a solution. His mind going into overdrive and as he was about to ask another question she seemed suddenly uneasy. Ears pitched forwards as rump lifted off of the ground about the time she twisted from him and let it go. His lips drew upwards in a human mock of a ‘disgusted’ face as he stepped backward. The bad thing about being in this form, his sense of smell was so much stronger and so he could clearly smell all the contents that were in her stomach.

”We should probably get you to a healer to look at that ankle of yours. I know one that is close by.” He didn’t think she could get up and walk easily and his clothes was a bit of a jog west of them. ”You wanna lean on me and let me go get my clothes or you want to wait here?” he asked her.

He stood still as she used him to pull herself up. His muscles tightening beneath his thick black coat as she measured her weight on her foot to keep her balance. ”If you need to lean on me, Larkin, please do so. Don’t be stubborn.” His voice was a little more demanding this time – sort of an order. He didn’t need her to be foolish while trying to walk on a sprained ankle that could likely break should she step down the wrong way. It was one thing to be prideful but being a fool in the process only made things harder. He felt her fingers in his coat and it gave a bit of a tingly sensation one in which he wasn’t entirely sure he liked or disliked. ”Too bad I am not a horse, huh.” The tone was a little bitter feeling a little angst in not being able to help her better but he supposed that was just the luck of the draw he was given.

Deciding from there that they would walk at a steadier pace. He moved allowing her to use him to catch her balance if she needed to as they head towards his clothes. It would feel good to switch back again. He didn’t like being a wolf for long. He could feel the angstiness coming on from the situation and soon it could trigger something he didn’t want to happen. The wolf could get too excited and act up so to him this meant the sooner they got to the clothes the better. She spoke about not wanting to bother anyone and he grunted. ”I want you checked out.” he said. ”so just humor me besides I have been meaning to make a visit to her anyways. This gives me a reason to go.”

He hadn’t visited the old healer in years and she would be excited to hear he was back around for a little while. She was probably the only one in the area that liked him besides Eriu. All those years back he was far more of a troublemaker than he ever could have been now but that was primarily due to age. ”She would be disappointed in hearing I was so close and didn’t at least stop in and say hi.” But social interactions like that, even if they were old friends, made him feel awkward. He didn’t know how to have an idle conversation without making himself be hard to be around. Besides Larkin would give him an excuse to think about her rather than attempting actual conversation. It was easier that way.

Once they reached his clothes, he told her to stand still for a moment before sauntering over to the brush. He didn’t bother asking her to look away if she was looking. She’d seen him naked before numerous times since the cabin incident so it by no means should be a surprise to her. Shifting back into his human form, he grabbed his clothing and pulled it all back on before moving back towards Larkin. ”hop on.” he said and turned to where his back was facing her. ”We can get there quicker.” and risk her not furthering injury.

Once she was on his back, he carried her all the way up through the woods. It took all of about 20 mins to get there but they got there no less. The hunt was tiny but clearly someone was still up and moving around. The door was wide open with warm lights coming from the inside. The smell of a woodstove burning with delicious food cooking and baked good smells on the inside. Quietly and carefully he set Larkin back on her feet and leaned a little to look inside the hut before tapping on the door frame. An older woman peered over towards the two figures. ”Who lingers?” Her large blue eyes were behind large framed glasses as she adjusted them on her nose to better look, standing to her feet and hobbling over. Immediately a squeal of delight escaped her as she exclaimed his name with a quick ushering of the two inside. ”I haven’t seen you in so long, Felix! Since… Since before Renata was born all those years back!” A look of embarrassment came over his face which she took as a cue to turn her attention elsewhere. ”And who is this young thing!” she immediately went to investigate Larkin, looking her over and nodding with great approval.

”She’s my---…. Larkin.” He said. The old woman looked at him for a moment with a grin. ”She’s your Larkin?” Eyes glinted with amusement before looked back towards the girl. ”Well hello Felix’s Larkin. A pleasure to meet you! I am Delphie! What brings you two here!?”

”it’s doing beautifully!” she said smiling though as they continued speaking their voices drift to the back of his mind like background noises.

P-Pregnant?

It wasn’t like he hadn’t experienced this before. He dealt with Eriu when she had gone through her pregnancy and stuck it out no matter how moody or dreadful she could be during it but it wasn’t hard then. It was when Renata was born. That was when that ravenous hunger had started. He could feel the wolf rubbing beneath his skin and making sounds of delight. This was something he wasn’t going to be able to stop. This was something he now wanted to work towards. His eyes lift though when she spoke his name but he missed all of what she said. ’I uh--... Mm..” he wasn’t sure what to say and he could tell he wasn’t helping the matter. Even Delphie gave him a scolding look. He couldn’t even really react to her scolding gaze as he felt internally shut down, numb. If he let emotion show what if it was the wrong one? What if he gets out and lets intentions be known. The babe nor Larkin was safe.

She was going to go. She was going to leave just like Eriu did and he would be left with the mess they both created. A large mess he would have to face alone… again. What the hell did he just do? Why did he have to ruin it?

”I-... “ his brows furrowed as he couldn’t really focus on either of the women. ”Excuse me.” and with that, he shuffled from his spot and head out the door. He needed to breathe. He needed to calm down the incessant scratching and pulling he was feeling. The wolf wanted out to listen to draw his nose right up Larkin’s skirt. Slipping out of the hut he ran so neither of them could stop him.