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Subject: {ASSM} NEW:The Hunting Moon 2/3 (MM,zoo,viol,rape)
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 10:10:04 -0400
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The Hunting Moon.Two Author:'Mischa Laurent'.  Email:
thedarkvoice@hotmail.com

   Stephan slumped down onto the narrow bed, his hands hanging loosely
between his thighs.  Michael had gone with the villagers to try to make
some sense of their accusations, their conviction in the evil of one of
their own.

   Stephan was grateful to be left to his own devices, shown to this small
building that would be their shelter, the town too small to support an inn
with rooms to rent.  It was tiny and musty, empty since the death of its
owner some two winters' past.  So, the boy who had conducted him here had
told him.  Stephan was in shock, every nerve ending screaming a warning
that he should leave this place.  Disbelieving of the chaos life had become
in so small a space of time.

   A werewolf!  It was utter rubbish of course, to believe that the human
now imprisoned in the blacksmiths' stone barn, was any such thing.  The
carters' boy was no shifter!  He had not the taint, the lupine smell that
Stephan would have sniffed out in an instant were the accusations true. 
The boy was innocent of that, at least.  But what to do?  Stephan sighed,
keeping a wary eye on the open door.  He could not tell Michael that the
boy was no changeling!  How could he explain such certainty on his part?

   The townsmen had no doubt of his guilt.  Found in the woods at the rear
of the barn from which Fay had been taken.  Creeping about, crouching
behind the shrubs and running away when the men came to search.  Wolf hairs
caught on the wood of the barn door and blood that stained the earth inside
the byre.

   Stephan did not want to stay here.  But leaving too abruptly would raise
more than eyebrows among such superstitious folk.  So too, he had to
consider the boy, Alain.  Not that he cared one way or the other for the
carters' son, but, was the lad punished as a werewolf; it would mean
further predation by humankind on his kin in the hills.

   If there were any way he could clear the boy of that charge, then he was
bound to do so.  He would wait and see what Michael had to say when he
returned from council with the village elders.

   **

   The barn was huge and virtually impregnable to man and beast.  But the
girls' father insisted that the doors had been left open the night she
disappeared to help cool the space after the heat of the day.  So it was
possible that some creature could have entered and snatched her away. 
Stephan prowled the entrance, looking for any sign left behind.

   But the footprints of the searching men had scuffled away any remaining
evidence and he was forced to return to where Michael and the council
elders stood, impatiently waiting for them to adjourn to the interior of
the barn.

   He had already seen the incriminating sign of the wolf.  That which the
hunters had found caught in the door were the grey and brown outer hairs of
a wolfs' coat all right.  To Stephan's great relief, Michael did not seem
truly convinced of the boy's guilt.  He had insisted on seeing the evidence
with his own eyes, which is why they were here today and had also told the
elders that he would countenance no further mistreatment of the prisoner
until his guilt or innocence had been firmly established either way.

   Therefore, the boy was being looked after rather better, Stephan
suspected, than he had been prior to their arrival.  He was fed twice daily
and given treatment for his wounds, although there was an armed man present
whenever someone went into the cage.

   In private, Michael had spoken to Stephan of his fear that he was
unqualified to make such a judgement, never having encountered a situation
involving the possibility of the devils' work before.  Stephan had looked
deep into Michael's brown eyes and seen the doubt there.  Speaking with
gentle affection, he had endeavoured to reassure his friend that his faith
and his innate honesty would lead him to the right decision.  Grateful for
the support, Michael had surprised him with a brief, yet powerful hug that
had almost been Stephan's undoing.  Burdened with the need to confess, he
had fled the hut, wishing with futile fervour that he could shed his
feelings along with his skin and run wild and forgetful into the forest.

   The conference between Michael and the council came to a temporary end
and they broke apart, moving into the barn as the farmer opened the door
wide to allow the light to penetrate.  Inside, he indicated to them the
spot where Fay had been tending the cow and the patch of dirt where he had
found the pool of blood.  Michael knelt, Stephan beside him, to examine the
dark stains on the beaten earth floor.  Even before he scratched up a
little of the dirt to crumble between his fingers, Stephan could smell that
it was not human in origin.  But he pretended to look and to sniff,
offering the sample to Michael who did the same.

   "I cannot tell anything from this." Michael complained.  "I am afraid
that I am city bred.  Perhaps my companion can tell more?"

   Stephan could, but to say so would be unwise.  Instead, he pretended to
think.

   "I cannot to know for sure, either." he began.  "Blood is blood and
telling one kind from another, impossible." He turned and looked toward
where the farmer stood with the members of the town council and asked, "All
we can do here is eliminate any other possibilities.  Tell me, farmer.  Do
you slaughter in this barn?"

   The farmer shrugged.  "Sometimes.  Chickens mostly.  They roost in here
at night and it is easier to catch them for the pot if I just shut the
doors after the stock are out in the fields."

   "And have you dressed for the pot recently?" Stephan asked politely.

   "Aye." The farmer scratched his head, thinking.  "Day she was took."

   "But I do my slaughter over there," he pointed to an empty stall with a
wooden block and axes hanging on the wall.  "Not in the cow byre."

   Stephan stood, stretching legs cramped by the crouch.  "But this could
be the blood of a chicken, yes?  If one ran off after you laid the axe
across its neck?"

   The farmer agreed that it could well be so and the council nodded,
impressed with the young mans' thinking.  Michael was even more impressed.

   "I'd not have thought of that.  Well done, Stephan!" He turned to the
men.  "We'd best discount the blood as evidence, then.  Agreed?"

   Stephan waited until they had finished before speaking again.  "We
should consider another possibility that the blood raises, if you please?"

   "And what is that, Stephan?" Michael asked.

   "The girl is gone, to be sure.  But if the blood is not hers and there
was none on the boy, then the possibility exists that she may not be dead
at all, but rather just gone, or taken."

   "Taken!" As a group, they were shocked at the thought, Stephan could
see. Mouths dropped open as brains began to digest this new idea.

   "Aye." He said easily.  "Perhaps a stranger passing through, looking for
shelter for the night, found something more to his liking than hay and a
roof over his head.  Begging your pardon for my hard words, Farmer." He
nodded his apologies.

   The farmer shrugged, unsentimental.

   "But the wolf?" The blacksmith put in.  "What of the hairs on the door?"

   Stephan's' turn to shrug, which he did, leaning back against the heavy
barn door.

   "A coat, perhaps?  Or a travellers' cloak and bedding?"

   This brought on much loud discussion, which Stephan tuned out in favour
of his own thoughts.  All of the things he had suggested were possible, not
born merely of his desire to divert suspicion away from the wolfkin. 
Still, for his own peace of mind, he decided, he would make a secret foray
into the hills at night and find out if there were any wolfkin in the
vicinity.  Perhaps, if there were, he could discover what had happened to
the girl.

   If she had fallen prey to human or wolf, or even a combination of the
two, like himself, a pack would know.  And, in such an isolated area, there
were bound to be packs roaming.  Ordinary wolves would need to be facing
starvation to risk the habitations of man, but it was not unheard of for
wolfkin to seduce away mortal women, making use of their beguiling human
form.

   Stephan heard his name mentioned and returned his attentions to the
council and to Michael.  They had decided to call a meeting for that night
and to question the boy, a halfwit by all reports, but still availed of
human speech and memory.  Whatever his motive for lurking behind the
farmer's barn, he was the sole witness to what had transpired and as such
should be asked for his version of events.  The suggestion from Michael
that maybe kindness and gentle questioning would yield fruit where beatings
and threats of burning had not, was met with enthusiasm and Stephan guessed
that no one had bothered before to ask the boy for his story.

   ** Michael was gone to the town centre and would not return that night.
The council felt it too dangerous, if there be some stranger lingering
about, to allow their new minister to walk the fair distance back to the
hut on the edge of the forest.  Once Michael realised that Stephan's
decision not to attend the meeting could not be altered, he made him
promise to bar the door after he and his escort were gone.

   Stephan agreed readily enough.  Barring the door would keep all at bay
until he returned at dawn.  He made a mound in his blankets in case anyone
should look through the tiny window at the back of the hut to check on him
and, stripping off his clothes and hiding them beneath the cot, he shifted,
making his exit through that same window an easy task.

   Keeping his consciousness about him, Stephan made his way into the
hills, nose to the ground, casting for wolf scent.  The forest dwellers
about him squawked and trembled in their holes as he passed but he ignored
them, intent on his search.  It took no small amount of time to gain the
higher peaks.  The moon was full risen by the time he came to a break in
the trees.  A meadow stretched out before him, grasses shaded in silver and
grey rustling in the night breeze.  He raised his head and whuffled, blue
eyes reflecting the starlight, enjoying for a moment the enlivening of his
senses that meant so much to his kind.  An answering whoof came from the
trees and a pack burst into view from the far side of the clearing, the
alpha male coming at him in full charge.

   Stephan trotted further into the meadow, eschewing the protection of the
trees.  The alpha's ruff bristled; his teeth shining sharp and deadly as he
drew back his top lip.  His tail was curled up and stiff as he raced to
attack the intruder.  He was magnificent, a master wolf in the prime of his
life and Stephan did not hesitate as he drew closer, dropping onto his
haunches and rolling over, exposing his belly and wagging his tail.

   The alpha slowed his charge and approached more slowly.  Stiff-legged
and wary he drew close enough to touch, dropping his head to Stephan's
groin to sniff, growling low and deep into his chest.  It was not enough,
Stephan knew, the decision to attack, to run him off, was only moments
away. Stephan was still adolescent in wolf terms, but old enough that his
presence as a solo male in these hills could only be viewed as a challenge
to the alpha's authority.

   He shifted; smoothly guiding his bone and sinew through the change.  If
this pack were mere wolves, this semblance of humanity would reassure them
of his pacific intentions.  If they were also shifters, he might manage to
glean from them the information he needed as well as divert the alphas'
hostile intent.  At the shifting, the alpha lifted his head, watching
Stephan with less villainy in his expression than he had shown previously.
But his stance did not alter; almost on top of Stephan's prone body with
his tail extended, and when the shifting was complete, he again dropped his
head to take in Stephan's scent.

   Stephan spread his thighs in subjugation, the males' questing nose
lifting his sacs and pushing aside his member as he snuffled.  Satisfied,
the alpha raised his head again.  He made a soft sound in the back of his
throat and the rest of the pack approached.  Stephan did not move to rise,
waiting to see what would happen next.  The haughty blue eyes, shining
brightly above the livid scar on one cheek, regarded him steadily for a
moment, drawing him in.  And then the alpha shifted, not as easily as
Stephan had done, but smoothly nonetheless.

   The man now crouched before him was as pale as the moon, his russet hair
a beacon in the dark.  He had none of the suns' colour that Stephan
enjoyed, proof of his suspicion that this one did not often shift,
preferring wolfskin to manskin.

   The pack yipped their greetings until a soft warning growl from the
alpha's throat silenced them.  He looked at Stephan with a cold and
arrogant expression.

   "What do you here?" He asked finally, his voice rough from disuse. 
Stephan lay unmoving on the damp grass, mindful that this pretence at
courtesy could end any moment.  He was an intruder, wolfkin or not, and
this was a dangerous way to attempt introduction.

   "I come to ask a boon of wolfkin." He told him.  "There may be trouble
coming from the houses of men below and I would prevent it if I could."

   The pack, arranged around him, whuffled their approval of his respectful
tone.  Even the alpha seemed to mellow for a moment.

   "What boon does the cub ask?" The alpha asked him.

   Stephan knew to ignore the insult implied by the use of the word cub. 
Any anger on his part could earn him a savaging he would not forget.  He
bowed his head once before speaking again.

   "A woman was taken from the house of the men." He told them.  "Fur was
found.  Blood was found.  Men believe wolfkin did take her.  I come to ask,
with respect, if this is so?"

   The yipping resumed as the pack discussed his words.  Stephan remained
focused on the alpha, who still crouched between his thighs.  The male
seemed to consider his words and their implications, finally nodding his
head, which brought silence down on the meadow once more.

   "No woman of men seen here." He said slowly.  "Wolfkin take no woman."

   Stephan was relieved to hear these words.  He nodded and bowed his head,
preparing to give his thanks and his promise to leave their territory. 
Before he could do so, words were spoken at the rear of the pack and just
as quickly silenced, but Stephan caught them and looked to the alpha for
explanation.

   "The Mad One?"

   The alpha looked angry and commanded the pack back into the trees. 
Stephan watched them go with trepidation, uneasy at the thought of being
left alone with this cold creature.  Once they were gone, the alpha turned
his steady, disturbing gaze back to Stephan.  He seemed peaceful enough,
but there was a light in his eyes that Stephan did not like.  He waited for
the pack leaders' next words, which were slow in coming.  The staring, a
curious mixture of contempt and speculation seemed to go on forever.

   "You have had your boon, cub.  Begone from this place."

   The male stood and went to turn away, to follow his pack.  He halted his
steps at Stephan's fervent plea.

   "Please." Stephan knew he had nothing to lose by begging, wishing he had
his tail to beat upon the ground as well.  "Please, tell me of this 'Mad
One.'"

   The alpha turned and sat again, looking pleased with Stephan's abject
tones.  It was not only the need to know that drove Stephan's plea.  He had
missed the company of others like himself more than he had known.  The
thought of being abandoned on this hillside in human skin was a terrible
one and he sought to delay it.

   "One question.  One boon." The alpha reiterated.

   He cocked his head to one side in sudden query.  "Pay you the price for
more?"

   A savage grin split his face as he spoke, a devilish cast to his fine
features.  This alpha, Stephan realised, was not averse to a little
mischief and tormenting of the young.  He had seen it at work in the
absolute obedience he commanded of his pack, but had not recognised it for
what it was.

   Unable to speak, a mingling of fear and curiosity staying his tongue,
Stephan nodded.  The alpha smiled again, triumph and satisfaction mingled.
He rose onto his hands and knees, mimicking the stance in which he was most
comfortable, and came closer to where Stephan lay.  A hand nudged at
Stephan's leg and he knew instantly what it was the alpha wanted.

   Rolling over onto his belly, Stephan waited, the unsheathed member
between his legs beginning to twitch and rise long before the alpha moved.

   It was a shaft of pure pain.  Stephan grateful at least that the pack
leader had remembered his human form and moistened himself before mounting.
He endured a white-hot spiral of pain, the scratches from the grasping
hands on his hips the least of his torments.  Scrabbling for purchase on
the wet grass, he fought the urge to scream and then, at last, as the agony
subsided into joint pleasure, to bite back the yips of joy that rose in his
throat as the assault drew to climax.

   Stephan collapsed onto the meadow grass as the alpha withdrew his
support.  He listened to the information being given in such dispassionate
tones, concentrating hard in order to hear over the pounding of his heart
and the rasping of his lungs as they fought to draw in much needed air.  By
the time Stephan had regained full control of his senses, there was neither
sign nor scent of the wolves.  He was alone in the clearing, lying on his
belly in the long grass, the only remaining evidence of what had transpired
a moist patch on the earth where his seed had spilled.

   He levered himself into a sitting position; a wry smile coming to his
lips as the dull ache in his behind peaked and then subsided.  It had been
worth it, he decided.  The chance he had taken by transforming and coming
here in such uncertainty, had gained him the information he required and,
he hoped, had gone some way toward slaking his lust.

   Looking up at the night sky, Stephan decided he had no time to venture
into the Mad One's territory this night.  Dawn was not far away and he
needed to be safe in his bed before the sun rose.  The pack leader had
given him directions and, if he went with all speed, he could pay the lone
wolf in the next valley a visit tomorrow night.

   That the pack called this other wolf mad meant little in human terms. 
It did not mean the creature was insane, only that a wolf who chose to live
alone instead of with the pack was considered mad by other wolves.  It
might have little bearing on the girl's disappearance in that sense, but on
the other hand, loneliness could drive even wolfkin to extremes of
behaviour.

   Gathering the remainder of his strength, Stephan shifted, needing the
speed of four legs to make the bottom of the slopes before the birds began
their chorus.  He was fortunate this night; a close examination of the
ground about the hut proved that no one had been near it since the previous
evening and a quick and graceful leap through the small window saw Stephan
transformed and abed before the sun peeked over the trees.

   ------------------------------------------------------

   Brother Michael woke him from his well-earned rest mid-morning.  He was
eager with information gained from the prisoner.  Some of what he had to
relate was easily understood; other portions of the tale were somewhat more
disturbing to Stephan's ears.

   Stephan sat up when Michael shook him awake, drawing the coverings close
about his waist to hide his nakedness when Michael sat himself on the side
of the cot.

   "The lad was terrified, of course." Michael said, raking his hands
through his hair.  "It took a long time

   to get any sense out of him at all.  Their talk of Hell and threats of
burning had almost made him mute.  Not all of what he said was..." he
tapped the side of his head.  "But there was enough to make them see that
you were right.  There was a man at the barn.  The boy saw him."

   Stephan shifted the blankets a little as they dropped with Michaels'
twisting.  "What did he see?" he asked.  "Did the boy say why he was there
in the woods?"

   "A crush." Michael smiled sadly.  Stephan lifted his eyebrows, not
understanding.  "He was sweet on her.  On Fay.  It is sad, really.  The boy
is not as he should be.  Incomplete in the head and never to be allowed to
wed as a result, but that cannot stop the heart."

   Michael sighed at the bittersweet quality of this romantic little tale
and leaned back against the rough timbers of the hut.  Stephan drew his
legs up out of the way as Michael relaxed.  The physical closeness was
still a problem he realised.  Quelling his urges with the little activity
he had been fortunate enough to indulge in last night, had not been
sufficient to ease his longings for this human.

   "He used to watch her often, I gather." Michael went on now he was
comfortable.  "That's why he ran away.  He had been warned off by the
father before, and thought he was going to be punished for disobeying.  But
he saw her go into the barn.  More interesting still, he saw a man follow
her inside.  He could not describe him clearly.  Beyond his height and
narrow build, the darkness of his hair was mentioned, but he seemed certain
of what he saw."

   "Did the man wear a skin of any kind?" Stephan wanted to know.

   "That is the puzzle." Michael frowned suddenly.  "The boy insists that
the man went in behind the girl, but that he saw no one come out.  And that
he heard a wolf howl some short time later.  It does not make sense."

   Stephan saw that it could indeed make sense, if the man who entered the
barn was of wolfkind, but why had the boy not seen the two of them leave?

   Perhaps Alain had turned away at the crucial moment, or some branch of
tree or waving grass hindered his view?  It might have been too dark in the
shadow of the barn at night, but, if the girl had been abducted, why had
she not screamed?"

   Stephan asked this of Michael, his brow furrowed and his clear blue eyes
puzzled.  Michael shrugged, regarding his friend with fondness.  "There is
no telling." He admitted.  "She may even have gone of her own free will.  A
lover, perhaps."

   "Still," Stephan reached down to the bottom of the cot and retrieved his
pants.  "There are a few avenues open to us yet, before we must consider
ourselves bested."

   Michael, seeing that Stephan wished to dress, rose hurriedly from his
place on the bed and Stephan threw back the covers to draw on his clothes.
"What did you have in mind?" He asked, his back turned.

   "That a short foray into the hills on my part might yet turn up a trail.
The woodsmen of this village are good, to be sure, but I am from higher
peaks than this and our methods of tracking are different yet.  I feel that
any search I might make, may yield different results from theirs."

   "Are you certain of this?" Michael turned suddenly, the alarm on his
face washed away by an embarrassed expression when he realised that Stephan
had not finished dressing.  "It could be dangerous, Stephan." he said,
looking away as he blushed.  "The stranger may still be about and, this is
not your worry, but mine.  You need not imperil yourself on behalf of these
people."

   Stephan finished fastening his pants and turned to the bed to lift his
shirt over his arms.  "I do not mind." He averred.  "Such goings on should
concern us all.  And I am well able to care for myself, you need have no
worries of that kind."

   Michael turned back to rely, his words dying in his throat, his face
tight with shock.  "What has happened to you, Stephan?" he gasped.  "Your
back...!"

   Too late, Stephan remembered the grasping fingers of the alpha from the
night before.  The raised red welts were clear to see when he looked over
his shoulder and he searched his mind frantically for an excuse.

   "Brambles." He said hurriedly, finding nothing else on which to blame
the marks.  "Behind the barn yesterday, remember?"

   He pulled the shirt down and tucked it in, hiding the betraying weals.
Michael looked dubious, he did not believe the explanation it was clear to
see, but he pretended to accept it, fighting to hide his disbelief behind a
smile.

   "Of course." He said, the smile not extending to his eyes.  "When will
you go?" He changed the subject but his dark brown eyes watched Stephan
intently.

   "Before evening." Stephan told him, moving over to the table with forced
casualness to take up his breakfast of fruit and bread.  "I would like to
get as far into the woods as I can before darkness falls and thereaby gain
an early start in the searching."

   The rest of the day moved slowly.  Too slowly for Stephan's liking as he
felt Michael's eyes following him everywhere, puzzlement and no small
amount of suspicion written therein.  What does he think?  Stephan wondered
as he watched Michael bend down to speak to one of the village children. 
Not brambles, that was for certain.  Does he think that I have been
indulging in fornication with some villager, or are his suspicions of a
darker ilk?  There was no way of knowing, short of asking outright and this
Stephan was not prepared to do.  Consequently, he longed to be away into
the forest, far from those watchful eyes and the unknowable thoughts that
swam in the mind of the human he cared most about.

   ------------------------------------------------------

   Within the first hour of his search of the higher peaks, Stephan had
found the girl's ravaged body.  No attempt at concealment, just bird-picked
remains discarded in a gully on the side of a scree slope.

   It was the odour that attracted him to the spot, the hunters from the
village would have found no tracks to lead them this way, and the sliding
shale would also have discouraged a thorough search.  The rise he had been
climbing led ever upward, toward the cutting that the alpha male had told
him would take him through into the valley of the Mad One.  That her poor
remains were so close to this entrance was cause for even more suspicion of
this unknown shifter.

   Stephan changed to human form to examine what was left of sad Fay.  No
meal had been made of her young flesh.  At least not by the killer. 
Smaller animals had since dined and insects laid their eggs, but the marks
upon her broken body were not those of hunger.

   The peaks often drew rain that did not fall in the lower valleys and
Stephan was frustrated to discover no trace of lingering scent that might
offer further clues.  Rising to his feet, he looked about him.  Humans
buried their dead, he knew.  Should he leave her here, exposed as she was
to the elements, for her kin to retrieve her?  Or should he cover the body
in a raft of shale and let her rest where she had fallen?  He did not know
and decided to leave her there for Michael to decide.  He climbed the
slope, pulled down some branches from a small, struggling pine tree, and
laid them over the corpse.  Scant protection, but the best he could offer.

   He left her there and continued his climb.  The sun beat down upon his
human skin, stinging, and burning after only a little while, but he did not
shift again, preferring to seek shade and rest for thought, before resuming
his journey.

   The girl had been played with.  Chased and teased, much as any wolf
would sometimes do with prey when hunger was not intense enough.  What
manner of lunacy would lead wolfkin to visit predation on the humans?  No
wolf in his right mind would do such a thing.

   And perhaps therein lay the answer, Stephan thought.  The Mad One.  Was
he truly mad in the fullest sense of the word and could this lead him to
carry away a human girl?  He must know the deadly vengeance he was likely
to bring down upon not only himself, but all of wolfkind.

   But if this were so, why had the girl not cried out?  Stephan sighed. 
The answer to these questions could only be gleaned from one source and it
was past time he stopped his prevarications and went directly to it.

   **

   The valley he sought and entered was a deep channel with steep sides and
the river that had made the cut flowing through its centre.  Heavily wooded
and rich with game, this valley was the perfect place for a lone wolf to
set up residence.

   In wolf form again, Stephan could smell the markings that laid claim to
this territory.  He cast about, head down and trotting along, seeking a
trail that would lead him to the Mad Ones' lair.

   "'Tis a fine day for a scout." A voice rang out from the opposite bank,
causing Stephan to jump and shy in surprise.

   He looked up; tail between his legs, embarrassed at being caught out. 
In human form, his quarry was a handsome proposition.  The dark hair,
streaked with silver at the temples and olive skin cut a fine figure as he
stood across the way, legs planted atop a boulder that had washed down the
stream in some past storm.

   The man leapt down from his perch and stood beside the water, hands on
hips as if waiting.  Stephan regained his senses and shifted, standing up
quickly despite his nakedness, determined to show no further weakness.  "My
apologies." He nodded his head.  "I was intent on your scent trail and not
on your presence."

   "So I noticed." The man grinned.  He dropped his arms from his hips and
came across the stream, leaping from stone to stone with casual grace and
ending his journey on the sunlit grass close to Stephan.

   "Now you have found me, what can I do for you?" He asked.  Stephan
looked him over with care.  He did not seem mad, but who could tell?  The
light in his blue eyes was merry and friendly, Stephan could discern no
hint of displeasure at this invasion of his domain.

   "The leader of the pack across the hills told me I could find you here."
Stephan told him evenly.  "There has been trouble in the village below and
I am trying to avert problems for the wolfkin hereabouts."

   "Ah." The man-wolf said.  "Teras sent you did he?  Probably hoped I
would go for your throat and thus save him the bother.  He's not one for
competition that lad.  Trouble in the village, you say.  I assume you are
speaking about the girl?"

   Stephan was astonished at this openness, not to mention his knowledge of
the reason behind Stephan's mission.  "If Teras is his name, then I suspect
you are right in your thoughts.  He did not seem to me to be the most... 
hospitable of fellows."

   This assertion brought forth a rich laugh.  "Aye.  You have the right of
it there.  I bet he tried to mount you.  Did you let him?" This last was
accompanied by a tilt of the head and a cheeky grin; Stephan found himself
responding in kind.

   "Aye.  I did.  But only because I felt the need."

   Nodding his understanding the man turned away; the casual presentation
of his back to Stephan, displaying a certain amount of trust.

   "Follow me, young one.  Let us repair to a location more comfortable and
more conducive to conversation.  'Tis not often I get visitors and I am
determined to enjoy this rare opportunity, in spite of the reason behind
it."

   * They did not go far, for which Stephan was grateful.  He could feel
his shoulders and back turning red from the sun's rays and was happy when
they halted beneath a canopy of willows.  It seemed his host had set up his
camp in this place.

   There was evidence of habitation going back many moons, packs of goods,
and a sturdy rock hollow for a fire.  Behind the trees, a cliff gave
protection from the worst of the rains and Stephan could see the darker
places in the rock wall that indicated caves for wintering in.  Altogether
a most pleasant place to live.

   At his host's invitation he lowered himself onto the log that
substituted for seating and accepted his offering of cool water to quench
his thirst.  The Mad One stood over him, looking down as he drank his face
unreadable with the sun behind him.

   "Better?" He enquired, when Stephan was done.  Not waiting for the
answer, he went on, "My name is Dirk, may I enquire as to yours?"

   "Stephan.  Thank you for the drink, Dirk.  And for your patience with my
invasion."

   Dirk waved a negligent hand, seemingly unconcerned with the formalities.
He joined Stephan on the ground, dropping neatly onto the grass at
Stephan's feet.  "No matter." he said.  "So, you enjoyed Teras attentions,
did you?  He is feisty that one.  Did you see his scar?" Stephan remembered
the livid mark below Teras' eye and nodded.  "I gave him that.  Got a
little above himself.  Tried the same trick on me.  I soon disabused him of
the notion.  Trying to mount his elders!" Dirk coughed in disgust.  But
you? You're lucky he didn't rip out your throat."

   "I felt the situation was worth the risk." Stephan told him.  "If
mankind comes to these mountains to hunt, all of wolfkin are in equal
danger."

   "True.  True." Dirk nodded.  He cocked his head to one side; his eyes
alight with some emotion that Stephan did not recognise.  "But," he
continued, "if that is the case and you are so concerned about the impact
of a hunt upon your kin, then I feel I must ask you..."

   "What?" Stephan could not make out why he suddenly felt a cold chill
across his skin.

   "...if you feel so strongly about it." Dirk went on.  "Why did you kill
her?"

   -----------------------------------------------------h-

   A cold chill swept down Stephan's backbone as the words impacted his
consciousness.

   His first instinct was to scream a denial, but Dirk's calm demeanour and
the confidence that ran deep through his shocking words, stilled Stephan's
tongue.

   The chill of the shock left him, replaced by a heat that fired his face
red as he struggled with his swirling brain to make sense of the offhand
accusation.  Managing to find the barest semblance of words, he choked out,
"What?  What do you mean?"

   "Mean?  Why, only that I saw you with her.  With Fay." He tilted his
head to one side in characteristic lupine gesture, his face calm, and
considering.  "Why?  Don't you remember?"

   Stephan could only shake his head, not as a negative, but in confusion.
The casual condemnation went on, each word driving spikes of pain further
into Stephan's brain.

   "Ah.  I see that you do not.  Not such a surprise when I think about it.
What were you doing?  Suppressing thought?  The young so often do.  I know
I used to."

   He leaned back on his elbows, as relaxed as if he were discussing the
weather or some other trivia.  Waving one hand elegantly through the air,
he continued,

   "It's fun, I suppose.  To allow the wolf full rein.  Escape all your
troubles, that kind of thing.  But one can get into the most awful trouble
if it becomes a habit.  That's why I rarely indulge in it myself, these
days." His keen eyes met Stephan's, taking in the dilated pupils and the
overall attitude of shock.

   "You don't remember it, do you?"

   "No.  I mean...  I cannot have.  I did not know her.  Wasn't there..."
His voice trailed off from this verbal explosion and he sank into thought.

   It was possible.  Hard to accept, but true nonetheless.  They had been
within a day's ride of the hamlet the night Fay had disappeared.  A night,
like so many others during their travels, when Stephan had felt pressured
by his feelings for Michael and had taken to the woods as soon as night
fell.  As a wolf, he could easily have covered the distance.  Covered it,
and then what?  Met the girl?  Charmed her out into the woods, to torment
and to kill?  It was all too horridly plausible.  But how did Dirk know all
this?  Stephan managed to ask.

   Dirk's answering smile was a chilling thing to see and, having seen it;
Stephan wondered almost hysterically how anyone could mistake this creature
for anything other than the lupine predator that he was.

   "She liked a bit of the rough, did sweet Fay." Dirk grinned.  "I was
romancing her myself.  On my way down to the barn that night for a bit of
a...  meeting."

   "But you beat me to it lad.  No hard feelings on that score.  Not a
great one for the lengthy seduction, are you.  Right in there and sweeping
her away.  I don't suppose you remember if she was any good or not?  No? 
Never mind, I am sure she was.  I certainly had her primed and ready. 
She'd have put on a good show for you, I'll wager."

   Dirk gave an exaggerated yawn that showed off his sharp canine teeth to
perfection and rose from the ground.

   "Almost supper time." he said, looking at the late afternoon sky. 
"You'll stay?  Of course, you will.  Too late to be heading back down now."

   Not waiting for any response from Stephan, he moved away to rummage
through his stores, searching for the makings of a meal, no doubt.  Stephan
sat where he was, unable to move.  His heart beat rapidly in his chest and
he could not seem to catch his breath.  His mind raced as he frantically
searched it for a memory, any memory that might tell him what he had done
that night.

   When it came, it was shocking.  A hint of feminine laughter, of swaying
hips that might have been too rich an enticement to resist in his confusion
over Michael.  The faintest memories of bounding flight, a nose full of
scents and a yellow moon above.  He could recall blood and joy, ripping
sounds and the full rich taste of fresh meat in his jaws, but nothing more
specific.  This was a nightmare from which he could not seem to awaken! 
That he had it in him to do such a thing, Stephan had no doubt.  It was his
birthright, a part of him as natural as his love of the wilds, but would he
do it?  That remained the unanswerable question.  Dirk could.  Stephan had
no trouble imagining the older man teasing and enticing a young girl.  So
could the one he had met last night, Teras.  He would have no compunction
about killing a human, but only, Stephan thought, if he or his pack were
threatened in some way.  But could I, in my longing for Michael, my
attempts to escape it, vent my lusts on an innocent?  Another memory came
then.  Not of Fay, but of Michael, bent down over his pack searching for
something inside it and the strong desire that had welled up at the sight
of his exposed nape.  The almost unquenchable need to mount and to nip that
had nearly beaten out his human caution.  Yes, he decided, his heart cold
in his chest.  I could.

   ------------------------------------------------------

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