What Once Was Mine

[Gerwald Lechner]

”That’s not what I mean...”

He was trying to explain, but it wasn’t getting him anywhere. Instead he was just making things more frustrating. He needed to just tell her rather than just dance around the fact that she was choosing him. Gerwald didn’t understand life from her perspective. She talked about how her parents were, how life was not just taking each other, but a bond that was so deep no ceremony or label could ever begin to describe the type of union it signified.

Was he just supposed to say it?

”I don’t mean to...” there he was trying to explain it again, ”make things frustrating. I’m just...”

Gerwald was only making it frustrating, so frustrating that what he needed to say just came out, just tossed out for her to hear.

”drawn to you... and I can’t explain it. It’s been that way since Stewjon. From the moment I caught your scent I had to find you. Then when I saw you, I had to leave with you, know you, BE with you.”

He laid on his own back and just remained quiet. His eyes watched the clouds pass over his head and fixated on the birds which flew above them. The sounds of the forest brought him peace. The wind rustled through the grass, and Gerwald did his best to clear his mind. He just let his words hang on the air. What was he supposed to do, make a move, tell her about his relationship with Scherezade? Gerwald was making things in his mind so complicated when they didn’t need to be.

His world was colliding with another, and it was confusing him. All he knew is that ever since he had met Katrine there was a tug, a pull. Gerwald wanted to say he was going to join the Knights Obsidian anyway, but SHE had been the deciding factor. He’d left his parents, his siblings, and everything he knew, because of her, because of the pull he felt toward her. Saying it was because she was a Lupine, that might be the truth, but not all of it.

Gerwald was there because of her. Whether she realized it or not, she’d had the beast before her feet ever stepped off the soil of Stewjon.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Not what he meant and he didn't mean to make things frustrating. It was already super complicated trying to put into words something Katrine didn't think could properly ever be put into words. Just like she couldn't explain the love she aspired to have in her own life. When he spoke again, her head turned slightly to look at him. He was drawn to her and couldn't explain it. From the moment he'd caught her scent. He had to leave with her. Be with her.

"Be with me?" She repeated the question carefully as if she was mulling it over in her head.

She understood exactly what he was saying because she'd felt that same feeling from the moment she'd felt his scent before she'd even found him. It was like a magnet, drawing her to the source, forgetting what she'd been doing before and fighting through her drunken imbalance just to reach it. She had to like there was no choice. Katrine liked a lot of people, some because they were such eye candy and in reality were a perfect pot of crazy though she didn't know too much beyond that because her writer wanted to protect her that she didn't let her get hurt with that can of worms because of the giggle and others were beautiful and so wonderful even when they didn't say too much and had saved her life when she needed it the most. That thought made her miss Katria for a moment. And Katrine had no problem telling anyone how beautiful or handsome, she found them just like she had no problem admitting she thought herself beautiful. She had great genes and holos to prove it, she gave from an amazing gene pool... bat chit crazy but that was part of the charm, wasn't it?

This magnetism though was something completely different. Primal and raw, it was making her want to jump out of her skin. So much so that it was making her more self-aware than ever. Shy even, which was why her knees were still high and her arms were still raised a little higher.

[member="Gerwald Lechner"]

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

There was a sudden pang of guilt as Gerwald heard his own words repeated back to him. If the draw to Katrine was so strong, and it was, why had he allowed thing to progress to where they were with Scherezade. He should have said something. Katrine was looking for a life partner, that was clear in everything she was saying, and Gerwald... he was suddenly confused because nothing was going according to plan. There was no plan so how was it supposed to.

The reality, no matter what he decided to do, someone, or both of them, were going to get hurt.

How had he let this happen? Gerwald, for the life of him, could not change the subject. They were being honest. They needed to be. The only dishonesty was what Gerwald was omitting to say, but he could figure that out right?

Gerwald was being an idiot, and he knew it, but he didn't know what else to do at the moment.

So...

He nodded.

"I can't explain it any more than you can... it is simple and complicated at the same time..."

It shouldn't have been complicated. The only reason it was had to do with the fact Gerwald was sleeping with her ward. Gerwald hadn't even planned on it, it just... happened. There was nothing to blame it on, just that in a moment of raw intimacy they had acted, Gerwald had acted, and now there was this. The wolf wanted what it wanted, it didn't reason, but Gerwald did.

He sighed and looked over to Katrine. He knew, he knew that he had made a mess of things, and knew he was going to make an even bigger mess of things before it was all said and done. The pull he felt toward Katrine was very real and passionately raw.

"Right, wrong, natural, or not... the pull is there... we both feel it... and it excites me and scares me at the same time."

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Simple and complicated at the same time. That was exactly what it was, Katrine thought to herself as her eyes shifted from him, eyes focusing on the skies above again. It was simple for her and yet, seemed she wasn't able to articulate it right. Katrine grew up with the beliefs, they came naturally to her. Her family stood out from it in a way and her parents were completely different than the Hawks even. They were sort of their own. Father was Van-Derveld Hawk just like she was, even if he wasn't a Witch nor had he ever been. He loved Mother and he chose to follow some of their beliefs for her even when Mother hadn't been raised to those beliefs. Than, Nono Seth hadn't taught her about that at all. He taught her how to cut up a body, what explosives to use and why nailguns were fun. He was almost as crazy as Father was but not really. Even Nono Seth found Father extreme whereas Mother had grown used to it, loved it. And they, in return, had grown to think it was normal. Their normal however was chaotic, psychotic, dangerous and insane. That was okay, their normal was wonderful.

Head turned slowly down, cheek pressing into the grass as she watched Gerwald all of a sudden. She hadn't thought of her childhood in that way, thought of her upbringing in a while now. She'd been so taken with the Mandragora, with the freedom gained after Avarisa, the spirits, and with the arrival of Damien and than Gewald. And their trip home had been eventful. So much had happened that she hadn't thought of her family like that at all in so long. Mostly because she missed them so when she did. And yet, here she was thinking of Mother and Father, of the life they had given her. All while looking at another Lupine she had been sure didn't exist.

Gerwald looked back at her and she kept looking back at him now. He talked about right and wrong and whether it was natural. And yet the pull was there and they did both feel it. Exiting and scary at the same time. "What could be unnatural about it?" She wondered first. It seemed completely natural to her. "It is though. Exiting and terrifying. I think that's part of the thrill though, isn't it?" Maybe humans could think Katrine was rushing but she was already twenty-one. Growing up among Witches, with a grandmother over a century and close to a half over than old and looking like she could be just a couple of years older than she made a Lupine very aware of how life was short, how it passed in a blink of an eye. And Katrine had stared into the face of her old self, seen the cursed version of herself. Alone, hiding away, waiting for her. Instead, she wanted to have a life, to live, to love. And frankly, she didn't think there was anything wrong with that.

"On Dathomir, they live for hundreds of years. You become pretty self-aware of how short our life really is when you watch them," she shared her thoughts, still looking at Gerwald, still feeling the grass at her cheek.

[member="Gerwald Lechner"]

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

Gerwald had never felt such a pull when meeting someone for the first time. Katrine wanted to know what could be unnatural about it? How about the possibility that it was beyond natural, supernatural. Her world was full of the supernatural, but it was so normal to her that she didn't even question something that fit into her box. For Gerwald it was new. His parents had not been like hers. In the same way his mother had wanted Gerwald to be cautious about anyone he picked, she had been. Gerwald's father had known about the Lupine before he had asked Angelica to marry him. It was supposed to be the same for him. Gerwald had not been looking for some pull. Love at first sight, as some would call it, was not possible in his world, until it was.

Is that what the pull was, or was it something even more raw and bestial.

"Yes," he nodded simply in answer to her question. It was a lie to say the pull did not have a thrill to it. She wasn't looking for a fling, and that weighed on Gerwald. Any decision with what she had said meant that he was agreeing to be her partner, in the way her parents were partners. Deep down he knew too. Gerwald just knew, and that was what was eating at him.

Life was short. She was saying it. He knew nothing about the lifespan of witches, nor did he even know what his own lifespan truly was. It was longer than the average human, but he'd never known his mother's family. They'd been hunted, he had been told. Stewjon wasn't even his mother's home. Gerwald knew little about that. He knew that he had to know, and that both he and Katrine had to talk with her with both of them sober and not hungover. There were still questions, but even life was too short for all of them.

He was smiling as he looked at her, there was silence as he looked back to the sky.

"I haven't even seen as much of the galaxy as you have... it all puts things in a particular perspective when you think about it, not just about how short life is, but how..."

Gerwald paused for a moment.

"Knowing what I know now, life on Stewjon would have been a waste, but they don't know that. I would have been a soldier until the day I died and it wouldn't have mattered to me... that was my purpose in life. If it hadn't been for you I would still be there, likely. I don't say this lightly, but there is one thing I know for certain. My destiny is tied to yours."

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Her question got a simple answer. It was enough though. There was a definite thrill. Katrine nodded in agreement, even though she'd been one to say it. The grass beneath her skin was soft and slightly sharp, short though but she didn't mind it right now. It wasn't as near as comfortable as Dathomir, she missed lying in the grass there but Katrine didn't go there, not really. She didn't really think she belonged them, even if she'd been born and raised there. Mother had done it to retain the connection to the Witches when she wasn't Dathomiri in species as she had once been but it had caused an opposite reaction in Katrine. She loved the planet and her family but she didn't like the Witches of her clan in general. Even Ryloth was more open than it. The blonde though didn't have issues Gerwald had had growing up. She wasn't taught to hide what she was, there was no fear. Lupines were a powerful species. It was clearly something she was going to teach Gerwald still to rid him of the mindset he'd developed on Stewjon.

Now though, she didn't talk about it, just watching him as he'd smiled before he'd looked away, talking about not seeing much of the galaxy, putting things in perspective. He continued after a moment, talking about the wasted time on Stewjon. He would have been a soldier until the day he died if they hadn't met. My destiny is tied to yours, she heard him say.

"Your life was wasted on Stewjon. Your Mother was wrong. I can understand the fear but she was wrong. We're a strong species, we shouldn't have to hide what we are even when it makes others fear us and disrespect. It's in our blood that we're noble, superior. That is how the Lupines reigned on Figaro Favoura VII for so long." Though Katrine hadn't grown to feel it on her skin, she grew up knowing that. It was part of who they were meant to be. "Our destiny is tied to who we are, I think," she muttered, "being able to procreate with any species and bring pure blood Lupines into this world is a survival trait in our genes but this isn't that." It wasn't just that. It was what drew them in but it wasn't what kept them drawn in. "Destiny is a real thing. I think when I changed mine, I opened myself to a whole new one." Her destiny was meant to be quite different. Lonely, painful and hard. The changed one felt much better.

[member="Gerwald Lechner"]

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

Gerwald wasn't looking for Katrine to agree with him, and it stung to hear her confirm it. At least he had left. She also talked about how his mother was wrong to make him so cautious. The strong survived, and it was the weak that cowered in the shadows. She didn't say it in as much words, but Gerwald could connect the dots. His mother had raised him to hide, to be act like a weakling where he should have been the dominant one. They were Lupines. Lupines ruled.

"You will take me to this place... where our kind rules?

His question was two fold. First he genuinely wanted to see it because that was where they were from, as far as he gathered. Second, Gerwald would have never been able to be seen as a ruler on Stewjon. The caste system was so rigid that any attempt to ascend would have caused a great war, one that would more than likely end in his death. Perhaps it was the caution from his mother again, but he did not think it was wise to usurp an entire caste. The odds were foolish.

What intrigued him was her take on destiny, that it was something that could be changed. What exactly had she meant that she had changed hers? If this pull was destiny, had this not always been the course.

"I don't know what you mean that you changed yours?"

His curiosity was not completely about her. Gerwald had accepted her choice, and had already admitted that he could not deny similar desires. They were bound, but if fate could be changed, then did it mean they could lose what was happening between them. It seemed so much deeper than who they were, but something to make their species more powerful. Since they were both Lupine would they not have stronger offspring? Why was Gerwald even thinking about that now.

The thoughts were pushed aside. There was only one question now.

"What now..."

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

She would take him to the place where their kind ruled? Eyes still on him, she wandered back to the home she'd recently visited with her cousin, where she'd been reunited with her brother and Father, where she'd met another cousin she hadn't met before. The stronghold wasn't what it was supposed to be but like in her visit, Father had been there, welcoming her home. The last living Lord of Figaro Favoura VII. "Our kind doesn't role it, not like it used to," she returned, putting thoughts together. "The old ones all died, Father is the last Lord. We've been gone for so long though, it's time to rebuild. What Father has started, I'll continue someday." A sigh escaped her. It was what Katrine wanted to do, it was not what she had done. And when would she do it? She was meant to live in the future and yet she was here, living her life in the past.

"Yes, I'll take you to Figaro Favoura VII," she told him as her mind flooded with images. "I've been through some of the books in my library. I haven't found mention of the Lechners yet," she told him. Katrine's intention had been to give him more on his family. "I'll find something though. You should know more about your family." It was a declaration and a promise. One Katrine had every intention of keeping.

Their kind's history hadn't kept Gerwald occupied for long as he wondered what she'd said about her destiny. "I was born with a spirit at my side. My ability to communicate with spirits made be susceptible to them. My ancestor took advantage of that and kept me under her thumb. Originally, I never got rid of her but this time around her, I destroyed her bones. The bones on Orcus. It was why those people there called me the Desecrator," she kept talking even when she knew she hadn't mentioned the most important details. Her upper body turned slightly, hands leaning against the grass. "Gerwald... I was born sometime after now. Decades after right now. I arrived here because my sister disappeared. I came to find her. I was always meant to come here, I know that because... well, I've met myself in my own time... what was my time...," the more she talked about it, the more Katrine could hear just how crazy it sounded. "My old destiny was tied to my ancestor. I didn't let myself have another until I was free. Not even become the Nightmother. And this is the destiny I was born to have." For as long there was Avarisa, Katrine could never be herself. She was a prisoner of her own curse.

She knew just how impossible it sounded, knew someone who hadn't lived through it would have a hard time understanding. Katrine was now hearing herself say it and realizing just how ridiculous it all sounded. Yet, it happened, all of it. Every moment in her past was real.

What now...? Katrine gave a small shrug, still looking at him. She'd done a tiny smile, lips pressed. She wasn't really sure what the answer to that question was. "I... don't know. It's something we decide together, I guess," the Lupine suggested. There was no other option really. Katrine really wasn't looking for a slave, in reality, she wasn't taking any choices away from him, not really.

[member="Gerwald Lechner"]

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

They didn’t like they used to. Something had changed and it was to their generation to fix it. That’s what Gerwald got outnof what Katrine had said about the planet. Still, he wanted to see it, and was happy she told him they would go. Ger didn’t care they didn’t rule now, his curiosity was with the home and world itself. Their kind were important, they were more than just soldiers, and Gerwald wanted to see the fruit of it. Even if it was just history.

Her story did sound crazy, and if Gerwald wasn’t a force user that turned into a wolf he might think it was madenup. However he was not ordinary, and had come to learn nothing about the force was. Ger nodded and smiled. It wasn’t a nod that indicated he didn’t believe her, but that he was paying attention and she should keep going. It was intriguing to him, and shocking, but he still felt the pull. Nothing was going to change the fact that he knew he was meant for her and she for him. There was no other way to describe it, even if Gerwald wasn’t exactly getting with the program.

”That really explains Orcus then,” he said with a smirk, ”And why you didn’t play the game with me and Scherezade...”

There was a hint of something between him and her ward if Katrine picked up on it. He doubted it, otherwise this conversation hadn’t been happening.

They had to decide. Gerwald nodded again.

”I suppose so...”

He looked to the sky. The sun was getting ready to set, and his stomach growled.

”I’m hungry, you? Best not decide on an empty stomach. You in the mood for cooked or raw?”

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Katrine kept talking, sapphire gaze watching for the disbelief in his eyes but instead, she saw the nod that encouraged her to keep going so she did, finishing up her story before he finally did speak. Gerwald said that explained Orcus, to which she nodded before he said she didn't play the game with him and Pebble. "What game?" Katrine, capable of recalling the smallest details of her childhood, suddenly found herself confused at what Gerwald was talking about. It had been such an eventful day, even before Ceta had taken over her that Katrine was actually drawing a blank now as to what he meant by the game.

I suppose so..., Gerwald returned to words before he looked up again. It was sorta like a dance, wasn't it? Just with a lot of unfinished sentences hanging in the air. That worked like a dance, didn't it? Katrine shrugged mentally before he said he was hungry, not wanting to decide on an empty stomach. He wasn't wrong about that.

Though, was she in the mood for cooked or raw? Katrine smirked, her body already raising from the floor as she willed herself to change again, the process taking its time. Bones cracked, limbs moved, head turning slightly before her fur started showing. She moved slightly forward just as it completely, looking over at Gerwald with a singular bark before she broke into a run, getting a nice head start. That should have answered his question quite nicely, without words required. She was definitely up for some raw.

[member="Gerwald Lechner"]

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

What game? Had she forgotten the little wager, the one which Gerwald was still working off. He usually beat Scherezade in the games they came up with. This one had not been the case, likely because the prize hadn’t involved a bed. Instead, Gerwald had to clean and repair her ship, and while much of it was simple work, he still had no idea how the lift shaft was going to get repaired.

”We all made a wager on who could rack up the most kills... you really don’t remember?”

Gerwald wasn’t going to admit it, but he’d been disappointed she didn’t play. It had been a fun game, one which had allowed him to release the killer once more. Ger had learned that killing came easy for him. It was natural as breathing. Every passing day made him one with the wolf he had sought to control. It was where his advice to Katrine had come from. To control the wolf, it had to be let loose. Gerwald had only known it more since leaving his home. Now that he was free to change in broad daylight, he knew the only way to placate the wolf was to be the wolf.

Katrine did not answer his question with words. Yes, he’d avoided giving her an answer, though it would have been easy to pursue something while neither of them were dressed. Instead, he had wanted food, and hoped she’d be in the mood to hunt. His smile said everything as he began to shift. He’d always hunted alone, and even when Scherezade had joined him, the kill had been his, and he’d stalked and found their prey.

He licked his lips as bones began to crack and pop. The sounds of his shifting form had become a rhythm and symphony of impending dread. It wasn’t anything he feared, but rather dread which cast a shadow on anything which would stand against him. The wolf was strong, and his grey coat proud. Gerwald was a predator, and it was not long before he came along side the white huntress. His head nuzzled close to her briefly before he took off to the edge of the clearing.

His nose searched for the scent he’d become familiar with since his first hunt. The rycrit would be coming for water soon, under the cover of night, but it was time to find the places the felt safe in the day and show them that wolves now ruled this forest. As soon as he caught the scent, Gerwald took off, never questioning that Katrine had followed.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

Wager on who could rack of most kills, she heard him say. Her lips tightened and twitched slightly to the side as she drew into her memories backward. Ceta's presence in her mind had made things a little foggy, with her being aware but not running the show at all. Going back though, she traced over the faces, words, and actions and when she thought about it, she could vaguely recall something. "Sorta. I was possessed by a spirit playing peacemaker. It left my memories a little messed," Katrine explained and then realized she'd seen something else. Rising her hand slightly, her fingers moved as she counted. "I think I lost that wager." As far as she could remember, she'd killed two? Three?

Yep, if she'd agreed to that game, she was pretty sure she'd lost. Not that she counted or if she did, a number wasn't sticking out in her memories, which could have been Ceta's fault again.

Lupine was already running after she'd changed, fully aware of the larger wolf passing her by, aware it was Gerwald as she tagged along, trailing after. The scent he was trying to catch was obvious enough to the female that she moved faster, jumping higher as she intended to pass him over. Gerwald wasn't the only one who wanted to catch the pray and eat. He was older and faster, just as Katrine knew from running with her parents and Chloe. That didn't mean she ever stopped competing, jumping and pushing herself off anything she could find her in order to take the lead. It was a competition, it had already been a competition; however, when it came to Katrine, it was fun. She loved running and trying to beat the other wolf. And she'd missed this more than she knew before Damien had actually come and found her and before she'd found Gerwald.

[member="Gerwald Lechner"]

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

"So I cleaned Scherezade's ship when it should have been you!?"

Gerwald let it slip out of frustration as she had transformed. That would have never happened anyway. Gerwald would have somehow still wound up responsible for it. It didn't matter at this point, the work was already done, and the man was fine with the outcome.

The race to the herd of rycrits was just more play. In all honesty it was play that Gerwald enjoyed. Running through the woods on a hunt with another wolf filled him with a joy nothing else had before. Gerwald was not alone, his family was not alone, and the mystery as how and why the did not know about each other before was only just beginning. Katrine had searched for information about his family, but they were not found in any of the books and tomes in the grand library of her home. Would they be? What if there was never a mention of his family anywhere? Could it be that is how they had been left alone for so long?

All of the thoughts his mind had, all of the questions, they disappeared as he ran through the woods. His mind had one focus. The hunt, the kill. Katrine was not going to make the kill easy. He would have to earn it, compete for it. In a way it was almost as if this was a test of sorts. What would it say if she could beat him? That she was strong, nimble, capable. An alpha female meant for an alpha male is what it would say if she beat him to the kill. Ger and Kat were something to each other no one else could be, a perfect match of the same species. It couldn't be ignored in whatever decision they made together.

The scent drove him on, until he suddenly slowed.

They were close, close enough that it was now time to be silent. Katrine was behind him, but now the real competition began. Whichever of them was the quickest, would get the kill. Gerwald stalked the weakest one, always the weakest one. The only question in his mind was whether Katrine would pounce first.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

The wolf had heard the words and had glanced over to Gerwald, head tilting for a moment in confusion. He had cleaned Scherezade's ship? She was changed and Gerwald was changing, she could no longer ask about it, the animals beginning their run soon after.

Soon, her attention shifted to the scent, the running, the prey ahead of them.

Katrine ran the way she ran on Dathomir, Orcus, Figaro Favoura VII and anywhere else. She always ran the same way because that was her. She was a wolf raised to be that wolf. And that wolf was now running to pass Gerwald, to be first in this chase and to claim the first kill. It was normally about the kill, the pack shared. At first, it had been Father, then it had been Mother and then her and Chloe together when the time came for them. But never had she cared much to be the first unless the game was specifically that. There were no set terms now, only that they were getting dinner. The wolf seemed to instinctively want to beat the other wolf though, rules set without being spoken. The rycrit began it's run, behind on the herd but she was already behind him, using the higher ground to make another jump, mouth opening mid-jump, teeth out before she had even landed on the creature, sinking teeth into the soft flesh. The herd animal had roared in pain and tried to shake her off but before he could, her claws dug into it, holding on and biting a second time, enough to slow it down. She didn't plan on losing this prey.

With the scent of the animals growing stronger, she began to slow down, eventually slowing down into a graceful walk before she stopped, getting a good look at the herd from where they were. She wasn't only looking through them though, she was looking around, studying her surroundings, going through the best route towards them before going back to scouting the rycrits, sought the one that stood out. She wasn't necessarily looking for the weakest but the one that was distant from the others. Katrine hunted the isolated, whether they were weak or strong. Secluded was good when you hunted alone. She wasn't hunting alone though and yet, she still thought rationally, one of the medium-sized rycrits laying on the ground slightly further away.

She glanced back at him for only a moment before she began to quietly move to the side, sneaking ahead to get into a better position, closer to the rycrit before she'd actually move ahead. From where she was, she would have a good leap before she broke into a run, it would make the chase easier. Decision made, the wolf howled to the sky, alerting the rycrits. The nearby sound startles the animals, alerted them. The ones standing would begin to move away from the sound, the ones lying down would begin to get up. The Lupine only waited a few moments before she'd leaped forward, running and picking up speed.

[member="Gerwald Lechner"]

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

Gerwald stalked, but Katrine was eager. His senses didn’t want to let her win. She was making that difficult. Her leap had caught the beast and sent the rest of the herd running. Gerwald couldn’t just take a kill without potentially hurting the other wolf. His movements would have to be quick if he wanted to bring the beast down without harming the white wolf that refused to let it go.

He leaped and chased the rycrit. His goal was simple, block the beast and let Katrine finish the kill if she could. Gerwald positioned himself in front of the weakling and forced it to turn the other way. For all the motion the animal would be tossing the wolf on its back about in a frenzy. Gerwald had to strike. She’d beaten him to the beast, but it needed to die.

He lunged for the beast’s throat. Teeth sank into the flesh, blood pouring into his mouth. The strength of Gerwald’s jaw to keep the bite locked, and wrestle the animal to the ground was always nothing short of phenomenal. He was not just a strong man, but he was a strong wolf. His eyes looked to Katrine, the blue orbs visible even in the dim of dusk. He knew it, he was her strong wolf. The draw... the wolf wanted the wolf.

His teeth let go of the beast. Katrine had been the first to strike, she would be the first to eat. He wouldn’t wait for long as his stomach demanded to be filled. Gerwald had already tasted blood and he wasn’t going to be denied the flesh either. This courtesy was simply an unspoken one. First strike, first bite. He was strong, she was quick. Next time Gerwald would have to be faster. He refused to be anything but her equal.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

The rycrit was fighting, the wolf removed one claw at a time so she could cut through the flesh again, causing more screams. Lightly, she became aware of Gerwald coming in front of the animal as it stopped, allowing herself another bite before he sank his teeth at the throat. Their eyes locked in a moment as the animal let out a cry, her teeth sinking deeper into the damaged flesh. It was intoxicating, staring into his eyes and tasting the flesh of the rycrit at the very same time but just as he let go, her feet were dragging back to the side before she'd slashed to the wound of its tick neck, causing the beast to stumble before it fell.

Even on the ground, it still tried protesting as the blood gushed out in his front. Katrine had never been one for prolonged suffering though, making her slash at the beast one more time with her paws, giving it the final blow. It shook violently before its head finally dropped. Grazie per la tua vita, the Lupine quite gave a prayer in her mind as she watched the animal for a few seconds before she remembered what he'd done, helping her take down the massive creature. Her eyes found his one more time before she'd bit into the soft flesh she'd damaged, removing the small short fur in the processed, this time explicitly biting into the flesh before she'd ripped it out, chewing through it. Katrine had never fully understood it until now, the whole experience was an enlightenment to the hunt, a whole new view on it as she hunted with someone who wasn't of her blood yet very much a Lupine. Her need to strike first, to kill first was immense, as it had never been before.

Yet once she'd gotten that first taste, she stood again and looked back at Gerwald, head motioning for him. It was his dinner as well, she had no intention of keeping it from him. With the quiet invitation given, she dug back into the food, eating again, realizing just how hungry she'd actually been.

[member="Gerwald Lechner"]

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

Katrine locker eyes with him as they both held their teeth in the beast. They continued to look at each other until the rycrit breathed its last. It was as a spiritual moment between them as it could be, and yet it was also the most natural. Gerwald let out a small whine as their gaze broke. It had been his first kill with another Lupine as his mother has never let his siblings out at the time. It was best that way she had always said.

Gerwald didn’t need an invitation to start eating the felled rycrit. The smell of blood was too much, and the taste from the kill still lingered in his mouth. The fresh and raw flavor of the warm meat filled his mouth. He continued to bite a tear until he had has fill. The beast was large enough they could eat off it together without worrying about getting in the others way.

The next kill, it would be his strike that would land first. She was not stronger than him, and had he put the slow one to chase, he would have caught it before Katrine could have. Slowing down to stalk had been the wrong move. His mind planned their next hunt as he filled his stomach with as much of the raw meat as the wolf could stomach. There would not be much need for food the next day. When eating as he did Gerwald could last a good day or two without food.

His eyes met hers when he was finished. Gerwald was larger, but it didn’t mean he would eat more. They both expended a lot of energy during the hunt, and in the way they ran. He waited, waited for her to make the next move. We’re they going to head back to the ship? It was getting dark, so they could, or would they remain in the woods for a night? Gerwald was happy for either. It was up to her. Gerwald would simply follow whatever she decided. They were not going to change until she wanted to.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

The wolf ate until she had had her fill, stepping back from the half-eaten animal, stretching before she'd lay down, watching the gray Lupine. She was fed, he was fed. Now, her mind had gone back to the previous conversations, able to concentrate again. Gerwald was strong and fast, he'd been at her side in this kill. It wasn't what Katrine had meant when she'd said she needed someone to stand beside her when she ascended but in the wolf form, it was exactly it. In their world, both things counted.

Her eyes stayed on his as she stood then continued around their prey, coming up to him for her snout to touch his neck. Katrine knew she wanted this wolf. The raw attraction she felt was just amplified by what he did for her and with her. She could feel the connection and knew what she meant about destiny was real. She knew she had never made this discovery before, knew that events of her old life had never led her to make the discovery of another Lupine. Though she couldn't prove it with facts, the Nightmother inside her knew this was a whole new reality. Everything about it was new. It wasn't even just Gerwald, it was everything around her. Her eyes were opening to time as it was, the images were still blurry but what she felt was real.

Despite the hour, she wasn't ready to go back yet, wanted to stay in the form she was in. This felt the most normal thing in the galaxy right now that she didn't want to leave it, at least not for the time being. Katrine didn't really care where she slept, even if she had a bed that felt like she was sleeping on clouds. Later, they could return later. For now, the wolf wanted to stay.

[member="Gerwald Lechner"]

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

They had eaten until they were full. Gerwald had waited for Katrine to decide what she wanted, and her only movement was to come close. Her snout nuzzled into his neck, and he returned the gesture. It was more than instinct. There was a desire there he could not put to words. He had come to a realization though, the wolf wanted the wolf. Where he would have been forced to choose a human, and one his mother would have approved of, Gerwald now had one of his own kind. What they shared now, he could not share with anyone else, not even....

He wanted her. Gerwald wanted this for as long as he could have it. He didn’t understand what the feeling was that he had, Gerwald just knew it was unique, and only for Katrine. It was odd, but it was good.

Ger walked past her a few feet and circled for a few moments before he laid down on the grass. He took them into the woods so whatever predator would swoop in for the remaining bits of the carcass should not find them. Katrine didn’t need him to, but Gerwald would keep them safe as they slept. Whether it was for the whole night, or a few moments, Ger was going to protect them.

[member="Katrine Van-Derveld"]

 

[Katrine Van-Derveld]

The returned gesture was welcomed. Katrine didn't stumble back or even want to reject it, which surprised the wolf. She was an odd thing. She didn't like her personal space invaded though she wasn't aware of other people's personal space. He'd entered hers though and it hadn't even caused a flinch. Her wolf's mouth drew back, mimicking the smile she had on the inside, sapphire gaze looking at him still before he'd wandered off away from her, head turning to look at him, to see where he was headed.

After a few seconds, Katrine turned and followed after him; he'd gone into the woods. So had Katrine, the wolf trailing after, finding him already laid down in the grass. Her head tilted as she watched him for a few moments before she approached, laying down next to him, eyes focused on the other wolf. It was a calm evening and for the first time in a long time, she didn't feel that familiar ping of longing she normally did when she lay down to sleep, no matter where it was. For the first time in so long, she felt safe and calm.

[member="Gerwald Lechner"]