Page 17 of Feral Werewolves
WHEN I GOTback to the gate, the sun was rising, and the guards there yelled at me to hurry up if I didn’t want to be closed out.
I sprinted all the way there as they held it open for me. Then I squeezed through and was given my clothes to put on. As I stepped into my pants, the other tithes were abuzz with whatever had happened out there. I listened, gathering that it was completely different this time, that they’d never experienced anything like it. All of them had been taken aside by a small group and many of them were talking about how they’d fallen asleep with them, how it had been different, less frenzied.
“I think they have more control when there’s less of them,” said one of the tithes.
“Or maybe less of us?” said another one. “They scent us, don’t they, and maybe all that concentrated tithe scent makes them really worked up.”
I looked around for Noah, but I didn’t see him.
I thought maybe he’d come and gone, but I could see that my clothes had been left right next to his and his clothes were still there. The clothes were kept in a series of lockers next to the wall here. They didn’t lock, but the guards here kept watch over them all night. Anyway, I’d been instructed not to bring anything of value to the gathering. I hadn’t driven here, so I hadn’t brought my car keys. I hadn’t brought my phone, either. My roommate was supposed to meet me and drive me back afterward. I hoped she was in the parking lot.
I raised my voice. “Does anyone know what happened to Noah?”
All of the other tithes shrugged.
“I saw him with one other wolf,” said one of the tithes. “He wasn’t anyone’s first pick, I don’t think, but then he never is. Anyway, maybe he mated. Usually, that’s what itmeans if a tithe doesn’t come back.”
“Sure,” said another tithe, “unless it means that the tithe is dead.”
I flinched.
I trudged out to the parking lot where my roommate was indeed waiting. She had Starbucks for me, coffee and a breakfast sandwich. “You okay?” she said, looking me over.
“I’m okay,” I said. “Thanks for this. I’ll pay you back when we get back to the dorm.”
“It’s cool,” she said. “You want to talk about it?”
Yes. So much. I was so confused. “Not really.”
“Okay,” she said. “Well, if you change your mind…?”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
When I got home, I had to call my dad, but luckily he didn’t ask any embarrassing questions, which was good. Anyway, I could hear Angela in the background, and she was sobbing really loudly, and I let my dad get off the phone to deal with that. It didn’t surprise me that my stepmother was making it all about her. That seemed pretty much par for the course.
Then, I slept, coffee notwithstanding. I woke around noon and realized it was weird I hadn’t wanted to shower, what with being covered in all kinds of wolf fluids. I didn’t know how to come to terms with the fact that they felt sort of nice, that I kind of liked the smell, and that having their semen on me and in me made me feel claimed and safe, like I belonged to them.
Well.
I showered.
Ninnia had called me a bunch of times, but I’d put my phone on do-not-disturb to nap. I called her back.
“You okay?” she greeted me.
“I am,” I said, aware that my voice sounded sort of dreamy. “It was nice.”
“Nice?” she said.
“Yeah, I mean…” I didn’t know how to explain it. “They couldn’t help it and I couldn’t help it, you know, but we were there with each other together, and they did the best they could to make it less bad for me. And I hadsomany orgasms, so that was nice.”
“Really?” she said, intrigued.
“Really.”
“Really?”
I laughed.
