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CHAPTER THREE: COLD MOON - PART FOUR
Russ had no idea how Dawn had convinced him to come to her class. Something about a hope for a better world for nonhuman, magical folks like them. And, yeah, the way she’d said that… made him want to help. He had his doubts that he could, but he couldn’t deny that it sounded good.
So he’d come and stood in front of a classroom full of kids, parents, and faculty, like some strange cross between a guest animal expert and his very own science exhibit. He’d let Dawn ask him questions about his life and experiences. For obvious reasons, they’d prepared an age-appropriate, abridged version to tell the kiddies that neatly side-stepped exactly how he’d been changed and focused more on how he had changed. Then he’d left the classroom to go shift into wolf form in an abandoned craft closet. When he’d padded back into the classroom on all fours, everyone’s eyes — kid and adult alike — had gone as wide as saucers.
Even the werewolf children had looked shocked, since it was almost unheard of for werewolves to show their wolf forms in public. The werewolf adults… they’d looked silently pissed. But Russ, along with Dawn and Principal Axford, had cleared it with Garrett, so there was nothing any of them could do.
And, just as Dawn had predicted — after the initial shock — the kids had loved it. Had pet and stroked him like he was a giant German Shepherd. It’d been kinda cute, even if it was a little embarrassing. Especially when one of the little werewolf boys tried to strip down and shift too, right in the middle of the classroom. But Dawn, being a great teacher, had handled the situation with grace and kindness.
Now Russ was sitting cross-legged, fully clothed and back in human form, in front of the craft cubbies with a passel of pack kids and human kids as they all clamored to show him their latest creations. It was neat to see all their drawings and sculptures and whatnot, even if he couldn’t quite identify what most of them were supposed to be. But the beaming pride on the kids’ faces were more than enough to have him smiling and giving genuine praise.
Yet his gaze couldn’t help but be pulled to Dawn as she played with her own small crowd of children on the rug near the window. She looked strangely right with a glittery, plastic tiara on her head and a superhero cape draped over her shoulders as she adjusted the gauzy wings on a little boy’s back while he futzed with the pirate eyepatch on his face.
His jaw dropped when he saw a tiny blond girl grab Dawn’s cape and pull herself onto Dawn’s back. He almost got up, when he saw Dawn choke and quickly grab at the cape’s tie, but then she nimbly grabbed the girl off her back and set her on the floor next to her. She gave the girl a softly disappointed look. “Jenny, we don’t just jump on people without asking, do we?”
The little girl just pouted. “But I want to ride you.”
Russ about gagged on his shock. He knew the little girl didn’t mean it the way his mind heard it, but he just couldn’t stop thinking about Dawn telling him about the men who’d likely said much the same to her in her past. He coughed, trying to cover his awkward laugh.
Dawn shot him a look and rolled her eyes indulgently at him before turning back to Jenny. “Doesn’t matter. It’s not nice to do that to people without asking.”
The little girl’s brow furrowed as she continued to frown. “But my daddy says our horses like to be ridden.”
Dawn sighed and shook her head gently. “Well, I’m not a horse.”
The little girl looked Dawn up and down. “But you look like one.”
The little pirate fairy stuck his tongue out at her. “No, she doesn’t. She looks like a deer, dummy.”
Dawn tutted at the little boy. “It’s not nice to call people names either, Bobby.” Then turning back to Jenny, she said, “And, even if I have parts that look like a horse or a deer, that doesn’t make me one.” She tucked a stray strand of blond hair behind the girl’s ear. “You have long hair, like a horse’s mane, right?”
The girl giggled and stroked her tied up hair excitedly. “Yeah, that’s why it’s called a ponytail.”
Dawn nodded. “But you’re not a horse, right?”
Jenny laughed loudly, giddy at the ridiculous idea. “No.”
Dawn tapped the little girl’s button nose. “So neither am I, right?”
Jenny bit her lip and thought about it before nodding, like she’d just been giving incontrovertible wisdom. “Okay, Miss Dawn. I’m sorry.”
Dawn opened her arms and Russ watched the little girl throw herself at Dawn in a warm hug. “I forgive you.” Dawn let the little girl go and winked at her, handing her a flowery fairy wand. “Now go play.”
The girl happily took it and began to playfully chase Bobby. “Yes, Miss Dawn.”
It was nice to see her this way. In her element. Doing exactly what she’d said she hoped to: help make a better world for everyone. Confidence shone in her brilliant, black eyes as control strengthened her slim shoulders. The effect was stunning.
“Mr. Russ?”
He turned to face a human boy who stood frowning at his back. “Where does your tail go?”
Russ’s brain stalled. In truth, he didn’t really know. Had always assumed it was just magic. Biology had never really been his subject, so he hadn’t ever asked too many questions. Especially, since he supposed he’d never really wanted to understand what had happened to him, always seeing it as more of a curse to be avoided than anything.
Nikki, a werewolf girl who’d shown him what had to be every art project she’d made that year, leaned in and said excitedly, “It’s just inside you, you know, like the ghost of it. Sometimes, when I’m really happy, I can feel it wag inside.”
The little boy’s eyes widened. “Really? Cool!”
She nodded excitedly and Russ, after thinking about it, had to agree. The wolf did always feel like a presence inside him, just beneath the skin. He’d always associated it with anger and aggression, but, yeah, the little girl was right. It was always there, even in his joy.
Again his gaze swept to Dawn. Yeah, his wolf was there whenever he looked at her, hungry and possessive. Longing and strangely content in her presence.
He grinned as Nikki and the boy began wagging their backsides around like a pair of puppies, chasing each other and laughing. But he caught sight of some of the parents frowning. One of the moms with the same dark brown hair and wide nose as the boy frowned worriedly as she watched the two closely. Like she didn’t trust it.
Didn’t trust her.
This small, cute, young girl.
Russ frowned too. Since he’d been turned as an adult, he’d never really thought about what it would be like to grow up as a werewolf. To be so tiny and innocent. Vulnerable, like Dawn had said. And to still have grown adults look at you like you were a monster…
The idea made Russ shudder and feel so sorry. For Nikki, of course, as well as the rest of the pack kids. But also for the little boy and the rest of the human kids. They were innocent too. Vulnerable to their parents’ fears and biases. And maybe those children might not be hurt by them, but those prejudices had the power to hurt others. To turn them into a different kind of monster.
“Mr. Russ?”
He looked at another werewolf child, a little black-haired boy that looked like he could have been Russ’s nephew or cousin, who looked up at him with avid curiosity. “Why don’t you live with the pack?”
Russ, taken aback by the question, paused. They’d glossed over the story of his attack, simply saying he’d been turned five years ago. And, flushing, Russ damned well knew he couldn’t tell this boy that he’d moved out because he hadn’t been able to trust the pack, hadn’t been able to see them as more than the same kind of monsters he now saw himself as. The same kind those human parents saw this little boy as.
He coughed and laughed a little. “Well, because I live with Miss Dawn.”
Nikki bounded back, out of breath and grinning widely. In a sing-song voice, she cooed, “Oh, like ma-a-ates?”
Russ felt his face burn with embarrassment as the group of kids twittered excitedly around him. He groaned internally. Mates. Yeah, newly turned or not, he understood exactly what that meant. “No,” he said gently but firmly, not wanting to make trouble for Dawn, “like Miss Dawn said in her introduction, I’m her caretaker.”
The black-haired boy frowned. “So you take care of her?”
Russ coughed uncomfortably. “I guess.” That was close enough of an explanation. For children, anyway. He shrugged. “I take care of everyone in the building.”
Nikki nodded sagely, satisfied. “I’m glad you take care of Miss Dawn.” She blinked and frowned a bit. “Sometimes, she smells scared. I don’t like it.”
Russ frowned too and tilted his head thoughtfully. “What do you mean?”
The little girl chewed at her lips nervously. “Last week, a man showed up after class and it scared her.”
Russ’s senses piqued. “A man?”
The boy nodded. “He gave her a scarf, but,” he said, leaning back and shaking his head with disgust, “it didn’t smell right.”
Tucker. It had to be. “What do you mean, not right?”
Nikki began to fidget, obviously uncomfortable. “It smelled like her, that’s how we knew it was hers.”
The boy nodded, but sadly, with a disconcerted distance. “But it…” he shrugged, “smelled like him too.” The boy frowned and stared at Russ, knowingly.
Russ stiffened. There were a few ways to leave a scent like that on a piece of fabric and all of them left Russ frowning as he felt his temper begin to brew. “Last week?”
The kids nodded. “I don’t think Miss Dawn knew and we didn’t know how to tell her, but I know it scared her.”
Nikki nodded. “I saw her throw it away.”
Russ nodded, his mind picturing it. Tucker had come here, had bothered her here — where she should always feel safe and in control — while Russ had been hiding in his apartment, avoiding her. He’d left her alone. Vulnerable. He looked up at Dawn as his fists clenched. As if she somehow sensed his unease, she looked up too, smiling at him questioningly, reassuringly.
“You’ll take care of her, right?” Nikki asked quietly.
Still watching Dawn play with the other children, Russ nodded. Fuck Garrett’s order. He wouldn’t stay away from her; he just couldn’t. “I promise.”
The boy let out a relieved breath and smiled. “Good.”
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