Taming the Werewolf - 7
#7 of Taming the Werewolf
They used to go to the state fair at this time every year, when they were younger and looking for some cheap entertainment to fill their evenings. There was something romantic and nostalgic to eating fried food and quasi-square dancing, so Jacob thought it would be a good idea to go this time. The curse that Amanda had to suffer, and the cure they had devised for her, led him to think about how much she meant to him, and that if he, in any way, took her for granted, he pledged never to do so again. She was his wife and best friend, and he was never going to do anything to let go of that.
Jacob noticed that the mood swings Amanda had since she was bitten had never gone away, even as they had weakened the werewolf in her blood. The moon tonight was three-quarters full and waxing, and so the smallest things set her off. The sounds of the screams from people riding the roller coaster, the smell of fried chicken in the air, the sight of people in animal costumes scaring the children. Her reaction to the sensations around her would only grow more intense as the moon became more full that month. She took them all in and over-processed them, judging from the way her head jerked and the way her eyes glared at the last sensation she processed.
"Honey?"
"For the last time, I'm fine," she said, squirming against him as he asked her what was the matter. He held her arm closer to him as they walked, just in case. She was so warm on a night that, to him, had quickly grown chilly. But his embrace seemed to calm her nonetheless, no matter how much she protested that she was okay.
"I feel like you're holding something from me," Jacob said, unburdening himself. He had been polite about her lycanthropy all night. They had agreed not to talk about it, and enjoy their little date as if she had never been attacked by a werewolf, that she had never become a werewolf herself, that she didn't need the dialysis treatments to keep the werewolf from emerging.
She turned away in what he could only conclude was frustration. "I feel it inside of me," she finally said, "It wants to get out, and in a few days, it thinks it's going to, and it's going to resent not being able to."
Jacob cringed at the way Amanda talked, like the werewolf inside her was a separate being and not some curse that was to be beaten back. She had given character and life to the wolf, and anything that had character and life could be sympathized with. And if she began to sympathize with the wolf, he could lose her to it in time.
He held her closer as a result, causing her to show concern.
"What do you worry about?" she asked. "The dialysis is working exactly the way you want it."
He looked at her.
"The way we want it," she corrected herself.
Jacob considered his words very carefully. This was a plan that they had worked on together. She hated being a werewolf as much as he dreaded her curse, and the dialysis machine was supposed to allay both their fears. Still, their lovemaking during a full moon had made clear the wolf would never really disappear from their lives. Maybe it was a function of her blood needing more filtering, but that only raised the possibility that she would never be rid of lycanthropy, and any lapse in her treatment might bring the beast back to the surface.
And if there was even a hint that she wanted to bring it back, she would come to resist being put on the machine. The beast would take her away from him.
"Let's just dance," he said, eyeing the grandstand at the front of the state fair. Amanda looked and her eyes lit up. Together, they walked toward the music.
On the biggest night of the fair, the organizers put on a show with country music performers, with the seats taken away to make for a large dance floor for couples. Way back when, Jacob and Amanda made it a point to have a few beers and dance a set or two, and when they drove up to the fairgrounds that afternoon, they resolved to do it again among the crowd of what seemed to be a couple hundred getting lost in the music.
The music was bright and upbeat, and the couple followed along to the tempo. They had taken ballroom and salsa lessons for a time, so they just took what they knew and found a way to fit it in to their dance movements. Nothing too complex, just make sure to hold the other's hand, take turns leading, make sure to stay close, and definitely appear to have a good time. As Jacob's smile widened from the fun they were having, so too did Amanda's.
They worked their way into the middle of the crowd if only to get closer to the music coming from the grandstand. By now, they were in a sea of people, all dancing in their own way to the music blaring from the speakers hanging above. They had spun each other around a few times that Jacob couldn't tell where the stage was. They were surrounded by a mass of bodies that almost seemed to want to swallow them whole.
The music stopped, giving way to applause, and then some indistinct chatter from the performers about their new album. The break in the action took Amanda's attention away from Jacob. Her head swiveled around, looking at nothing in particular.
"I can smell them," she said.
"Honey," Jacob said, holding her gently by the shoulders.
By now, her breathing grew labored and her face took on a hungry look. She chewed on her lips, then licked them. "They smell so good," she whispered to him. Her head then tilted toward the back of a man whose cologne wafted in her direction without his noticing.
Out of instinct, Jacob pulled Amanda back toward her, but her attention remained fixed on the crowd about her. She - the beast - was sizing up a meal.
Jacob didn't want to battle the werewolf. Not there, not in front of everyone around them. And he wasn't one to argue with his wife. Shouting never seemed to work, and if it came to that point, Amanda would always get her way. No, charm and seduction were his only weapons.
By then, the grandstand performers began playing again, this time a slower, more romantic instrumental that brought the couples around Jacob and Amanda closer to each other. They were the odd ones out as Amanda stood wild-eyed, enchanted by the scents of the crowd.
Slowly, Jacob brought himself closer to her, and before she even registered his presence again, his arm wrapped around her back and his head hovered over her shoulder. Amanda remained motionless for a few measures, even as Jacob stepped to the slow beat of the music filling the air. He took his other hand and caressed the back of her neck, bringing her face to his upper chest. It was only then that she began to move to the music again.
He led her the entire way as she lacked the consciousness in the moment to dance with him the way they used to, when they were younger. When he wasn't fighting off the werewolf for his wife's attention. He just hoped that his body spray was enough to satisfy her senses. Having to play that game almost felt like playing on the werewolf's terms, but he would do anything to keep her with him.
"Jacob," she finally said, her forehead buried in his chest, "I'm scared." Her voice was sweet and tender, like the woman he always knew. The wolf had disappeared, at least for now.
"I'll always be here," Jacob said as they continued dancing, "You don't have to worry about a thing."
"What if...what if I change too much? This...thing...is changing me. I can feel it."
He struggled with an answer as much as she struggled with asking the question. "We'll figure it out together. I'm not going to let whatever this is take you away from me."
"But it's so strong--"
"Amanda."
A commanding word and a look directly into her eyes settled her. Jacob touched her cheek as he gazed at her.
"What you have inside you is not going to separate us. Ever. I promise."
By now, her breathing had become less erratic the more Jacob made himself aware to her. As long as the crowd around them was out of her focus, she remained fixed on her husband. It was not very different from warding off competing men, Jacob thought. Only this competition was a lot more feral.
Jacob kissed her forehead, and that seemed to be enough to break the spell that had come over her. Amanda laughed softly, grinning a very girlish grin that she always awarded him with when he made her happy. She leaned in closer and they kissed on the lips. Their tongues met delicately with all the passion he remembered she had before she was cursed. For the time being, she was fully back in his arms again.