Taming the Werewolf - 17 (final)
#17 of Taming the Werewolf
Jacob woke up to the usual morning sounds of birds and distant cars driving past the house. When he reached out to find the other side of the bed empty, he remembered last night was first night of the full moon. So he hurriedly put his robe on and jogged down the stairs. Across the dining room, on the other side of the patio door overlooking their backyard was Amanda. She was curled up on her side, resting on the balcony with her back to the house. The thick strands of her long hair concealed part of her shoulder, hiding only part of the dirt and blood that stained her back and arms. She was quiet and motionless as he opened the patio door. As he came closer, he imagined all the things she had done during the night, mostly horrors in the wooded areas that she thoroughly relished up until sunrise.
But as he leaned in, and she looked up at him, all those terrors were pushed aside. He parted the hair from her dirty face, pulled her closer to him and kissed her good morning.
They showered together, as they became used to do on mornings after a change. Sometimes Amanda was playful, sometimes irritable, especially if another full moon was that day, as was the case on this day, with the wolf still looming underneath the surface. This morning, however, she simply rested against Jacob's chest as the water trickled down their bodies. Whatever happened in the night must have been so exhausting.
It had been six months since Lina's wedding, since that night in the hotel room. Once they got home that morning, the first thing Amanda did was unplug the dialysis machine and tuck it away in an unused corner of the basement. He suspected she wanted to get it out of the house or destroy it altogether, but there was always the chance she would need to be seen again in public during the full moon. So, in storage it went. She then pulled on the chains on the wall that used to keep her shackled on full moon nights, but they were too well installed by Jacob. Still, they hadn't used either since.
Keeping Amanda's lycanthropy inhibited had side effects far too consequential to keep up the attempt, once it became clear Jacob was losing her to the wolf. The only alternative was to unleash the werewolf. The first full moon after the wedding, Jacob took her to the conservation area that was a quick drive from their house. She unclothed herself, they kissed and he walked away. Her pained screams and pleasured moans were the first things he heard when he got in his car and drove off. It was the first full moon after she was cursed that he didn't have trouble sleeping. He knew she would be on their doorstep in the morning.
And as each full moon came and went, Amanda slowly returned to him.
No longer shackled, the werewolf had been able to satisfy its hungers in the night. He never asked her how, she never told him. Only that, during the rest of the month, the werewolf drifted into fatigue, then to sleep, slowly waking up again as the moon waxed to full. But at parts of the cycle when the moon's pull was weakest, Amanda was mostly herself. Still slightly feral, still cursed with lycanthropy, but mostly in control of her body and mind. Whenever he could, he cleared his schedule during those moon phases to spend time with a lover who was essentially visiting for a time. They did all the things that they used to do before her lycanthropy. Shopping and museums during the week, farmers' markets and drives along the coast on weekends. Some days, it was like the werewolf didn't exist.
In the last few months, Amanda went back to work, if only part-time with flexible hours. Not only would she be unavailable on the days before full moons, she would work fewer hours when the wolf became stronger and more pronounced in anticipation of the transformation. They didn't need questions from her bosses about her mood swings or episodes of detachment from co-workers. Better to just stay at home and wait for the werewolf to emerge. In the end, she managed to work enough hours during the month to keep any suspicions at bay.
The two or three days before the first full moon of the month were set aside just for time between Amanda and Jacob. They would spend most of the day holding each other in bed or on the couch, have a candlelight dinner in the evening, then finish the night on the rug in front of the fireplace. She was so wild and irrepressible that Jacob took much delight in pleasing her.
He tried to ignore the little things during the times of the month when the wolf grew stronger. As of late, Amanda developed a tic where she craned her neck to shake off the tension of the werewolf. She breathed a little bit deeper and took an extra moment every now and then to frame her words. The last few days before she changed, she barely said a word anymore. Three months ago, all she could vocalize during lovemaking were a few grunts and a bout of constant snarling in the minutes before orgasm. Just earlier in the week, she had punctuated their evening in bed with a long, drawn out howl, or an approximation of a howl that a human imitated.
Yet, there were moments when Jacob had Amanda to himself. That morning after they showered, when he expected her to sleep in bed for much of the day, he was working on a few emails to clients on the computer in the study downstairs. She slinked into the study, wearing a bright, red dress she kept in the back of the closet just for special occasions. She was as beautiful as ever, was all he could think when she walked in. Her hair may have been a little bit ruffled - no, more like fuller, wilder - but if it was the wolf, it made her all the more attractive to him. She walked over, took his hand off the mouse, and pulled it in the direction of the driveway outside. She tilted her head in the same direction, as if she couldn't find the words. She growled some sounds, but this close to the transformation, she could no longer make out the words. But he knew she wanted him to take her out.
He happily obliged, taking her to an early movie. Somewhere, anywhere that allowed them time as a couple. It didn't matter which movie - some comedy-action flick was the next one to start when they bought tickets. They sat in the back of an empty theater, save for three other moviegoers seated closer to the screen. She ate a few handfuls of popcorn and stared at the images in front of them for the first half hour. Maybe she processed them, maybe she didn't. But it was all to give the illusion that she was interested in the movie. To pretend that she was in the experience of watching the movie. That she was just like any other human in the building.
Her head rested on his shoulder as they looked on. He wasn't that interested in the film either. His arm wrapped her body as he pulled her closer. Amanda's terrifying change into a werewolf was mere hours away, but for now, in these few moments, she was his again.
The film ended quickly, or seemed to end quickly as he held her this entire time. She huffed in frustration, but he took her to lunch and to the botanical garden for a walk, just like they used to do. She was visibly absent from the world for much of the afternoon, focusing only on his touch and direction. Anyone who paid close attention would have noticed something was wrong with her. To the crowds around them, however, they were just another couple. She didn't seem to care too much about any looks she drew, anyways. All that seemed to matter to Amanda was Jacob, and that delighted him immensely. Every now and then, she nuzzled her face into his neck to take in his musk. When she did, she vocalized something that was as close to a girlish laugh as possible. Amanda was still somewhere in there.
Jacob mentioned that she should get going, and for a brief instant, she looked disappointed that their impromptu date had come to an end. It was difficult for her to hide the rising excitement that the werewolf would be unleashed. Still, that moment when her shoulders slumped and her mouth shaped into a little pout reassured him. Nonetheless, it was time to go.
As night began to fall, they drove to the conservation area that had become her usual venue to transform. They drove off the road into a quiet, private area where people hardly traversed. She got out of the car and sniffed the air, almost as if she could sense if other humans were around. Confident that none were, she pulled on her dress. He had watched her put it on a few times before, and she was always gentle with a delicate piece of clothing. But with the change imminent, she was impatient to strip. With her clothes off, she showed no sense of modesty in front of her lover and the open air. She craned her neck again and looked up and around, eyes wide and searching the landscape around them. The werewolf would emerge soon, and she was already searching for her first meal of the night.
Confident that she was gone, Jacob said some parting words and began to walk away. When she pulled on his arm, he looked back at her. Her face was one of longing as a low snarl escaped her lips. She bent down, sniffing his body as she buried her nose on the crotch of his pants. The thought of impromptu sex in the wild interested Jacob, and that sense of arousal seemed to excite Amanda even more, but he knew what she really wanted. She still wanted to turn him. That life was not for him. All these months, he had thought he could pull her back to some semblance of humanity. He might still succeed in the days when the moon was concealed, but for now, this close to moonrise, he knew that was a fantasy.
Her face pleaded with Jacob one last time. If she could tell him in words, she would have. Her face and his gentle refusal was enough. She licked her lips once and nodded in acceptance.
He lifted her up and touched foreheads with her. "I love you," he said. They kissed gently for the last time that night. Her skin was getting warmer, almost burning. "I'll see you in the morning."
She growled at him, her vocalizations becoming deeper and huskier. They had but mere moments, and he took every last one of them to get into his car and drive away. Jacob was confident then that he would see her again on their patio. Until then, a high-pitched howl pierced the air every few minutes on the drive home until Jacob pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. He wondered what Amanda would do for the rest of the full moon, but the werewolf took care of itself. He pushed the thought aside and went back inside to safety.