Chapter Five
The double patio doors stood open to the night air, and their father held on to his human form as he watched his daughters transform into their wolf like shapes.
It was not a painful shift for them - something that he was deeply thankful for. Often with humans or half humans, the breaking of bones and stretching of tendons was an agonising experience, but his daughters when they made the change they did not fight it, and so it lessened the pain.
He saw the emotions twirling in their eyes, the discomfort, the agitation, and then the elation.
The look of absolute peace, just before their features shimmered, and they became the wolf like creatures, one of thick white fur, his little Laurie, and one of thick reddish fur - his beautiful Iris.
"Oh Belle, you would have been so proud of them!" he murmured tearfully, as his emotions washed over him, taking his human form with it, and leaving a large black wolf in its stead.
He gave himself a great enthusiastic shake, and then looked to the two females.
"We shall hunt in the woods to the south of us, this night," he instructed them, with their mind and body talk. "There are other packs to the north, and though they promised to keep off my lands, they may stray close to my borders - I will not risk a confrontation."
"Yes, pack leader," the females both said submissively.
He stood up on all fours and his fur seemed to thicken, making him seem larger than ever.
"Good, then let us hunt!"
The black wolf led the hunt, with the white and the red wolf following close behind.
He knew that they could have outpaced him easily, for what they lacked in strength, they more than made up for in speed and agility.
But his daughters were respectful of their pack leader and they kept their place - behind him.
It was a good night for the three wolves.
Their hunt was successful and fun.
They had eaten well throughout the day so that when they became the wolves, they would not be so hungry for meat, so as to lose their minds totally to the beasts.
And so their hunt was more for sport.
The animals that they tracked and caught were all released unhurt and only a little shaken.
Chasing down that stag had been the highlight, as the three wolves came from three directions to streamline, into one dart like creature.
Greg dropped back a little to let his daughters make the contact, and he was immensely proud, when Iris also dropped back a little, allowing little Laurie to give one last lurch and leap, as she tapped her paw on the stags large flank.
The stag kicked out in panic, but the three wolves had already dropped back letting the stag bound away unharmed.
"Contact," Laurie exclaimed excitedly. "The kill is mine!"
"You did well, little white," the pack leader stated formally. "The honours are yours, this night!"
She let out a delighted howl and yelp, and brushed herself up against the large black wolf.
He nuzzled at her white fur affectionately and the red wolf settled on her hunches to watch their affection for a moment.
A sound from behind caused her to look back over her shoulder, and she was up and around and growling immediately.
"Something is there!" she barked out in warning.
The black wolf moved in front of her. "Who is there - show yourself!" he growled.
There was silence for a moment, and then the sound of branches breaking, and leaves crackling.
A moment later a massive black wolf came out into the clearing.
He was young and strong, and Iris felt her fur bristling in response to him.
"I mean no harm," the newcomer bowed down in submission, and refused to make eye contact with her father - showing clearly that he had no intention of challenging him.
"You are trespassing on my lands."
"My apologies, pack leader, I am new to this area, and lost the pack I was hunting with, I was making my way back to the main stead, but crossed over boundaries when I came to a river."
"Are you afraid then of a little water?" Greg mocked.
"If that is how you wish to see it." The newcomer was obviously not going to be riled, and Iris felt her father relax as he perceived no threat in him.
"I will grant you safe passage off my lands, and I will expect your return on the morrow to offer your respect to myself and my daughters."
The newcomer bowed down lower. "That is the least I can offer you, wise one. My thanks and my apologies are yours for now though.
Iris was surprised at her father for demanding the return of such a dominant male, but her speculations were cut short when the old black wolf turned to her.
"Little red and little white - you two will return now to the den. I will escort our visitor across to the northern border."
The two females bowed down immediately, in response to his authority. "As you instruct, our pack leader; we shall obey."
The red wolf turned her back on the two black wolves, and marched away proudly, with the white slightly ahead of her.
Greg turned to find the newcomer's wolf like gaze fixed hungrily on Iris - the red haired wolf.
"My daughters," Greg growled warningly.
"My apologies - AGAIN, pack leader; it is just that I have never seen wolves with such vibrant colouring... stunning they are, magnificent they are!"
*
The two females ghosted through the forest, as the moon dropped low, and the sun tickled the horizon.
They just made it through the patio doors as the fur melted from their naked forms, leaving the two lovely young women once more.
Iris shivered as she grabbed her robe and shrugged it over her shoulders.
Laurie did the same and then grabbed the long cardigans and handed one to her sister, even as she pulled the other one on to her own shivering body.
"Leave father's robe on the patio," Iris said softly. "And I will pour us all a drink."
It took another half an hour before their father came strolling in with his own robe, tied securely at his waist.
Iris handed him the brandy, and glanced down at his muddy bare feet.
"You changed back in the presence of the stranger?" she asked in surprise.
"I wanted to get a look at the man," her father shrugged as he sipped at the drink. "And he seemed to be too polite to hold back when I had made the shift."
Iris and Laurie both picked up their own drinks, now that their father had returned safely.
They curled up on the sofa and sipped at the warming alcohol.
It was always a chilling experience when they changed back to human form.
And the exhaustion that would shortly follow would have them all staggering to their beds if they were not careful.
Iris pulled herself up and moved wearily into the kitchen.
She came back shortly with a bowl full of cooked chicken, which had been put in the fridge last night for just this purpose.
"Here, eat some of this," she handed it around and then took some for herself.
The meat would help to keep their energy levels up for a little while longer, long enough for them to shower, and then crawl into their beds.
"Pour us another brandy each as well, will you please, Iris."
The second brandy made the girls slightly fuzzy headed, but they were grateful for its warmth as it hit their bellies.
"So did he shift back to human form, daddy?" Laurie asked quietly.
"Yes girl, he did."
"What was he like, dad?" Iris asked curiously. There had been something about the stranger that had felt... she had almost felt a sense of recognition, of him in some way.
"Well all I can say is, the man more than matched the wolf... he was what you would describe as a fine specimen, of a man."
Once again, Iris has a moment akin to déjà vu, as a sense of recurrence washed over her, now why did that term seem so - so, familiar - was the only word that she could come up with!
The sun was climbing in the sky, and Iris noted the grey cast to her father's complexion.
He'd made the change out in the grounds and had had to walk back as a man.
He must be exhausted.
"Time for rest, I think," she said firmly as she stood up.
The others also came wearily to their feet.
"It was good hunting with you again, girls." Greg said tiredly. "I shall look forward to tonight's adventure, and dream of the last time that your mother was with us."
"Good night, daddy, sleep well."
He watched as his daughters slowly made their way up to their rooms. The stranger had said that he would wait until late afternoon to visit with them, and Greg was thankful that he could have a good sleep - and that the girls could too.
He had high hopes for this newcomer; he seemed different from the others; more appreciative of the uniqueness of his daughters.
He sighed tiredly as he headed for his own bedroom.
He was not a young man anymore, and he worried for the future; if anything was to happen to him - then his daughters would be alone and unprotected in the world.
Something would have to be arranged, his daughters may not like it at first, but they would adjust in time, and they would at least be protected from others of their kind, others who would see them as vulnerable and alone and who would seek to seize control, seek to take from them what was rightfully theirs. And then there was his sister too.
His sister was a successful and powerful businesswoman in her own right. But she only held that power amongst their own kind, due to the protection of her brother; her only male blood relative.
