Welcome to Valsa

The next few weeks were mostly quiet on the farm. Riva came by daily to tend to her garden, which was just beginning to sprout. With Dione and Sam frequently wandering nude around the farm, she often took to disrobing before she worked as well, and most days this led to Jev and one or more of the ladies taking a break mid-afternoon to have some private fun. Dione had been a bit nervous about Sam scaring Riva off, but when the prospect of sleeping with both Sam and Jev at the same time was broached, she'd enthusiastically agreed. She'd even agreed to allow Sam to feed from her in the process, the first of Jev's regular partners to do so, and while she'd been uncomfortable immediately afterwards, she claimed that night to have had the best sleep of her life. She was eager to try again when she could fall asleep immediately, something that would require her to spend the night, which was not something she felt she could pitch to her parents quite yet.

The day Cyd came home from her trip to Alaria was cause for great excitement. Dione baked a triple-chocolate cake, which seemed to Jev a strange choice, given Cyd's werewolf nature, but conceded that Dione would know her friend better. The flight came in early on a Sunday afternoon, and Jev, Dione, and Sam all went into town to welcome their friend home. Their reunion was a happier one than Jev, Sam, and Dione's, a few weeks before, Cyd having managed to sleep through the majority of the flight thanks to some potent pharmaceuticals. Cyd was eager to share stories of her time in Alaria, of her sister and husband and their three children and the various sites they'd visited in that time. On the drive back she'd happily passed her phone around to show off the photos she'd taken of her climbing the Endless Stair, visiting the Market of Lights, and hiking up to the Crystal Falls. Getting back to the farm, it finally seemed as though things were returning to their new normal.

The next day, however, Cyd didn't leave her house. They chalked it up to a combination of jet lag and an eagerness to return to work charged with new inspiration. Certainly, the flashing light of her welding tools emanating from her garage late into the night supported that. But then this continued over the next few days. She'd waved at Jev as he walked past to go to the store, but when he came by to hang out afterwards, declined, saying she wanted to keep working. By the time the fourth day of Cyd's withdrawal rolled around, Jev was beginning to grow concerned. As the sun began to get low and the shadows lengthened, he looked out the kitchen window towards the werewolf's house.

"I don't get it. She seemed thrilled to see us all when she got back. But I think I talked more with her while she was on another continent than I have since she's come home."

Dione waved dismissively.

"Cyd can be like that sometimes. I wouldn't worry too much. She's deep in her head about something. Once she's worked it out, she'll be back to normal."

Jev grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water from a pitcher in the fridge. He turned to Dione.

"It just makes me worry I've done something wrong, y'know?" He took a sip from the glass before continuing. "I don't even know if it's me, if it's Sam or, I dunno, Riva? Maybe she doesn't like that Riva's been hanging around more? You're her best friend, has she said anything to you?"

Dione sighed patiently.

"Not much. But have you noticed that Cyd's kinda like a wolf?"

Jev feigned a surprised look. Dione laughed but continued.

"I don't mean the fur or the claws. But you know if she felt Riva was encroaching on her territory she'd be trying to chase her away, not hiding, right? And why does a wolf hide?"

Jev frowned, trying to follow Dione's logic.

"I don't know... Because they're scared? What's a two-and-a-half metre werewolf got to be scared of? The vacuum cleaner?"

This drew a bark of laughter from Dione, but she recovered quickly to continue.

"She's only a wolf some of the time, Jev. She's also as human as you or I. Which means just like you or I, she's scared of lots of things. Things which don't just get scared off by turning into a two-and-a-half metre tall werewolf. And you know what scares almost everybody? Change."

Jev crossed the room to go sit at the table beside Dione. She took the opportunity to swap her chair for his lap. She gave him a little peck on the lips before leaning back against him and continuing.

"She'll work her way through it eventually. She always does. But if you want to help her through it, well, you're better equipped to do that than anyone. Because it's your relationship with her that she's hiding from, Jev. Not me, not Sam." Her voice softened and she rested a hand on his chest, "You can show her that she can rely on you as part of her pack, and she doesn't need to hide from you."

Jev rested his forehead against hers.

"You think it's that easy?"

Dione puffed out her chest proudly.

"Hey, if there's one thing I can claim to be an expert in, it's Cyd. I do have over a decade of practice, after all."

Jev exhaled, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her body against his. He loved the way she moulded against him, like their bodies were one piece, split apart and pulled back together. He brushed a strand of green hair out of her face, then simply stared into her mossy green eyes before pulling her in for a kiss. Their lips lingered together for a moment before they pulled away.

"You know I love you, right?"

Dione smiled.

"I know." She stroked the side of his face, the forest of stubble that had been there now long replaced with a full beard, "I've known for a while. It's nice to hear it out loud, though."

She kissed him again, following it with another, softer kiss, as if it were a period at the end of a sentence.

"I love you too." She grabbed his glass and demurely took a sip of the cool water, "Thanks for the drink. Now, go take care of your packmate, will you?"

Jev smiled, rising to his feet as she did the same. With one final kiss, he headed through the door to Cyd's neighbouring property.

As usual, the door stood open. No flashes of blue light lit the garage, but he grabbed the safety goggles by the door as he entered anyway.

"Cyd, you here?"

Her voice rose from behind the welding curtain.

"Yeah, c'mon over, it's safe."

Jev replaced the goggles on the hook and joined Cyd on the far side of the welding curtain. She was sitting cross-legged on a cupboard, staring at her latest piece of work as if trying to understand what she'd made.

Resting on the work table was a wolf skull formed of hundreds of nuts of varying sizes, all meticulously welded together and polished to a mirror shine. But from between its empty eye sockets, the skull split open, and atop it stood a butterfly, as though drying its wings after emerging from the skull like a chrysalis. While the skull was finely polished, the butterfly was raw steel. Cyd had meticulously cut out delicate webbing in the wings, leaving it to look like the Clearwing butterflies that were commonly flitting around the farm but had left the cuts raw and unfinished, with dribbles of slag still hanging away from the cuts. The heat from the plasma cutter had heat-tinted the metal, leaving it a chaotic rainbow of subtle colours.

Cyd looked up at him with an expression that spoke of pride and exhaustion.

"It's done."

Jev looked at her briefly to acknowledge her but quickly returned to the sculpture.

"I'll say. Cyd, this is amazing. It feels more... I dunno, personal, I guess? Than some of your other works that I've seen."

Cyd chuckled wryly.

"Yeah, I suppose you could say that."

There was a note to Cyd's voice that broke his attention away from the sculpture. He looked up at her to see her watching him.

"Something on your mind?"

She sighed as if bracing herself for a conversation she wasn't sure if she could start. Her eyes flicked to the garage door, golden eyes staring at the orange sky peeking between the welding curtain and the door frame.

"Look, you remember the night that I declared you as my mate?"

It was hard to forget. Cyd had saved him from the aggressive advances of her cousin and had staked her claim on him. Both to ensure that Alis couldn't and as an excuse to have a little fun. Jev nodded.

"Yeah, of course."

Cyd continued.

"At the time it didn't mean much. I mean, it was kinda hot being the big, primal werewolf bitch claiming her mate from a rival and all, but it was just as much a way to keep Alis off of you, too." She let out a sigh that sounded almost like a silent scream as she ran her fingers through her dyed blue hair. "But I've spent a lot of time over the past coupla weeks with Mayrenn and her husband. Over the years I've spent so long fighting with my mother about how I don't need that. But this time, I saw it in front of me; the way they support each other, the little loving touches, all that bullshit that I never really appreciated. And I realised that I already have that. With you."

Jev crossed the room, gently laying his hand on her knee.

"Cyd, I..."

She cut him off.

"Shut the fuck up, Jev. I'm pouring out my heart, here." Her words were harsh, but delivered with a playfulness that tempered them. "Even though it was kinda your fault, you were there for me in Balisport. You had no reason to believe that I wasn't just gonna jump you as soon as you were back in that bedroom, but you trusted me anyways. You trusted in my ability to control myself, and you just... stayed. I don't think you can know how much that means to me."

Her voice was growing husky with suppressed emotion. She put her calloused hand on top of his, rubbing it up his arm to gently stroke it, as though to reassure herself that he was still here. Jev grabbed the back of her head and pulled it close to him to kiss her forehead tenderly.

"I mean, I wasn't just gonna up and leave you."

Her eyes flashed to his with a flare of anger.

"But you could have, don't you see? You could have waited in the kitchen, or the living room. Maybe even just left the apartment entirely until Sam was back. You made the decision to trust me when I'd given you no reason to think you could. And don't say it's what anyone would do, because I know damn well that it isn't. And what I'm saying is that I wish I hadn't done what I did that night with Alis. Because I want to be able to do it now, for real."

Jev could hear the thudding of his heart in his ears as Cyd looked up to him as if daring him to turn away from her. He held her gaze steadfastly, unwilling to break her faith in him for even a second as he watched tears well up in them.

"You are my mate, Jev. For real. And it scares the ever-loving shit out of me, but it's the truth."

Jev kissed her, passionately, pressing his lips against hers as if he could communicate everything he wanted to say just with that. He broke away, holding her at arm's length to look her in the eyes.

"Well, I guess the only way to solve that is for you to trust me, now. Think you can do that?

She held his gaze this time, staring ardently at him, searching his face for any sign of uncertainty.

"I guess I'm gonna have to learn."

She hopped off of the cupboard where she sat to stand beside him. He pulled her tight into a hug. She closed her eyes as she hooked her chin over his shoulder.

"Well, I promise to give you plenty of time. I'm not planning to go anywhere anytime soon."

Her eyes flicked open at that, and she smiled at him.

"Well, that's ok, 'cause I don't plan on letting you go anyway." Her hands slid down his arms and grabbed his hands. She began to back up, pulling him into the house, "Especially since we've got almost three weeks to make up for."

The insecurity in her eyes had disappeared, replaced by a burning hunger. She was barely in the house before she'd pulled her t-shirt off, casting it aside onto the kitchen floor. Cyd didn't often wear a bra, and today was no different, the small-to-moderate breasts of her human form rarely causing too much difficulty for her. She turned, wrapping Jev's arms around herself and grinding her denim-covered ass into his crotch and demanding his touch in return. Jev traced his fingers over her muscular tummy, caressing the channels of her abs before gripping and squeezing her soft breasts. His other hand, though, descended and flicked open the top button of her jeans before pulling open the zipper.

She kicked off the workboots that she wore loosely in her garage and wasted no time pulling down her jeans along with the underwear beneath them. She pulled away from him and bent herself down over the wooden kitchen table. She reached back, pulling her glistening entrance open for him to see, wordlessly begging him to fill it. He wasn't about to disappoint.

He disrobed as quickly as he could. Approaching from behind, he started to drop to his knees to get her started, but a growl from her made her intentions clear. This wasn't a time for foreplay, she wanted him in her, and fast. He returned upright and brought himself in line with her pussy, notching the head in first and sliding the rest in smoothly behind, earning a satisfied sigh from Cyd as he reached his base He withdrew slowly, then returned with a vigorous slam. His hands rested on the firm globes of Cyd's tight ass, and he used his grip to leverage each thrust to hit with maximum force, slow, but with a heavy slap at the end of each stroke that earned a strangled moan from Cyd. He knew she wanted him to speed up, each slow build-up earned him a subtle writhing from her soft form below him trying to entice him to accelerate. He refused, teasing her with the slow thrusts until finally she refused to take it anymore and started pushing back against him. He brought his hand down on her asscheek as punishment, the resounding clap of his flesh against hers echoing through the house and prompting a surprised shout before Cyd growled.

"Oh, gods, fuck yes..."

He picked up the pace, maintaining the vigour of his thrusts as Cyd pushed back against him. He brought his other hand down on the other asscheek, to give it a matching red handprint, then tangled his fingers into her hair, pulling back. Her face drew back into a grin.

"Oh, you fucker. You'd better like what happens next."

A loud crack filled the room, and at first, Jev thought they'd snapped the table leg, and nearly stopped but Cyd snarled.

"You motherfucker, you'd better not stop for anything."

The line of auburn fur sprouting from Cyd's spine explained what she meant. Jev continued pressing inward as a nub on the base of her spine emerged and grew long into a tail that pushed against his stomach and up his chest. As Jev continued thrusting within her, he could feel Cyd's body twisting from within. Her legs lengthened and stretched out behind her and she slammed her transforming arm onto the table, drawing her growing claws against the table into long rents that pulled back the laminated surface and carved into the chipboard beneath. The last thing to disappear from Cyd's human form was the dyed blue hair, fading to the golden brown of her fur as the magic of her Enchantment replaced it.

As Cyd's weight shifted through her transformation, she was forced to lay more of herself upon the table, her long legs almost fully straight behind her. Jev's concerns about the table proved to be prescient, as the combination of Cyd's increased weight and her shifting of it, possibly exacerbated by the damage to the surface, caused the legs on the table to splay out to the side. The tabletop crashed to the floor, with her weight behind it snapping the chipboard in two.

"Fucking cheap ODEA crap!"

Forced apart from Jev, now on the floor, she rolled awkwardly onto her back atop the shattered surface. Frustration was forefront on Cyd's face, but at a glance at Jev's surprised and concerned expression, this softened into a smile, followed by uncontrollable giggles. Jev shared in her laughter as he helped her to her feet. She pulled him in tight to hug him as they laughed together. She gently licked his cheek with one of her wolf kisses as the laughter subsided.

"Alright, well, the bed is reinforced. Shall we go there next?"

Jev let her draw him to the bedroom, where she pushed him back onto the thin, plush blanket. Slowly she licked at his cock to bring him back to fully erect, then climbed over him to carefully lower herself onto him, giving a sigh of satisfaction as she did. She pressed her clawed hand down on his chest, pinning him to the mattress. Jev was thrown back to the first night they'd met when Cyd had done the same. Cyd's eyes were closed in bliss, her mouth open and panting. Jev reached up, touching the side of her face. Her eyes snapped open and focused on his. He could already feel her pussy grabbing him as if trying to drag him deeper within, and he knew she was close. He let himself relax, allowing his orgasm to come up naturally as Cyd coaxed it from him.

His face contorted into a mask of pleasure as she began to peak, her eyes never leaving his. She wanted him to see her, to see what his body was doing to her. With one final stroke, he released, feeling himself empty deep within her body. Jev ran his hands through her fur, pulling her down to lie beside him. As she lay beside him, he ran his fingers through the soft fur of her chest, and she pulled him close.

"I love you, my mate."

He grinned up at her.

"I like that. I love you too, Cyd. My mate."

The following morning, they woke to a knock at the door. From Cyd's bedroom, they could tell it was just Sam, so Cyd invited her to let herself in. Jev and Cyd got dressed, meeting Sam in the kitchen, who was looking down over the shattered remnants of the table. She looked bewildered at the pair.

"What in the name of all the lower gods did you two manage here last night?"

Jev shared a look with Cyd, who seemed to be puffing up with pride. She casually polished her nails against her shirt.

"Oh, you know, things might've got a little rough... The table couldn't keep up."

Sam pushed one of the table legs to the side with a toe.

"I mean, I've gotta hand it to you, I've wrecked a few beds in my time, and at least one chair, but not a full table." She looked at Jev with a grin, "Sound like we've got some catching up to do."

Jev groaned.

"This is not gonna become a competition, ok? I can't just go out and buy a couch every time we have sex!"

Jev could feel Sam turn on the succubus charm, trailing her fingers along his collarbone before wrapping her arms around him from behind.

"I mean, it doesn't have to happen

every

time... Maybe just for special occasions?"

Jev turned in Sam's arms to face her, planting a kiss on her purple lips.

"Look, you break it, you bought it, lady."

Sam smiled at him but then recalled the reason for her visit.

"Oh, yeah, Cyd... I just wanted to let you know that your garage door is still open."

The werewolf growled in frustration.

"Dammit. Last time I did that, monkeys stole half of my file set. Look, why don't you two go back to Jev's for some breakfast where there's a working table. I'll catch up with you once I'm sure that everything is where it's supposed to be."

Jev and Sam agreed, heading out to the farmhouse. Sam walked slightly ahead of him, and Jev enjoyed the view of her butt held firm in tight jeans as she walked in front of him, her tail flicking as it tended to when she knew he was watching. Of all the women in his life, Sam had definitely done the most to help him get settled here. From helping with his immigration to the battle with the farm to even flying with him to Balisport and helping him move out, Jev's feelings towards the succubus had become decidedly different from when their relationship had started. He knew the girls would talk, and having already told Dione and Cyd that he loved them, he didn't want Sam to feel excluded if he waited for the perfect moment. As they reached the stone bridge, he reached out to grab her hand.