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Tabi closed the apothecary for the night, bundled up against the winter's cold. The summer was well and truly over in Duskdale and the nights were fast drawing in, bringing with them the ails and ills of everyone human and otherwise. For better or worse, it made her little shop extremely busy from Hallows’ eve all the way through to Modranicht. Almost all of her common remedies were running so low that she’d have to arrive early to prepare more charms. So many were unable to take the time to rest as they should and relied on magical means to prevent illness. With one last look around the empty shop, Tabi lifted the edges of her dress to ensure her boots were fully laced against the lethally slick patches of ice, when behind her there was a soft knock on the door followed by the creak of the hinge. A silhouette stood in the entrance before her, tall and broad.
"We're closed sir, anything you need will have to wait until the morning."
“Sir?” Came their incredulous voice. “Don’t you recognise a lady?”
“Oh! Apologies I...”
The visitor laughed huskily revealing canines longer than usual, capped with gold. The woman’s loose curls were just long enough to cover the tips of her pointed ears to most eyes, but not Tabi. Pinned to her elaborate embroidered jacket was a golden amber brooch. Her visitor was a wolf, an important one too.
“I’m just fucking with you, miss. I like sir, like how it sounds.” Up close Tabi could see the way her trousers were loose around the hips, long jacket broadening her shoulders, a frilled cravat masking her chest. She took a step back as Tabi locked the front door with a click of her fingers and a crackle of the mechanism.
“I’m Mads Voigt.” The visitor held out a gloved hand, smiling wide enough to get a good look at those golden teeth.
Tabi took her hand, left silent by the name she’d given.
“You recognise the name don’t you? Suppose you could say I’m a regular by proxy, my boys are in frequent need of patching up.” Tabi nodded. The local wolf pack were some of Tabi’s best customers, and had been so for almost a year. Most days she would be visited by one wolf or another, ranging from the pups who’d barely seen a handful of moons to the older wolves who sent the shop into a respectful silence as they entered. They were always in need of protective charms and healing balsam even during quiet periods of the year and though she had no idea what their business was, she didn’t care to ask. What she did know was that they were respectful and reliable customers, their accounts paid at the end each week by a courier with a note, ‘with love from Mads.’
Tabi had long suspected she had an admirer of sorts, but had assumed the mysterious figure to be a man, and not quite so handsome either. Mads could pass as perhaps thirty years old if she were human, then again so would Tabi, and she was well into her sixth decade. Time didn’t pass quite so quickly for either of their kind. "I thought it might be time to show my face."
“Tabitha - Tabi Clovenfoot. it’s nice to meet you finally.” She ducked into a not-quite curtsey, uncertain of the rules around pack leaders, though she knew their hierarchies could be rigid. Best err on the side of caution. “You’re keeping my little shop in business.”
“Good, I’d hate to see you close.” Mads said with a honeyed voice, there was hunger in those golden eyes, desire. “Clovenfoot. Now there’s a witches’ name if I ever heard one.”
“Proud of it too,” she said, not a little defensively. Tabi pushed her shoulders back to meet the wolf's height, ignoring the cold breeze biting at her cheeks.
“As you should be, there’s no shame in power.” Her lip lifted with the final word; her teeth looked so lethal, and Tabi felt herself wondering how they would feel pinching her skin, lips plush and soft...
Tabi shook her head. “I, I should get home, my familiar needs to be fed.”
“Of course, I shouldn’t take up your time. Although...” Mads glanced up at the clear night sky above. "It's a lovely evening, may I walk you?"
“Moon's almost full.” Tabi followed her companion's gaze upward. “Won’t that be a problem for someone with your condition?”
Wordlessly, she pulled a long chain from her breast pocket, producing a beautifully engraved watch in her hand. The lid sprung open, revealing a clock face covered in arcane symbols carved in a lycan tongue indecipherable to her, the hands rapidly ticking. Having gleaned what she needed, Mads snapped it shut.
"I’ve got time. Besides, it can be dangerous for a lady alone at night, there are wolves on the prowl you know." She leaned in and gave Tabi’s waist a slight squeeze, setting her heart racing. “We ought to stick together.”
"I'm a big girl, sir. I'm sure I could handle myself." She ran a finger down Mads’ cravat, the frills of silky fabric guiding her over the curve of her chest, their lips very close now. "I think I can keep a mean old wolf in line."
“I’m sure you could.” Mads' laughed again, and held out her arm for Tabi to take. She held on, surprised at how warm the wolf was despite the cold, and the pair made their way down the narrow cobblestone streets towards the witches’ commune. The streets were awfully quiet that evening, the intense cold seemingly discouraged any sort of dawdling for most but even so, they took their time as the first stray flakes of snow began to flutter toward the ground. Tabi nervously chattered about her plans for the Modranicht feast, wondering what sort of festivals a wolf would observe for she knew shamefully little, when she noticed her companion checking her watch repeatedly. Clearly Mads was cutting it very fine.
“Where do you go? When your time runs out?” She asked.
“The woods mostly, I retire to the forest outside the city walls until- ” Mads' gasped suddenly, her eyes began flickering with light, her teeth lengthening visibly. She bent double with a low groan as her body began to broaden and stretch, filling her loose clothing. Tabi had seen transformations of all kinds and very little could shock her, but she felt almost afraid for her. Mads had taken a risk, visiting this close to moonrise. The city authorities didn’t take kindly to loose lycanthropes running around in their wolf-state.
“My home is close, I may have something that can help.” Tabi tried her best to hold her up, leading her toward the gates. She led Mads up the narrow stairs of the commune into her room, hoping no one spotted them. It was rare for an outsider to be allowed into the sanctum, and a mid-transformation wolf would spell a world of trouble.
Tabi locked the door behind them whilst Mads paced uneasily around the room trying to quell her discomfort. The witch began looking around at the walls packed with books both within and without the confines of shelves, countless vials of herbs, dried plants and flowers. Tabi always found herself busy, bringing her work home to refine and study her craft, but her means of organising her research needed a lot of work. Over on the dresser, a large toad grumbled to itself in a tongue beyond either of their understanding, a low droning sound that filled the room. At last Tabi found her scribbled notes on lycan transformation, tea stained and wrinkled, when she noticed Mads glancing anxiously through the small circular window at the bright full moon, checking her watch. It dropped from her hand as Mads fell to the floor clutching her head, the fog descending onto her consciousness.
Undirected power and violence, Tabi thought. Useful if you had a target, if you had control. Lethal if you didn’t.
But there was still time to help, she hoped.
“I shouldn’t be here, miss Tabi. I could hurt you.”
"You won't." Tabi lifted the thin silver chain from her dress to reveal a tiny glass bottle. It was filled with small lilac coloured petals, dried and pressed; wolfsbane, amongst other things. “Hiding away when you transform, it sounds lonely.”
Mads sat heavily on the edge of the bed ripping her gloves away as her hands outgrew them. Her hair had grown shaggy, extending further down her neck. “It is, I suppose. But I don’t know any other way, it’s what I’ve always done.”
“Well, if you don’t mind I’d like to try an alternative.” Letting the bottle drop against the front of her dress, Tabi’s hands danced in front of her briefly until a bundle on rope dropped into them, ordinary looking enough. Magic crackled on Tabi’s fingertips and the bottle popped open, releasing the smell of the combined herbs. The familiar petals rose first to the top and hung in the air before her, crumbling themselves into a fine blue powder, and blending into the rope fibres.
"A binding spell?" Mads cocked an eyebrow, sliding her jacket from her shoulders just in time to save it from being shredded. Tabi smiled. Despite everything, Mads still retained that sly edge to her voice. Once again Mads reached for her watch and flicked it open just as the hands struck the symbol in place of a twelve. They were out of time. "You really think a thread so delicate can hold me?"
“It’s stronger than you might think, may I?”
“I had no idea that you would be tying me up so soon after we met.” Mads grinned and held out her wrists with a surprising level of trust. With a murmured chant and flick of the wrist, the rope animated with life of its own and slithered under her shirt, binding her wrists and criss-crossing her torso. Tabi whispered, clenching her fist and the rope pulled tight against Mads’ skin. Secure but not enough to bite into her skin.
“Breathe deep.” Tabi lowered her voice, trying to contain the quiver in her throat. This was untested waters: she had no evidence this spell had even worked this far into the night, she’d only read of the spell being cast on wolves prior to moonrise. A prevention more than a cure.
Mads’ lip curled into snarl as she inhaled the fragrance of the familiar herb woven into the twine, and the red mist of lycanthropy began to soften in her eyes. If she had measured correctly, Tabi estimated that Mads should feel the relaxed euphoria of a few cups of mead. “How do you feel?”
“Calmer, I... I- ” She slumped forward, eyes falling shut when a growl erupted from deep in her chest, hungry, ravenous. The rope strained and her shirt began to tear, but still the spell held strong. Mads tried haltingly to speak, the words losing their shape - "Gods, please run...I could kill you."
But Tabi refused, she knelt and pressed her forehead to Mads’, her compact curls wrapped around her fingers like they belonged there always. Mads said she had known no other way, and perhaps the company was what she needed. She smelt like warm earth, a forest after rainfall, and Tabi felt so comfortable even with those jaws so close. “You won’t, I promise you.”
––––––––
MADS’ EPISODE PASSED in the early hours of the morning with the fading moon, Tabi staying with her the whole night; Partly should she need to strengthen the spell but most of all to ensure she wasn’t alone. She sat on her chair by the bed, her ankles and skirts drawn up so that she could continue to read her notes as Mads fought her transformation, even beginning to sketch the shape of her new companion as the wolf rested, eyes flickering. As the sun rose and Mads began to stir, Tabi whispered beneath her breath once again and released her from the complex knots. With a mere snap of her fingers, the rope vanished and the recovered flowers' essence returned to her pendant. By all means the spell shouldn't have worked. Perhaps the coming solstice had given her what she needed, perhaps it was something else.
“Thank you, Miss Tabi.” Mads’ voice was raw from exhaustion, her gaze low and her hair dishevelled. The transformation had halted midway but not before shredding Mads' shirt open, her modesty protected by binding around her chest that seemed to have stretched and shrunk with her.
“It’s nothing really, a muddle of a spell. I'm quite surprised that it worked, sir.” Tabi quickly turned to the stovetop and busied herself brewing her usual morning pot of tea, all the while trying not to glance back at Mads' broad bare shoulders.
"I have to admit, I've watched you for some time. More than a decent person should."
The hairs on Tabi’s neck prickled. She'd known, of course. The notes and frequent wolf visits over the past few months had been enough of a clue for her, and in a way she’d been expecting a pack leader sooner or later. Slowly, she poured the freshly boiled water over the leaves, the aroma drifting upward.
"Why not approach me before now? Why wait?”
“I wondered if you weren’t...” For the first time the wolf hesitated, the previous nights’ cockiness melted away. "You might have said no."
Their eyes met across the room. “But I might not have.”
Tabi set the tea to brew and reached into her wardrobe for something that would suit Mads, of which she had very little. Her tastes leaned far more into layers of skirts, loose sleeves and snug corsets, but still she dug until she found an old shirt. A relic of the past she’d never quite been able to part with, until now.
Tabi sat and passed Mads the shirt, which she took gratefully and discarded the shredded remains of the previous night. Tabi examined the stress tearing on the fabric, reminded of a half remembered spell that could pull the remains together. It was recorded somewhere in this room, she was sure of it. She found herself wanting to apologise for the state of her rooms, it was so rare for Tabi to host guests and someone of Mads’ stature was likely used to far better accommodations than a cluttered witches’ quarters.
“I believe I may be able to mend this for you, though it may require more magic than thread.”
“A seamstress and an apothecary? Quite the polymath aren’t you, little witch. I wonder what other talents you have hidden away," Mads teased. Her brash temperament seemed to have recovered quite quickly at least.
“I keep myself busy.” Tabi felt a blush rise to her cheeks and looked down, when she noticed pale, ragged scars that tore across Mads’ chest, disappearing beneath her chest binding.
“Family dispute, a long time ago.” Mads said plainly, somehow aware of Tabi’s gaze as she tied her cravat over her shirt with a well practised efficiency and care. She pulled on her soft leather gloves then wrapped one of her curls around a finger letting it spring back into place over her brow. “Not everyone wants someone like me as a pack leader. Are you sure you want me wearing this?”
“It’s quite alright, it’s not even mine.” Tabi’s mouth went dry at the memory of the previous owner. It had been years, decades even, and still the thought made her uneasy, her voice shrinking with each word. “It belonged to a human with a cruel streak. The role of a housewife wasn't mine to play, and he hated that. Besides, it looks far better on you."
"You know, I can rip his throat out if you like. I haven't eaten a man in a good long while." Mads seemed to linger on her final few words, eyes reignited with the same hunger Tabi saw the previous night. That lycanthrope rage could be useful, with direction. “Call it a gift for Modranicht, spirit of the season if you will.”
“You celebrate too?”
“We call it the oak moon, and it lasts a few days, but I think you’ll find we’re more similar than we are different.” Mads tilted Tabi’s chin up until their lips nearly met, her eyes narrowed and breath warm. “My offer stands, if you wish it.”
“Perhaps romance is alive and well after all." Tabi managed to say finally, flattered by the offer. For a wolf that was practically a proposal. "But I already dealt with him."
"How delightful!” She beamed. Mads’ excitement was palpable to Tabi, so infectious she could feel it. “Did you turn him into a toad? That's what you can do right?"
"Of course not, toads are sweet little things, you’ve met Physal over there.” She nodded to the amphibian on the dresser, still croaking happily and basking in the fine localised mist that hung above him. “But if you’ve come across some particularly lurid green slime in the bottom of the river, you might have seen him."
“What a wicked thing you are! I knew I’d like you." Mads bared those long canines again, delighted by the revelation. Tabi felt a small flush of pride at the recognition, moving a little closer to Mads’ orbit. The wolf reached out and toyed with a wayward lock of Tabi's hair, perfumed with the collective fragrance of herbs and tinctures embedded over the years, her expression introspective. “I hope you can forgive me for last night. I’d like to see you again if I may, miss Tabi.”
So this is what it feels like to be courted, Tabi thought, even unconventionally. Tabi took her hands, feeling their warmth beneath the soft leather, and kissed Mads on her freckled cheek. “There’s nothing to forgive."
“I'll try not to become such a beast next time, if I can help it.”
“Oh, I'm not sure I'd mind so much.” Tabi imagined what Mads looked like in her full wolf state, a being of pure instinct. “It was rather fun to try out a new spell.”
“Well, if you have any other little experiments I’ll happily be your subject. And I promise to be a perfect gentleman, of sorts.” A smirk tugged at Mads’ lips, her canines just barely visible in a way that made Tabi long for more.
"I expect nothing less of my admirer, sir."