Jori - A Fairy Tale of Sorts Ch. 03

"Exhausted, and in extreme pain, I dug into my meager supplies for the medicines and found enough pain relief that I could actually fall asleep. When I awoke, it was daylight and I could move enough to bandage up my knee and ankle, at least enough to hobble around. I knew the night before wasn't a dream and I was scared out of my mind by the wolves and their strange behavior. I carefully crawled back through my little tunnel to see if the coast was clear. It wasn't."

"Outside my briar patch sat three huge wolves, patiently watching the entrance. And right in front of the entrance was a pile of six large rabbits, freshly killed. I nearly fainted. I tried to reach out with my mind to thank the wolves. I had so many questions I wanted to ask them. But all I got was the voice of one of them, saying 'you must be strong.' Then all three of them turned and disappeared into the woods."

"I thanked God, and Nature, and the wolves, and even the Universe in general. I had no idea why I was being treated with such kindness. But I did gather up the rabbits and cooked them. I had no salt to preserve them, but I could make them stretch over several days, especially if I added greens and fruits to the meals. I did that, and that started a very strange time. Every several days, I would find a fresh pile of rabbits in front of my bower. No more wolves, just the rabbits. I gradually healed and eventually was back to full strength."

"Then came the fateful day. I crawled out to get my rabbits and ran right smack into a dozen wolves sitting outside my bower, and chief among them was the one I had tentatively identified as the Alpha Dog of the pack. They were just sitting there patiently. Impassively. Waiting for me. And right in front of my little tunnel was a haunch of venison! I was delighted, but also confused. I looked to the Alpha and I heard his voice in my head."

"You seem well, Mistress, he said. Are you healed? I was so shocked it took me a moment to even think an answer, let alone say it."

"I believe I am, I managed to think back to him. And in great debt to you and your pack. You have treated me with so much kindness... I have no idea how to repay you."

"I would know if you are the one the humans call Angelique, he asked, again in my head."

"I am, I answered the same way. Is there some way I can help you?"

"With nary a word more, he changed my world forever. He slowly rose up and seemed to blur before my eyes. I wiped them on my sleeve to clear my vision and when I looked back, I saw a tall, rugged, very handsome man standing where the wolf had been. I fell back on my ass and stared."

"I am Roul Silvain, Alpha male of the White Hawk Forest Clan, he told me, still in my head. My mate is dead. I have been guided to you, known as Angelique and as Sybille, to produce an heir with special characteristics. I would ask that you mate with me and bear my child."

Jori stared wide-eyed and mouth agape as she revealed this. It was unbelievable.

"And if you don't mind refreshing my tea, Jori," she smiled at him, "I will tell you the rest of the story."

It took him a moment to break out of his trance, but he did -- and set about making more tea straightaway. Deciding that this would be a many cup story, he decided to brew an entire pot, and get out some bread, cheese and sausage casse-croûtes as well. She watched him move about his chores with a wistful smile, perhaps remembering her story, or perhaps remembering him. When he had everything ready, he brought a large wooden tray over, to set between them as they sat by the fire. He handed her refilled tea to her and sat back, to listen, enthralled.

"Merci, Jori," she smiled, then she also sat back, staring off vacantly as she remembered Roul.

"To say that I was shocked would be severe understatement," she went on in a few moments. "I fumbled around a bit, completely unsure of myself, and finally admitted, 'I do not understand, sir... you want me to bear your child? Who are you and who has led you to me with such a monstrous proposition?' He chuckled, aloud this time. 'Monstrous, indeed... though I don't consider myself necessarily hideous.' I was flabbergasted."

"He went on to explain, 'we may be what you would call monsters. We are skin-changers, or perhaps you would call us shapeshifters. We have lived in this forest from time immemorial. We have stayed away from the humans and their silly superstitions, preferring to live within our own world. A world which, until recently, had its ordered place in the Universe.' He paused to look at me closely, and I became aware that I was trembling, badly."

"After a moment, he went on. 'You do not need to fear me, my Lady, nor my pack. We will not harm you, regardless. My mate Igerne, Alpha Bitch of our Clan, was pregnant with my heirs when a Huntsman in the employ of the King and acting under his orders, slew her with a silver arrow. I cannot wreak my vengeance against the King. I am prohibited. I will leave that to the Dragon. But we did rend that miserable bastard of a hunter into shreds before leaving him to die from the attentions of the insects. Though a little satisfaction against my immediate emotions, it was not enough.'

'I cannot tear my heart out and follow my love, though I wish mightily I could. I must look to my Clan and our continuance. I cannot leave a void in our succession. I prayed for guidance, for some solution for producing an acceptable heir. Wolves mate for life. So do we. I would be effectively sterile, though not impotent, with any other bitch of our Clan. It was revealed to me that a woman of divine inspiration had been wrongfully cast out from her people, abandoned in these woods to die. I was shown that if she consented to bear my child, I would be able to sire a son and the Clan would accept him as my rightful heir.'

'We found you, as it was foretold, and have watched over you as best we can. I am now at the crossroads. I must ask you for the boon of bearing my child and saving our Clan.'"

"You can imagine, Jori, how frightened I was. Or perhaps you cannot. Maybe I should work some of my 'magic' for you, and show you what happened..."

Nodding to herself, she rose from her chair and hobbled over to her pantry, withdrawing a small chest from within. From it, she took out a phial with an amber colored powder in it, bringing it back over to where he sat.

"If you will permit me to put some of this in your tea, and you then imbibe it, it will enable me to project my experiences directly to you, and you may better understand what happened to me," she told him, holding up the phial.

"Whatever you would have me do, my Lady," Jori answered at once. There was no question in his mind about this at all. Whatever she asked, he would do. She nodded and shook a bit of the powder into his tea before returning to her chair.

"Drink, Jori. I will wait for its effects to begin before I continue."

He drank, and sat back, waiting for whatever was going to happen. It was not more than five minutes before he felt a little lightheaded, or perhaps sleepy. He turned to say something to the old woman, but he never focused on her. Instead, he found himself sitting on the ground, gazing up at a very imposing figure, not least of all because of the arc of wolves behind him. Wolves very much like the ones that had approached him in the forest.

He felt his heart race as he heard himself saying, in her voice, "I am afraid, good sir. I am afraid of you and I am afraid of the proposition. I do not know how to answer you. I would preserve my life, if possible." He looked down and suddenly realized he was looking out through her eyes. He was wearing her body, feeling what she was feeling, hearing as seeing as she did.

"I realize, my Lady," the large wolf-man was saying, "that this is a surprise and you need time to think about it. I will send away my clansmen so that you and I might talk in peace. Perhaps you would invite me into your bower, and I could cook up a venison stew for you? I know that is asking for a lot of trust. Trust which I have not yet earned. At least, not directly. I can only assure you that you are not in any mortal danger from me, or my kin."

He could feel the riot of her emotions as she tried to comprehend the man's words. He could also feel the very strong attraction she had to the man, so much so that she was being distracted by the swelling of her nethers and the sudden flood of her essence. At that point, he noticed that the wolf-man wasn't wearing any clothes. Just a rather enormous phallus. And most of it was still in its sheath. That, and a shoulder bag that had materialized from somewhere.

Jori stumbled on that one. The man didn't have normal human genitals. He had pubic fur and a wolf's sheath. And at the moment, several inches of pink sticking out of it. He felt her breathing shift and her heart flutter for a different reason as she let her passions overcome her and she gave in to the wanton, licentious attraction.

"I must trust your honor as a gentleman," she told him. "I have no choice. If you, alone, wish to join me for dinner, I will not object." Jori could sense, through her, the immense relief which coursed through the man before her. He watched as he turned and addressed the pack of wolves.

"Fill ar ais go dtí ár nead. Ná bíodh imní ort más rud é nach féidir liom a ar ais anocht."

The wolves arose and bowed their heads to him, then turned and padded off into the forest. The man turned back to her and reached his hand down.

"May I help you?" he asked, and though still flustered, she took his offered hand and he helped her to her feet.

His touch shot a thrill through her she had very seldom felt, and she was surprised. Stunned, actually. He picked up the venison and gestured before him.

"After you, my Lady?" he asked.

She managed to shake herself free from her trance and turn towards her briar tunnel, keeping half an eye on him as she went. He wants me to have his child? she thought as she knelt down and proceeded to crawl into her bower. This is really, really weird. What am I going to do?

Let him make dinner and give yourself time to think about this, another, more rational part of her answered. He isn't trying to harm you, or force you. And he isn't all that unattractive. I wonder what having a wolf pup is like?

Jori could feel exactly how confused and conflicted she was as she made way for the Roul person. He entered her small living space and noted the fire circle and pile of bedding. There were crude utensils carved from wood and a small line made from twisted vines which held her laundry. A waterskin was hung nearby, and a basket of grass had been woven to hold the plants and berries she had harvested for her sustenance. There was a small pile of metal cooking pots and pans near the fire.

"I can offer you a much more comfortable life," he commented as he set the haunch down and began butchering it into small pieces. "Though we usually travel the forest in our lupine form, my Clan maintains a Hold suitable for us in our human forms. We are usually in our human forms when there. You would be treated with honor and respect by the Clan, and after birthing my heir and completing our agreement, you would be permitted to live among us, in comfort, for the rest of your days."

"Or, you could return to the world of the humans, as you saw fit. The choice would be entirely yours."

It sounds so tempting, she thought as she watched him cutting up the meat, and the wild potatoes and carrots she'd scavenged. Of course, if he's lying, I'd never know it and end up just so much dead meat.

Or wait a minute... she thought, a desperate idea creeping into her mind. Perhaps I can use my gift of Sight to figure out what's going to happen!

She had never tried doing it intentionally before. It had always just happened, though she remembered perfectly the entranced feeling she got when she saw her visions. Now she sat back and tried to feel that feeling, to put her mind in the state it ended up in anyway, whenever she "saw" the future. And it seemed to work.

She felt the present, the "here and now", slipping away to be replaced by a floating feeling, and she saw a silver-grey glow form around Roul, the one she was concentrating on. The glow began to expand until it obscured everything but him. Then he, too, began to fade, to be replaced by an image of her, lying next to him, with her very, very pregnant. That faded to a scene of a cave where she sat on a bed of fur with two infants in her arms, each suckling a teat. That gave way to a scene of her sitting at a table with a number of other humans, teaching her two children how to use utensils to eat.

The images faded after that. She tried to keep her concentration on them, but was unable to keep her focus. Her mind dropped back into the "here and now" and she noticed Roul had build a small fire and was beginning to cook the stew pot he'd set up.

"You need water," he informed her. "I will go get some. Did you see something you like?"

She was surprised. "What do you mean?" she asked defensively.

"You had the same look and non-responsiveness that our Shaman gets when she meditates," he told her. "Since you are renowned as a Seer, I presume you were off Seeing."

"Um... yes. I think so," she told him. "And I appreciate you getting the water."

"It will not be hard for a strong man like you to haul it back here," she added, permitting herself a slight smile. She was looking at his shoulders, ass and thighs... and imagining more.

He gave her a soft smile in return and took the waterskin with him when he left. She sat alone, wondering about her fate, swinging back and forth between utterly fascinated and absolutely terrified. Her body was voting the strongest, with its increasing desire for this man. Or beast. Or whatever he was. She took her visions to mean she would safely mate with this shapeshifter and bear his children -- two from the looks of it -- and live in harmony with him and with his pack.

When he returned, he bore two skins -- hers and one she hadn't seen before. Both were full and he hung both up for her.

"Less need to leave the safety of your bower," he explained, "while you make your decision about my proposition."

"I think, good sir, that I have already made my decision," she told him and expression became sharply focused on her. "But I would ask first, what is involved in bearing your child?"

"Mating with me," he answered with a gentle smile. "Nature will take care of the rest."

"I know that," she retorted a bit irritated. "I mean, what about gestation, and birthing, and caring for them afterwards, and all that."

"In our Clan," he told her, sitting back and stirring the pot, "our young nurse more like humans. A year and a half to two years, usually. Sometimes more, sometimes less. I would expect my offspring to do the same. Therefore, they would need to stay under your care for the first two years. I said before, I can offer you a more comfortable life." He gestured around as he said this. "As the bearer of my heir or heirs, you would be, at minimum, an honored guest in our Clan, and would be looked after as any other pregnant female would, including help during whelping. Any minor work you wished to do to help the Clan would be appreciated, of course."

"Afterwards, you would be expected to raise the pups until they were viable. After that, it would depend on a number of factors, not the least of which would be your desires, as to whether you stayed with us or went your own way."

"Okay, then..." she breathed, hardly believing she was going to do this. "Let's go back to the mating part." She eyed his sheath. "What has to happen there?"

"Oh, it's very much like humans, but with a few differences," he told her with a smile.

"I can see one of them," she answered, still looking at his belly. "Do I just flop on my back, spread my legs and let you have your way with me?"

"Is that what you are used to?" he asked, and she felt brought up short.

"Well, sort of," she answered slowly. "I was married young and had my daughters in fairly quick succession. It wasn't that bad... although, I don't think he knew what he was doing, as far as imparting pleasure. He was obviously virile and able to get me pregnant."

"Is that what you want?" Roul asked, still watching her expression.

"Not exactly..." she again drawled. "Although, if you only want to get me pregnant, anything that gets your seed inside me will probably work."

"Then you will have to teach me what you like and I will do my best to pleasure you," he informed her with finality. "Our bitches are rather demanding when it comes to being pleasured during copulation. I have no idea if you would be more or less so, but I am willing to learn."

"What is 'rather demanding', if I may?" she asked rather suspiciously.

"Oh, usually several orgasms of theirs to one of ours," he answered brightly. "They are also particularly sensitive to oral pleasuring and want quite a bit of that. Being suckled and petted are also high on their lists. They are less into anal copulation, although some like it quite a bit. As long as a Dog is paying attention to what his Bitch is asking for, he should do alright."

She felt faint. And swollen, and wet. Her heart was racing, her head was pounding and she wanted to get laid very, very much, and very much right now! She fought to keep her calm demeanor.

"And are the men as demanding?" she asked carefully.

"Not nearly as much," he answered, and if there was any guile, it wasn't in his voice. "We make the pleasuring of our bitches a high priority as compensation for the knotting."

"The..." she gulped.

"The knotting," he went on. "We males knot and tie when we cum, and it can last fifteen minutes, or longer, while we pump our seed into our mate. She is pretty much stuck where she is, and so it is better if she is wiped out and wanting to simply rest, anyway."

She was speechless. Her mind was racing with imagery, but her mouth wasn't working. It was hanging agape. She finally managed to compose herself.

"How, um... uh, how do you know when to stop?" she asked, still in awe of his description. "How do you know when she is pregnant?"

"Oh, being pregnant doesn't mean having to stop," he smiled and her womb clenched. "Quite a few of our bitches find that being pregnant makes them even more randy, more of the time. And we males are expected to keep them happy."

He turned back to stirring the pot before announcing, "another ten minutes or so and we will have venison stew." He cast a surreptitious glance back and noticed her rubbing her pussy under the guise of straightening her shift. She saw him notice and knew she'd been caught. She decided to brazen it out anyway.

"I would like to sleep on your proposition," she told him, trying to assert an air of confidence. "I will admit, it sounds intriguing. And an improvement in my living conditions is not to be ignored. The idea of birthing wolf pups is a bit disconcerting, though."

"Oh, you wouldn't be birthing wolf pups, per se," he told her. "We call them pups, but in actuality, although we can copulate in our lupine form, we breed in our human form and our offspring are born in their human form. They don't acquire their ability to shapeshift until they reach adolescence. We have been shown that any pups born of you will be very special. Hence my request."

"And you most certainly may 'sleep on it'. You needn't make your decision tonight," he went on. "Nor tomorrow, nor the next day. In fact, you do not need to make it, ever. I hope you will, but I am prepared to be as patient as necessary. When dinner is done and you are comfortable, I can leave."

"I'd rather you didn't." She had no idea how those words made it out of her mouth. But they had. He looked at her quizzically as she continued, "can you stay with me tonight and not rape me? I am very attracted to you, but also very scared. I would like to get to know you better."