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The wolf lowered its head, whining and backing away as if in shame. Isolde felt something in her chest twinge.

              “Poor beast,” she whispered. Evans applied pressure to her arm.

“We best be going now, Miss Marlowe. There’s nothing more to see.”

Isolde faced the man, removing his hand.

    “If it’s all the same to you, I would like to stay here for a bit.”

Evans shot a questioning look at the wolf. Haddock-Wolf looked from Evans to Isolde with his golden eyes, then laid down on the floor and thumped his tail. Evans sniffed.

              “Very well.”

Isolde would have considered the whole exchange comical if it was happening in a book. It was different in reality. The butler left the room and shut the doors behind him with a little too much force than was necessary. Isolde slowly moved closer to Haddock-Wolf. He watched her as she seated herself in front of the blazing fireplace and held out a hand to him. Haddock-Wolf was still softly whining. Isolde ducked her chin.

              “Don’t be shy,” she said with a smile. Haddock-Wolf shuffled up to her in only the kind of way that a canine can and gingerly touched his nose to her hand. Isolde’s smile widened as she felt the wet surface on her palm. She ran her hand over his head and behind an ear, scratching it. Haddock-Wolf closed his eyes and pressed his head into her hand, tail slowly thumping.

              “I’ll let you in on my secret,” Isolde said as she scratched the scruff on the side of his head. “I found out you were a werewolf a fortnight after your mother hired me. She wasn’t feeling well one day so she took a nap and left me to wander the estate. I wanted to know more about the derelict wings of Haddock Hall, so I led Evans—whom your mother had appointed as my “keeper”—on a wild goose chase and slipped through the boards put in place to discourage people like me after I lost him in that wonderful labyrinth in the garden. I saw the claw marks and thought that something was inhabiting those abandoned wings until I found an old study and all those parchments and journals. I know it was horribly rude of me, but I was curious, and mysteries have always intrigued me, so I read them. I thought it was all nonsense until I began to put the pieces together. Your mother declining to have me come every full moon only confirmed my suspicions. Naturally, I assumed you had inherited the “family affliction” too, and by the way you acted towards me at that ball, you only made it more plainly evident.”

              Isolde paused.

“I know you’re wondering why I pursued you so much, hm? It was mainly because of something your mother had said. She talked about you so much when you were gone…she still does, but that’s besides the point. She described a kind young man who loved his mother and did his best to live up to his father’s memory, but it was what she didn’t say that intrigued me the most. What she didn’t have to say was that you never get close to anyone because you feel like an outcast, so you keep them at arm’s length or just shove them away. She blamed it on your “affliction,” but I think that’s just one ingredient in the problem. The other was that woman you refuse to talk about. I haven’t pried into her out of respect for you; I’m waiting for you to tell me about her, and if you never do, that’s fine with me. I’ll admit that at first, I thought I could be something more than a friend to you, but I’ve since realized that that was foolish and you need time to heal, so I’ll settle for just being someone there you can share your pains and secrets with without having to worry about trying to hide part of yourself from me…It’s unhealthy to be alone, Mr. Haddock.”

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First - Previous - Next

This is short but hopefully the week after next's story will make up for it! For those of you who thought Haddock was going to turn into your run-of-the-mill werewolf--NOPE! The werewolves in this universe are different, mainly being that there are those who let the Wolf Side take over completely when they change, and those who have learned to balance it with their Human Side. The act of maintaining an aspect of humanity can be passed down so that the following generations are more "tame" werewolves. What little human intelligence that those who turn themselves over to the Wolf Side is used to hunt humans with more precision. I have five more snippet finished, along with the accompanying sketches that I need to color. I'm getting to the part that I've been anticipating writing ever since I introduced Sir Drexel *cough*WoLfFiGHT*cough*

Characters/Story©LadyPep

Description

The wolf lowered its head, whining and backing away as if in shame. Isolde felt something in her chest twinge.

              “Poor beast,” she whispered. Evans applied pressure to her arm.

“We best be going now, Miss Marlowe. There’s nothing more to see.”

Isolde faced the man, removing his hand.

    “If it’s all the same to you, I would like to stay here for a bit.”

Evans shot a questioning look at the wolf. Haddock-Wolf looked from Evans to Isolde with his golden eyes, then laid down on the floor and thumped his tail. Evans sniffed.

              “Very well.”

Isolde would have considered the whole exchange comical if it was happening in a book. It was different in reality. The butler left the room and shut the doors behind him with a little too much force than was necessary. Isolde slowly moved closer to Haddock-Wolf. He watched her as she seated herself in front of the blazing fireplace and held out a hand to him. Haddock-Wolf was still softly whining. Isolde ducked her chin.

              “Don’t be shy,” she said with a smile. Haddock-Wolf shuffled up to her in only the kind of way that a canine can and gingerly touched his nose to her hand. Isolde’s smile widened as she felt the wet surface on her palm. She ran her hand over his head and behind an ear, scratching it. Haddock-Wolf closed his eyes and pressed his head into her hand, tail slowly thumping.

              “I’ll let you in on my secret,” Isolde said as she scratched the scruff on the side of his head. “I found out you were a werewolf a fortnight after your mother hired me. She wasn’t feeling well one day so she took a nap and left me to wander the estate. I wanted to know more about the derelict wings of Haddock Hall, so I led Evans—whom your mother had appointed as my “keeper”—on a wild goose chase and slipped through the boards put in place to discourage people like me after I lost him in that wonderful labyrinth in the garden. I saw the claw marks and thought that something was inhabiting those abandoned wings until I found an old study and all those parchments and journals. I know it was horribly rude of me, but I was curious, and mysteries have always intrigued me, so I read them. I thought it was all nonsense until I began to put the pieces together. Your mother declining to have me come every full moon only confirmed my suspicions. Naturally, I assumed you had inherited the “family affliction” too, and by the way you acted towards me at that ball, you only made it more plainly evident.”

              Isolde paused.

“I know you’re wondering why I pursued you so much, hm? It was mainly because of something your mother had said. She talked about you so much when you were gone…she still does, but that’s besides the point. She described a kind young man who loved his mother and did his best to live up to his father’s memory, but it was what she didn’t say that intrigued me the most. What she didn’t have to say was that you never get close to anyone because you feel like an outcast, so you keep them at arm’s length or just shove them away. She blamed it on your “affliction,” but I think that’s just one ingredient in the problem. The other was that woman you refuse to talk about. I haven’t pried into her out of respect for you; I’m waiting for you to tell me about her, and if you never do, that’s fine with me. I’ll admit that at first, I thought I could be something more than a friend to you, but I’ve since realized that that was foolish and you need time to heal, so I’ll settle for just being someone there you can share your pains and secrets with without having to worry about trying to hide part of yourself from me…It’s unhealthy to be alone, Mr. Haddock.”

---------

First - Previous - Next

This is short but hopefully the week after next's story will make up for it! For those of you who thought Haddock was going to turn into your run-of-the-mill werewolf--NOPE! The werewolves in this universe are different, mainly being that there are those who let the Wolf Side take over completely when they change, and those who have learned to balance it with their Human Side. The act of maintaining an aspect of humanity can be passed down so that the following generations are more "tame" werewolves. What little human intelligence that those who turn themselves over to the Wolf Side is used to hunt humans with more precision. I have five more snippet finished, along with the accompanying sketches that I need to color. I'm getting to the part that I've been anticipating writing ever since I introduced Sir Drexel *cough*WoLfFiGHT*cough*

Characters/Story©LadyPep