Xaviers!

Tereza leads the way out into the woods, not having bothered to change into a shapeshifting outfit. At some point, she stops and turns around, shrugging out of her jacket and tossing it onto a tree branch. "Are you ready?"

Sam nods.

"As I'll ever be."

Tereza strips out of the rest of her clothes, tossing them into the tree as well. The shift this time sounds painful and takes a bit and she's breathing hard and a little wild-eyed by the time she's done. Sam can sense that the pain has the wolf on-edge even more and she glances around the clearing, scanning for obvious threats.

"It's just us, love. You're among friends. Among pack," she says, opening the link between her and Tereza wide.

That seems to focus the wolf's attention, but doesn't seem to calm her. Sam can sense the anger and frustration creeping back up the link. "She is being weak," the wolf snarls with just a hint of disgust, "Whining over what had to be done."

"If I'm honest, I think what's got her scared the most is she thinks you hurt me."

"I made demands and you answered despite my presumption. That they caused you pain in some measure was regrettable," she says, "But you seem fine now."

"I'm alright. I was alright then too, but she seems determined to hold it against you."

"And you're not just an animal, I can see. I just don't know how to convince her of that."

"I am as she sees me. She sees me as a monster and so, in her eyes, I am a monster. She is soft... and in denial."

"You're both part of the whole. You both need each other."

"I'm not the one who needs a crash course in the necessity of 'pack'," the wolf says, rising to her full height, looking down at Sam. "She is so willing to dance to your tune that she doesn't give it a second thought, but the turn-around scares her."

"And I don't want you to feel like you can't call on me."

She looks up at the wolf without any fear or disgust.

"I'd run with you anytime, love."

"You remember our fight?" The wolf's large hand reaches for Sam's face, claws dangerously close. She flexes her fingers, claw tips grazing Sam's skin as she watches Sam's reaction.

Sam's mind flits across the possibilities of the weapons tipping the wolf's fingers, her pupils dilating as she takes in a breath. With the link this open, it's not hard for the wolf to pick up on it.

"I remember enjoying it. I know it went too far, but you know I like a scrap."

"You called... all I did was answer."

"Maybe it wasn't the time or place, but am I wrong to think that we both like calling that out of each other?"

"Did you really enjoy me in a frenzy?"

"I mean I wouldn't... force it on you but..."

"...you're beautiful in full throat."

"You wanted your wolf whether you knew it or not. You called, I answered. Had the moon also not been singing in my ears..."

"...then we would have met in the middle more easily."

She closes her eyes, and when she opens them again she's looking up at the wolf through yellow ones of her own.

"You're allowed to want, too."

"She doesn't trust what I want."

"Because the timing has always been bad. She can't afford to appreciate you, because the moon is calling, or because we're in the middle of a crisis."

Her teeth sharpen as she speaks, her hair growing longer and wilder as her ears twitch to points. Her joints pop as her frame swells, starting to catch up to the wolf in size.

"But we're choosing our own time now, aren't we?"

She reaches out her own hand to caress the wolf's cheek as claws push forth from her fingertips.

The wolf leans into the touch like a big dog as if she can't help herself. Still, her response is negative, "No... you're choosing your own time."

"...then how do we make this more fair to you?"

"You're my lover, not my creature."

"That's not right either. I'm both."

"Do you resent that, then? You can say 'no' to me."

"I'm not sure I can say no to you, but resenting you is not in me. In her maybe, but not in me." Her ear twitches as if she's listening to something, but Sam doesn't pick up anything across their link.

"I don't... want to control you. Or her."

"What are you hearing?"

"I'm hearing her. She's..." The wolf grunts, "She's... objecting. Rather strongly."

"Are you willing to yield to her?"

"No. Do you want me to?"

"I don't want you to have to fight each other, but I want her to learn you're not a monster either."

"At the same time, I think she's more tenacious than you give her credit."

"Fair enough," the wolf says, seeming to take that as much of an affirmative as she's going to get. She sighs and pulls back, just enough on the edges. Oddly enough the link closes down a bit as she does so. The eyes harden and the first words out of her mouth are, "Don't resent you."

"Take it slow, love. I know you're not used to talking like this."

"I guess even after it happened, I thought this was more... equal than it apparently is."

"What do you mean?" The words are slow and deliberate.

"I guess I always thought that if I could call on you, it only made sense that you could do the same. It surprised me when it happened, but it didn't feel like a presumption on your part."

"I... Wasn't me. Was. But wasn't."

"It's all you, love. She's not any less you. Different interpretations of the same song."

"But the part where it doesn't feel equal is... she's not sure she can say no to me."

"She..." Tereza sighs, "She can't, I don't think."

"I don't... really understand why," she admits.

"I don't want to own you, love."