Unfamiliar Territory - Chapter 14 (Early Access) (Patreon)

A sputtering fire filled the downstairs room with warmth, and Tove's stew bubbling atop filled it with a delicious scent. Chloe was unpacking and organising her few things while she waited for her first authentic werewolf meal.

"I wouldn't put anything on the top floor until the roof has been tested," Tove called to Chloe, halfway up the stairs with her bedding.

"Tested?"

"Summer storms." She pointed upwards. "No one lives up here so we don't know if the roofs leak."

Chloe hopped back down the steps. "When it rains, does water not come into your den?" The idea was horrifying, something beyond claustrophobia to be trapped in a muddy hole as it filled with water.

Tove laughed. Of course she did. "No, the dens are far below ground, the tunnels are reinforced, and all the entrances are sealed."

"Hmm." Chloe wasn't entirely convinced, but then it wasn't her that had to sleep down there in the dark. Tove chuckled to herself and stirred her pot lazily. It made for a soothing scene.

The dinner was amazing. Maybe because Chloe had been starved half the day, but mostly because it was full of spice and new flavours. The ingredients were fresh, hand-picked, not a speck of magic in sight. Chloe ate until her stomach was pushing into two halves around the waistband of her skirt.

Tove stretched herself out on the ground, still dressed in Chloe's clothes. "I have to go back soon."

Chloe frowned at the ceiling. Dark wooden beams striped across flaking white paint. "But you'll sneak back, right?"

"Of course, I wouldn't leave you up here by yourself." She pretended to shiver. "I would be creeped out sleeping up here alone."

"You sleep out in the woods all the time!"

"There's something about the empty city..." She rolled her head over to give Chloe a secretive smile. "It makes you wonder what could be hiding in the ruins."

"Don't start trying to scare me when you know you're leaving!" Chloe whinged.

"Not for long!"

"It had better not be."

Tove laughed and it shook her whole body against the stone floor. When she couldn't stop the chuckles wracking her, she rolled to her side with her knees curled in a little. "You have no idea-"

"What?"

"You are the thing that werewolves are scared of,” Tove cackled. “Magic is like ghosts to us. If someone from the pack was to sleep up top, they would be fearing something magical happening t-"

A howl disrupted them. The silly mood in the room sobered instantly.

"That's my call to come home," Tove sighed. She dragged herself onto all-fours and then up to her feet wearily. "See you later."

"Not too much later," Chloe whimpered.

Tove smiled, and was gone.

The evening was long without her. There was only so much organising and arranging for Chloe to do with only her backpack worth of stuff. She took herself to bed as soon as the fire began to sputter and die, washing in a bowl of water left in the tiny bathroom and pulling on her nightdress over her head quickly in case a city-creeper caught her naked.

She prioritised cushioning over warmth for her bedding, since she would be on the floor for a few days. She folded and layered up her blankets into a thick sleeping mat. One thin little piece was left to cover her, but the fire had filled the room with plenty of warmth for the night, and by the time it had soaked out through the brickwork, the Summer daylight would be shining again.

The quietest of creaks signalled the door opening behind her. For a moment, she considered turning, checking it wasn't a ghost... or magic folk roaming the city after dark. Paws padded towards her, the door clunked closed, and then half the weight of an enormous furry Tove lowered itself against her side. Chloe wiggled back, into the heat, and drew her blanket to her chin.

"Goodnight, Tove."

The wolf huffed in her ear. Chloe drifted to sleep with a smile.

Awakened by the soft press of a kiss to her forehead, Chloe rolled face-first into a human (and naked) Tove's lap. She scrabbled upright with flailing arms.

"I'm sorry, I-" they both began. They shared an awkward laugh. Chloe smoothed her nightdress over her knees, offering Tove the chance to speak first.

"I didn't mean to wake you up," Tove whispered. The sun hadn't yet broken through the pre-dawn blue yet. "I just wanted to say goodbye before I sneak back."

"You transformed to say goodbye but didn't mean to wake me?" Maybe Chloe's brain hadn't woken up with her, but that didn't make sense.

"I shifted to give you a kiss." Tove's early morning rasp may have just been the sexiest thing Chloe had ever heard. And she couldn't even linger in it, badger her with questions to hear more of the hushed, secretive voice, because Tove turned, as though hearing something in the distance, and took off. First on two feet, then shifting to four paws in one fluid leap through the cottage door.

Chloe sat on her bedding mound, flushed to her hairline and quickly chilling without Tove's fur to buffer her from the cold morning air.

She shifted species... just to give me a kiss...

She burrowed the bottom half of her face in the blankets and squeezed her eyes shut, preserving the impression of Tove's lips on her forehead.

There was little movement up-top (aside from Chloe shuffling around with a blanket shawl) until the sun had fully risen. A bubbling of voices keeping their conversations low and private began in the distance, a crowd commuting through the main tunnel together and up to the businesses that had been relegated from the main den. Chloe hurried to wash and dress - this was her golden opportunity to offer friendly help to the pack.

She was rejected seven times straight.

The wolves did not want her support in carrying jugs, dragging crates, folding linen, washing rags or even pulling up invasive weeds... No one was rude or aggressive, but they were very firm in their denial of her help. They never approached her, and some even seemed to shy away when she walked past.

She had offered her services to every active building in the city by lunchtime, and that included the guard post. They wouldn't let her polish spears or wash plates. Sulking, she slunk off out of their way, best not to stay where she wasn't wanted.

Tove found her wandering the ruins at the outer edge of the city. She had brought a picnic basket and a typical Tove-grin and it brightened Chloe's mood immediately. A filling lunch and some support suggestions were exactly what she needed.

"I know someone who would let you help out," Tove announced, sandwich balanced between two fingers and her back bowed against a tree.

"You do?" Chloe perked, back straightening, carrot piece almost forgotten.

"My aunt Maja, her workshop always needs extra hands."

Chloe sunk back down a little. "That sounds a bit specialised..."

"You don't have to know what you're doing, just be willing to follow instructions."

"I think I can do that..."

"And obviously really strong."

"Oh."

Tove chuckled. "I'm joking, Chloe, she'll probably make you sweep wood shavings."

That she could do, and Chloe said as much.

"I'll drop you off after lunch, then."

A job and an escort, Chloe’s day was getting better by the minute. There was just one problem.

"You won't stay?" she asked.

"I have my own jobs to get on with." Tove shook her head and her perfectly tousled hair bounced around the frame of her face. "I think my parents are trying to take up every moment of my day with chores to keep me away from you."

"Oh." Chloe poked at the thick dip that had been wrapped up with the carrot sticks.

"It's not that they don't like you,” Tove said, gentle and quiet. “And they're grateful for you saving me, but they think you’ll lead me down a bad path. I haven't been converted yet, but I could be if they don't limit our contact."

Chloe frowned. "Converted to what?"

"A demon or magic worshipper or something."

"I don't think either of those things exist."

"How can you know for sure?" That teasing grin was back.

"Don't get us started down the werebird track again," Chloe laughed. “Eat your lunch.”

The workshop was splayed across three small converted buildings and a walled-in courtyard filled with benches. Tove called in through the front door and was met by a tall, stocky woman with her sleeves rolled up to bulging biceps and an apron tied loosely around her waist and neck; it housed a variety of tools in a deep pocket in the front.

"Aunt Maja, this is Chloe, my witch friend." Tove's smile was proud.

Maja's was warm and welcoming. "Hello Chloe, I’m Aunt Maja. Tove tells me you need a bed frame."

"If- If it's not too much trouble, ma'am."

"No trouble at all, and please, call me Aunt Maja."

"No one will let Chloe join in with chores so I said she should ask to help here,” Tove added, giving Chloe a nudge forwards.

"I can sweep!" Chloe squeaked.

"Sure, you can help me build your frame." Aunt Maja nodded her inside under her enormous arm. “Come on in.”

Chloe ducked into the scent of sawdust, waving goodbye to Tove behind her.

As they poked through a pile of wood sections that stretched taller than Chloe, Aunt Maja asked, "Does this bed frame need the strength to hold yours and Tove's weight?"

Chloe's mouth became sticky."I- um, well-" she stammered, unable to look anywhere but the floor until Aunt Maja released her from the question with a laugh.

"I understand." She plucked out a few enormous cuts. "Enough room for one witch and the possibility for a special person."

Chloe flushed, nodded to no one, and followed Aunt Maja to her workbench.

It didn't feel like real helping, more like watching, but at least Chloe was learning as Aunt Maja took her step-by-step through the process of carpentry. She gave everything a try, and was quickly worn out and blistered. When the basic frame was finally built and hammered together, all of the apprentices had disappeared for their dinner back in the den.

"You worked hard today," Aunt Maja said, clapping Chloe on the back. "Good j-"

"Maja!" The front door of the workshop banged open. Over the threshold stomped the woman that had helmed the mob when Chloe first arrived. Tove's other aunt.

"Vilde!" Aunt Maja called to her with a smile. It had become easily apparent through the hours of working by her side that Aunt Maja was the biological aunt of Tove. Both too relaxed for their own good and owning faces gilded with permanent grins.

"Your wife and daughter have been waiting hungrily for you," Vilde complained. She ignored Chloe completely in her war path to Aunt Maja.

"I am sorry, my mate. Chloe and I were finishing this fine piece of furniture." The bed frame was sturdy, and well-made, but Chloe felt 'fine' was going a little far - given her own involvement in the process.

Vilde gave the bed frame a critical look, followed by an unimpressed sniff.

"Of course, it would be much improved by the beautiful carvings of my beautiful mate..." Aunt Maja cooed, pulling Vilde close. While Vilde had seemed intimidating when they first met, seeing her squashed small between Aunt Maja's muscles instantly took her down a few pegs on the scary scale. Chloe watched the pair with a blush.

"I do not work for magic folk," Vilde grumbled. Her hands stretched around Aunt Maja's wide frame, clutching at her sweaty shirt and cuddling in close.

"Chloe would never ask you to, but I am."

Vilde made a noise of irritation.

"It just seems such a shame..." Aunt Maja sighed. "To have a witch see our crafts and not know of their full potential. To have her return to her own kind and tell them that we build furniture solely for purpose, with no decoration..."

Before Chloe could object and reassure, Vilde had spun out of Aunt Maja's embrace to face her.

"What do you want?"

"S-sorry?"

"Patterns, animals, what do you like?"

"Oh, um, I like plants."

"Chloe plans to become a nature witch when she grows up," Aunt Maja added, looking down at her as though she really were another niece. "And her parents are moon and star witches."

"Fine." Vilde sighed. "I can work with that. But get out, both of you."

"What about dinner?" Aunt Maja asked.

"You will bring it to me."

"Of course, my mate." Aunt Maja bumped Chloe towards the door. "And I'm sure Tove will brings yours for you, too,” she said quietly into her ear.

Chloe smiled at the ground and allowed herself to be pushed out. It was time to go home and spend the evening with her special person.