Ansgar

Um, yes.

Had I made a complete fool of myself?

Yes.

I had embarrassed myself.

Yes.

Had Everwinus become redder than a tomato?

Oh, yes.

The poor vampire had stared at me, stunned and somehow equally embarrassed.

My uncle, on the other hand, let go of him, took his wolf form again, trotted over to me, and nudged me forward. From then on, he ignored Everwinus for the most part.

And so we started our way home: With me, the idiot of the group, my competent and immeasurably resigned family members, and a vampire in a strange mood in tow.

I briefly considered escaping the embarrassment of this situation by simply taking my wolf form as well. But Everwinus seemed so pitifully lost and worried between two wolves that I couldn't bring myself to do it.

We didn't talk to each other for a few hours.

I only shielded him from the seething anger of my uncle, who was now simmering rather quietly while Juta gave him curious looks. She resumed her wolf form shortly after my uncle.

Everwinus broke the silence as we looked for a place to rest. "So, I'm kissable?"

"Um."

"Thank you."

"What?" My ears perked up. "What are you thanking me for?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "You saved me. Didn’t you? Your uncle doesn't seem like someone I want to mess with. And your sister..." He looked at her. Her wolf form was more massive, more muscular, and slightly larger than my uncle's. "She could easily bite my head off!" He shuddered.

Juta looked at him briefly and barked. She sounded amused. Nevertheless, Everwinus took a step back.

I, on the other hand, laughed. "No one is going to bite your head off. And if someone tries to do that, I know how to prevent it!"

"Are you like that too..." He pointed to Juta... "Um... Huge?"

"Hm." I grimaced. "My wolf form is slightly larger, although Juta is taller than me in human form. Just a bit. She becomes the alpha of the pack. She's the best! Cool and strong. Oh... Once she has... I was four... She beat up an older wolf because he pulled me by the ears."

Juta barked again.

I grimaced. "After that, we were both under house arrest, even though I hadn't done anything. But the boy's mother insisted that it was all my fault. I can't remember what I'm supposed to have done... It doesn't matter. Juta will be Alpha."

"Alpha..."

I nodded. Everwinus looked at her thoughtfully. He seemed increasingly restless.

"Are you thirsty?" I asked him.

My uncle turned to us briefly and growled. I returned the growl. Loud and threatening.

My uncle whimpered and then returned to being quietly annoyed. He didn't let Everwinus out of his sight now.

"You..." Everwinus stared at me. Well, my growl probably sounded more menacing than my uncle's. After all, he was not an alpha wolf.

I just shrugged my shoulders. "Are you thirsty?"

"Sure... But it’s fine. I don't need anything."

I didn't believe him. "You do."

"No."

"YES! YOU DO!" I pushed him slightly.

Instead of laughing, the vampire grimaced and clenched his hands into fists. "NO."

"Are you staying with us? In the pack?"

"What for?"

"A life without violence?"

He looked at me skeptically and then laughed bitterly. I got a good look at his pointed teeth. "That’s not going to work. Leave me alone."

"Hm..." Boring!

But no matter what I did, the conversation was over.

--

We rested on a rocky cliff, under a ledge that shielded us from rain and some gusts of wind. We heard one of the trees succumb to the wind. Fortunately, not near us.

I leaned against my sister's warm body, trying to braid braids into her long, thick fur, keeping an eye on my uncle. Juta slept restlessly. If we were in danger, she would be awake within seconds. Or should a certain vampire attack me. 

And Everwinus?

Well... He suddenly kept his distance from me and was silent.

He was definitely not just a little thirsty!

Sighing, I got up and walked over to him. Juta huffed and puffed in her sleep, but kept her eyes closed. Everwinus backed away a little as I sat down next to him. I rolled my eyes and held out my wrist to him.

"I'm fine. Drink!" I demanded. "You will die of thirst!"

Immediately, my uncle growled, but this time Juta stopped him with a loud, warning bark. She would prevent my uncle from stopping me. She trusted me. Maybe not Everwinus, but me. Her nap was over for the time being.

The said vampire shook his head. In the last light of the evening sun, his hair looked like gold. I wanted to kiss him again.

I held my wrist in front of his nose. "You're kissable, and I'm drinkable!" I announced and then grimaced. Why did that sound so wrong? "Edible?"

Not any better.

My sister barked again. She let her tongue hang out of her mouth in amusement and rolled to the side. Was she just laughing at me? Impudence! I showed her my teeth, but that only seemed to amuse her all the more. Then I felt a sharp pain in my wrist.

"Ouch!" I looked reproachfully at the vampire who had bitten me in the wrist. "A warning would be nice!"

He rolled his eyes, took a few sips, the feeling was strange, then he let go of my wrist. "Thank you. That's enough. By the way, you're also... Um... Kissable..." His cheeks turned red. "So... What I mean is, you look good. And, thank you. I don't deserve your kindness. Sorry... I'm an ass." He shrugged his shoulders. "But... Thank you."

"What? You do!" I objected. "You protected me." Probably my face was no less red than his. So he was an ass? Well... He definitely had a very handsome a... Think of butterflies, Ansgar! You want to thank your rescuer with the attractive bottom. "I should be the one to say..." My gaze fell on his abdomen and on the outlines of something, which was clearly visible under the tight pants he wore. "Big! Uh. No. I should say thank you."

"Okay." With fiery red cheeks, he looked away.

When we moved on the next morning, Everwinus told me more about his family, and he asked about my pack. When we rested, either my uncle or my sister went hunting. Usually, they brought a rabbit with them, which I then roasted over a campfire. We spent the night under trees or rocky outcrops.

And then.

Finally.

After a journey that seemed eternal to me, we arrived at our pack.

Finally, I was home.

And we hadn't met Everwinus' friends.

Maybe they had just moved on.

Wonderful!

But what happened next, well, I hadn't expected that: Vampires were in our city. As soon as they saw Everwinus, they arrested him.

Because of murder, theft, and my kidnapping.

I tried to help him, but it was in vain.

Everwinus was taken to the small 'prison'. My mother led the group of vampires there after she had hugged me and kissed me. Our prison was nothing more than a makeshift stone house. There were only a few cells, which were rarely used.

I ran after the vampires and my mother.

"He helped me!" I shouted. "Everwinus is not a murderer! Hey!"

Mom stopped me when I wanted to follow the vampires into the simple building.

"They will only interrogate him for the time being. Apparently, he is not the only one? They stay here for a few days. Honey? Are you okay?" Mom sighed and stroked my brown and light purple hair. "He helped you?"

I nodded. "His friends wanted to kill me. He protected me the whole time. He... He has a good heart."

Mom frowned. "He's a murderer. These vampires told me what happened in their hometown. It's no small thing. Fenna has offered to host them as long as they are here."

I frowned. "Aunt Fenna? She hates guests."

"Her house is right across the street. A quick way to the prison." Mom pointed to the small house in front of us. My aunt looked out of the window. She waved at me with a smile and wiped a tear from her eyes. "I was able to persuade her. Let's go home."

"Everwinus!" I shook my head. Then a familiar and very unpleasant smell crept into my nose. The smell came from one of the narrow, small windows of the cells. "Is Wilderich in one of the cells?"

Mom took my hand. "Let's go home. You can visit your friend tomorrow. Your father and I were very worried. Luckily, you're back with us."

"Wilderich? HE is not my FRIEND." Wilderich's smell grew stronger and stronger. I looked at one of the narrow windows. They were too high up to see the occupants. Was he standing under one of the windows?  Then I smelled Everwinus. His smell tickled my nose. He smelled... Just right. "Will they hurt him?"

"Who?" Mom pulled me away from the cells undeterred. "Wilderich? I know how much you both loathe each other."

I growled softly. "They are welcome to cut Wilderich into four pieces! No. Everwinus."

"I don't think so. They seemed to be friendly, quiet fellows. No torturers."

"You think?" Indignant, I turned around. Wilderich's smell hit my nose again. "Will Wilderich be quartered?" Pretty please?

Mom laughed. "Ha! That would be nice. He caused trouble. Big trouble. But now we're going home. You must be exhausted... And..." She wrinkled her nose. "You need a bath. Maybe you're lucky, and Juta hasn't jumped into the tub yet. She smelled less... Awful. Ansgar?" She hugged him again. "Your father could hardly sleep at night when you were both gone."