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Allard smirked and opened the gate with a
half-bow. "Certainly, madam."

Charlotte drew a steadying breath and jumped
into the pit.

Several wolves nearby backed away, then
raised their hackles and bared their teeth. Charlotte summoned all
her courage and snarled back. "This isn't the time! I need
Bernard!"

At the sound of her voice, the wolves
flinched and backed away. Their snarls took on a hint of
desperation.

They were afraid of her?

Charlotte's fear faded a little. Perhaps they
would not attack her. She could move among them, find Bernard, and
they could escape.

An iron ladder led up to the gate, but it was
too narrow for a wolf to use. They had chewed it anyway, leaving
bright scratches in the metal. Charlotte examined it. Perhaps she
and Bernard could navigate it, since they possessed their human
intelligence.

Then she set out into the throng, sniffing
and peering about for her husband.

Excrement covered the reservoir’s dried mud
floor. There were also gnawed bones and dead wolves--they ate each
other after a while. The mages had mentioned nothing about feeding
them. The smell would have sickened a human, but to her animal
senses, it carried messages. Hungry. Sick. Frightened.

They stared at Charlotte, and some bared
their teeth and postured, but as long as she avoided eye contact,
none of them interfered with her search. Indeed, her fear of them
was replaced by horror and pity.

The male wolves were larger than the females,
and many females had children with them. Charlotte tried not to
stare, and her heart ached. The children were quite small, with
short muzzles and round ears, and stayed close to their mothers.
Some wrestled and played like puppies.

These were the people of Lyedyn City, and
even the curse had not broken the bond of mother and child.

Perhaps it would not break her bond with her
husband.

A familiar smell touched her nostrils, and
Charlotte followed it eagerly. The wolves parted before her, and a
little further on, she found Bernard.

He lay with his head on his paws and ears
flat, the picture of dejection. He'd turned his back on the other
wolves and stared at the wall.

"Bernard!" Charlotte bounded to his side.
"Bernard, I'm here! Are you all right?"

He lifted his head and stared at her. His
eyes were shallow and wild.

Charlotte crouched beside him, longing to
take his hand. "My love, it's me. Come back to me!"

He scrambled to his feet and backed away from
her, teeth bared. She moaned. "Please, no! Don't you remember who
you are?"

Bernard whirled and ran.

Charlotte bounded after him. He fled through
the assembled captives, who watched with ears pricked. She followed
him, heart pounding. How could she get through to the man inside
the beast? She had brought him back before, somehow. Perhaps the
key was her voice—the other wolves reacted to it. She must corner
him and talk to him.

***

Bernard fled in a miasma of terror. A wolf
who spoke like a human? Monster! He sprinted across the floor of
the pen, dodging among other wolves, but always the monster's feet
pattered behind him.

He reached the far wall and turned at bay,
head down and fur bristling. The white monster wolf halted and
cried more human words at him. The rhythm and cadence slid sideways
through his ears and seeped inside him. Somewhere inside him,
something was wrong. Her voice touched it. Somehow it terrified him
worse, and at the same time filled him with loathing. He hated
something—what was it? It must be her!

He lunged forward and snapped at her face,
but she dodged and backed up. She kept speaking, meaningless
syllables cascading into his ears in a never-ending stream. Among
them were a particularly painful pair of sounds: Ber Nard.

Those sounds drilled into him and made him
flinch. The white wolf saw this and stepped toward him again, ears
pricked, eyes bright. Her beauty hurt his core, too. He made a
moaning howl and covered his ears with both paws. But she crept
closer, and he had to swipe at her with his claws. Thankfully she
jumped aside—he didn't want to hurt her, not really. But her voice
frightened and hurt him, deep inside.

His nerve broke and he ran again, following
the edge of their prison. She followed him. He hurled a warning
howl over his shoulder. Other wolves scattered out of his way, but
not the white female. Why did she keep following? Why wouldn't she
leave him to wallow in misery? Her voice stirred the wrongness
inside him and aroused his hatred.

His hatred of himself.

He reached the far end of the pen and another
wall rose before him. A corner. He whirled to face the monster
wolf, snarling to warn her off. If only she would leave him!

She panted, "Bernard, Bernard, Bernard!"

He cried in pain and covered his ears.
Something twisted inside him, struggling toward the surface. It
grappled with his animal instincts, fueled by his loathing of
himself--his claws--his fur--

His cries became words. "Stop it, stop it, it
hurts me! Leave me alone!"

She fell silent. Other wolves shambled away
from them, ears flatted.

Bernard panted, shoulders heaving, and stared
at the white wolf. Charlotte. He knew her name, and he knew
himself. What had happened? He checked his claws for blood. Yet
inside him, the pain and loathing continued. "Charlotte, why are
you here?"

She cautiously stepped toward him. "To bring
you back."

He opened his arms and she rushed into them.
They embraced like humans, standing on two legs with their arms
around each other. "You're beautiful," he whispered into her mane.
"Even as a beast, I didn't want to harm you."

She was the source of his pain-- or rather,
his love for her. Even as a beast, the thought of harming her
tortured him. Even now, the elixir battled the curse, tugging him
between sentience and base instinct.

"Come, quickly." Charlotte's voice was
unsteady and tears wet her muzzle. "We must return you to the mages
so you can give them the formula."

Bernard dropped to all fours and escorted her
back toward the ladder and gate. "The elixir isn't strong enough.
It's why I keep waffling between man and beast. I'll need to make
changes..."

"Yes," she said. "Look at them. Even without
their humanity, they suffer. There are children here."

Bernard hadn't noticed them, and now stared
at a pair of cubs as they passed by. The cubs stared back, eyes too
bright, ribs showing through their thin pelts.

Pity touched his heart. "Yes, the elixir must
be strengthened fourfold."

They reached the ladder and gazed up at the
mages assembled at the gate. Allard was foremost, gripping the
Alpha Staff. His eyes widened as Bernard approached. The stink of
his fear drifted on the breeze.

Bernard rose on two legs, and Charlotte did
the same. "As you can see, the elixir cancels out the curse's
effects."

Charlotte gripped the ladder's rungs and
clumsily pulled herself up. It was little wonder the other wolves
could not climb it--it required the full concentration of a
rational mind.

Bernard followed her, and in a moment they
stood inside the gate on a small patch of bare ground, the wolf pit
to their backs.

"Unlock the gate, please," said
Charlotte.

"I think not." Allard aimed his staff at
them.

The power struck Bernard in the guts. He
dropped to his haunches and growled. Charlotte dropped beside him
with a gasp.

"Elixir or not," said Allard to the mages,
"they still must obey the power of the Alpha Staff! Look at them.
What torment it is to be conscious of the compulsion to obey.
They'd be happier as brutes who did nothing but serve us. An
unstoppable army of monsters."

Bernard tried to object, but all that came
out of his mouth was an unintelligible howl.

***

Charlotte struggled against the staff's
power. It seemed to magnify Allard into a god--a terrifying being
who must be obeyed and worshiped. His silent command was to sit and
say nothing.

But I am a woman, not a beast!
she
told herself.
He is a bigger monster than any of the wolves
here.
She looked at Bernard and saw him gasping, tongue lolling
out. The curse's grip on him was tightening. She must defy Allard
and his staff, for the sake of the man she loved.

She lifted one hand. It resisted her, as if
hung with lead weights. She moved it forward and placed it down.
Then the other hand. Then her hind feet, until she had walked to
the gate. Allard turned toward the other mages and did not see, but
the mages watched her with wide eyes. Finally one pointed and said,
"Archmage, look!"

Allard turned as Charlotte rose to two legs.
He pointed the staff into her face. "Down, beast!"

More fear struck her--fear of punishment and
pain if she disobeyed. Her knees bent. But Charlotte fought it and
slowly straightened up. She repeated to herself, "I am human, I am
human! I have nothing to fear from a mere man!" But it was not
enough. So she hung on to her new-found love for Bernard, and
slowly that love filled her heart and crowded out the fear.

"You say we shall be your army," she said
through clenched teeth.

"Silence!" Allard barked.

But still Charlotte resisted the Staff's
command. She laid her hands on the gate's crossbeam and faced him
through the bars. "What of the women and children, Allard? Will you
send them against Grayton's enemies, to die on the
battlefield?"

Sweat trickled down Allard's face. "Shut up!"
He thrust the Staff closer to her face.

But Charlotte stood firm. Bernard edged
behind her and placed a steadying hand on her shoulder. The power
of the Staff seemed to wane. "You would see everyone turned into
slaves and grovel at your feet. You would throw away every life in
Grayton. All for what? A few more gold coins to jingle in your
purse?"

"Shut up, bitch!" Allard roared, and jabbed
her in the face with the Staff.

Charlotte flinched, but her hand shot through
the bars and grabbed the Staff. Bernard seized it, too. Together
they wrenched it out of Allard's grasp and pulled it through the
gate.

Allard screeched, "Give me the keys! Open the
gate!"

But Charlotte and Bernard gripped the staff
in amazement. Charlotte's claws shrank and returned to a human
hand. Her fur vanished and human skin took its place. Bernard's
muzzle receded and became a human face once more. The
transformation hurt, but in a good way, like having a thorn
removed.

When Allard threw the gate open, Bernard and
Charlotte were human once more, and shivering without warm fur or
clothing.

Bernard stepped in front of his wife. "Give
us your cloaks."

As Allard gaped, the other mages pushed
forward, offering cloaks. Bernard and Charlotte robed themselves,
passing the Staff back and forth and keeping an eye on Allard.

"How is this possible?" exclaimed a mage.
"The Alpha Staff only has powers of command, doesn't it?"

Bernard smiled his old human smile, and
encircled Charlotte's waist with one arm. "I commanded it to change
us back."

Charlotte kissed his forehead--a real kiss
with human lips. "No, we both commanded it." Her human body felt
small and frail compared to the wolf's power. Yet the beast still
lurked inside her. She feared to release her hold on the Staff.

They moved among the mages, who peered into
their eyes and clasped their hands. Bernard immediately fell into
discussion about the way the elixir influenced the Staff's
magic.

But Charlotte watched Allard.

The Archmage stood beside the open gate,
watching this transpire without a word. But his eyes had taken on a
distinct yellow tint. He met Charlotte's gaze and smiled--and his
teeth lengthened into fangs.

"Bernard!" Charlotte cried.

The mages and Bernard turned and stared.

Archmage Allard's body exploded upward into a
twelve foot tall wolf, his clothing shredding from his limbs. His
shoulders were nearly as broad as his height, and muscled corded
his limbs.

"The demon cursed
me
!" he bellowed. "I
harnessed the curse and spread it to you all!"

Bernard pointed the Staff at him, but Allard
knocked it aside with a massive paw. "My own toy does not affect
me, fool." He swung both claws into the crowd and the mages
scattered like leaves. Bernard hit the ground and rolled, trailing
blood.

Charlotte screamed.

Bernard swore, and by the time he regained
his feet, he'd transformed back into a wolf. But he was puny beside
Allard's immense monster. It was easy to believe that Allard was
the first of the werewolves.

Bernard hurled himself into Allard's legs and
knocked him down. At the same time, the mages regained their feet
and conjured fireballs.