In Heat and Love

I awoke in my bed and immediately felt Mahlah’s body curled around mine beneath the sheets. It was a single-person bed, but that had never deterred her. For the past week she’d claimed the space as naturally as breath, fitting herself against me no matter how little room there was. Morning sunlight filtered through the window; the snowstorm had long since passed, leaving the world outside glittering white.

I lifted the sheets, catching sight of her silver hair spilled across my chest. Still deeply asleep, she breathed softly, bare skin pressed to mine, her quiet snoring muffled by the blankets. I couldn’t help smiling. Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined sharing a bed with someone - let alone a beautiful wolf-girl like Mahlah. And a magical one at that.

Despite the frigid weather outside and the empty fireplace inside, the house had never once become uncomfortable since she’d arrived. All it cost me was a few seconds of contact - touching her however she wanted, which varied wildly from moment to moment. At first it startled me. Now my heart still leapt, but there was no fear in it.

The one concern I’d carried - that she’d one day grow used to my touch - had been instantly crushed when I’d shyly voiced it.

“I don’t think I could ever grow used to it, love,” she’d murmured, placing a delicate finger at the corner of her mouth.
“Not when you’re so… vigorous with it.”

I had ended the conversation there, mostly because my brain had stopped working. But if she wasn’t going to grow used to me, I doubted I’d ever grow used to walking into a room and immediately being confronted with her complete lack of clothing.

I had once mentioned that her constant nudity was making it… difficult to focus on my work. She only giggled.

“Does my body make you excited, love? Even when you don’t want it to?”

I didn’t push the topic after that.

I also noticed how little it took to make her ears or tail appear now. A simple hug was enough. Even a small compliment could send them springing into existence. She blushed easily, flustered even if I simply told her she’d made the bed nicely. But I loved that about her - every soft reaction, every tiny flick of her tail.

And on that note, I meant it completely when I told her I loved her. She had become something precious to me, someone I wanted to protect. Which was why anxiety always twisted in my chest whenever the topic of the Kowhao returned.

“Oh, he’ll find me soon,” she’d said casually. “He would’ve gone back to look for my body, and he’ll be quite mad when it isn’t there. The snowstorm covered your tracks, but it’s only a matter of time.”

When I asked how we were supposed to fight such a being, she shrugged.

“It lives and dies like a normal animal. The difference is that it’s quite big, and it moves fast.”

Then she’d smiled - slow, sure - and pulled me against her. Her lips brushed mine, her grey eyes glinting with something both fierce and tender.

“But when we fight it,” she whispered, “I don’t mind if we win or lose. As long as we live or die together, I’m satisfied.”

She’d kissed me then, and the night that followed was one I would never forget.

I was still afraid. Terrified, if I was honest. But there was nothing I could do except hold her tightly and hope.

My smile widened slightly. I had become quite the househusband these days. I barely left home anymore. Mahlah kept predators away from the local flocks far better than I ever had, and she was an even better hunter in her wolf form. She was never gone more than three hours, always returning with the best game she could find and having scared every predator in a wide radius into fleeing the region entirely.

She was everything I could have hoped for, and far, far more.

Her silver hair beckoned to me now, shimmering softly in the morning sun. I reached under the sheets to stroke her head. I hadn’t meant to wake her, but she murmured and shifted, lifting her head slowly. Her eyes blinked open, unfocused and sleepy.

“Is it morning already…?”

I smiled.
“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

She groaned softly and pulled herself upward using my shoulders as leverage until her head rested on the pillow beside mine. Our faces ended up so close there was barely a breath of space between us. She smiled, grey eyes bright.

“I think I was already awake. Good morning, love.”

I brushed a strand of her long silver hair behind her ear.
“Sleep well?”

She nodded, then slipped her arms around me again, drawing her body flush against mine until I could feel every inch of her. She closed the tiny gap between our lips, kissing me slowly. When we finally parted, she didn’t lean away; her lips continued brushing mine as she spoke, voice soft, tinged with something almost sorrowful - yet content.

“The Kowhao is coming today. We’ll have to fight it.”

She gave me a gentle peck.

“So… let’s make the most of the time we have, okay?”

My heart trembled, but I nodded.
She kissed me again, deeper this time, her leg intertwining with mine as the morning stretched onward.
Time that belonged to us alone.