That Night I Got Dragged Home By A Werewolf

Author's note: Hello and thanks for reading my werewolf smut. A new chapter will be released every Sunday night. BUT, you can read each chapter two days early by subscribing to my Ko-fi. And if you enjoy this story, you might also check out my other werewolf romance, here. For further updates on my writing, feel free to join my Discord. The next chapter will be released on October 13.

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From the moment I passed through the Red Door that my bargain conjured, I was blanketed in an otherworldly miasma. A thick purple mist floated into my throat, and where I expected to hack and cough, I instead felt my senses heighten. 

My vision briefly swam before everything appeared sharper, as though reality had been rubbed raw with crystalline shards. 

In my chest, the heart that worked every second to keep me alive slowed. My feet met crunchy leaves and twigs scattered either minutes or millennia ago. 

Things moved in the mist, and my ears twitched with every crunch of discarded pine needles and fallen branches.

A trail, if it could be called that, spread before me just as my mind started to ask, Well, what now?

I didn’t ask the question out loud, though, because I knew what came next. I’d paid a price, and it was time to collect my prize, the start of my Understanding. 

“That’s one small step for trannies, one giant leap for trankind,” I mumbled, placing one foot in front of the other and folding myself deeper into the mysterious forest. 

My brain told me none of this was possible, but my soul wholly accepted that I’d left Earth behind. The air was heavier, the ground far less dense, and everything seemed to cling to an unspoken sense of agelessness. 

So, I steeled myself, packed what little courage I possessed into a Tupperware container so it’d stay fresh, and strolled forth into the unseen beyond. 

It wouldn’t be accurate to say magic permeated the air. What I felt on a deeper level was that this entire world was comprised of magic, as though it were a natural element like carbon or helium. 

The energy of this world greeted my soul as a ball of yarn and started to unspool it like a basket of kittens. Yet I did not falter. I continued on, across bone-covered hills, over streams of liquorice-colored water, and between trees reaching toward an ever-orange sky. 

Snark faded (which was extremely rare for me), and I gave my thoughts over to the whispers of spirits I didn’t know. 

“She calls for power,” one said. 

“The new sorceress pays more than she knows to Understand,” another cackled. 

“Another girl seeks divine triumph and blessings, but will she join us in the mist?” one asked.

Their voices called to me in tongues that should have made no sense. But I knew what they spoke in the same way I knew to keep walking down the path. Something deeper than instinct drove me forward. It was raw desire. The desire for power, the desire to set things right, and the desire to become what I knew I should have been when I first came into this world. 

The ground gave way, and my steps betrayed me as I tumbled down a sharp ridge hidden by violet fog. In the movies, one simply rolled down a hill and stood up dizzy at the end. But in reality, my shoulders slammed into tree trunks, roots clawed at my face, and fallen leaves did their damned best to choke me when I remembered to breathe in all the chaos of gravity and pain. 

Suddenly, there was no more ground. My stomach heaved as I opened my eyes and searched for hard earth to fall upon. And just when I expected to crash back down into packed soil like an asteroid in a Michael Bay movie, I instead found my weight ensnared in something sticky that made my flesh crawl. 

Pulling my arms and legs, I discovered them stuck firmly to whatever had captured me. When the room (or — wait, I was in a dense forest, right?) stopped spinning, my eyes tried to make sense of where I’d landed. 

And just before a horrified moan could pass from my lips, a large form emerged silently from the side of my vision. Eight legs, a segmented body, and several shimmering eyes crawled toward me. Wrapped around the spider’s. . . neck (what the fuck was that part called?) hung what appeared to be a scarf made of gray woven webbing. 

“A web! I’m stuck in a giant web,” I managed to choke out. 

The black and white striped spider, which was three times my size, approached before rearing up on hind legs and. . . not immediately devouring my blood. Nor did it cocoon me in webbing. 

“Um, greetings?” I asked, watching its eyes judge me.

The surprises kept coming when the spider’s mouth opened, and a thick Parisian accent scuttled out. The spider sounded like a woman lying on a piano, smoking cigarettes in between downing glasses of wine. 

“Tell me. Which greetings do you bring? For I have heard many, and many more I do not care for.” 

My eyes widened while hers stayed the same. 

“What greetings do I bring?” I sputtered, wondering if I’d been given a riddle that would determine my fate. “Good ones, I suppose?” 

The spider rubbed the side of its head. 

“Who determined that these greetings of yours were good?”

Was there a bite of humor in her tone, or was all the blood just rushing to my head from hanging in this web?

“Well, I checked the expiration date, and the greetings still had a few days left when I packed them,” I said with a weak smile. 

To my immediate relief, the giant spider threw back her head and cackled. 

“Not only greetings do you bring me but jokes as well? It must be my lucky day. Tell me, who tumbles into my web?”

“Um. . . my name is Lilith Chambers, ma’am,” I said, feeling like I might not be devoured after all. Or maybe the spider just liked to set her prey at ease before sucking them dry of life juices. 

“Ma’am? You may address me as Maiden.” 

Well, I certainly prefer Maiden to Madame Web, I thought, fighting an eye-roll. Oh good, my snark was returning. That would help me survive an encounter with Shelob.  

One had to choose their words carefully when they found all limbs bound in a web. It was just the unspoken rule of such things. 

“Wait — you said your name is Maiden? As in, part of The Maiden, The Mother, and The Crone?” I asked, trying to recall everything Phenna had told me about starting the path to Understanding. 

“I am the first of three questions, the starting gate on the path to Yggdrasil, and the youngest of three in the ring of Understanding. If you seek the Sacred Tree, your words must first satisfy me.” 

I swallowed nervously, recalculating the odds that I was about to be devoured. The way the Maiden switched between easily humored and threatening made my guts rile with uneasiness. 

“So. . . you’re here to judge my intentions and determine if I’m good or evil before I can see the tree?”

The spider lowered herself flat against her web and sighed, bumping my shoe with one of her massive legs. It felt like being tapped by a fallen tree. 

“No, Lilith Chambers. Many would-be sorceresses fall into my web. And some leave to continue their journey. Of those who leave, I have counted murderers and thieves alike. Your intentions do not hold my interest. I take no pleasure in knowing your moral code.” 

I shook my head. 

“Then what, Maiden? What will you ask of me?”

“Careful, Lilith Chambers, she named for the First Wife. An ant caught in a spider’s web does not control the hands on the clock. You will know what I want of you when I say it and not a moment before.” 

My blood was suddenly frigid at her words. Polar bears could have set up a den in my veins and been perfectly at home, drinking Coke every Christmas without complaint.

Nodding, I acknowledged my fate was now in her hands. 

Was it truly worth it to trade my trumpeting skills away for this? I thought. Phenna did not warn me the path to Understanding would be so perilous. 

Or perhaps she did. She said I had to welcome the chilled embrace of The Maiden, The Mother, and The Crone. Being trapped in a spider’s web could technically fall under the umbrella of a “chilled embrace,” I suppose. There was plenty of wiggle room. I mean — I was pretty chilled at the moment. Certainly, I was shivering. 

“Ah, silence sounds sweetest in the cup of powerlessness. The realization that you can do nothing without my leave, it hits hard, no?”

She thumped my foot again with one of her legs. Another tree trunk of a wack that left my ankle tingling. 

“Truly, you hold all the cards,” I said. 

The Maiden nodded. 

“And it’s with that realization now settled on your shoulders that I say this. Many in the realm of your birth want power. Some even need it. Speak to me of your need, for I sense it screaming within you, and I wish to know the quality of those shrieks.”

What kind of question is that? I thought.

The only part that made sense was the knowledge that I’d be fucked if I didn’t take the time to carefully consider The Maiden’s query. 

How did I describe my quest for Understanding? Well, I certainly wanted it. I wanted it bad enough to trade Phenna something I spent eight years of my life learning just to open the Red Door.

No, that wasn’t right. I didn’t just want to Understand. One didn’t hand over such a big chunk of their lives simply for something they wanted. 

Deep down, I believed there was something fundamentally wrong with me. I’d come out of the oven baked in the wrong shape, as though the wrong cookie cutter had been used on my dough. I’d never had the chance to change that before now. And it burned hot within, the need to correct this mistake the universe had thrust upon me without my asking. 

I clenched my fists and glared up at The Maiden. This went far beyond any want. One might want Understanding for parlor tricks or for petty reasons, but I needed it to fix me. And that was the only answer I had for the giant spider. 

“I need it,” I said. 

She cocked her head to the side. 

“Truly?” she asked. 

Nodding, I took a deep breath and prepared to stake my life and the success of this quest on a scalding truth that scorched the inside of my furnace every day. 

“I go through life knowing things could have been different, SHOULD have been different. Every day I wake up with the unerasable knowledge that the wheel which determined my shape stopped just short of where it should have. And my desire to correct that grand fuckup by the universe has driven me here, into your web. It will drive me past you and by The Mother and beyond The Crone until I’ve tasted the fruit of Yggdrasil.”

A gust of wind rustled the web, and I felt it quiver beneath me as my limbs tightened without letting go. 

“You’re sure of this?”

“As sure as I am that you’d be doing the exact same thing if you’d been born without your spinnerets,” I said. 

That earned me a small grin, and I quivered a little. I’d never seen someone with fangs smile before, and I wasn’t sure I liked the sight of it. 

“I was scarred in the womb, Maiden, a spider who hatched with seven legs instead of eight. My flesh is wrong, and that realization moves me to terrible places. I paid a price to be here, surrendered something precious. That decision was fueled by need, need to heal myself from the grievous wrong that was done to me.” 

Without flinching, I locked eyes with The Maiden and glared as though I could set her very web on fire with determination and lifelong frustration with my chromosomes. 

And when she climbed over top of me, still, I did not flinch. The Maiden lowered her massive self until the hairs of her abdomen brushed against my skin. Even then, I glared, her massive fangs inches from my own canines. 

“You paid a steep price to open the door, Lilith Chambers. I don’t care why. I just needed to know you understood that second-guessing your sacrifice is, perhaps, the greatest sin a sorceress can make, short of cursing our name.” 

My glare softened a degree.  

The Maiden continued, the breath from her words striking me with a horrifying hiss, “Sorceresses aren’t worthy of their power because of deeds or ethics. The worth comes from recognizing a dire need and doing whatever it takes to meet it. Understanding isn’t about good or evil. Arcane knowledge doesn’t recognize mortal laws. Sorceresses make choices and live with the consequences. It’s as simple as that. You wanted power. You traded away something for a chance to have it.” 

I gulped nervously thinking back to lost thoughts and emotions from band class I’d traded to open the door. And then I pictured Phenna, floating above the book in all her power and Understanding. She didn’t seem to regret her sacrifices. I shouldn’t regret mine, either. 

This was the key to getting what I wanted in the long run. Making an omelet without breaking eggs, and so forth. That’s what The Maiden was trying to teach me.

I dishonored myself if I started to regret my trade. And I dishonored the Understanding that would come once I’d eaten from the Yggdrasil Tree. 

“I won’t regret my bargain,” I said with a louder voice than I thought possible in the wake of a giant spider. 

The Maiden paused, her eight eyes scanning every inch of my face for wavering thoughts or indecision. After what felt like a decade, she nodded slightly and climbed off of me. 

“Good. Now go and face The Mother. Keep my words fresh in your mind. But do not expect her question to be the same as mine.” 

I sighed with relief and realized I was still stuck to the web. 

“Um. . . how do I —” I was interrupted by the web around me rotting in an instant, giving way to my weight and sending me plummeting into depths I didn’t know were beneath me. 

Screaming all the way down, I tried to flip myself over and couldn’t. How much longer did I have? How long had I been falling?

Wind whipped my long black hair all around my face until I at last landed. Wait — no. That wasn’t right. It would be more accurate to say I was snatched from the air just before the ground reunited with my spine in a violent fashion. 

Looking to my left and waiting for my vision to clear, I realized what’d caught me. I sat in the jaws of a massive wolf, and amber eyes the size of basketballs looked me over with irritation. 

Slobber dampened my clothes, and I realized with renewed alarm that I was now buried in closed jaws. Teeth and tongue were my new companions where webbing had ended our relationship. 

I was snared at the halfway point, the wolf’s jaws closed over my waist. 

“You’re certainly a noisy power-seeker,” the wolf growled. 

Turning my head in the opposite direction, I saw two pups that were closer to my size playing beneath the legs of my captor. 

Her fur was the color of steel with splotches of white mixed here and there. And the wolf’s whiskers were as long as me. 

I looked back to see the giant canine hadn’t taken her eyes off me. 

“Th — The Mother, I presume?” I chanced. 

The wolf huffed, and a warm blast of air that smelled like old meat and rotten berries whiffed around my body. 

“It seems The Maiden has sent another would-be sorceress into my jaws. Come. Let me see how you fare in The Mother’s den.” 

And I didn’t get a choice in the matter as the massive wolf turned and carried me into the mouth of a large cave. Down, we descended into the darkness. Damp, cool air washed over me as I listened to the pitter-patter of the wolf pups running behind us, barking and playing together. 

The Mother took her time, never unsure about a step or foothold. 

At last, she arrived at the end of her den and slowly hung her head to the right. Before I could react, she snapped her head back and tossed me into a pile of old bones. 

Disoriented and greeted by the smell of dusty decay, I took my time rising to my feet and finding a place to stand in the darkness. Above me, the massive golden eyes of The Mother stared down. At her feet, two sets of smaller amber eyes watched me, eager to play or pounce or kill me. 

My eyes slowly adjusted to glowing blue stones projecting a hazy light that took mercy upon my disorientation and provided, at least, some measure of visual clarity. 

“I have pups to nurse, so I will make my question quick. I am no spider toying with prey caught in my web.” 

Hunching my shoulders together and trying not to shake too visibly, I nodded. 

“The Maiden determined you’ve realized the true scale of your need and that you lack any regret over decisions that led you here. Now I will ask you, oh she named for the First Wife, what does power taste like? If you want to seek Understanding, you’d best present me with a satisfactory answer.”

What does power taste like? I thought. Is Moro here looking for a flavor? Um, gee, Mother, I think it tastes like PhD Pepper. Do I win?

The Mother’s impatience wore on me as I resisted the urge to pound my head. How the fuck would I know what power tasted like? I’d never had it before! 

Growing up in far east Colorado, I was constantly reminded of how powerless I was. I didn’t have the power to force others to call me Lilith or treat me like a girl. I didn’t have the strength to stop bullies from smashing my head into whatever locker happened to be nearest when they found me in the hall. And I certainly didn’t have the influence needed to earn any respect in my hometown. Outside of my parents, most everyone treated me like shit. Even Mom and Dad were powerless to help when it came to dealing with the assholes of Piper’s Ridge. 

So, how on Earth did The Mother expect me to know what it tasted like?

Taking another deep breath and wrapping my heart with hope that blunt truth would save me from The Mother as it did The Maiden, I took one step forward. My neck arched up, and I glared at the massive canine above me. 

“I’ve spent my entire life being bullied and pushed around by others. I seek Understanding to finally have some measure of power to transform my life and fix my flesh. At no point have I held power over another and savored its taste. And I will not know the taste of power until I eat of the Yggdrasil. You were born mighty. I was born broken. So my answer is this: You asking me about the taste of power is akin to me asking you about the taste of crocodile or shark.”

With another mighty huff, The Mother scoffed and lowered her face closer to mine. I did my best not to shrink in its presence. But it was difficult. 

“What a lazy and foolish answer you’ve given me! You claim to have held no power all your days, but I do not believe for a second you’ve never stepped on a beetle or swatted a fly from the air. In those moments, you held power of those creatures. And yet, you did not think to tell me how it tasted,” she barked. “These are things you’ve done many times in your life. So tell me, Lilith Chambers, what do you fault for your lackluster words? Poor memory? The lack of a tongue for tasting? What excuse do you offer me for this pathetic response?”

This time, I did shrink toward the pile of bones. And when the wolf slammed her right paw into the cave floor, I fell backward. 

Her snout moved closer to me, nose wrinkled, fangs glistening, and accompanied by a growl that would blow the speakers out of any car. 

My heart shot up into my throat. Had I truly escaped the spider’s web only to be devoured in the wolf’s den? Fuck. As my hands twitched, unsure of what they should be doing in the face of this massive threat, I froze. 

“I should tear off one of your legs and let you be fresh meat for my pups. Maybe they’re ready for your flesh and don’t need to be nursed by me tonight after all,” she growled. 

I tried to reach for words and failed to produce any. 

Time seemed to freeze until, at last, The Mother closed her jaws and ceased rattling rock with her snarls. 

The Mother heaved a massive sigh, sending some of the smaller bones scattering around the den. Her pups took to playing with them, ignoring her previous threats toward me. 

“I would like nothing more than to add your sorry hide to my belly as I have many fools who sought Understanding, yet lacked the capacity to realize what power they’d already possessed in their lives. None of the ones I’ve eaten realized that without a sound mind, they would have become slaves to the power they sought, reduced to drooling beasts ever seeking more without giving a single thought to why. It was mercy that saw me end them before they could ruin themselves. And yet, for you, a different protection spares my wrath.” 

My eyes widened as I tried to understand the words that’d just been hurled at me from The Mother’s snout. Did she say mercy? Or. . . protection?

“I smell on you the mark of another wolf. She has claimed you as her mate. Though her power is insignificant compared to mine, wolf custom forbids the killing of mates. It has been this way since long before either of you walked the realm of your birth. By her mark and scent, you are spared my fangs. Onward, you go, to The Crone. Though, I warn you, being a wolf’s mate offers you no protection against her. May your words fare better in her grasp than they did mine.”

Before I could ask any more questions, The Mother snatched me in her jaws again, this time with my belly down and against her tongue. 

I didn’t even have time to yell “Eep!” as she walked over to a hole in her den’s wall and flung me into shadow. 

Deeper I fell into the ground, until, at last, I crashed into a frigid stream. Bubbles of air yelled from my lungs as I swam for what I hoped was the surface. It was dark, but the current seemed to know where it wanted to go, regardless of the lackluster light.

I sputtered and kicked being tossed here and there until my arms at last collided with a broken piece of a log. It clung to the surface far more easily than I did, so I wrapped it tight within my grip and prayed to The Maiden that I might not drown. She seemed far more kind than The Mother had been to me. 

I’m not sure how long the current carried me forward, but my arms grew tired of clinging to the log lost in the underground stream. And just before they gave out, I found myself bathed in light again. 

Out of the cavern and into another patch of misty forest, I thanked whoever was watching over me that I could see again. Moonlight filtered down through the tree tops and purple miasma as I washed forward in the river. 

But the light did not sustain my joy long as exhaustion and chill crept through me, starting with my extremities. Yet even here, mercy was no stranger to me. For I was snatched from the water by my knees. 

Coughing and gasping, I felt something tighten and coil around the middle of my legs. Feeling was slow to return, and my vision beat it in a race to restore senses. I was still by the stream. I heard running water to my right. 

Below me, my arms dangled over a sandy nest full of massive white rocks. No, wait, not rocks. . . eggs! Those were eggs bigger than me! 

When I turned to see what held me in its grasp, my jaw dropped (or rose, since I was upside down). A massive silver-scaled serpent squeezed my knees tight together with a tail that possessed more strength than I could imagine. It might shatter my bones if it wanted to. And every second the serpent didn’t, I found myself grateful for intact kneecaps. 

“Sssssssoooooooo, The Mother throws another would-be sorceress to the stream. Oh, goodnessssss me, how she amuses my old scales.” 

The serpent’s tone was surprisingly cheerful, even more so than The Maiden. And her words didn’t sound all that different to me than a Midwestern grandmother. I couldn’t begin to imagine how that was possible. 

“Tell me, girl. What are you called?”

“Um, Lilith Chambers. And by brilliant powers of deduction, I’m going to assume you’re The Crone?”

With a thoughtful laugh, she nodded. 

“Yessssss indeed. Many would-be sorceresses I’ve fished from the stream and dangled over my nest. Some I squeeze until they turn blue and stop moving. Others, I release to see the Yggdrasil Tree. My question, she named for the First Wife, is which of those will be?”

“Jelly or set free?” I asked, making sure I knew my options. 

Her threats were 20 times more terrifying when she delivered them like a granny about to offer me a tray of cookies. And there was also the fact that she was big enough to break one of Godzilla’s legs. 

For the second time, the serpent nodded, decidedly offering me no further hints. 

Is this a trick question? I thought. The Maiden asked about the need of power. And The Mother asked about the taste of power. Why is The Crone’s question so different? 

Water droplets fell from my clothes as I dangled about 20 feet in the air. They dropped down onto the eggshells beneath me and dotted the sand. 

With blood rushing to my head, it was getting more difficult to think. Maybe that was part of her question. I shouldn’t overthink things. 

But what was the right answer? There were only two, right? I’m in the group that moves onward to Yggdrasil’s fruit, or I’m in the group reduced to a stress doll that can be used exactly once while I’m still breathing. 

Fuck me, I thought. I’m so over these witchy kaiju. 

The serpent waited patiently for me to answer. And why shouldn’t she? She was The Crone. I’d be willing to bet she was older than any who had achieved Understanding before me. Her tired voice certainly sounded like it. 

Why didn’t she ask me about power? I thought. The other two did.

Wait a second — what had The Maiden tried to get me to realize? What did the spider say? Silence sounds sweetest in the cup of powerlessness? What if that was a hint?

Maybe The Crone had asked me a question about power without using that exact word. Which will I be, squeezed until I’m blue and dead or set free? If I pick one or the other, she’d kill me. Because that wasn’t actually the question she was asking. 

The Crone was actually asking me, “Before I set you loose to claim your power, tell me what you are right now, what you have been since opening the Red Door.” 

And the answer was powerless. I was powerless in The Maiden’s web. I was powerless in The Mother’s jaws. I remained powerless wrapped in The Crone’s tail. This entire quest to claim fruit from the Yggdrasil Tree was about realizing that the first step to Understanding power was admitting that I was powerless, at least, in terms of magic. 

So, I placed my arms around the serpent’s scales and closed my eyes, willing nothing but surrender. My dizziness grew, but I didn’t shake or quiver anymore. I was confident in my answer of silence. 

The Crone was merciful after a few minutes and chuckled. 

“A fine ansssssswer, Lilith Chambers. You have embraced The Maiden, The Mother, and The Crone. And now you will go on to Understand as sorceresses have before you.” 

“Truth be told, I feel more like I was the one who was embraced by all of you. I’m not sure I did any embracing.” 

The Crone laughed, and the warmth of her chortle seemed to finally chase any remnants of the stream’s chill. 

“Well, you certainly already Understand a good joke. Be on your way now. I have other potential sorceresses to fish from the water.” 

And before I could ask where to go, her tail pulled back and snapped upward, thrusting me into the air as I soared through tree branches and leaves. 

“Fuuuuucccckkkk meeeeeeee,” I hollered as gravity slowly claimed me as one of her own again. 

A twig scraped across my jawline, drawing a small bit of blood as I crashed down into a massive pile of leaves. My world spun, but at least I was finally right-side up. 

Crawling forward and stepping out from the leaves, I picked a few dead caterpillars off my shoulders and looked up at the towering pile of foliage. 

“Shit. I bet the person who raked that thing probably walks around talking about smelling the blood of an Englishman.”

It was only after I’d finished my millionth snark of the day that I noticed the stillness around me. Nothing moved save for my beating heart. Silence filled my ears. Mist thinned, and I slowly turned to find myself in the presence of a tree so massive that probably shit out things bigger than the redwoods in California.

My skin tingled with what I could only assume was raw magic in the air. Moss crept up and down the bark, and five gargantuan branches spread out at different angles above me. Golden foliage hung still as if frozen in a vacuum. 

The tingle grew stronger in my flesh as I found myself looking down at three different spots on my body. 

The fuck? I thought, pulling aside my clothes and finding various tattoos on my skin I’d never seen before. A black spider outline marked my right ankle. A gray wolf marked my belly. And a long silver serpent wrapped around my left knee. All of these markings pulsed in front of the tree, and I nearly collapsed from the vibrations. 

Hang on. . . I thought. These are where. . . The Maiden tapped my foot with her leg, The Mother held my waist in her jaws, and The Crone wrapped her tail around my knees. 

They all left their marks. Was this what Phenna had meant by I had to embrace them all? Did she have similar markings somewhere on her body?

As they continued to pulse, I heard a groaning noise as the wood of the Yggdrasil Tree before me shifted. A smaller piece of a branch gradually leaned down toward me until a string of yellow grapes hung before my eyes. 

“Is that. . . are you offering me your fruit?” I asked the tree. 

When I got no response, I slowly reached out my hand toward the cluster of grapes — er, things that looked like grapes. I’m sure they had some magical name here. 

“Okay then. . . I’m going to take them if that’s fine with you?” I asked, touching the frigid fruits. 

The tree made no move to stop me. 

With a gentle tug, I freed the cluster of grapes and brought them toward my nose. They smelled like fermented wine. It honestly seemed kind of noxious. But when I waited a few minutes for a forest ranger or even Boo Boo to come bursting out of the fog, telling me not to eat that, nothing happened. 

Slowly, the small piece of a branch rose toward the sky as the wood groaned again. 

Pausing to breathe deeply, I started to sweat. This is what I wanted, right? I braved The Maiden, The Mother, and The Crone to hold this fruit in my hands. It couldn’t kill me, right? . . . Right?

I passed all the tests. I’d solved all the riddles. I’d made the sacrifice. This was my reward, the beginning of Understanding. 

Raising the cluster of five small grapes, I opened my mouth wide and thrust them inside. 

Down the hatch, I thought. 

I didn’t even have time to notice any flavors before my entire jaw started to burst like I’d just chugged a massive pack of Pop Pebbles. My tongue and teeth felt like they were having a tennis match where a lightning bolt replaced the ball. 

My entire body twitched with energy, and I wasn’t even sure I’d swallowed the fruit. It felt like my head was spinning in every direction.

An expansion of raw knowledge exploded in my mind like an atom bomb. It carved outward in my skull for an impossible number of miles. I didn’t even think I had that much space in my head. But swirls and strings of Understanding continued to grow. 

The last thing I noticed was a garbled scream tearing from my lips like the noise couldn’t get away from my throat fast enough. A bright yellow light burned forth from my open mouth, my nostrils, and my eyes as everything opened wide. 

And then. . . darkness. I ceased to know or realize anything. 

 

***

 

Consciousness was slow to return. I think I felt the hard ground under me. Maybe my head was propped up on something? Someone was talking, I think. And I knew their voice. I craved it like a bear tearing into a beehive for honey. 

My eyes fluttered open to the first welcome sight I’d had in hours. It wasn’t a giant spider or a 20-ton canine or even a giant serpent. It was my mate. Her hazel eyes drilled down into mine. My head rested in her lap. 

And in that moment of realization that I’d awoken, Mars looked torn between relief and frustration. Uh oh. 

Raspy, my voice asked, “Why are you naked?”

The goddess of a woman cradling my head frowned. 

“No, no, Little Cottontail. I’ll be asking the questions now. All you need to know is you’ve officially lost your alone privileges.” 

As my eyelids drooped, I mumbled, “Yeah, that’s fair.”