“I’ll kill you!” Hannah screamed, hitting my chest with her fists.

  “Calm down,” I ordered, grabbing her hand, then the other, holding them pinned to her sides. But that left her legs free, and she tried to kick me, so I quickly turned her around and wrapped my arms around her body, pulling her against me. She was screaming and squirming, trying to get out of my hold.

  “What’s going on?” I asked loudly, trying to pierce through her yells.

  She didn't answer, but Azura got into the room. “Mom!” she gasped.

  “She attacked me,” I said immediately.

  “I’ll fucking kill you, you bastard!” Hannah screamed.

  “Mom, stop it!” Azura growled.

  Hannah looked at her, surprised, and actually stopped fighting. I let go, and while she immediately turned, gring at me, she at least didn't attack me again.

  Zelda and Mari walked into the corridor, gncing through the door, drawn by the whole commotion.

  “You ask what happened?!” Hannah excimed. “You fucking asshole!”

  “Azura, what happened?” I asked, hoping she would expin.

  Hannah decided that it was the moment to attack again. I really didn't know what she wanted to achieve, hitting my shoulder. I again just grabbed her hands, stopping her.

  “Let me go! You fucking liar!” she screamed, this time trying to pull away from me. After that, she began transforming into her wolf form, and a bit in panic, I quickly moved to the wall and pinned her, holding her by the throat. While her hands and hits were harmless, that would quickly change if she had cws.

  As I pushed her against the wall, it seemed to stop her transformation, and she was completely back in her human form, gring at me.

  “You want good for my daughter?!” she excimed. “That’s why you beat her?! You fucking asshole!”

  “Mom!” Azura gasped. “He didn't!”

  “Fucking pig! Coward! Bastard! Coward!” Hannah was adding more and more insults toward me.

  “I didn't hit your daughter! Ever!” I said firmly, staring into her eyes. “Are you sore?” I asked, looking at Azura, finally realizing what was going on.

  She hummed a short yes, averting her gaze.

  “Meds are there,” I said, gesturing at the table.

  “Let me fucking go! We are fucking leaving! I’ll not let you hurt her again!” Hannah screamed.

  “I didn't hurt your daughter,” I said firmly again. “If you really need to pry into our sex life, fine. We had sex for half the night, and she’s sore because of that. I didn't beat her.”

  “You… You… You disgusting pervert!” Hannah yelled.

  “Maybe I am, but so is your daughter, because she loved it.”

  “I did,” Azura confirmed quietly.

  Hannah gasped, gncing at her daughter, and then began fighting again. “You corrupted her!” she excimed, trying to kick me.

  “I would never do anything she didn't want,” I replied.

  “I wanted it, mom,” Azura said after taking the painkillers.

  “A-Azura, baby, he’s maniputing you.”

  “No,” Azura replied firmly.

  “Yes, he is, baby. He doesn't love you. He’s using you, and… and… and he will sell you. I know he will! That’s how they all are!”

  “He won’t,” Azura replied.

  I let go of Hannah, as she seemed to calm down, trying to convince Azura rather than attacking me.

  “Baby, he’s maniputing you. It was the same with me,” Hannah said, her voice breaking as tears ran down her cheeks.

  “What?” Azura asked quietly.

  Hannah put her hands on Azura’s shoulders, staring at her with sadness in her eyes. “Azura, how do you think I ended up in that damned boratory? I fell in love… with a human. He was handsome, kind, caring. He told me he loved me, that we’d be happy together.”

  “And then… then he convinced me that becoming his sve was a symbol of being in his pack, that it was like a marriage. I-I agreed… A-And everything went downhill from there. He changed… He beat me, r-raped me, s-sold me to his friends. And… when he got bored of me, he… he sold me.”

  Her voice cracked as she clutched her daughter’s hands tighter. “That’s how I ended up in the boratory. That’s how my life was ruined. Because I was stupid! But I won’t let you make the same mistake, baby. We must run. Please!”

  I stood there, dumbfounded. For the first time, I understood Hannah’s hatred toward me. It wasn’t just racism or bitterness about humans running the b. She was worried that the same thing that had happened to her would happen to her daughter, and I worried that Azura might believe her.

  “Mom, Tobias is not the man that hurt you,” Azura said.

  “They’re all the same, baby,” Hannah shot back. “First they’re kind and loving, then they convince you to be their sve. And after that… First he hits you during sex, tells you you’re his bitch, that you should endure it. Then it only gets worse and worse. I-I can’t let that happen to you.”

  “Mom, he didn’t hit me,” Azura replied. “I came so hard, so many times, that my muscles are sore from all the clenching and tensing. And I wanted it.”

  “Baby, you only think that because you’re lonely and desperate for someone to love you,” Hannah said, shaking her head. “But you’re his prey. He chose you knowing that we wolf shapeshifters crave being under someone. It was the same with me.”

  “I chose him!” Azura shouted. “I followed him and chose to be his before he even saw me properly in my human form.”

  I looked at her, surprised, by her raised tone, but more by hearing that for the first time. We had met when Tori had been killing Azura’s previous pack, but I had just barely seen her transforming. The first time I had seen her properly was when we were entering Ortas.

  “Baby… W-Why?” Hannah stammered.

  “Why?” Azura asked. “Why, Mom? Because half of my life I spent in a cage - fed weird things that made me sick, terrified they would hurt me, or hurt you. Y-You cried so much, Mom… And then I ran away. And ran. And ran. Until I realized I’d left you behind. Alone. I tried to find the b again, to come back for you.”

  Her hands shook as she clenched them at her sides.

  “But I couldn’t find it! I wandered for days, starving. I couldn’t catch anything - I was just a kid! I was going to die from hunger! And then wolves found me. And do you know what happened then?!”

  “They kept me alive. Barely. For the whole second half of my life with them, I remember only three things. Three! Fear! Hunger! Cold! Nothing else!”

  Tears were streaming down Azura’s face, as her whole body was trembling and she shouted. I wanted to hug her, tell her that everything would be good from now on, but she really needed to have this talk with her mother.

  “Fear, hunger, and cold, mom! Until I met him!” She waved her hand at me. “He defended me! He fed me! He hugged me! He gave me things no one ever had given before. Not you! Not that pack!”

  “I was safe! And happy! For the first time in my life! With him! And he didn't hurt me! But even if he would, if that would make him happy, I would let him! And I would love it! I love him! And… And… And if you can't accept that, you must leave!”

  Azura shouted, then tore clothes from her body. When naked, she shifted into her wolf form, jumped on the bed, and crawled under a bnket.

  After that, there was silence, only interrupted by soft whimpers coming from under the cover. Everyone just stood there, analyzing what had just happened. That was the most words coming from Azura I had heard - ever.

  And the first time she raised her voice beyond bed or begging for mercy when we had met. The first time she showed so many emotions and told how she felt in the past, and about her feelings.

  Hannah turned to me, tears streaming down her cheeks, her expression hurt and worried. She didn’t say a word, just lowered her head and shuffled out of the room.

  Zelda and Mari let her pass, both looking inside the room, before Zelda closed the door, leaving me and Zoe with Azura.

  “Should I leave?” Zoe whispered.

  “No, you’re part of the pack,” I replied, sitting on the bed, being careful to miss the wet spot. I pulled the bnket slowly off Azura. She was curled up in her wolf form. When I exposed her, she raised her head, looked around the room, and then moved toward me.

  She pushed with her snout at my chest until I y down, and then she slowly and carefully y on top of me, nuzzling her muzzle into my neck as I wrapped my arms around her wolf body.

  It wasn't as comfortable as a woman lying on top of me, but after a bit of wiggling, we were in a comfortable position. Zoe y down next to us, brushing her hands through Azura’s fur and wrapping her tail around both of us.

  “I will never sell you,” I murmured, hugging her. “And you will never be alone again. Or hungry.”

  She let out something like a low growl, which I really wasn't sure how to interpret. As she remained in her wolf form, I assumed she didn't want to talk, so I just hugged her.

  When we fell silent, cuddling, the slime decided it was a moment to make its appearance - sliding from my lower back, along my side, to the top of my hand that I was holding on Azura’s back.

  “Are you hungry?” I murmured, not really expecting an answer. I summoned seven points of mana, and it absorbed them quickly. After its standard wobbling, I gave it five more points, as it was growing bigger and might need more.

  It took it all and shifted to my wrist, where it just froze. Zoe must have been watching, because the slime barely managed to stop, and her tail’s tip showed and tapped the slime.

  It wobbled like jelly but didn't move away. Zoe tapped it a few more times, but the slime didn't react at all, as if it had fallen into a deep sleep.

  I must have dozed off, because I was woken up when the body on top of me began shifting - fur receding, limbs getting longer, Azura’s snout changing into her human face.

  “I’m sorry,” Azura mumbled, pressed into my chest, naked after her transformation.

  “You don't have anything to apologize for,” I replied, brushing her long bck hair.

  She hummed softly.

  We remained cuddling, but then I remembered the book that Selira had lent me and thought it could be a perfect distraction for Azura. She was a little hesitant but agreed to practice reading aloud for me and Zoe.

  We shifted quickly, so I was sitting with Azura next to me and Zoe pressed into me on the other side. I wasn't really sure how to actually teach Azura to read, but fortunately she could read, just not quite fast. So, hoping some practice would help her, we just listened as she read for us.

  The story was about a nobleman who was forced by his family to marry a noblewoman. But he was madly in love with her maid, who was a sve demon. Azura was reading slowly, struggling with longer words, but that was where I helped her.

  During her reading, I practiced control of my mana, just holding it floating in the room while being completely focused on the story. While it slipped a few times from my control, I was getting better at holding it with more unconscious intent.

  Azura didn’t really read much, and we hadn’t even found out what happened in the love triangle between the characters in the book before she stopped. Turning toward me, she kissed my chin softly.

  She searched for my lips, trailing higher, so I tilted my head and met her in a slow, tender kiss.

  Azura closed the book and tossed it aside, getting more involved in the kiss with every second. She wasn’t usually very forward about sex, but at the moment it seemed like she really needed it.

  Her hands traveled down my body to my crotch, so I did the same, grabbing her hips, pulling her closer, and squeezing her ass. As I got lost in kissing and groping Azura, Zoe pulled away from me, sitting a little farther back on the bed.

  “Take care of her, Master,” she whispered when I looked at her. “She needs it.”

  “You can join us,” I offered, breaking the kiss with Azura.

  Zoe shook her head with a smile. “I’m okay. You should give her your full attention.”

  I nodded, turning back to Azura, grateful that Zoe was so understanding about sharing me with others.

  “But…” Zoe murmured before I could kiss the shapeshifter again. “Can I come?” she asked quietly, her cheeks blushing.

  “Yes, you can,” I replied with a smile, then kissed Azura again.

  Our lips teased each other as our tongues intertwined in a sensual dance. Pulling her shirt off, I squeezed her small breasts, her hard nipples pressing into my palms.

  Azura’s soft fingers wrapped around my cock, stroking it slowly as we continued to kiss. Our hands rubbed, brushed, explored every part of each other’s bodies. She needed closeness, comfort, maybe reassurance - and I wanted to give her all of it.

  But I kept in mind that she was still sore from the previous day, so I was gentle, avoiding her crotch for the moment.

  It seemed she didn’t care, though, because she pushed things further. Breaking the kiss, she y on her back, looking at me expectantly. As I leaned in to continue, she grabbed my shoulders and pulled until I was on top of her, kneeling between her spread legs.

  She wrapped them around my waist, pulling me down. I was careful not to crush her beneath me, but she pushed my hands off the bed, forcing me to lie fully on top of her, resting my weight against her body.

  I quickly pulled my pants down but didn’t enter her right away, just rubbed my shaft against her folds as we kissed slowly and deeply, our tongues brushing and licking, my fingers dancing over her nipples.

  With her small body beneath me, we lingered in kisses and groping, her folds sliding along my shaft and leaving wet trails over it. We’d definitely need to change the sheets afterward, the dry spots were disappearing fast.

  Again, unusual for her, she was the one pushing things further. She broke the kiss and whispered, “Take me.”

  Looking deeply into her dark blue eyes, I positioned my cock at her entrance and slowly pushed inside. Her velvety walls swallowed me inch by inch, heat and wetness wrapping around me, until I was buried in her body.

  Letting out a low groan of pleasure, I took her, just as she had wished.

  The whole time I watched her face for any sign of discomfort or pain but saw only bliss and satisfaction as she moaned softly, full of contentment.

  With my cock wrapped in her tight pussy, our bodies pressed together as closely as possible, I hoped the closeness gave her the comfort she needed.

  It was slow, sensual, caring. We kissed and touched, focused entirely on our embrace. The whole world slipped away, the troubles, the traumas, leaving only us, holding on to each other’s bodies.

  I didn’t even notice when it happened, but at some point, I began moving my hips, sliding out of her warmth only for a moment before pushing back in. Pleasure spread through my shaft as her body massaged every inch of me.

  Her pussy was incredible - tight, smooth, wet - rubbing against every sensitive spot, dragging me closer to release despite the slow pace and the five orgasms I’d already had with Zoe. This wasn’t just about physical pleasure. It was something deeper, something raw and emotional between us.

  Azura had admitted she loved me - not directly to me, but shouting at her mother. Yet I could see those same words in her gaze as she stared at me between kisses.

  When my orgasm was close, I lifted myself so I could look into her eyes when I would fill her with my cum. She hadn’t come yet, unusual for her, but I hoped she was close, that she would follow me over the edge.

  Thrusting into her velvety pussy, I slowly approached the brink of orgasm, and as I stared into her eyes, I tipped over the edge. Pleasure washed through me, nguidly taking over my body, my senses tingling.

  Groaning deeply, I admired the beauty beneath me as I spurted inside her. Her body arched, and she let out a lewd whimper. She must have been waiting for that moment, holding back until she could let herself dive into pleasure together with me.

  As I came inside her, my thoughts flickered back to the time she had asked about having babies with me, and I wondered if she had already been in love with me back then.

  While we savored the tingling pleasure coursing through our bodies, I couldn’t help thinking how easy it would be to make her pregnant. All it would take was using my skill, then it wouldn’t just be a chance, it would be certain. She would bear my children.

  She had already said she was ready. But I wasn’t there yet. I had no home, no money, and I still wanted to know her better. Maybe after today’s outburst, she would finally be willing to open up about her past or her feelings.

  So I kept my skill active, blocking any chance of pregnancy, while we panted together. Still on top of her, with her hands holding me in pce, I simply let myself rex.

  As I slowly drifted off to sleep, I felt Zoe shuffling closer. She wrapped her tail around us and pressed her naked body against ours from the side. That was the st thing I remembered before sleep cimed me.