Marika rose out of the water in her human form, amused by the noticeable blush that painted every inch of Tate's face and body. It was such an odd contradiction to see in such a large guy whose muscles looked like they could snap you in half.

How can he be so darn adorable?

The thought came out of nowhere, not allowing Marika to stop it in its tracks like she usually did. After all, that got her in this whole werewolf mess in the first place. If Marika hadn't been enamored by Tate's looks at that party, nothing would have happened. She would have still lived her peaceful ignorant life, and he wouldn't have been eaten up by guilt every time he saw how hard it was for her to adjust to the werewolf lifestyle.

It was a good lesson for young women to learn. It was a bad idea to get carried away by a mere look at a pretty face. Who in their right mind would get so cozy with a complete stranger? Marika did.

Things escalated quickly that night, and before she could even fully take advantage of the hottest make-out session she had ever participated in, she was already in the hospital, going through the process of becoming a werewolf with a very guilty-looking Tate by her side.

Instead of dwelling on what could have been, Marika refocused on the present, arranging her long hair to cover up her chest, giving Tate a break. Under different circumstances, she would have probably teased him about being so bashful. They were werewolves, for crying out loud! There was bound to be some nudity involved, but as it was, they had more important things to discuss.

"Like what you see?" Marika asked as she slowly moved toward where he waited for her on the shore, her silky white skin almost shining in the bright sunlight as drops of water dripped down her glossy hair, the color of which looked nearly golden in the sun's warm embrace, making her look like a movie star shooting her most seductive scene.

"You look like Viana, Goddess of The River, coming out of the river to bless us mortals with her presence," Tate said dazedly, his eyes wide open.

It was the strangest Marika had ever felt because she didn't really mind the nudity; in her home country, in the magicless part of the world, it was considered something normal, not something to be ashamed of or be bashful about; they were taught from an early age that humans were born naked and it was the most natural thing ever, liberating even after spending a day outside wearing all those masks that clothes were; yet, the way he gazed intently into her eyes, then her body, made her feel like she shouldn't have teased him in the first place.

She was trying to joke around, to lift the mood that became dour after he told her what they needed to do. Yet, she forgot he wasn't just any other werewolf, most of whom found it natural to parade around naked, especially if they had ended up accidentally tearing their clothes again. For Tate, it always seemed more uncomfortable when she was the one ending up in the nude. It made her wonder if that night had meant more to him than she assumed.

"Ahem, do you have some spare clothes for me?" Marika asked, trying to compose herself and the sudden change in her couldn't-care-less-about-clothes attitude.

"Yeah... yeah, of course," he said, hurriedly taking off a satchel that Marika didn't even notice he was carrying, throwing the clothes at her while deliberately looking the other way.

Instead of mocking him like she usually did, Marika said nothing and just took the offered pants and blouse, all very comfortable, and started putting them on. It was as if she had finally realized what his strange behavior could mean.

Could it be that he wasn't always around me because of pity or guilt? Does he actually have feelings for me? Is it possible that night was more to him than just a night he would regret for the rest of his life?

"All done," Marika said once she was fully clothed, wringing out her hair before putting it in a messy bun on top of her head. "Let's sit over there in the sunny patch so I can dry off while you tell me what in the world is going on and why you agreed to go to one of the most terrifying places I've ever heard about."

Tate followed her quietly, seemingly back to his regular self, the only indication of something not being quite right were his fluffy black ears peeking out of his shoulder length hair.

"The Supernatural Secretary Defense minister was the one who gave me the mission this time, so I couldn't refuse it," Tate said as he sat down on the sunny grass next to Marika but still further away than expected.

"What does that Grumpy want from you now?" Marika asked, exasperated, trying to calm herself down by lifting her hands toward the sky and turning them left and right to watch the sun illuminate her skin this way and that, enjoying its warmth. "All he ever does is get you in trouble. You almost died the last time you listened to him."

She said, sounding calm, bored even, while the hand she was playing with shook noticeably, and her lips tightened into a thin line. The guy was trouble, and she knew it. Unfortunately, he was a high-ranking trouble, so she couldn't really kill him each time she went into a fit of rage about some of his incredibly dumb decisions.

"I do wish you would stop calling him Grumpy," Tate said, running his hand through his hair, looking tired for the first time since Marika knew him. "It's racist outside the regular human world, you know?"

"I can't help it when that's what he is," Marika said flippantly. "I mean, he is one very grumpy dwarf, and you know it. Besides, it has nothing to do with the fairytale or anything. It's simply his most prominent trait."

"Whatever. I am not in the mood to argue with you about that right now," Tate said, feeling a headache slowly but surely developing right behind his eyes. "We both know that I have to do it. Besides, it's for a noble cause. Stories say that inside the Abyss of Sorrow, a great wizard hid the Turret of Supel. A relic which could supposedly help all the magical beings finally get along."

"That's a myth, and you know it!" Marika shouted, sitting up straight and looking into his eyes, trying to figure out what he was thinking in that crazy head of his, agreeing to such an impossible mission. "I might not have been a part of this chaotic magico-technological world for long, but even I know that those are just stories you tell wolf pups when their witch classmates tease them relentlessly for their tails suddenly popping out."

"Maybe, but I have reasons to believe the stories might be true after all," Tate said enigmatically.

"Do tell," Marika said sarcastically, putting her head in her hands as she started blinking dramatically.

"Let's just say I got some first-hand information that I need to confirm before I share it with anyone," Tate said shortly.

It wasn't like him to keep secrets, but Marika guessed it was a sensitive topic or something like that, as the last thing Tate ever wanted to do was spread rumors. Not after almost losing his position and all the respect the packs had for him when he bit her. At the time, someone spread the rumor that it wasn't an accident caused by a bit too much alcohol and hormones but malicious intent. For that reason, Marika let the secretive behavior pass for a change.

"Oh, one more thing," Tate said as he swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing unnaturally. "About the Rage Control classes..."

How he shifted around, trying to make himself look smaller, which was physically impossible, was odd and made Marika anxious about the words that would leave his mouth next.

"Spit it out already!" Marika yelled out agitatedly.

Even though she was feeling much better now that the pang of hunger was gone, all the news Tate carried with him turned out to be horrible, and she wasn't sure she could take any more.

"They want you to have a Magical Support Animal," Tate said, looking at her guiltily, making her firmly believe he did something, that he messed up somehow, causing them to insist on that. "We need to meet her as soon as you dry out, and she'll have to go with you everywhere, even on this mission, to balance out... your anger issues."

"A Magical Support Animal!" she shrieked so loudly that the whole forest echoed with the power of her disbelief, causing a few birds to fly away, wisely realizing that was their best course of action.

Only Tate was senseless enough to stay and withstand the whole wrath of her anger.

"Who in their right mind would give a werewolf a Magical Support Animal! To a werewolf!" Marika exclaimed as she jumped to her feet and started briskly walking up and down the river bank. "What are they even thinking? Didn't it occur to them that we eat meat and that I might end up devouring it instead of letting it 'support' me?"

She continued ranting while pacing ceaselessly, and Tate let her be. He took it as a good sign she didn't outright attack him, kill the messenger and all that, so he thought it wiser to just let her process everything and rant her heart out.

The fact that she didn't outright refuse made it clear that she would do it. She wasn't happy about it, but she would help him out.

Whether that was a good or a bad thing in the long run remained to be seen.