Trust Well Placed

Daisuke brushed dusty brown bangs out of his face as he leaned back in his patio chair. He regularly invited Lupin over to his cozy little house out in the middle of nowhere. The two had been good friends ever since they were pups, and continued to stay so well into their adulthood. 

“It’s the perfect weather to just sit back and relax!” Lupin sighed happily, his tail wagging behind him. 

“Mhm, and time will spent.” Daisuke agreed, his tail wagging as well. “So how’s Genevieve? You two doing alright?” 

“Mhmm.” Lupin replied. 

“Have you told her yet?” Daisuke asked sipping his soda. 

“Told her what?” Lupin questioned. His ears flattened against his head. He knew exactly what Daisuke was asking about. 

“Lupin you know what I mean. Have you told here you’re not human yet?” Daisuke repeated. 

“Um...well, no...” Lupin responded slowly. His ears back and he frowned.

“Lupin! You have to tell her!” Daisuke replied sitting up quickly in his chair. 

“I know, I know I should tell here! But how do I?” Lupin asked his voice shrill. “What if she doesn’t love me anymore? What if she turns me in to the WMA?!” 

“Lupin, Lupin, calm down!” Daisuke replied sharply. “Calm down, she’s not going to turn you in to the WMA, and from the way you talk about her it sounds like she loves you. A lot.” 

“I know, but...I’m scared.” Lupin said softly frowning. 

Daisuke leaned over towards him and patted him roughly on the shoulder. “Lupin it’s ok, trust me. Just tell her the truth and it’ll all turn out.” 

Lupin sighed and leaned back in his chair. He really didn’t have any other options. She would surely find out herself sooner or later, and it would be better that he told her sooner rather than later. 

Lupin stood in the park leaning back and forth on the heels of his feet. He was so nervous he could barely keep his ears and tail from popping out. He just hoped she’d get there soon. 

“Lupin! Thank you for waiting, I’m sorry I’m late, I couldn’t find my purse!” Genevieve said as she ran up to him. His nerves fell away, well most of them. He was still very nervous about telling her. 

“No worries! I’m glad you’re here!” He grinned leaning down to kiss her. She returned his kiss and tightly hugged him back. 

“So what did you want to talk about?” She asked as the two walked hand in hand down a quaint park pathway. It was getting dark out, but not quite late yet and the air was cool. Genevieve liked weather like this, and greatly enjoyed the cool summer evenings. Not only that, the moon was out and it smelled like rain was on the way. 

“Something important,” Lupin began, squeezing her hand a little harder than he intended.

“Lupin are you ok?” She questioned looking up at him worriedly. 

“Well,” he started slowly before he sprinted towards a clump of bushes practically dragging her behind him. He stopped suddenly once they were inside the cover of the vegetation. 

“Lupin! What’s going on?” Genevieve asked pulling her hand from his. “You’re acting strange!” 

“I’m sorry to scare you Gen, but this is important!” Lupin replied. “I know I should’ve told you sooner! I just didn’t know how, I-I...mmm! I’m sorry I should have told you earlier!” 

Genevieve frowned and stepped closer to him. She was getting worried; she had never seen Lupin this scared. Had he gotten into trouble? “Lupin it’s ok, you can tell me. I promise.” 

Lupin paced back and forth a few more times before he stopped and sighed deeply. “Ok, ok...” 

Genevieve’s worry and concern deepened as she watched Lupin begin to undress. “Lupin what are you doing-“

“Just wait a sec!” He snapped a little harsher than he intended. When he was completely naked he leaned over and grunted in pain. The sound of cracking could be heard echoing through the silence of the night. 

“Lupin? Lupin what’s that noise? Are you ok?” She asked while she hurried up to him and placed a hand on his bare shoulder. She jerked her hand away as she felt the bones pop and shift under his skin. 

Lupin’s form began to rapidly change after that and grow larger in size. She stumbled backwards and nearly fell over as she stared up at the very, very large wolf in front of her. 

“Y-you’re not human?” She stuttered. She wasn’t so much scared as she was startled. She was expecting him to tell her he wanted to break up or something. She definitely was not expecting this. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner...” Lupin said softly, his ears folded against his head. Though he was a very large wolf, Genevieve recognized the same kind look in his clear blue eyes. 

“Lupin-“ 

“I know...I totally get it if you don’t want to be with me anymore. I wouldn’t either...” Lupin interrupted her, and in hopes of looking less threatening he lied down. Even then he still was as tall as she was standing. God he felt horrible, and terrified. What would she do now? 

“Lu...” Genevieve said slowly as she walked up to him. She could tell that he was terrified. She couldn’t imagine how much courage it took to tell her this secret. “I can see why you didn’t want to tell me, it couldn’t have been easy to build up the courage.” 

Lupin watcher her movements as she approached him. His tail twitched nervously behind him as every instinct in his body told him to bolt. But his common sense told him to stay put. 

When she was close enough to him she stopped and looked up to his face and into his eyes.

“Please say something.” Lupin said softly their eyes still locked. “I-I understand if you don’t love me anymore. And if you don’t want to be with me. I totally get it, I’ll leave and you’ll never-“ 

Lupin froze as Genevieve wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his fur. “Lupin, I love you. I love you more than all the stars in the sky. Nothing will change that. I don’t care if you’re a werebeast or not you’re still Lupin. You’re still the man I fell in love with.” 

Lupin didn’t say anything, he didn’t think he’d be able to get the words out. Instead he leaned his head against hers. 

“I can’t imagine how scary this must have been, you couldn’t of known what would happen. I’m glad you trusted me enough to tell me.” She stated, her voice muffled from his fur. 

“I don’t think you know how happy that makes me.” Lupin replied leaning into her hug a little. 

“But goodness, I’ve never seen a werebeast so big!” She exclaimed after a moment of silence. 

“That’s becasue I’m a direwolf.” He replied. The look on Genevieve’s face made him snort. 

“A direwolf? I thought they were extinct!” 

“Mostly, but not quite. They’re just very rare.” He replied. 

“So that means you’re pretty old right?” She questioned. 

“Mhmm. I’m-“ 

“Wait, lemme guess! Hmmm, you’re 80!” She stated proudly. Lupin laughed, or at least as close as he could in feral form. 

“Not even close! I’m 130!” 

“You’re an old man! Who knew my boyfriend is ANCIENT!” She snorted. He nudged her playfully with his snout and grinned in a wolf sort of way. 

“Physically I’m the same age as a forty year old. The only difference is I’ve been around just a tad longer.” He replied. 

“No wonder you always were so anxious around me sometimes. You were afraid you’d shift partially.” Genevieve said suddenly. 

“Yes. I tend to lose control over my human from when I experience strong emotions. My ears and tail are always the first to go.” He replied moving to sit up. 

“...Is staying in your human form uncomfortable for you?” 

“Not really no. I have to shift every once in a while or my body will force me to. But otherwise I can hold it for a long time” Lupin replied as he stood up. With another grunt of discomfort and some popping noises Lupin stood in front of her seemingly human. “Though shifting back sometimes hurts but not much.” 

Genevieve pulled him into a hug again and squeezed him. He hugged her back and grinned, this couldn’t have gone any better and he was delighted by that. 

“Are they any other direwolves besides you?” Genevieve asked curiously. She had so many questions! 

“Yep, quite a few but nowhere near as many as there were when I was a pup. One of my best friends is one, I’ll have to introduce you sometime!” Lupin responded while he finished getting dressed. 

“I’d like that!” She replied as the two began to leave the park.