Ella awoke early from a restless night's sleep. Sure this wasn’t unusual; between too much sugar before bed, an overactive imagination, and a trained desire to be awake and out of the house before her parents were up, her brain never let her sleep as long as she would like to. However last night there was a new contributing factor. Jana’s  kiss.

Sure, it had been just a quick peck on the cheek. Ella had kissed girls before, she even had a few girlfriends in middle and high school before she had realized she was a girl. But since coming out, Jana was the first… and it made the experience feel brand new! That overactive imagination was doing things to her that made her want to take a cold shower! “Hormones under control Ella… she’s very nice and super pretty but she’s a married woman!” She was now talking to herself in a mirror against the wall. “Keep it together Ella… you can’t get a crush on every cute girl who smiles at you… again…”

She brushed out her hair and pulled off her boring boys pajamas and put on her dumb boys t shirt and jeans. She sighed and completed the look with her favorite hoodie. “One day Ella…” she said under her breath, not being that fond of the reflection staring back at her.

She jumped hearing a gentle knock on the door. Definitely not her parents. They were never up this early, and they wouldn’t knock either. “Jana? Is that you?” She asked before opening the door. 

Jana smiled and gave a little wave. Today she was wearing a skirt and leggings with what seemed to be a school debate team shirt. At the center was a large hairy viking that seemed in mid yell with text around him “Midgard Community College, the louder you yell, the more right you are!”

“Morning Ella!” the genie said cheerfully. “Hope I didn’t wake you, but I thought i heard you moving around down here.” 

“Uhh no” said Ella, taken aback by Jana’s new look. “I was already awake. Where did you get that top?”

“Oh, it’s just something I threw together.” Jana said, casually. “I thought it would be funny after seeing how Karen reacted to my prayer yesterday.”

“Threw together?” repeated Ella. “You mean you can create clothes from scratch?” She paused as her mind raced through all the possibilities.

Jana smiled. “I know what you’re thinking. I’m sure I can create some nice clothes for you too. Though it would probably be wise to do it away from the eyes of...” She gestured upstairs. “You know who.”

“Good point.” said Ella, as the two young women began making their way upstairs. “Have you decided what you wanted to do today Jana? Maybe we can start with me making you a nice breakfast?”

“You… you want to cook for me?” Was it Ella’s imagination or was Jana tearing up. “I’m sorry, but… no master has ever treated me like a human being… Ever thought of my desires like you.”

Ella couldn’t help but blush, “I was just asking if you wanted an omelette.” She muttered sheepishly, “Everyone deserves that kind of respect… even if it’s not always given.” She sighed, looking down the hall in the direction of her parents room.

Jana was silent for a moment before asking, “Am I going too far if I ask you for a hug? I feel like we both could use it…” Ella smiled and nodded, holding her arms out. The unlikely pair embraced, holding each other tight, as if trying to protect the other from the rest of the world. After a moment and a few soft tears they broke apart. “An omelette sounds great Ella.” Jana said with a bit of a laugh in her voice.

“Coming right up!” Ella said laughing too. She pulled up the sleeves of her hoodie and got to work. Her movements were practiced, quick and quiet, doing all she could to not make noise. She did it so well Jana knew this couldn’t be the first time Ella had cooked this way; all just an effort to draw less attention to herself from the monster asleep not far away. 

Before Jana could dwell on this for very long, a plate was placed in front of her. A perfectly cooked farmers omelette stuffed full of ham cheese and diced onions and peppers, complete with buttered toast. “How… How did you do this so fast?” Jana asked, wondering if maybe her mistress was the one with magic. 

Ella shrugged as she plated up her own food. “When you cook for yourself enough times you learn a few tricks and shortcuts. Coffee?” She was already brewing a pot to make herself a cup.

“Yes please. Just milk in mine please.” Janna smiled watching her friend finish up, noting that Ella took her’s black with what seemed an excessive amount of sugar. 

“So.” said Ella, passing Jana her coffee while she stirred her own. “Have you thought about what you’d like to do today? Got any friends you’d like to visit?”

“Friends?” Jana repeated. The genie thought about all she had done in the hundreds of years she had been a genie. All the people she had met. Had she made friends? Sure! But only a few every century, and she had spent the last two decades in the lamp. If any of her old acquaintances were still alive, would they even remember her?

“Yeah.” said Ella. “I thought, maybe you had some genie friend?. Or some other kind of magical creatures?”

Those words sparked something in Jana’s head. She suddenly remembered! Maybe there was someone she could visit, if they were still alive, that is. It would still be an interesting outing either way. Not to mention, Ella would love it!

“Now that you mention it,” said Jana, “There is somewhere we could go…”

“Great!” said Ella, wondering what it could be. “Well then, eat up! We can head out as soon as we’re ready!”

____________________________________________________________________________

The poor excuses for parents still had not gotten up by the time the girls had left the house. They walked about a block down the street before Ella started asking questions, “So, how far away is your friend? I don’t have a car but we got a good bus system around here if they’re close by.”

Jana laughed a bit at that, “Well if my friend Sofia is still where she was living when we parted, she’d be deep in a forest in northern Canada, so I don’t think a car or a bus will help.” She looked around as if checking to see if they were being watched, “We’re just walking far enough away from the houses that no one sees us teleport.”

Ella was practically vibrating from excitement “Oh gods, this is going to be so cool!” She tried her best to calm down and not have a geek girl freak out. “So tell me about this friend of yours. Is she human or… a more magical friend?”

“Oh, I suppose there’s no need to be coy about it…” said Jana, grinning. “Her name is Sofia, and she’s a werewolf.”

“I’m sorry, what?!” gasped Ella.

“Yep! This seems far enough!” said Jana, looking around and ignoring Ella’s reaction. She snapped her fingers and the two vanished in a puff of smoke.

Suddenly, the girls found themselves in a dense forest of pinewood trees, stretching high above them. Ella had never been anywhere like this before; there were virtually no signs of civilisation to be seen.

Jana snapped her fingers again, and suddenly, she and Ella were wearing hiking boots. “Shouldn’t be too far for us to walk. Let’s go!”

As they walked, Ella couldn’t help asking a few questions. “Jana? When you say that your friend is a werewolf, you don’t mean a huge, vicious monster, do you?”

“Gods, no!” laughed the genie girl. “Werewolves aren’t any way near as vicious as you might think. Most of them are just trying to live their lives in peace.”

Ella blinked in confusion. “So they don’t lose control, and turn into enormous savage wolf-monsters?”

“I wouldn’t say they lose control when they transform.” said Jana. “They can get a bit more “wolfish” in terms of behaviour, but they only attack people when threatened.”

Ella gave a sigh of relief, before looking up at the sunlight, peeking through the trees. “I guess we’re lucky it’s daytime. No full moon.”

“Oh, they can still transform in daylight.” Jana remarked, casually. “Most of the time, they can shift between forms whenever they want. It’s just when there’s a full moon that their powers are so strong, that they are forced to spend the night in wolf form.”

“Wait!” said Ella. “So, you’re saying that we might actually meet…”

Suddenly, She was cut off by a loud howl, echoing through the woods. Far from being frightened, Jana smiled at the sound of the howl. It was too rich in tone to be a normal animal. Too human. “Ha! Perfect! The pack is still here!”

“PACK!?” Ella repeated, starting to panic just a little. “As in more than one? Just how many wolves are-” She was cut off by a second howl answering the first one and a rustling in the bushes. “Oh gods…”

Jana took hold of Ella’s hand in hers. “Ella, deep breath. Werewolves are much friendlier than Hollywood would have you believe. And even if they weren’t…” Ella’s gaze moved to a ridge above them as if watching for movement. Trying to calm her Jana put a hand to her cheek. “Hey. Hey! Come on Ella. Look at me, not them ok?” After a moment and a deep breath Ella managed to look away from the tree line and Jana continued, “Even if they weren’t friendly, trust in me that i would never have taken you anywhere that I would let you get hurt. Ok?”

Ella was blushing again. Jana was so brave. “Ok Jana…” She said softly, “I trust you.”

Jana nodded and kept a hold on Ella’s hand, but turned around to see three massive wolves standing at the top of the ridge, standing far too still for wild animals, watching them. Jana inclined her head in greeting. “Good morning. My name is Jana of Dublin, this is my mistress Ella Grant. I am a genie, and we are here in peace to see a very old friend of mine; Sofia Olsen. Is she here?”

The wolves looked at each other and the biggest one started gently making its way towards the two girls. As it neared them, the wolf began transforming. The body began to stretch and deform, turning the front legs in shoulders and arms. The black fur was thinning out and the wolf’s muzzle was receding inwards. So much was changing so fast that the only thing Ella could think upon seeing it, was how painful it must be… However that concern quickly left Ella’s mind when she realized the wolf was not only female, but naked under her fur. She tried her best not to stare at all the bare skin the she-wolf was now showing to her.... She only looked back when she felt Jana’s grip tighten on her hand.

Before them stood a muscular, six foot tall woman with long black hair hanging loosely down her back and over her shoulders. She made no efforts to cover herself… Honestly, Jana couldn’t blame the she-wolf for having pride in her body. She looked like a world class athlete! However even Ella’s useless lesbian impulses weren’t distracting her from the pained expression paired with tears of joy on Jana’s face.

“Sofia? Is it really you? Do you remember me?” She let go of Ella’s hand and started walking closer to the much larger woman. “It’s been so long… You’ve grown so much… Don’t you remember? You used to call me Janny when you were really little. You… You couldn’t say genie… I… I don’t think I’d have a name if it wasn’t for you… I…” She was in a full flow of tears at this point and unable to contain herself. “Sofia!” She cried out and ran forward to hug the strange silent woman.

Ella almost reached out to stop her friend, but to her surprise, the she-wolf pulled Jana in close for an oddly tender embrace, letting the magical girl just cry onto her bare shoulder for a long moment. 

“I’m sorry to tell you but, I'm not Sofia.” said the she-wolf. Her voice was deep and velvety, so much so that it took Ella a moment to realise what she had just said. “But I do know her. We have all heard stories of you, Genie.”

Jana took a step back, breaking away from the she-wolf. “You’re not Sofia?!” she yelped, blushing furiously. “Oh… No! Of course, you’re not… It’s been nearly 80 years...” Her voice trembled as she said this, prompting Ella to step forward and place a comforting hand on the magical girl’s shoulder.

“Fear not.” the she-wolf smiled. “Sofia still lives with us, back at the village. My name is Lupa Olsen. I’m Sofia’s granddaughter.” She turned and gestured up to the two wolves on the ridge. “Those two are my brothers; Vilkas and Farkas.”

Slowley, Jana’s face broke out into a smile. “Of course you are!” she said, through tears of joy. “You’ve got her eyes! Please, can you take me to her?”

Lupa looked at the two girls, as if she was examining them. “Hmmm…” she said, looking at Ella, and then back to Jana. “Shouldn’t you ask your mistress first?”

Ella blushed as Lupa and Jana both turned to look at her. She had been caught off-guard by Lupa referring to her as Jana’s “mistress”. On the one hand she was overjoyed that the naked hot lady saw her as female, but she also felt uncomfortable with the implication that Jana was her servant, and not her friend.

“Uuhhh…” she said slowly, “It’s fine by me...” 

“Very well.” said Lupa, as she turned and called up at her brothers on top of the ridge, who had been watching their conversation with great interest. “Vilkas! Farkas! We’re taking them back to the village.”

The two male werewolves made their way down, though they stayed in wolf form. When they reached the bottom, Ella got a good look at the scale of these creatures; They were huge! They were closer in scale to lions then any normal wolves.

One of the wolves (Farkas, according to Lupa) began to shift, only instead of becoming fully-human, he instead stood on his hind legs as his fur receded slightly, and his body took on the form of a bipedal wolf.

“Werewolves have three main forms.” explained Jana, who had noticed Ella’s bewildered expression. “There’s the full-wolf form, full-human form and then this one is somewhere in between the other two.”

As Farkas stood up, Ella noticed he was wearing a belt with numerous pouches, which had been previously covered up by fur. Lupa walked over to Farkas, opened up one of the pouches and pulled out a blindfold.

Lupa handed the blindfold to Ella. “Put this on.” she said. “The path to our village must be kept a secret for first-time visitors, until we can determine that you are not a threat.”

Ella looked at Jana who nodded and magically produced a blindfold of her own. “I’ll do it with you, Ella. No special treatment for either of us.” This did make Ella feel better as she tied the blindfold around her head. 

Ella took hold of Jana’s hand as the genie took Lupa’s to guide them. “Lead the way, Lupa!” She said.

Of course, walking through the woods blind didn’t make it an easy journey. It wasn’t helped by the many now-unidentifiable noises all around them, or the fact she was holding hands with her beautiful genie friend. To keep from getting scared, Ella focused on the sound of Jana’s breathing, and then her voice when she started talking to Lupa.

“Look, Lupa…” said Jana, nervously. “I’m sorry about that awkward introduction back there… mistaken identity, complex emotions… I hope I didn’t overstep any boundaries.”

“Hey don’t worry about it.” Lupa replied “You looked like you needed a hug.” Neither Jana, nor Ella could see it, but Lupa’s tone of voice suggested that she was smiling. “Even if I’m not who you thought I was, I was happy to be a shoulder to cry on.”

One of the male wolves made a series of growls that Lupa apparently had no problem understanding, “Oh Farkas, don’t be such a stick in the mud!” Lupa snapped back at her brother. “I won’t apologize for being nice to a woman in tears.”

The other wolf growled with a cadence that almost sounded like a laugh.

“I do not have a human fetish, Vilkas! That isn’t even a thing!” Lupa cried out, voice cracking a little with embarrassment. “Besides” she continued in a mumble, “My boyfriend isn’t human anymore, and you know that…”

“Wait, what?” said Ella. She had heard plenty of strange things lately, but the particular phrasing of that previous sentence was too strange to ignore. “What do you mean by “anymore”?”

“If I had to guess...” Jana interjected, “Her boyfriend has probably been turned into a werewolf. Lycanthropy can be transmitted sexually if you don’t use the correct protection spells.”

There was a brief silence, then both Farkas and Vilkas began making the same growling laugh noise. While Ella couldn’t see her, she imagined that Lupa had gone red with embarrassment at how accurate Jana’s statement had been.

“In my defense…” came Lupa’s voice, after a few slightly tense moments, “My boyfriend is a practicing mage, and he said that he was using “protection”, as he put it. Turns out he thought a simple condom would suffice.” She gave a frustrated sigh. “It worked about as well as you’d expect it to. Let’s just say it was a good thing that I was with him on the next full moon.”

As Farkas and Vilkas continued their beastly snickering, Ella couldn’t help hanging on every word Lupa said. 

“Your boyfriend’s a mage?!” she gasped. “Like, a wizard?”

“Not if he’s still training,” said Jana. “Wizards are masters of a specific magical art. “Mage” is more of an umbrella term for magic users.” Of course, Jana knew all about magic. “What kind of magic is he studying?”

“He hasn’t decided on a specific one yet.” Lupa replied. “He’s Rhea’s newest apprentice. She’s the local witch. So I guess you could say he’s a witch-in-training.”

“Local witch?!” said Ella in surprise. Lupa had called her ‘local’ like a town having a witch was normal for everyone.

“Oh, did I forget to mention Rhea?” said Jana, sheepishly, “I’ll admit I’m actually surprised she’s still alive too. They say she travels around with this tribe wherever they go to protect it, and as long as the tribe is alive, so is she. At least that’s what the stories say, and even I don’t know if they’re true.”

“No, that’s true.” Lupa started, “You see-” She was cut off very quickly by both of her brothers barking loudly. “Oh, Right! Pack secrets. Probably shouldn’t say too much to first time guests, even if they are friendlies.” 

They walked in silence for a moment, but Lupa couldn’t keep quiet very long. Jana could tell by how the larger woman was gripping her hand that she was full of stories and was fighting not to tell them. 

Just as Ella was preparing to ask another question, she felt a change in the atmosphere around her. The humidity was increasing as well as the heat, and she could hear running water very close by. “What… What is that? A geyser?”

“A hot spring.” Jana corrected, a small crack in her voice from nerves. “We must be close.”

“How’d you know that?” Lupa asked before the others could stop her from blurting it out.

“It’s good for recreation, but also would mask heat signatures and provide a thermal power source. It’s an excellent hiding place.” She seemed to be focusing on details and ideas to not think about what happens next.

“Alright, this is far enough.” Lupa said, letting go of Jana. “You can take them off now.” 

At the same time both girls removed their blindfolds. They seem to have just walked through the hot spring and were standing at the far side of it. They looked out at the settlement before them and felt… Surprise. Not by the number or residents, or the number of buildings, but by the fact everything was… Well, modern. They could see electric lights and stone paved pathways.  One bipedal wolf waved from the garden he was watering outside of a very cute tiny house. Some very little human kids were playing in the front yard of a large old house made of rustic timbers. The town was loud, asymmetrical, with no two homes, gardens or people exactly alike… Ella loved it right away!

However, one thing Ella would have liked some warning for, was the sheer lack of clothing on most of the villagers. Those in wolf-form all wore nothing, aside from the occasional belt or satchel. Most of those in human form were either nude, or wearing very little. This was apparently a clothes-optional society, as nobody seemed to mind. It made sense the more Ella thought about it. Too many clothes would be annoying to remove every time a person felt like transforming, or heading off to the hot springs. Still, she found herself blush at the large number of naked warrior women, as well as naked warrior men, which made her question her sexuality even more! Thankful for her state of mind, the very young and the elderly at least wore robes for some basic coverage.

The new arrivals got a lot of attention from the locals. The kids crowded around Lupa asking for news. It was then Ella noticed one particular wolf acting strangely among the residents. This wolf seemed to be an adult, but was noticeably shorter than the other wolves they had seen. The smaller wolf had sat bolt-upright when the new visitors had come into view. As soon as he saw Ella watching him, he turned tail to run deeper into the woods. Lupa noticed him run, as well as Ella staring. “That would be Prospero; My boyfriend.” She said simply as if that explained everything, before adding. “Don’t worry about him. He’s still new to all this. I can introduce you later.” 

“Prospero?” Ella repeated. “Is that really his name?”

Lupa shrugged. “He chose it for himself. Many of those who join the pack are runaways. A few of them will choose a new name for themselves when they join. He chose his name from an old wizard story.”

Ella couldn’t argue with that. She knew what it meant to choose a new name, especially if it was to escape the past. Still there was something familiar to her about that name. Maybe she had heard that particular story before.

Lupa pushed through the crowd, leading excitable Ella and hesitant Jana to the old timber house. “Ok… Let’s try this again…” Jana mumbled to herself. Lupa went into the house first and the girls followed. 

The foyer and hall were dimly lit and the walls were lined with photographs.Ella saw multiple photos of Lupa’s family, in both wolf and human forms. She noticed a recent-looking photo of Lupa smiling, with two scrawny teenage boys either side of her. It took her a moment to figure out who the two boys were. “Are they your brothers?” Ella asked, trying not to smirk.

“Yep!” said Lupa, grinning. “They spend a lot of time in wolf form these days. It took a lot of convincing to get them to smile for that photo. They’re a pair of idiots, but we all love them.”

Ella continued to stare at the photo, perplexed. “They sure do look different as wolves.”

“A werewolf’s wolf form tends to mature faster than the human one.” Explained Jana, who seemed happy to have something to distract her from her nerves. “By the time they’re about 15, the wolf form could pass for an adult. But the human form? Well…” she gestured to the two lanky 15 year olds in the photo.

The three girls laughed, and carried on through the house. Jana kept asking Lupa questions about her family every time she spotted a new face in the pictures on the wall. As they slowly made their way down the hall, Ella and Jana learned all about the werewolf family. 

Sofia was Lupa’s grandmother on her dad’s side. Lupa’s dad, a blonde, cheerful-looking, middle-aged man named Markus, was married to a woman named Laura, Lupa’s mother, who was the spitting-image of her daughter. As well as Lupa, Vilkas and Farkas, there was a fourth, youngest child named Logan. Logan looked to be about 6 or 7, going by his photograph. He had long and wild black hair, and a wide toothy grin. 

When Ella asked Lupa what her little brother was like, the wolf-girl simply smiled, and responded, “Loud, energetic and annoying. But pretty good as a performer.” She then carried on walking, feeling as though she had said enough.

Jana gasped as they came across an old looking photo of a man and a woman holding a baby. The genie recognized the woman in the photo right away. “Sofia…?” she breathed.

“Yep!” said Lupa. “That’s her and Grandpa Karl. The baby is my dad.”

“She got married… Had a family…” Jana still seemed to be processing just how long she had been gone. “Is your Grandpa… Is Karl...?”

“He’s still around, don’t worry.” chuckled Lupa. “He trained as a mage before he married Nana. Nowadays, he spends a lot of time helping Rhea train newer students.” She paused, and muttered under her breath, “Maybe attraction to mages runs in the family? After all, Grandpa did introduce me to…” She then noticed Ella and Jana watching her, and blushed. “Uuhhh… Let’s move on.”

Eventually, they reached the end of the hall and entered a space that seemed to be a large living room. The furniture was old and hand made, and there were nic-nacs and curios on every counter and shelf. 

However, neither Ella nor Jana paid the trinkets much attention. Their gazes both fell on a pair sitting on the sofa; Lupa’s father, Markus, in human form reading aloud to a very old wolf with thinning grey hair, a blanket laid over top of her.

Lupa cleared her throat to get their attention, “Hi Nana… so… funny story…” she said just now realizing how strange this whole situation was, “I was out on patrol and found someone who… says she knows you…” 

 She stepped aside to show Jana standing there on the verge of crying again. “Hello Sofia… Do you remember me?”

The grey wolf who seemed so frail at a glance sat up suddenly to stare at the guests. She barked at her son who helped her down from the sofa.

“Nana spends most of her time in wolf form these days.” said Lupa, softely. “Staying like this gives her a bit of extra strength.”

“Lupa?” said Markus, staring at the strangers that his daughter had just invited in. “Who are these two? You said they know mom?”

“Um... Hi.” said Jana, nervously.

Markus was shorter than his daughter and was wearing a plain white t-shirt with sweatpants. However, he still projected an intimidating aura, as he eyed the two girls suspiciously. “Who are you? How do you know my mother?”

Lupa stepped forward. “Dad! It’s okay! This is Jana. She’s a… She’s the genie… The one who saved Nana…”

“She’s…” he paused mid sentence when he saw his mother was slowly transforming. He quickly grabbed and wrapped a fluffy pink bathrobe around her shoulders. As her features became more human, tears began streaming down her cheeks. 

“J-Janny? It… it can’t be…” she was tiny and frail looking, with very wrinkled skin, but her eyes were still bright and sharp.

“It is Sofia! I thought I’d never see you again!” Jana sobbed tears of joy. She wanted to run and embrace her friend, but she managed to hold back so as to not hurt the little old lady… She was certainly surprised when said little old lady actually ran forward to knock the wind out of the genie with an enormous hug.

“You’re here… you came back…” the elder she-wolf held onto the genie as tight as she could as if making sure she was real.

Lupa smiled and wiped away a tear from her cheek. She turned away from the crying women to speak to Ella, “Maybe we should give them some time alone… Dad, you want to come too? We could make tea for our guest.” Taking the hint, the two wolves and the human left the two old friends alone with each other and their memories.