Jana, Lupa and even Ella all gave the old wolf a hug before leaving the house. Sofia called after them. “I’ll come join you later! It’ll be good to iron the wrinkles out of my birthday suit!”

“Mum!” groaned Markus.

The three young ladies laughed as they made their way into a different part of the woods from where they had entered the village. In the distance, Ella could hear the sound of splashing water, as the air grew steamy and humid.

“This place is wonderful Lupa.” Ella commented, looking around as they saw more of the community. “Does the town have a name?”

“Oh yes. We call it” her voice turned very canine with a series of short barks and growls. “But most new arrivals just call it the village until they get the hang of speaking wolf.”

“I… see… it’s a lovely name.” Ella tried her best to mimic the sounds and looked to Lupa for approval. 

“That was… pretty close…” she forced a smile, trying to be nice. 

Unable to contain herself, a giggling Jana leaned in and whispered “You just barked about wanting to kiss a duck.”

“Ah… I’ll stick with calling it the village then…”

They walked on in silence for a bit before Lupa took it on herself to break the silence, “So, Ella.” She said a little hesitantly, “What do you like to do for fun?”

Ella actually smiled, knowing from personal experience how awkward trying to start small talk like this could feel. “Well I paint and draw mostly. I actually make some money on commissions, but… well let’s just say I need to buy new supplies pretty often so I don’t get to keep much of the profits.”

Lupa paused in thought, “Huh… you know the more I hear about you, Ella, the more I feel like I know you from somewhere… “ she paused, hearing a small musical tone from her pocket and took out a simple old looking cellphone. She looked at the screen for a moment and her eyes went wide. She looked around the forest as if trying to find someone watching them.

“Is something wrong?” Jana asked, surprised by the sudden change in mood.

“Fine! Fine! Everything is fine!” said Lupa, in a tone of voice that indicated that something was almost certainly not fine. “I… Prospero just sent me a… well an interesting text.”

Ella and Jana looked at each other and smiled, both thinking the same thing; Lupa’s boyfriend had just sent a flirty message. What else could make this girl so flustered?

Suddenly, they heard a small squeaky bark, and Lupa looked up, happy to have a distraction. “Over here, Logan!” Lupa called. Her exclamation was answered by more barks and a scrambling in the bushes. A moment later, a tiny wolf pup came running up towards the three girls. He seemed to be stuck in a big baggy t-shirt with his head sticking out. His legs were caught in the fabric and it made the small canine trip several times on his way over.

“Logan, you goofball! You need to take your shirt off when you transform, or else this happens!” Lupa had meant to sound scolding, but it was ruined by laughing at the little guy's antics. “You’re not on camera, you moron! You can tone it down a little!”

The wolf pup barked, tail wagging as he came to a stop at the feet of the trio. Lupa turned to her friends to translate the barks, but Jana and Ella didn’t seem to care. The pair of them had both knelt down to get closer to the puppy, and were already fussing over how cute he was. “Oh gods! He’s adorable!!!” Ella was practically squealing.

She was a little surprised when the pup looked her in the face and actually winked at her. It was only then she remembered she was gushing over a young kid and not just a dog. To prove that point, the puppy began transforming.

The young wolf’s fur receded, and his ears and muzzle morphed into the shape of a human child’s face. His paws became hands and feet as he stood up, and his tail shrunk under the oversized shirt, which went down to his knees.

Soon, a boy of about six or seven years (possibly older) with long black hair and mismatched eyes stood in front of them. “Thanks, lady! Always glad to meet a fan! Tell me, which video is your favourite?”

Ella and Jana exchanged a confused look, before Lupa cut in. “They don’t know about the videos, Logan. They came here to visit Nana, and she asked me to show them the springs.”

At that moment, Lupa’s phone made another noise, prompting her to look at it. She sighed, before turning to Ella and Jana. “My boyfriend says he needs to talk to me. Sounds important, so I think I should go.” She then turned to her little brother. “Was mom with you?”

“Yep!” chirped Logan. “She’s by the main pool with Vilkas and Farkas. They were play-fighting again.”

“Can you show these two the way? I’ll be at Rhea’s place if you need to find me! Thanks Logan!” She put the phone away in a pouch and started running before the young boy could answer. Once a few feet away she quickly pulled her clothes off and massed them into a bundle, before transforming back into a wolf. Wolf-Lupa then picked up the bundle of clothes in her teeth, before speeding off into the woods.

Ella looked after the warrior, starting to doubt her original idea about the nature of those texts… Unless booty calls were serious business in this town… “So…” She asked, turning her attention back to the young boy. “You said you make videos?” 

“Make videos? I’m the star! A while back, we had the idea to start making a little more money for the tribe through YouTube videos! We set up a channel as a wildlife preserve, and all we had to do is upload video of wolf pups goofing off and we became a huge hit! And not to brag, but I’m definitely the most popular!” He was smiling wide with pride and practically glowing from excitement. “I’d show you some of the videos if mom let me have a cell phone. I got 4 million views for my last video, and all I had to do was wander around with an old boot stuck on my head!”

“Oh wow you really are famous!” Jana said, trying her best not to laugh in the young boy’s face at how precious that image was. “Was the shirt trick something for your next video?” As she talked, Ella had taken out her own phone and was frantically trying to find the video. It sounded too cute to miss, but she was heartbroken when she remembered she didn’t have a signal in this country.

He shrugged and motioned for the older girls to follow him. “Maybe. It’s funny and cute, you and Lupa were a great test crowd; but it feels too similar to the boot… I need something different.”

Unable to see the puppy videos herself, Ella’s brain was at work imagining the adorable possibilities, “It’s been done before, but have you tried looking at a camera like you’ve never seen it before?”

He thought and nodded, “Hmm, might be something there… You mean like we make it look like I come across a camera on the ground, and I get really close to it, sniffing and pawing at it? Oh yeah I could definitely work with that!”

“Oh wow!” said Ella, as they walked out into a massive clearing in the woods. All around them were ponds of steaming water in various rocky pools, some of which looked manmade, but others looked like they had been there for thousands of years.

Over in one of the pools sat two teenage boys, who Ella recognized as Farkas and Vilkas, now in their human forms. They didn’t look particularly happy to be there, almost as if they were on time out.

Sitting next to the pool, wearing a bathrobe and reading a book, sat Lupa’s mother, Laura. Seeing her in person made Ella realise just how much Lupa resembled her mother. Laura had to be in her mid-to-late forties at least, but she had the same muscular build as her daughter, that gave the impression of a strong, mature woman.

“Hey Mom!” yelled Logan, excitedly. “Look who I found! It’s those two girls who’re friends with Nana!”

Laura looked up and smiled when she saw the trio. “Welcome!” She called out, closing her book and standing up to greet them. “My sons here were just telling me about you. Nice of you to come and visit Sofia after all this time.”

As their mother turned her back to greet the guests, Farkas and Vilkas both tried to slowly move out of the pool.

“Don’t even think about it, you two!” said Laura, without looking. “You’re both gonna stay there until I say otherwise. We have guests, and I’m sure they don’t want to see you rolling about like cats stuck in a pillow case.”

Laura then looked down and smiled at Logan. “Do me a favour, Loganberry. Keep an eye on your brothers for me will you.”

“Sure thing!” cheered Logan. The boy began transforming, pausing halfway to remove his shirt. Once he was in full wolf form, the pup scampered over to the edge of the pool, where he began pacing back and forth, occasionally giving the two teenagers an adorable bark or growl.

Ella couldn’t help but feel a swell of joy inside her, as she watched the wolf pup trying to be intimidating. “Mrs. Olsen?” She said. “I hope you don’t mind me saying, your son is too freakin’ adorable!”

“Oh, I know! ” The she-wolf beamed over at her little pup. “He has so much energy and it’s great that he has such an immersive hobby!” She turned back to Ella. “Please, call me Laura. Mrs. Olsen is my mother-in-law.”

Jana looked around at the many pools in the area. “You’ve really done some good work with this place. Last time I was here, it was just a pile of rocks and water.”

Laura looked around her, smiling with pride “You’d know more about that than I would. Most of the significant work was done before I was born. Sometimes I feel spoiled that my generation was the first in the pack to have electricity.” She leaned in closer to the girls and whispered, “And if I’m spoiled you can only imagine how hard life is for that lot.” She said nodding her head at the boys in the pool.

“Mom! We heard that!” One of the twins called.

“Good!” She called back with a smirk.

Ella looked over at the twins, remembering what Lupa had said about them. How they liked to stay in wolf form as much as possible. “Hey, Laura?” she asked. “How come those two are in human form?”

“Hmm? Oh they’re in a timeout for a fight.” She said, looking up at the sky to check the progress of the sun. “Hmm just a bit longer…”

“What were they fighting over?” Jana asked, curious how much trouble they were in to be restricted from their preferred form.

Laura laughed. “Oh they weren’t fighting over anything. They just do it for fun!” She grinned as the sun went behind a cloud. “Ok boys! Timeout is over in 10 seconds! One! Two! Three!... Skip a few, 10! Time in!!!” 

Vilkas responded immediately, pouncing his brother before his transformation was finished. “Thata boy Vilkas! Great reaction speed! Farkas, don’t let this dictate match! You can still come back!”

Jana and Ella exchanged a look and then laughed. “So timeout was just a pause in the fight, not a punishment?”

Laura smiled and shook her head “Nah! The only reason I’d punish the twins is poor combat forms.” She turned her attention back to the wolves. “Farkas! Less biting, more swiping!” She called out.

The entire time the two larger wolves fought, Logan the wolf pup was scampering around the grappling pair, giving small out barks of encouragement.

Ella watched the two wolf brothers wrestle and claw at each other, before looking over at Laura. “Is it really a good idea to encourage them to fight like this? Won’t they get hurt?”

“Don’t worry, Ella.” said Jana. “This is perfectly normal for young wolves such as them. They’re pretty sturdy, and while it might not look like it, they know not to go too far when fighting.” There was a sense of nostalgia in her voice as she spoke. “Back when I served them, Sofia’s parents used to take her to dogfights in the village. They said it was to help her train, but she just ended up befriending all the dogs.”

Ella breathed a sigh of relief. She had been worried that this story was going somewhere dark, but she was relieved to be reminded of how innocent Sofia had been as a child.

“Ah yes!” said Laura. “She’s told us that story before. When the Nazis came, she later used her skills to convince the german guard dogs to turn on their masters. Those krauts didn’t stand a chance.”

Ella blinked in surprise. Then she, Jana and Laura all burst out laughing.

Suddenly, Ella paused and looked up when she heard other voices laughing with them. From up amid the trees she saw several multi-colored glowing balls of light appearing one by one. The laughter seemed to be coming from their direction.

Ella reached out and gripped Jana’s arm “Jana… is that what I think it is?” Her voice trembling with excitement.

“You know it, girl!” Jana smiled wide as the giggling lights began flying down towards them.

“Good morning, Fae Folk!” Laura called out, as if she was calling to her neighbors across a fence.

“Fairies… real fairies!” Ella couldn’t help her voice getting higher in her excitement.

“Real fairies, as opposed to what?” One of the little voices called out, flying very close to Ella.

It was a surprise to see them so close, and even more surprising to see that the tiny glowing woman with dragonfly-like wings was stark naked. Just how many naked bodies was Ella going to see today? Was the world trying to make her blush to death?!

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean anything! I’ve just never seen a fairy before!” Ella said, trying and failing to keep from getting too flustered. “Jana told me that you used your magic to make me pretty. Thank you so much!”

Soon, four different fairies were fluttering around her giggling, “Make you pretty?” One of them repeated. “Darling, you are already so beautiful!”

“We didn’t even need to do much.” said another. “Just a few tweaks, here and there…”

“Perhaps, my dear…” said a male fairy, who moved with the same grace and delicacy as as female companions, “Maybe you’d like to see what we can do if we really cut loose?”

Ella barely had time to grin and nod excitedly, before the four pixies began to flutter in circles around her, leaving trails of sparkles as they went. They were quickly joined by more fairies, until the air around Ella was filled with pixie dust, all different colours.

She felt herself being lifted into the air, as gravity seemed to cease around her. Ella felt a tingling sensation all over her body, as the world began to spin, and bright colours swam in front of her eyes.

She couldn’t quite describe the feeling, but it was one of the most peaceful, yet also euphoric sensations Ella had ever felt. She closed her eyes and basked in the warm glow of the fae magic, and listened to the fluttering of wings and tiny voices laughing.

Gradually, the sensation faded as the fairies dispersed and Ella felt her feet land gently on the ground. 

She opened her eyes and saw Jana and Laura staring back at her. The two of them looked utterly bewildered, and Jana was blushing a little. Even Vilkas and Farkus had stopped their fight to stare at Ella, and Logan poked his head up from behind his brothers to get a better look.

Ella could barely bring herself to look. Taking a deep breath she glanced down at her body. She was clad in a beautiful sleeveless sunflower pattern dress, along with a pair of incredibly cute sandals. Not only that but she could see her hair was longer, her skin was smooth and her nails were painted a soft pink!

“Oh gods… Oh gods!… Does anyone have a mirror?!” She asked equal parts nervous and excited by what she might see.

Jana waved a hand, and a large standing mirror materialised next to her. Ella rushed forward to look.

The beautiful girl staring back at her from the mirror took Ella’s breath away. She looked stunning! The dress fitted her perfectly, and her hair was now down to her shoulders; neatly brushed and styled. On top of everything else, the fairies had even applied makeup. 

“That’s not possible…” Ella whispered. She moved her arms and winked at the reflection just to make sure. “It’s me… is that really me?” Her voice cracked as she put her hand to the glass. She saw and felt the tears welling up in her eyes. “Gods no!” She said, trying to hold the tears back. “I’m gonna ruin this makeup!”

Jana walked over and held Ella’s hand tight. “Ella! It’s ok. That makeup is magic, it shouldn’t run. You’ve held in too much for so long. If you need to cry, then please just cry.” She held her arms open wide for her friend.

The dark haired girl hesitated for only half a second before dashing into the warm and safe embrace of the genie and began crying immediately, “I NEVER THOUGHT I COULD EVER FEEL SO BEAUTIFUL!!!” Her entire body shook with happy sobs and tears were soaking Jana’s shirt, but Ella didn’t care. Nor did she care that half the Olsen family was watching her have this outburst and the other half could probably hear her! This was the happiest she had ever felt in her life and she wasn’t going to keep those emotions inside any more.

During this outburst, the twins quietly snuck away, but Laura and Logan stayed close by. Ella only stopped her happy sobs when she heard little Logan whispering to his mother.

“That’s so cool, mom!” said the wolf-boy, as he shifted back to human form. “She was pretty before, but now she’s super pretty!” Logan then turned red, as he realised he was stark naked. He quickly shifted back into wolf form, to preserve his dignity.

Seeing the little wolf blush, after hearing his comments, was enough to make Ella laugh. 

She wiped her eyes and checked the mirror, happy to see nothing had smudged or streaked. “Thank you Logan. That’s very nice of you to say.”

The pup gave a happy bark, before looking up at his mother and tilting his head a little.

Laura smiled, and turned to the girls. “Logan’s asking if either of you want to have a dip in the springs. I think he just wants you two to stick around.”

The girls smiled at each other, especially as the puppy covered his face with both his front paws from his mother embarrassing him. Ella spoke first, “I’d love to stay for a swim, but I don’t have a bathing suit.”

“Oh that’s no problem!” Laura’s waves off the concern. We’re all naked in the spring anyways!”

This didn’t do much to help Ella’s concerns, and she blushed as she responded “Yes but… Me and my body don’t usually get along like… this.” She gestured to her body in the dress to try to illustrate her point. When it seemed Laura wasn’t following the explanation, even tilting her head like her puppy son, Ella tried to be a bit more direct. “I really don’t like my body. I especially don’t like it naked.”

It seemed to finally click in Laura’s head, but Logan gave another bark to show he didn’t get it “I’ll explain when you’re older Loganberry.”

One of the fairies flew by Ella then, “Hey!” She called, “If a bathing suit would help, we can get you another outfit!”

“You could?” Ella said excitedly. She looked down at the dress she was already wearing. It almost felt foolish to turn down a second free outfit, “Ok then. I’ll give it a try. Just nothing too crazy please!” No matter how good the fairies made her look she wasn’t ready for anything with a thong!

The fairy whistled and called over a few of her friends. For the second time that day, Ella was surrounded in light and lifted off the ground. This time the process went much faster and Ella found herself in a black polkadot one piece with a small pleated skirt around her waist. She smiled happily and gave a little twirl. “This is perfect! Thank you again!”

“No problem sweetie!” The fairy called. She pointed and Ella saw her new dress was hanging from a tree branch close by. “Enjoy the outfits cutie! The makeup will keep for a few more hours. Have fun everyone!” The tiny winged woman blew Ella, Jana and even Laura a kiss before flying up back into the trees giggling.

“Well… I guess I’m staying to swim!” Ella chuckled. 

Laura smiled and took off her robe. “Wonderful! Hope in!” She said moving into one of the pools before Ella even had a chance to blush.

Ella froze as an idea came to her.Jana was going to go swimming too! That meant Jana could be naked in front of her any moment now! Trying her best to not let her face turn the color of Jana’s hair, Ella found herself thinking “Please wear a swimsuit! Please wear a swimsuit! Please wear a swimsuit!!” 

Finally she turned her attention back to Jana. “Do you want to come in too?” She froze, seeing that Jana was in fact in a swimsuit… a bright red bikini… Gods this might be worse than her being completely naked! How was this somehow hotter?! Maybe there was a cold water spring somewhere she could dunk herself in….

“Wait for us!” They looked and saw naked Markus and wolf Sofia coming down the path towards them.

Having had just about enough of the hot naked lycanthropes, Ella quickly jumped into the nearest pool before she embarrassed herself. Jana laughed and joined her, the rest of the family coming too. Puppy Logan got a running start before jumping for the water and doggy paddled around the pool with his little head sticking above the water. Even the twins joined the fun, letting out a loud howl that Ella assumed (correctly) translated to “cannon ball!” before they both jumped into the deep end with a massive splash.

After laughing at the teens' antics, Ella finally allowed herself to relax and enjoy the feeling of the hot water easing pains and muscles she didn’t know she had. She sat beside Jana, resting against the stone walls of the hot spring and let out a contented sigh as she looked about her. 

Here she was, dressed like a girl in public, with a naked couple, an excited puppy, an elderly wolf, two werewolf teens having a splash fight and a beautiful girl by her side. Yet no matter how bizarre and unbelievable any of those things seemed, she had never felt more welcome, safe and at peace in her life. She smiled to herself, letting out a little yawn. The heat was making her drowsy. Without even thinking, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off to sleep against something soft…

Jana sat perfectly still as the sleeping girl snuggled up against her shoulder. She was surprised by the action but didn’t dare push Ella off her. Instead she gave a little smile and wrapped an arm around her to pull her mistress closer, fully aware of the entire Olsen family watching, and Sofia smiling so happily that it could be seen even in her canine form. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Several hours later, Ella woke wrapped in a blanket under a tree. Looking around her she saw she was still close to the springs and tried to sit up. Only then did she notice the weight on her chest and looked down to see Logan, still in wolf form, curled up asleep on top of her.

Ella smiled at the little guy, but quickly realised she was in a tricky situation; she was unable to move without waking the adorable pup from his nap. She looked around, trying to see if there was anyone nearby who could help.

It was at that point that Ella noticed Jana, lying on a nearby rock, still in her bikini. “Hey there, sleepyhead.” giggled Jana, “Having fun?”

“Jana!” Ella blushed, before looking back at Logan to make sure her outburst didn’t wake him. The wolf-boy stirred a little, but carried on sleeping.

“Need help with that?” said Jana. She strolled over to Ella, and gently lifted the puppy off of her. Jana clearly had the magic touch (literally), as Logan kept snoring as the genie girl held him.

“Thanks.” said Ella, who was now able to sit up. “He’s just so precious, isn’t he?”

“He is.” Jana chuckled, petting the kid’s fuzzy head. “He seems to have taken a real liking to you. The little guy wouldn’t stop talking about you while you were asleep.”

Ella couldn’t help but feel a little proud of her looks if she ended up being this little cutie’s first crush. “How long was I asleep?”

“About a half hour in the water, but I carried you out after that so you wouldn’t prune up. You’ve been asleep under the tree about two hours.” Jana gently set the puppy on the ground. He started to whimper a little, but stopped when Ella reached over to pet him.

“I was out that long? Guess I needed the nap.” Ella sighed and looked around her. “This place is pretty wonderful Jana. Almost wish we could just stay here… of course we have to go back for your lamp if nothing else.” Her entire body tensed at the thought of going back to that house.

Jana was also worried about going back, not for herself, but for her friend who finally had a chance to be the woman she wanted to be.“We can stay here as long as you want Ella.” said Jana. “Markus and Laura just went to get a picnic together for us.” 

“A picnic sounds like a great idea” Ella said, looking about the woods to try and take in everything, knowing they couldn’t stay much longer. “You know… I toyed with the idea of an underwater scene of my next bedroom mural. After today I think I have to do another forest.”

Jana was going to start venting again about how horrible the destruction of her art was, but the adult wolves then returned,  so the genie kept the outburst inside. 

“We’re back!” Markus called, carrying a big basket. Wolf Sofia was holding a large blanket in her teeth and Laura had several glass bottles of chilled Meade, spring water and juice.

“Thanks for letting us stay for lunch.” Jana stood up to help spread out the blanket while Ella ducked behind a bush to change out of her bathing suit and back to the new dress.

Sofia reverted to her human form once she had a comfortable place to sit. “I insisted Janny. Had to have at least one meal with you before you left. It’s been 80 years since the last time. Who knows how long it might be till the next one!” She chuckled to herself, “Another 80 years and I might start to actually look old!”

Jana smiled at her friend, but didn’t laugh. “I promise I’ll be back soon Sofia. This won’t be my last visit.” The old friends embraced each other while Ella helped Markus set up the plates.

 With the basket open and the smells filling the air, Logan yawned and woke from his nap. He quickly reverted to human form and pulled on his big t-shirt, “Do I smell Nana’s cookies in there?!”

Laura ruffled his hair “Eat your lunch first Loganberry, then you can have a cookie.”

“Just one?” He pleaded and pouted, sitting down between Ella and Jana. He perked up a little though when his dad handed him two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the bread cut into little stars. 

“Ella, Jana, what would you like? We have pulled pork, deer-bacon BLT, tuna salad and grilled vegetables.” Laura said, taking a BLT for herself and handing her husband a grilled vegetable.

Ella and Jana couldn’t help but stare a little at the adult werewolf eating grilled zucchini and peppers. 

“What? I’m 55!” said Markus, unwrapping his food, “At my age, I try to limit my red meat to when it’s a full moon.”

“Whimp!” Sofia called with a laugh, “Come on Laura! You know what I want.”

The she-wolf sighed and smiled, pulling a special sandwich out of the back of the pack, “Here you go, Sofia. Steak tartare with extra garlic and no sauce.”

This got another look from the girls to which Laura shrugged “You try getting her to stop doing what she wants.”

They both shrugged as well and accepted pulled pork on warm sourdough bread paired with fresh grapes, homemade kettle chips and a glass each of very sweet Meade that was stronger than most wines. It was all delicious, with everything either home-grown or homemade. All was made even better, with the large plate of peanut butter cookies for dessert.

“Is the rest of the family not joining us?” Jana asked between mouthfuls of barbecue.

“Nah,” Sofia answered with a mouth full of meat. “The twins like to hunt for their lunch, and Lupa and Karl are doing something with Rhea. Something seems to have spooked that new kid. Not sure what.”

“Lupa’s boyfriend? I think that’s my fault.” Ella admitted. “He took one look at me and went running.”

“Or it could have been me.” Jana added, “He uses magic, I’m a magical creature. Maybe I gave him some bad juju?”

“Either way, that seems a bit odd.” Sofia muttered. “Oh well!” She reached over, grabbed a handful of cookies from the platter and tossed them over Logan’s head. “Think fast kid!”

The young boy was quick enough to catch one in his mouth before grabbing the others with his hands before running off into the woods with them “Thanks Nana!” He called once he had swallowed the first cookie.

Sofia, Ella and Jana were all laughing too much to hear the parents scolding both the young boy and old woman. 

“Mom! Don’t do that! You know how he is after too much sugar!” Markus said as Laura went running off after the truant puppy.

“Oh calm down, pup.” chuckled the elder wolf. “I’m just following the golden rule of all grandparents! Spoil them rotten, fill them with sugar and send them home!”

A few moments later, Laura returned in wolf form holding puppy Logan by the scruff of his fuzzy neck in her teeth. The cookies were all gone and the pup was barking happily, his tail wagging so fast it was a blur. 

They stayed together for about another hour, talking, sharing stories and trying their best to keep the hyper wolf pup from going crazy. By the time Logan had worn himself down and was laying next to his momma with a tummy ache (both of them still in wolf form), the sun was starting to dip behind the trees.

Ella didn’t want to leave but she knew that Karen would lock them out of the house if they weren’t home by nightfall. “I’m sorry to say it, Jana, but I think we need to get going.”

Logan walked over whimpering and pouting up at Ella. “I’m sorry Logan!” She couldn’t resist something so cute and picked the pup and hugged him tight. “I don't want to go, but I have to!”

Jana got in on the hug, putting an arm around the girl and the puppy. “Hey it’s ok! We’ll be back before you know it. This isn’t goodbye for either of you.” Jana shook Markus by the hand and hugged Laura goodbye before giving Sofia a longer hug and a kiss on the forehead. “Goodbye for now, young pup.” 

Sofia gave a chuckle and kissed the genie on her cheek “Stay safe till next time, Janny…. Both of you, please stay safe.” It was like the old woman could sense a storm coming.

Jana nodded. She walked back to Ella who had finally put down Logan. “Tell Lupa goodbye for us. We’ll try to spend some time with her and Rhea next time. Goodbye everyone!”

“Bye! See you soon!” Ella waved and stood with Jana. The genie snapped her fingers and the pair disappeared from the forest with a loud crack and a puff of smoke.

The smoke had barely faded, when Lupa came running into the clearing. She ran up to her bewildered family. “Dad! Where’s Ella?” She panted out, “You are not going to believe this!”