The Victorian Wolf Effect (Book III)

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - The Right Thing

"Timber! Stop!"

"I'm going to kill you! Diana? You filthy -"

Henry overthrew her and pinned her down with great effort. She Turned and overpowered him. He dodged her teeth.

"Yes, I was with Diana but I didn't sleep with her," yelled Henry desperately over Timber's growls.

Timber roared and charged again. Henry did the best he could to avoid Timber's teeth and claws. She was fast and enraged and she refused to back down. After several minutes of trying just to stay alive, Henry saw an opportunity and took it. He wrapped his hands around her jaw, slamming her teeth shut. He moved quickly and sat on top of her. She could not move out from under him. Henry rolled and wrapped his legs firmly around her. With one arm, he held her head and neck, and with the other, he held her jaw. She wiggled and twisted but Henry had her pinned.

"I was with her," he huffed. "I won't deny the truth but I wasn't cheating on you. I promise. I would never do that! I was with her because I was saving her."

Timber stopped struggling. Henry let her up. They both got to their feet. She looked at him in confusion.

"I went to the bar a few nights ago because I was missing you like crazy and I wanted a drink. Diana came in with her father. I tuned in on the conversation. It's disgusting. I have it on my phone."

Henry played the recording for Timber. Timber's jaw dropped, her tail went limp, and her ears drooped. She stared at the phone in disbelief. When the recording was over, she Turned and looked at Henry.

"That explains a lot about her," said Timber softly. "Now I feel bad for hating her so much. So she slept around because her father wanted her to?"

"She didn't actually sleep around," said Henry. "Lord Frost came to visit unexpectedly. He ended up helping me rescue Diana from Mr. Sloothe. We found them in Motel 6. I threw him off of her. There was blood. That was her first time."

Timber sat down and cried into her knees. Everything she thought she knew about Diana was wrong. She didn't know a different way to think or behave around men. Her opinion of Diana changed almost immediately.

"You know, the two of you have a few things in common," said Henry, sitting next to her. "You both like the same song. Your favorite song of all time is in her top five. Did you know Diana can sing? She could make a career of it if she wanted to. She's not all bad at the core. She was just raised wrong."

"Why was she so mean to me, then? I don't suppose you would have the answer to that."

"I do, actually. Jealousy. Diana admitted it. She literally wants to be you but her raising was a contradiction to you and it set off an internal conflict that a nine-year-old can't process. She never learned how to deal with it so she simply continued. She apologized to me too, for making sexual advances.

"Diana is in for a tough time. Her father has her engaged to a man she's never met, she can't cook, clean, or shop for groceries, and she didn't know what bills are. She didn't even know how to order her own food."

Timber's jaw fell open. Then it closed again.

"Now I need to know why the hell I have pictures of you going into the Emerald Dolphin alone and coming out with Diana wrapped in the coat I picked out for you."

"That night was cold, even for November, and she only had on one of her skimpy dresses, which were the only types of clothes that she was allowed to wear. I wore the coat to the bar. That's what I had. I let her have it because what she had on was not enough to keep her warm. I brought her to the nicer hotel and paid for three days for her. I picked her up the next morning and got her her first meal at McDonald's. I took her to Paul Bunyan to buy actual clothes and then I took her job hunting. She found one at the library that day after telling the librarian it was an emergency that she get a job. I didn't see her yesterday. I went to look at an apartment with her today. She sold her car for cash. She got the apartment, again, because of the severity of the situation. She is set with the bare minimum so she doesn't have to go back to her father's house."