Cats and Dogs

[Marissa]

Mara's smile warmed briefly before she leaned forward. "Marissa, you are one of the most private people I have ever known," she pointed out in a gentle tone. "You never do anything that might possibly constitute a risk to your safe haven here. And yet you have a man here, after meeting him only last night, allowing him to wander around in nothing but a towel and a shirt. You speak to him with a familiarity that even some lovers can't muster with one another. There's more between you than a simple hello and goodbye."

Marissa sighed as she set the cups of cocoa on the table and took a seat across from her friend - her best friend really. "I can't explain it, Mara. There's just something sweet about him, as rough around the edges as he is. I know it sounds cliched, but he saved my life last night. We saved each other. But it's not just some silly romantic notion about a hero and a damsel in distress - we both know I'm not that. It's something more than that. He's sweet and charming and polite and just a little bit shy." Not to mention lonely, like herself. And then, there were his looks. Even before he'd bathed and cut his hair, she'd thought him the handsomest man she'd ever met. Why did he have to be a wolf?

"I don't believe anyone can truly explain why someone is important to them," Mara offered thoughtfully. "I love Duncan, but I couldn't tell you why. I simply love him, and I think part of falling in love is accepting that you have these feelings for another person that you can't explain or describe. You shed blood together, I am assuming - you're not the type to just stand by and be saved." She flashed her friend a soft smile. "I can say this from experience - standing with someone who elicits feelings from your heart against others who want to harm you creates a bond, a sense of mutual protection. Knowing that he would protect you even without knowing you; surely that is a fine indication that what you are feeling is not unrequited?"

"No, I don't think it's unrequited," Marissa replied, pausing in a moment of quiet contemplation. In fact, she knew it wasn't unrequited. Emrys had made no secret of his emerging feelings for her, and she couldn't help but admit that she was feeling the same way, but just how much should she tell Mara? "I don't want to put you in a dangerous position by telling you what happened, but yes, we shed blood together. He was hurt, so I brought him here. What else was I supposed to do? I couldn't just leave him out there after risking his life for me. And now ..." She frowned again, once again more worried what other people would think than what she and Emrys wanted. "Am I going too fast, Mara? I need to know."

Mara set her cup aside, reaching to take Marissa's hand in hers. "No one can tell you the answer to that question but yourself, Marissa," she told her friend softly, earnest honesty in her gaze. "Yes, others might look down their noses and pass comment, but that is a judgment on them, not on you. If you feel things are going too fast, then you should slow them, for your own sake. If you do not feel that this is moving too quickly, then I do not see the harm in it. He seems like a good man, though I hardly know him myself. You are the only one who can say if this is too fast for you, and you should trust your instincts. I do not believe they have ever let you down."

She frowned a little as she listened to Mara's advice, not because she disagreed but because it gave her a lot to think about. "There was someone once, a few years ago," she confessed quietly. In truth, it seemed like a lifetime ago, and in fact, it may have been.

"His name was ..." She paused, shrugging as she focused on the contents of her mug. "It doesn't matter what his name was. He said he loved me and then ..." She merely shrugged again, which said the rest. He was a mystery - part of her life for a short while before disappearing without a trace. She'd tried to find him for a while, but had eventually given up, assuming he had his own reasons for leaving. But had that happened to her in this lifetime or was it one of the others' memories that were creeping into her mind, and did it matter if it was? They were all part of her - she shared their experiences and feelings, as if all one and the same. What had happened to one of them had happened to all of them.

"Was that with you, Marissa?" Mara asked her softly. "Or was it one of the others?" She knew how privileged she was to have this information about her friend, deliberately speaking softly so that there was no chance either of the men outside the cabin could overhear her. "I cannot imagine how confusing it must be for you to have so many memories, but one thing I do know is this ... the more emotional the memory, the more negatively we remember it. The more wary we become of repeating it, even if there is no possible way to do that."

"I don't know," Marissa replied with a frown. "They're all mixed up in my head. Sometimes I remember something and can't figure out if it happened to me or one of them." One of them had even been in love with Duncan once, but she had not told Mara that. She had always thought of Duncan as a brother, not a potential lover. "I know I did the right thing in gathering them all up, but ..." She paused a moment to chew on her lip. Mara knew more about her life than most anyone, but there were things Marissa hadn't even told her. "I dream about them sometimes, but they're more like memories than dreams. I don't know what to do. I can't just get rid of them."

"Maybe there is a way to sort them out, somehow," Mara suggested. "I have heard that there are people in the city who offer something called talking therapy, where people with pasts that still haunt them can come to an understanding of those pasts and let them go in a way." She shrugged, not truly understanding what she was talking about. "It sounds a little like magic to me, but Marin assures me it is as simple as sitting in a room and talking to someone who will never reveal what they hear to anyone."

"I'm not sure just talking about it will help," Marissa replied, but she hadn't asked Duncan and Mara here to talk about her problems, but to help Emrys. "You should probably know ... he's a werewolf, or so he claims, but he's the product of too much in-breeding. He doesn't shift the way more werewolves do. He says he doesn't make a physical shift. He only shifts in his mind, which makes him a danger to both himself and to those around him, but in my case, he's mostly a danger to himself."

"Perhaps it is worth looking into," Mara suggested, but let the subject drop as Marissa turned the conversation back to Emrys. She glanced toward the door, surprised by this revelation. "Perhaps there is a way to help him, too," she mused. "By magic or science - Rhy'Din is filled with wonders made by both, after all. But what do you plan to do at the next full moon? Will he be here, or will he leave to protect you from himself?"

Marissa followed Mara's gaze toward the door, unsure how much time they had left before the men returned. "I don't know," she replied truthfully. "I think he's better off here where I can keep an eye on him, but I don't know. We haven't talked about it much. He said something about chaining him up, but ..." There was that frown again, as if she didn't really like that idea either. "There has to be a better way."

"If only his mind shifts, then essentially he becomes an animal in a man's body," Mara considered thoughtfully. "Do you have a cellar here? An animal wouldn't be able to work out how to pick a lock or open a handle in a single night, surely. Though he may wear his fingers to the bone trying to dig his way out."

She winced, unsure if she liked the sound of that either, but there was no good solution to the problem that she could think of. "I don't want him to get hurt," she said quietly, but then, she didn't want anyone else getting hurt either.

"Marissa ..." Mara squeezed her hand gently. "Unless there can be found some way to cure his ills in the next ten days, you will have to choose the least evil of the paths in front of you. I assume he has lived with this all his life; he will have a way to deal with it. He may even have ideas as to how it may be handled without his having to do as he has done before. But I would suggest that confining him would be the kinder way."

"I don't know what it's like to be him. The full moon has no effect on me. I'm not driven to madness or feel the need to kill. It's different for me. I've learned how to control it, but I don't know if he can." It was more than Marissa had ever told anyone before, but from the look of anguish in her eyes, she was obviously worried for the man, whether she'd just met him or not.

"Then, if I may, I think you need to witness for yourself exactly what happens to him when the moon is full," Mara told her. "Without knowing what happens, you cannot even begin to find a way to help him."

Marissa considered that quietly a moment. She didn't want to drag Duncan or Mara or anyone else at the Brambles into this. There were too many lives at stake there, but here, in her woods, she might be able to contain him. "There is a root cellar," she suggested.

[Marissa]

Mara nodded, glad that Marissa's reluctance to cage Emrys could be convinced to step aside for practicality's sake. "It would be a fairly easy task to reinforce the door, or trapdoor, and to make the space as safe as physically possible for him, in the time we have," she offered, barely even realizing that she had said we. But Marissa had saved her life; more than that, Marissa had saved the lives of her husband and her son, as well as her oldest and dearest friend and protector. There was little Mara would not do for such a good friend.

"Do you think Duncan would be willing to help with that?" Marissa asked, her expression guardedly hopeful, as she glanced to the door that Duncan and Emrys had disappeared through.

"He'll help," Mara promised her friend with a smile. She hadn't heard any raised voices or angry sounds from outside, which was a good sign. "He would do anything for you, if you asked him. We know that, without you, we would not have the wonderful life we share now."

Marissa flushed a little with embarrassment. She hadn't gone back to save Duncan and by extension, Mara and Rob, for any other reason than it was the right thing to do, but by doing it, she had opened a small can of worms, at least, as far as her conscience was concerned. "He had a sister," she said, meaning Emrys, not Duncan, lowering her voice for fear the men might overhear. She couldn't even bring herself to say what had happened to her, but maybe Mara could connect the dots on her own. "I told him we could go back and save her, but he declined."

Mara considered this for a long moment. "Then he is a lot wiser than most other men, and women, who have access to such power," she said simply. "The past makes us who we are, most of us. It is a rare case when changing the past does more good than harm, I think." She smiled at her friend. "It was his choice. You cannot hold the guilt for her death to yourself, especially when you can't even put a face to her. Name your first daughter for her, instead."

"But I helped you and Duncan. Why can't I help him, too?" Marissa asked, not really seeing the difference, though Emrys had explained it to her. In the case of the Mallorys, nothing good would have come from leaving them there, and it was likely more lives would have been lost or destroyed, rather than fewer. In the case of Emrys, changing his past might change things so much that he didn't survive, and she wasn't sure she wanted to take that chance. He certainly didn't, and she had to abide by his wishes.

"What makes you think that the only way to help him is to change his past?" Mara countered in a gentle voice. "He is a product of his past - without events happening as they have done, he would not be the man he is now. Are you truly willing to risk your own happiness - a happiness you could find with him - just to change something he is already at peace with? If he has made the choice not to change anything, I cannot help but think that it is in good part to do with what he feels for you. Would you ask him to abandon you, when it is clear that is something he would never do?"

"But isn't it selfish to only think of myself? What about his sister? What if I could pluck her from the past and bring her here without ..." Marissa trailed off, already knowing it would never work. The only way she could ensure Emrys' safety in that case would be to pluck them both from the past, and then, she might be creating an even bigger problem, just as she'd done in her own past.

"But you're not thinking only of yourself," Mara told her firmly. "What better gift could you give him than hope for the future?" She captured her friend's hands once again, looking into her eyes. "For years, I lived with no hope. Even before I drove him away, I never truly believed I could ever have a future with Duncan. But he was the brightest part of my life. When he was gone, I had nothing, not until I found out I was pregnant. Rob is only reason I lived beyond the first year of my marriage to Stefan. He was a piece of Duncan; he was my hope for the future. And then you came, and you gave all of us hope for our future together. I cannot think of a single thing I would trade for the hope you gave us, Marissa. And I do not think Emrys would argue with me."

Marissa turned back to look at Mara, tears in her eyes at the things she was telling her, happy for her friendship after so many years of loneliness. "I think I could love him, Mara," she confessed quietly, though she wasn't sure if it was only wishful thinking or if she really cared for the man.

"So don't think of the past," Mara told her softly, reaching up gently stroke her friend's dark hair from her face. "Hope for the future. Hope is more powerful than regret, I promise you."

Marissa brushed the tears from her face, offering her friend a faint smile. "I'm glad you're happy now, Mara, and I'm glad we're friends." She drew a breath, not wanting to drag her friend down with her own troubles, when she had so much happiness of her own now. "How's Rob?" she asked, face brightening. It was no secret she was fond of the boy, but part of her remembered the teenage Rob - the one who had been heartbroken by his mother's death, something else Marissa had prevented from happening by bringing them here.

Mara's own face lit up - any excuse to gush about her best boy, after all. "He's finally settled in, I think," she told Marissa warmly. "Between Maggie at the Brambles, and the friends he's made in school and at the theater, he's found his place here. He doesn't seem to be afraid that Stefan might come back and ruin it all any more; he hasn't had any nightmares for a few months now. He asks about you a lot, his Aunt Marissa. I think he wants to tell you all about how excited he is to be a big brother."

Marissa's smile widened, glad to hear that. All she'd ever wanted in bringing them here was for them to be happy and to finally be able to live in peace as a family. "I'll come by soon. I'll bring Emrys with me. He should meet Evan and Marin. I think he might like working on the farm," she suggested, though the horses might not like it.

"If nothing else, Evan and Marin should be able to suggest something he might be better suited to, if farm work doesn't appeal to him," Mara agreed with a smile. "Elise would be pleased to see you, too. She's finally stopped trying to do all the work at the house and is teaching me how to do some of the chores now I'm not allowed to chop wood anymore."

"When should we come by?" Marissa asked, pulling one hand away so they could both enjoy their cocoa before it turned cold. They had just short of two weeks before the full moon. If they were going to prepare for it, they were going to need some help.

"Perhaps you should wait until after the full moon to visit the farm," Mara suggested thoughtfully. "But that doesn't mean we can't come back and visit you, with Rob and Elise in tow. We could help you reinforce that cellar, and have a few good family meals together."

Marissa frowned a little at the mention of Rob, wondering how they'd ever explain it to him. "I don't know about Rob. I mean, does he know what I am? I don't want to give him to be afraid of us," she confessed worriedly.

"Do you want him to know what you are?" Mara asked her curiously. "He's a good boy, and he knows you for who you are. He's also still a child, so having an aunt who can turn into a large tiger on whim would probably be one of the best things you could possibly tell him about yourself." She chuckled gently. "He's older than his years in a lot of ways, Marissa. I will tell him, if you want him to know. If not, I'll think of something."

"No, I think he should know the truth," Marissa replied, especially where Emrys was concerned. Rob had been in Rhy'Din long enough that she hoped it wouldn't come as too big a shock, but she thought the truth was the best.

[Marissa]

"Then don't be surprised if he asks to see your tiger the next time you see him," Mara warned her with a smile. She didn't think Rob would have any problem with a slightly feline aunt, and it would help him to understand what Emrys' difficulty was.

"Just warn him that tigers don't purr," Marissa replied, an amused smirk on her face. Why everyone always assumed tigers were just big cats was beyond her. There were some similarities, being from the same family, but plenty of differences, too.

"Oh, I'm fairly sure he'll know as much as he possibly can about big cats by the time we next visit," Mara chuckled. "He got a library card. There's a large stack of books on the dining table waiting to go back."

Marissa smiled as the conversation turned back to Rob once again. "And how does he like STARS?" she asked further, once again remembering the Rob of the future whose dream was to become an actor. This Rob might be younger, but they were not all that different.

"His confidence is remarkably improved since he started there," Mara admitted with a soft laugh. "He loved being on stage during A Christmas Carol - I'm not sure what he preferred most from the experience; actually acting, or being a part of such a tight-knit and welcoming cast. There was a little confusion; Jonathan Granger looks an awful lot like Duncan, but he was so good with the children backstage. And then the STARS own performance was wonderful! He was actually disappointed when he had to spend Saturday mornings at home for a couple of weeks."

"I'm glad. He's a good boy." Marissa smiled, her face brightening to know Rob was settling in well and was happy. That alone made her certain she had done the right thing in bringing them here. She had managed to change not only one life for the better, but all four of them, not including any future offspring. She didn't always keep track of what was going on in the city and wasn't too sure who Jonathan Granger was, but assumed it was someone at the theater. It didn't much matter either, so long as Rob was enjoying himself.

"Of course, Duncan is halfway to organizing Rob's wedding to Maggie," Mara commented with another low chuckle as she rose to rinse out her cup, her clean habits a product of too much time spent in Elise's fastidious company. "They're inseparable, but they're still children!"

"Weren't you children when you met? Maybe he's thinking of that." Marissa smirked, as a thought came to mind. "Want me to take a peek into the future?" she asked, but she was only teasing. That was far too dangerous to seriously consider.

"Only if you bring back photographs of Duncan as an old man," Mara countered with a grin. "I know he's going to be handsome still, I'd just quite like to know how long I'm going to have to beat women off with a washing dolly for."

Marissa chuckled. "I haven't noticed you beating any women off lately, have you?" she asked, rising to her feet to rinse out her own cup. She wouldn't deny Duncan was a good-looking man, but there was more to him than just a pretty face. "What do you think of Emrys?" she asked, eyes bright with obvious longing for the man in question.

"What do I think of him?" Mara smiled a little teasingly, stepping aside to allow Marissa access to her own sink as she dried off the cup she had just washed herself. "I think he is a very handsome man, but I think there is a lot more to him than first meets the eye. He's very concerned that you approve of him, and he clearly thinks more of you than of himself if those were his boots smoldering when we rode up." She considered for a moment. "No, I give you permission to love him when you're ready. I think you and he would be very good for one another."

"The same could be said for anyone, Mara," Marissa pointed out, but did not argue with her assessment of Emrys or of the fact that he had killed for her. "I think so, too," she said quietly, regarding whether they were good for each other or not. Though they'd only met less than twenty-four hours before, some things were just meant to be.

"Not anyone," Mara corrected her gently. "I can name two who were exactly what they seemed to be, and who died for it." She nudged Marissa's shoulder as she smiled teasingly. "Should we let the boys back in? Duncan will keep inventing things to do until someone tells him he's allowed to drink his coffee now."

And Marissa could think of several more, though she wasn't quite ready to divulge that to Mara just yet. She smiled back at her friend, before wrapping her in a hug - a rare display of affection. "Thanks for being my friend, Mara, and yes, I think we should."

Mara smiled into the embrace, holding her friend tightly for a long moment before letting her go. "I'm glad we're friends, Marissa," she told her softly. "There are very few people I trust more than you, and I live with all of them." She winked at her friend playfully, moving over to the door to open it up. "You may come back now," she called to the men, wherever they had ended up. "We've stopped talking about the woman things."

On the contrary, they'd hardly gotten started. Marissa had barely scratched the surface when it came to Mara's pregnancy, but there was plenty of time to discuss that later. She chuckled a little at Mara's welcome to the men, as she went about pouring both men a fresh cup of coffee - Duncan's black, and Emrys' with a little milk and sugar.

There would be plenty of time on the next visit; when the men were working on the root cellar and Rob had finished babbling about anything and everything, then Marissa could pick Mara's brains about anything she liked in relative peace. Today, however, was about oiling those wheels before the cart set off. "If there is mud on those boots, they are coming off before you step inside," Mara added as the men reached the porch, surprised when Emrys almost immediately bent to remove his boots without a second thought. She glanced over at Marissa with a grin, and made a briefly teasing kissy face in her friend's direction before straightening her expression hurriedly.

Marissa couldn't help but laugh at her friend's teasing, feeling far better for their visit than she had without it. They had something of a plan now; she just had to convince Emrys of the logic in it, if Duncan hadn't already.

"You see what happens when you marry them?" Duncan teased as he followed Emrys inside, pausing a moment at the door to remove his boots. "They become tyrants!"

"Oh, I only became a tyrant after you impregnated me, darling," Mara teased her husband affectionately, moving away from the door to let the men inside.

Emrys snorted with laughter as he set his boots to one side outside the door. Both men looked flushed for their exertions, but it didn't look like any words had come to blows.

"The first or the second time?" Duncan teased back, though they both knew perfectly well that she meant the second time. He touched a kiss to his wife's lips before moving to take the cup of coffee from Marissa with a cheeky wink.

Laughing, Mara kissed Duncan in return, finally moving to sort the bundle of clothing into shirts, pants, and others for Emrys and Marissa to go through at their leisure.

[Marissa]

For his part, Emrys smiled as he collected his coffee from Marissa's hand, his gaze lingering on hers just a little longer than a mere friend's would. "All evidence of our little trip to the woods is gone now," he promised her quietly. "You won't need to think of it again."

She smiled back at him, more than mere gratitude in that smile, though she wasn't so naive as to take him at his word. She knew she would think of it again, if only in her dreams. They wouldn't be the last hunters to find their way to her woods, and she'd have to figure out a better way of dealing with them in the future. Maybe it was time she reinforced the wards that protected this place, but she'd think more on that later. "Did you two get acquainted out there?" she asked curiously.

"We played like pigs in mud," Emrys told her, flashing a grin over at Duncan. Whatever they had discussed, it had clearly left both men in a good mood - a very good sign for a continuing friendship. "We were discussing what to do about my time of the month, actually."

That brought a concerned frown to Marissa's face, but it was important and as such, was something she and Mara had touched on, as well. "Yes, so were we," she admitted quietly, for his ears only.

Emrys paused, uncaring if her friends saw the depth of his feeling for her. He gently touched his fingertip to her chin, urging her to look into his eyes. "Even if I have to leave you for a few days, rest assured that I will be coming back," he promised her faithfully. "I will only agree to a plan if it does not mean putting you in danger."

She looked into his eyes, recognizing the growing affection for her there. One day or one thousand, she was feeling it, too. She couldn't explain it, but it was almost as if they were meant to be together. "This isn't about me. It's about you. I want what's best for you, and I don't want you getting hurt," she told him softly while Mara and Duncan looked on.

"Don't you think I want the same for you?" he countered quietly, drawing his fingertip along the delicate line of her jaw. "Anything, kitten. That's what I would do for you."

A little way from them, Mara cleared her throat tactfully, reminding them that they were not alone, but to her credit, she wasn't even looking in their direction when she did so. "Marissa and I were saying," she said, speaking to both men, "the root cellar could easily be fortified and made safe if we work together."

Marissa was staring into Emrys' eyes, as if nothing else existed in that moment but the two of them. Some part of her heard Mara's voice break in, but she found she could not break away from Emrys' gaze. It was almost as if she was held there by some spell, though that was not the case.

Duncan leaned close to his wife and gave her a gentle nudge, tangling his fingers with hers and nodding his head toward the door, indicating maybe it was time for them to go.

Mara didn't need much nudging. She could see how it was between the other two, setting her cup down to let Duncan steer her out of the cabin. There was no need to say goodbye; Marissa knew they would be back in the next few days, ready to help with whatever plan was eventually decided upon by the pair gazing into one another's eyes.

Marissa might eventually be sorry she hadn't had a chance to say goodbye to her friends, once she realized they were gone, but she wasn't sorry she'd called them, and she wasn't sorry for the distraction that was Emrys. Her heart swelled with happiness when she looked into his eyes and saw her future there. Whatever force had brought him into her life, she was determined to keep him there, no matter the cost. Maybe she didn't love him yet, but she was well on her way to falling.

And this time, there would be someone there to catch her when she finally let it happen.