“No, ’Ro” Logan snarled. “You’re not taking the arrow out.”

His eyes flicked over to Stray. They looked… panicked.

“At least, you’re not doing it with her here.”

And the werewolf pulled himself to his feet, teeth showing. Great, shaggy head shaking emphatically from side to side as he stalked away, form massive and dark against the dull grey of the cavern wall. Stray opened her mouth to stop him, the loss of his nearness tugging at her insides as if something precious were spilling out of her-

But before she could ask why he wouldn’t want her here- Was he disgusted at the wanton way she’d acted? Angry at her for causing him pain?- She saw Ororo roll her eyes heavenward, her expression exasperated. Not the horrified or awed reaction she’d expected at all. “Logan,” the woman said tartly “You cannot simply walk around with an arrow buried between your shoulder-blades. The wound will not close, and I doubt even your Curse could fight the results of that off-”

His snarl was so loud it made Stray jump. “I’m not suggesting I leave it in permanently, woman!” he snapped. “I’m telling you that until you can guarantee the maid’s safety then neither you nor your elf there-” he gestured angrily to the blue man- “Are putting a hand on my flesh. Is that absolutely understood?”

“No.” Ororo’s voice was icy. “It is absolutely not understood. Do you think I risked my hide coming out here to check on you just so that you can bleed to death? Do you think I have safeguarded you all these years only to lose you now that we have finally found your Moonlight Key?” And before he could answer, before Stray could ask what she meant, the huntress turned to the girl, eyes narrowed.

Stray felt like she too had been struck with a dart.

“Maid,” Ororo said calmly, “Do you feel any fear of Logan? Do you think he will attack you if he is caused further pain?”

And she crossed her arms pointedly, staring at the werewolf.

Clearly the white-haired woman was trying a make a point.

Whatever Stray may truly have felt the girl made sure her answer was even and immediate though. “No,” she said, “I am not afraid of Logan.” Scarlett stained her cheeks. “And after what you just witnessed I doubt you can believe I am-”

Ororo’s expression was almost triumphant. “And there you have it: She is not frightened, she is with you of her own free will-”

Logan’s voice was sour. “Only because she doesn’t know what she’s truly dealing with.” And in a movement too fast for the human eye to follow he was beside Stray, his big heavy hands landing on her shoulders, shaking her. She was talking only to the wolf now, she had no doubt about that. “You think a willingness to spread your legs means you’re not frightened of me?” he demanded darkly, voice almost completely inhuman. “You think the stench of what you want from me is strong enough to protect you from what I am?”

And he pushed her away from him, his body twitching, every muscle tense. Clearly holding off the last few moments of the transformation with everything he had. Stray opened her mouth to answer him but nothing would come out. She could not help but be hurt at his description of what they had just done together, though she was trying very hard not to let it show. Despite her best intentions tears pinched her eyes, the cold, the shock and the stress of the night beginning to tell on her. The strength- the confidence- which had flowed through her when she thought herself and the werewolf in this together beginning to bleed away. Was this what he thought of her? she wondered, suddenly feeling younger and more vulnerable than she ever had on the road before. Did Logan… Did he think her a whore?

One look at Ororo’s blue companion told her that that was exactly what most people would say of a maid who’d been doing what she and Logan had been doing when they were interrupted.

Her father’s face, the night he drove her from home, rose sharply in her mind and she couldn’t push the image away.

She took in a tight, shuddering little breath, trying hard not to let the tears show. Logan stilling at the sound of it, his form rigid though he kept his back to her. Ororo’s blue-skinned companion raised his eyebrows questioningly, asking whether he should intervene, though the huntress shook her head. Instead she ghosted across the cavern to block Logan’s exit, one elegant, mahogany-dark hand coming to rest against the wolf’s shoulder. The touch, despite her anger at him, making Stray’s stomach flip with jealousy. The fact that her emotions seemed to careen out of control whenever she was near the werewolf something her mind instinctively did not want to face. The woman murmured something to Logan in that same singsong language he had used to open the portal to the cavern and he lowered his head at her words, shaking it. Shooting a contrite look over his shoulder at Stray, his own expression haunted and matching hers. His hands were digging into his palms, the claws sharp enough to draw blood. “I just don’t want to hurt her, ’Ro,” he was saying, his voice more human now. “You know what happens when I go fully across-”

The huntress’ tone was soothing. “I know, but you won’t harm her, you couldn’t-”

“I pushed her away when she touched the arrow. I could have slashed her.”

“The wolf did not like being hurt Logan, there’s no great surprise in that.” Ororo smiled. “But she won’t take the arrow out.” And the white-haired woman gestured to her companion, smiling fondly, a fact which eased Stray’s jealousy a tiny bit. “That’s why I asked Kurt to come,” the woman was saying, “He will pull out the arrow and then use his Curse to get away. You won’t have time to hurt him, msiri, you have my word on that-”

And she took the wolf’s great head in her hands, making him look at her. Continuing to speak to him in that singsong language, her words soothing and light as he muttered to her, as he told her things he apparently felt he couldn’t tell Stray. The girl tried to force away the feelings of jealousy- Did you hear how he spoke to you earlier, girl?- but she couldn’t help it. It felt as if she were the one becoming a beast and not the werewolf on the other side of the cave. She hadn’t gotten jealous when other girls in the village flirted with her betrothed, David; The thought that he would maintain a mistress after their marriage had not bothered her at all. But the notion that anyone would touch Logan, that anyone else would, would infringe on her territory like that was making her feel furious. Primitive. Far from the young girl who had sorted silk in her father’s mansion in Illunis. She could feel something prickling inside her, something itchy and sharp like angry fireflies inside her skin; It was telling her to intervene, to remove the huntress. To force this interloper away from her mate and take back what was hers. The fact that Ororo was bigger than her, more skilled in combat and doubtless better armed making no difference. The thing inside her was screaming to remove the older woman now. Logan said something and Ororo put her hand to his cheek, putting her forehead against his to give comfort-

His shoulders relaxed visibly and for Stray that was the final straw.

Without really thinking about why she darted across the cave, rage boiling through her. Gaze fixed on the huntress, that prickling, lightning-sharp entity inside her just spoiling to get out. If Ororo’s attention had not been focussed on Logan then she would have seen it coming, but she didn’t: Stray barrelled into her with more force than should have been possible, knocking her sideways though she managed to land reasonably comfortably on her back. The white-haired woman barely had time to register what the girl had done, surprise then understanding showing clearly in her expression-

And then Stray was snarling at her, trying to hit her. Her posture changing, weight instinctively dropping to the balls of her feet as she fought the huntress. As she set to taking back what was hers by right. From somewhere far away Stray realised that she was moving as an animal might, that she was using her strength and quickness in ways she had never been taught to. That she was acting like a predator, though the notion that a maiden could be a predator was ridiculous at best. And yet, and yet…

It was almost like there was someone else were inside her, just itching to get out. Someone that didn’t speak but howled in moonlight, someone that had been holding her tongue for so long that she thought speaking aloud might eat her alive. So she fought, hissing, spitting, clawing. Attacking for what felt like hours though on some level she knew it could only have been seconds. She swung for Ororo and the huntress parried the blow, smashing her arm downwards to lock around Stray’s throat even as she knocked the girl backwards. A hand at the back of her head cushioning the fall so that the girl didn’t crack her head. For a split second Stray was still, the wind knocked out of her and that was all the time Ororo needed; She hissed something at the blue man and suddenly there was a stench of brimstone in Stray’s nostrils, a burst of shadow blooming beside her, dark as India ink. Strong arms grabbed her and in a second she was on the other side of the cavern, still hissing and biting. The sight of blue flesh against her own confusing and utterly other. Ororo’s companion was whispering in her ear, murmuring that it was alright, that everything would be fine if she just stopped fighting-

And then suddenly there was a blur of movement as Logan hurled himself towards the blue man. His form completely lupine and massive even in the dark. Again there was that explosion of brimstone and smoke, the blue man disappearing only to reappear in the air above them, a tail Stray hadn’t noticed before snaking around one of the rock formations in the ceiling, three-toed feet allowing him to hang in place like a bat. His yellow eyes glowing devilishly as he hung there in the twilight. Stray only had time to register the feel of a wet tongue against her skin- licking her, he was licking her, trying to make sure she was alright- and then just as suddenly there was a howl of agony, Logan’s spine arching like a great bow even as he instinctively yanked his jaws away from her and turned his shaggy head to snarl at Ororo. The huntress standing behind him with the blood-streaked silver arrow she’d just pulled out held high in her right hand. For a moment time seemed to stop, the wolf’s eyes narrowing at the huntress, breaths coming in great furious pants-

And then, as if someone had simply torn the energy out of him he dropped, giving a sad, hurt whimper. Something in the sound of it went right to the heart of Stray and she forced herself to crawl over to him, her anger at Ororo forgotten. The only thing of import the fact that Logan was in pain and needed to be soothed- now. She stroked his coat, murmuring soft, aching things she knew were not in her own language. The fact that her throat could make them a mystery for another time.

“There, there,” she murmured, “Poor beast, sweet beast. Don’t be angry my darling, don’t be sad, I’ll not leave you alone in the snow…”

The wolf stared up at her with those beautiful, lupine hazel eyes and put his head in her lap, resting there as her fingers caressed him. Crying as only a wolf can cry while she soothed him and cooed in his ear. The blue man had released himself from his perch, landing lightly beside her. He shot her an resentful look- probably angry that she had attacked Ororo- but said nothing else. Just put a basket of food down beside her- so that’s why he and ’Ro had come to the cave- before disappearing again. The huntress stood staring at the scene with haunted eyes, almost as if she were seeing another time, another place. Another maiden soothing a wild beast that had been hurt in the snow. But she didn’t speak, and she seemed to understand that it would not be wanted, a fact for which Stray was more grateful than she could say. It took a few moments but eventually Logan’s eyes closed, his body easing into sleep. His great weight and heat solid and comforting, as he lay against her thighs. It took only a few moments for the sound of even breathing to fill the cavern and as it did so Stray saw Ororo come to sit down beside her, making sure she was good and far from Logan. An understanding look on her lovely face, the silver arrow still bloody in her hand.

“You and I must talk,” she said softly, “Before he wakens. There’s things you need to know that I doubt Logan will tell you.”

Again that angry, prickling-in-silence being flared beneath her skin.

“How do you know what he will tell me?” she hissed. “What makes you think you can guess?”

The huntress expression was compassionate but evaluating as she answered her.

“Because,” she said softly, “I have been in your shoes once before, and I know what it means to love a man and a beast together. It- It is more complicated than you can guess.”

And as they sat in the dark, the wolf asleep and safe between them, Ororo started explaining what exactly it meant to be a wolf’s Moonlight Key.