Wolf Woes

Chapter 4: Josie's Home (pt 3)

Penelope was having the strangest dream. She was dreaming that a dog was sitting next to her, licking her face. She tried to bat it away, but the licking continued.

Somewhere between dream world and reality, she heard her roommate quietly calling her. She woke with a start and froze mid gasp. There was a wolf standing over her, licking away tears. She must have been crying in her sleep.

"Hope?" She asked hopeful. She knew Hope was the only wolf at the school who had the power to change at will and seeing as they had spent the week researching why Hope was wolfing out in her sleep, it was an obvious deduction. The only thing she couldn't figure out was why Hope was standing over her, licking away her tears. "Hope? What are you doing?"

Hope stopped licking Penelope's face, and let out a long whined.

Penelope could see her roommate staring at the wolf in terror, which under any other circumstance she would have found hilarious, but seeing as wolves were known to be unpredictable, uncontrollable beasts, she was sympathetic.

Hope sat down on Penelope and let out a loud howl, then went back to licking her face.

"Hope," Penelope said again. "You can stop now."

Hope listened and jumped off the bed. She turned to face the roommate, giving her a terrifying growl, before turning towards the door. She turned back to face Penelope, who could have sworn Hope was asking her to follow.

She got up and followed behind the wolf. Hope lead her down the hall, stopping in front of Josie and Lizzie's room. She wasn't surprised when the headmasters and Hope's aunts rounded the corner. Only to stop, when they saw her and Hope.

The door magically opened, and Hope trotted into the room, and sat next to Josie's bed. Penelope didn't enter the room, but she did peek into it, as did all the adults.

"What is she doing?" Caroline asked alarmed.

"I don't know," Freya said.

"She won't hurt her," Alaric assured them.

Hope nudged Josie's arm and let out a long whine. Josie was twitching in her sleep and mumbling.

"She's having a nightmare," Caroline commented and tried to go into the room. Penelope stopped her though, and quietly told her to just watch.

Hope nudged her arm again, while whining. When Josie didn't respond she leaped onto the bed and laid down next to her. She let out another long whine, then gently licked her cheek.

Josie woke at that. She groggily looked at Hope, then smiled widely at her. She reached up and rubbed her ears. "How'd you know?" she asked quietly, though loudly enough so everyone at the door could still hear.

Hope whimpered lightly then laid her head on Josie's chest. She let out a huff of air and whimpered again.

"I'm better now that you're here," Josie said.

"What the fu...?" Caroline started, then remembered there was children around.

"No... Mrs. Forbes-Salvatore," Penelope glumly said. "Fuck just about covers it."

"Penelope," Alaric scolded lightly, but noticed how sad she looked. "Do you know something that we don't?"

"Yeah... I do," she sighed.

All four adults turned to look at Penelope expectantly. She didn't get a chance to answer their silent question, because Josie noticed they were standing there.

"What's gong on?" She asked just above a whisper.

Alaric went to take a step into the room, but Hope began growling at him, which woke Lizzie up.

She sat up disoriented, her blonde locks standing up in odd angles. She saw her dad standing in the doorway looking scared, with Penelope and the other adults peeking in behind him. "What's going on?" She asked, then looked to Josie. She practically threw herself of her bed when she saw Hope laying on her sister. "Not again." She peeked over the bed, and yelled, "Hope. Go away."

Hope growled at her, then draped her right front leg over Josie's stomach, practically hugging her. Josie smiled, and took her left hand and cupped the paw. "She's okay," she cooed. "Aren't ya, Hope?"

Hope lifted her head and howled, which made Josie smile.

"She's okay here. She won't hurt me, or Lizzie. Will ya, Hope?"

Again, Hope lifted her head up and let out an even louder howl.

"See," Josie said.

Lizzie stood up and got back into bed, only to roll off again with a shriek, when Hope suddenly stood up.

Hope trotted back to the door, pushing her way past Alaric to get to Penelope. She gently took her hand in her mouth and pulled her into the room. When Penelope was half way in, she let go and sat in front of her. She let out a sad whine, then briefly turned back to Josie before turning back. She whined again and laid down on the floor.

Penelope kneeled in front of her. Tears welled in her eyes. She knew what Hope was saying. She was apologizing for her feelings for Josie and making sure she was okay with it. She rubbed Hope's ears, and quietly said, "It's okay, Hope. I understand." Tears rolled down her cheeks. Hope stood and licked them away with a whine. Quieter she spoke, so only Hope (and anyone with supernatural hearing) could hear her, "It's okay. I won't stand in your way. I just want her to be happy. Can you promise me you'll do that?"

Hope barked softly, then whimpered.

"I'll be okay," she cried, tears rolled down her cheeks. She closed her eyes, allowing Hope to clean her face. "I promise. I'll be okay, and so will we. I like having you as a friend, and I don't want that to change."

Hope put her head on Penelope's shoulder, essentially hugging her. Penelope wrapped her arms around the wolf, squeezing her tight. "Take care of her."

She kneeled there and watched as Hope went back to Josie, laying her head on her chest and wrapping her from leg around her. She let out a long howl.

"Penelope?" Josie said. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

Penelope gave Josie a teary smile. "I'll be okay, JoJo. I'll explain everything in the morning. I promise."

Josie opened her mouth to say something, but Penelope stopped her before she could get the words out. "You should go back to sleep. I don't think you'll have another nightmare now that your protector is with you. I promise I'll explain in the morning."

She stood up and turned to the adults. She grabbed the door and closed it behind her. "She's fine now. Leave her go for tonight. I'll explain everything in the morning."

She left before any of the adult could question her. Back to her bed she went, where she cried herself back to sleep. The book, that held all the answers they had been searching for clutched in her hands, along with a picture of Josie.