Arrow Inferno
Chapter 32: Stanley ‘STAN’ Norris vs. Ian ‘WILL’ Williams ~ When the heart speaks!

***

"Oh, we're not." Will laughed, assuming the comment was meant for him. "It needs to know your scent before you touch it. Go on, pet it."

"Oh, finally." Gaia didn't pet the wolf though. She went in for a full hug. "Damn, I've missed you." She whispered into the wolf's ear. Then aloud she said, "I'd better let it go before it gives me fleas." The resulting growl only made her laugh. The three spent about two hours together. Whilst Gaia relaxed against the tree, Will lay with his head on the wolf which kept licking at his face intermittently. And the entire time, Gaia entertained Will with her theory on the concept of werewolves and how they lived their life. Whilst she happily said what she thought and answered Will's hypothetical questions, Stan kept groaning in exasperation within his wolf. The soldier was, however, refreshingly oblivious to the factual nature of what Gaia was saying. He thoroughly enjoyed the stories.

"If this wolf were actually a werewolf, what do you think his story would be?" He asked.

"Oh, allow me to give it a story." Gaia sat up excitedly. "So after listening to how brave this mutt is," She ignored the wolf's warning growl, "I'd say its human would be a..."

"Soldier?" Will supplied.

"Good, let's go with a soldier. It doesn't look old. Neither is it a pup. His human should be in his... late twenties or early thirties."

"Let's give it thirty then."

"Perfect." Gaia was in her element. "He probably comes from a large family and has..."

"I wouldn't agree with the family bit," Will interjected. "It's always alone. No pack. Wolves move in packs. But this one is always alone."

"That's probably because it comes to see you. His pack may not be so nice when they meet you. You don't want to end up as dog food do you?" She leaned forward to give the wolf a quick pat when it growled. "You have a point. Go on."

"The way it's protective of you and all, I'd say the human would be a hopeless romantic. I mean he did carry you on his back and shit. He would ensure his bae is safe, happy, fed..."

"Like Stan," Will said without a thought. Gaia went quiet. The wolf stilled. "Wow, this entire jungle suddenly went quiet." He chuckled, glancing around. "What made you mention Stan?" Gaia asked.

"Well, silly as it may sound, the guy always ensures I've eaten and I'm okay. Mind you as the host, that should be my job and not the other way around." "I see. How about I leave the description of this wolf's human to you. How do you think he'll look like?"

Will laughed. "Now my head is just fucked up. I'm picturing Stan."

"For real?" Gaia's eyes went wide. She was genuinely surprised. Damn, I'm good, she thought.

"Blame it on your description." Will sat up. "A soldier, thirty, protective, caring...you kinda described Stan."

"I never said he was a soldier. You did. And I never said he was thirty. Again, you did."

"You also said he comes from a big home." Will pointed out.

"But Stan doesn't." Gaia shot back. "He's an orphan."

"But according to him their extended family or clan took care of him." Will countered. "That means he's part of a big family."

"That still doesn't mean I was putting Stan's identity out there. You decided to imagine him."

"Oh, no you don't get to put this on me. You deliberately made me..."

"I did nothing. You even kept saying that Stan is a wuss. We both know this wolf isn't a wuss but that didn't stop you from imagining his human as Stan." "You have a point. But I still blame you."

"I refuse to accept..."

And the entire time that the vampire and his mate were arguing, Stan and his wolf were busily trying to decide which of the two had earned the idiot of the evening award.

'I think it's Gaia.' The wolf insisted. 'How can you carefully orchestrate something and then try to pin it on another person?'

'Well, no one asked that other person to assume I'm the wolf.' Stan scoffed. 'He did it all by himself.'

'That shows how he sees you.' The wolf chuckled. 'He thinks you're caring. You must have done something right for once.'

'Aw fuck off. I've always been a caring kind of guy.'

'And I've always been Luna's boss.' It shot back sarcastically. 'So is this good or bad? Think he's now going to look at you differently?'

'Oh not at all. This is Will. He doesn't believe any of this, remember?'

'I did have fun listening to the two idiots.' The wolf chuckled.

*

After Stan's run that evening, he went straight to Gaia's to discuss what had happened in the jungle that evening. He couldn't believe Gaia had gone that far.

"Aw put a sock in it, Stanley," she mumbled. "He thinks I'm a nutcase for even thinking along those lines."

"No surprise there. I knew he would find the entire thing amusing and not even dwell on it."

"I tried." She sighed. "I just wanted to push a thought into his mind the old-fashioned way."

"You okay?" Stan could tell his friend felt like she'd failed.

"No. I wish...I don't even know what I was wishing for."

"You thought you'd tell him and he would pray to be turned into one?"

"No. I just wanted to spark some interest and probably get him to accept the possibility. Unfortunately, by the time we got back to camp, dude had totally forgotten about my theories. All he could talk about was Woofy and how amazing he

is."

"Now, that's what I call 'cos ninety'. Work done, zero!" Stan laughed at the groaning vampire. "Don't worry, all in good time. I have patience."

"But I worry about you."

"I'll be fine."

Stan spent about an hour with Gaia before going to his suite. Immediately the door opened, he saw Will leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.

"So tell me," The soldier began with all seriousness. "Are you a werewolf?"