Terry felt a little too good. She was getting this sort of warm tinging feeling, all throughout her body, sitting on this stranger's lap. The sort of
feeling, she realized, she'd last felt that night she and Wendy-
Quickly, she shoved Tim's arms aside, leaping to her feet. "Is something wrong?" asked Tim with legitimate concern, picking up on her anxiety
to the point he had to glance around and be sure that wolf hadn't found its way in.
"No, I'm sorry just... excuse me." She dashed back up the tunnel, with a confused Tim following behind.
What the hell had she thinking with all this! She'd taken some stupid risks in the past. With her health, with her safety, but with this she was,
she rolled her eyes at her own thoughts, way down the rabbit hole. This was her big nightmare scenario, that she would go native on this trip.
She'd prove this place messed with people's heads so badly they weren't the same people when they left. How had she not thought that
through to the end? There's a line between taking a risk and becoming a martyr. Say her theory was right. She really was helpless to resist, and
found herself acting the part in full. Just huddled up with this guy... going at it like rabbits for the next two months. It wouldn't really be her,
it'd be these instincts taking control of her body away from her, but... it would still be HER. She'd have to live with the memories for the rest of
her life. The stigma. Just... knowing that she'd voluntarily placed herself in the situation. Stupid stupid stupid Terry! There was no way around
it. She had to bail out. She'd proven her point, right? She was out of her head as it was, the responsible thing was to leave while she could still
think clearly enough to do it.
Lady Katerina smiled as she approached. "Feeling better are you dear? I was really starting to worry about you, but now that you're up I might
as well give you the tour. Incidentally, what was your name?"
"Terry, and yes, thanks for taking me in but... I can't stay here, I'm sorry, just, excuse me."
Katerina smiled, taking Terry by the hand. "It's OK, really. All the rabbits end up here. It's a safe place, full of good people. No need to worry
about anything here. And besides, that monster's still out there somewhere last I was aware. I absolutely refuse to let you put yourself in
danger. You'll at least have to stay until we know he's been dealt with."
Terry shook her head. "No, no, I mean I'm leaving-leaving. This whole thing has just been a mistake. Looking like this, with these... instincts... I
just can't handle any of this."
Katerina saw Tim lurking further down the tunnel. "I think I understand." She smiled. "I know firsthand you could do an awful lot worse, but
there is nobody in my warren who would even think of pressuring you into anything you aren't ready for."
Tim's eyes went wide with recognition. "OH! God, I'm so sorry! I hadn't realized how new you must be to this. After you've been here a while,
you just get used to a certain level of... physical intimacy I guess you'd call it. Hugs and shoulder rubs all day long, it's just how we're wired. I
didn't mean to give the impression of, well, it was a purely innocent gesture of comfort."
Terry looked down, rather embarrassed. Katerina was right, there was no way she could go back out there, but as soon as she knew it was
safe... hopefully it wouldn't be too long.
++++++++++
"Maybe I will 'lawyer my way out of this.' I paid good money to come here, and I was promised a two month stay. Talk all you want about setting
your own rules, but if you can't cite a specific rule I'm breaking, you're going to have such a PR nightmare on your hands you'll regret the day
you ever met me."
Harry let out another growl at the wolf. What an arrogant little... but suddenly an idea struck him. "Let's drop the game here. You're a menace,
and you know it. If you signed up for a two month stay, you can stay in the park until it's up, but there's no way in hell you're just getting let
back out there to roam free. Not on my watch. So let's talk about what we're going to do with you. I suppose we could just lock you up. Throw
you in a cage, have someone feed you now and then, wait out the clock like that. Or maybe, we can give you a fresh look. If you're all set on
this notion that predators have to act like predators, and prey like prey, let's turn you into a tiny little bunny rabbit. How does that strike you,
hmm? Maybe let some of the new huskies chase you around as part of their training. That'd be nice and exciting right?"
James stopped smiling.
"Glad to see I have your attention now." Harry smiled.