The next morning, John awoke to see the most beautiful sight, that of Bella, resting next to him.
"Morning John," she said.
"Morning Bella," he replied back. "Breakfast."
"Sounds good," said Bella.
John got out of bed, and put on a tunic and some trousers. He also saw another tunic and a skirt. "Here you are," he said, placing them on the bed next to her. "These will fit you. The Wolfes like their humans to wear clothing, to protect them from sunburn."
"Not my first time wearing something like this," Bella said, as she got up, and started to get dressed. "Wish that they were some other color, besides white. All white tends to stand out in the woods."
"There's Tan, Brown, and so on," said John. "All Solid Colors, so it's rather difficult to break up the outline of being a human. White seems to be the most picked one, but there are other options, in case one got sick of it, or if they wanted to stand out from the rest of the herd."
"I see," said Bella. "White clothes are a camouflage for someone trying to not be noticed."
"I wear it myself often enough," said John. "But my walking stick makes me stand out anyways."
"I recognize the form," said Bella. "My father used a similar one after his leg got messed up. A Walking Club."
"Killed a bear with it, and winded Fred too," said John.
"Whose Fred?" Bella asked.
"Big fat werewolf, like three or four of Robert put together in terms of weight and width, not to mention his brother-in-law," said John. "Decent enough fella, once you get to know him, but he called poor Thomas a sack of fertilizer, and didn't mention his name - gave him a good whack to the gut! Guy fell on his ass! Told him to call Thomas by his name, and told him that if he didn't, I'd bash his skull in. He was quite surprised that I'd do and say such things."
"What happened?" Bella asked.
"Well, poor Thomas had a cancer, a rather nasty one, would have killed him anyways, and there was no cure for it, so he was listed as F-Grade," said John. "Fred's a Professional Fertilizer Producer, and uses Quick Digesting Pills to quickly convert a hundred plus pounds of human into fifty or so pounds of Fertilizer within five minutes. Well, given the way I'd reacted, Fred decided that it would be best to use some Decorum, and decided to treat Thomas with a certain amount of Decency. Thomas was done up like he was a Prime Grade Meal, Fred didn't use the pill, and thus enjoyed a Long Lunch, as it were. After that, Robert decided to use my Protectiveness to his advantage, and had me trained to be the Protector, in addition to the rest of the Taming."
"How does it work?" Bella asked.
"It's mental, all in one's head," John said, tapping the side of his head. "Suggestive thoughts and so on. They use some form of mental manipulation. They like to talk, all while looking you in the eyes. Seems one of their founding ancestors, Jessabelle Wolfe, was a con artist that was also a hypnotist, or something - found a copy of her book once, Taming Feral Humans. I read that thing, confronted Robert about it - he smiled and said, 'It was that, or destroy you. I owe you too much to destroy you.' Then he held me, let me cry on him, and his wife paid me a visit later, to make sure that I was fully calm."
"How does that work?" Bella asked.
John looked at the bed.
"She had sex with you?" Bella asked.
John nodded. "Collected my genetic material as well. In that process, I also figured out how to break my Taming - if the Wolfes ever got aggressive towards one of the herd that hadn't been a danger to the others, I'd find the strength to kill them. Got Julia real good when I told her that - she hadn't been scared like that in years. Robert had to chuckle at that - Julia is pretty good at Control. We came to an understanding - I do as he wants, and he makes sure that I'm happy."
"I see," said Bella. "Explains why he bought us, to keep you happy."
John nodded. He looked at Bella. "Of course, what would really make me happy is knowing that you and the children were Free. But we must also free the others - if only a few try to escape, I'd have to stop them. But if the whole herd was escaping, I'd be compelled to Protect the herd from the Danger, the Wolfes themselves."
"So, just what is your job in this Escape?" Bella asked.
"I'd keep the Wolfes inside their own home, keep them from going after the rest," said John.
"You'd play Decoy, and risk your own life?" Bella asked.
"I've done it before," said John. "For you and the rest, I'll do it once more. I can't run anyways."
"I understand," said Bella. She looked at him. "I've never loved any man after you. Some were friends, and comforted me during lonely times, but none were you. Never got pregnant after I had Sally, for I never tried to have another."
John smiled. "We can make up for lost time. You should be good for a few more children, and if you're having other issues, that's where the Wolfes can help us out, and collect your genetic material, mix it and mine together, and if it's viable, place it into a Surrogate to help us have that baby."
"Alright," said Bella. "Let me go check on the children, while you do whatever it is you do."
John smiled. "I will."
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