Anya rubbed the sleep from her eyes; she had spent all night mixing something that she hoped would remove the curse from Rose and Wulf. “Okay,” she sighed. “I think I’m done.” She put the mixing bowl down on the counter. “Giles! Do you have any eyedroppers?”

“I think I may have something in the bathroom,” the man stood up and walked down the hall. Giles returned a moment later, an eyedropper in his hand. He handed it to Anya.

“Man, you Brits have everything.” Xander smirked.

“Yes Xander, very droll.” Giles said.

“I need a jar too, Giles.” Anya said.

“Left cupboard.” He said.

Anya turned around and opened the cupboard, taking out a jar. She put the jar onto the counter and picked up the bowl, pouring some of the red liquid that she had been mixing into the jar. She put the bowl back down and picked up the jar. “Okay, bring the wolves in here.”

Giles nodded and walked up the stairs and into his bedroom. Rose was sitting on the cot, petting Wulf lovingly. “Eh-hem,” Giles cleared his throat. Rose looked at him. “We need all the wolves downstairs.”

“Alright,” Rose said sadly. She kissed the top of Wulf’s head. “Go, follow him.” The six wolves whimpered, but obeyed, following Giles down the stairs.

When Giles reached the bottom of the stairs, he turned around to tell the wolves to join back together, only to find a man standing behind him. “Good lord!” Giles gulped, jumping a bit. “How did you already change back?”

The man shrugged. “We just did.”

Giles looked the man up and down. He was wearing gray breaches and a parchment colored shirt, no boots. His red-brown hair hung loosely around his shoulders, as it wasn’t tied back like the others they had seen. “Erm, which one are you?” Giles asked.

“I’m Roth, the red wolf.” He said.

“Ah,” Giles nodded. “Well we were hoping for Wulf, but you’ll do for now. We need to get all of you. Come this way,” Roth nodded and followed Giles towards the kitchen. “Now, Anya-” Roth suddenly started to growl.

“You’re the one that cursed us.” He hissed.

Anya sighed. “Can we get over this? I’m trying to help you now!”

Roth stopped growling. “Alright, but nothing funny.”

“What I was trying to say,” Giles said, breaking the tension. “Is that Anya has been working on a way to break your curse.”

“Right,” she said, grabbing the jar and the eyedropper. “Now just a few drops of this into each of your eyes, you turn into Wulf, and he’ll kiss Rose, and boom. Curse broken.”

“That simple?” Roth asked. Anya nodded. “What’s the catch?”

“Nothing,” she said. “The only way to break the curse is for Wulf to kiss Rose under the blood red moon. And that means him alone, with no one else in his body, and the only way to separate them out of the same body, is if Wulf sees a blood red moon.” She held up the jar of red liquid. “And this will make that happen.” Giles took the bottle from Anya. “Okay, I’m done.” She said, walking into the living room and waking Xander up. “Xander, let’s go.”

“You’re done?” Xander asked sleepily, getting up off the couch.

“Wait! Anya, aren’t you going to stay?” Giles asked.

Anya laughed. “Are you kidding me? I cursed them to begin with, if anything goes wrong, my head will be the first one to roll. Two drops in each eye for all of them. Three drops for Rose. You can’t go wrong.” She grabbed Xander’s hand and pulled him out of the door.

“Anya!” Giles called. But Anya and Xander didn’t stop. “Oh damn!” Giles grumbled, taking off his glasses. “Oh well, I best get this into your eyes.” He sighed. “Just sit down on the couch please, we need to get you all done by night fall.”

“Alright,” Roth said, sitting down on the couch. He leaned his head back and opened his eyes.

“Now I don’t know if this will sting or not,” Giles said, dipping the eyedropper in the jar and drawing some of the liquid. “Just try not to blink.” Roth nodded. “Okay, starting with your left eye.” Giles squeezed the eyedropper and put one drop into Roth’s left eye, then a second drop. He moved his hand and put two more drops into the man’s right eye. “How was that?” Giles asked.

“Actually, it didn’t hurt at all.” Roth said, lowering his head and looking around the room. “Everything is red.”

“Good, I expect that was the desired effect.” Giles said, stepping back from the couch. “Now, may I see one of the other men?”

“Yes,” Roth nodded. He closed his eyes, and Giles watched as the planes of his face began to change. Giles took another step back.

The man in front of him opened his eyes again. Now, he had the appearance of a small-framed man with a white streak through his otherwise brown hair. This man was wearing black breaches brown boots, and a white shirt with a gray vest. “Which one are you?” Giles asked.

“Vogel, the white wolf.”

“Ah,” Giles nodded, taking a step towards him.

It took another half an hour, but finally he got the drops into all six men’s eyes. Wulf was the last one and Giles had just put the drops into his eyes. “So?” Giles asked, taking the jar of red liquid into the kitchen. “Is everything red?”

Wulf shook his head. “No, only the lights. Was everything red for the others?”

Giles nodded. “Yes, but maybe it’s supposed to work differently for you.” Wulf shrugged. “Alright, go outside. I need to do Rose’s eyes now.”

Wulf nodded. “I’ll be right outside.” He turned and walked out the door.

Giles walked over to the stairs. “Rose!” He called. “Come down here, please.”

Giles turned, walking back to the couch and picking up the jar. He heard the stairs creak and turned to see Rose. As she descended the stairs, Giles caught his first look at her stomach. It wasn’t as large as it would be for a woman in her ninth month, so he assumed that she was only four or five months along. Giles looked up at her face and saw that she had the glow of a woman close to term.

“You called?” Rose asked.

Giles nodded. “Erm, yes. Come down here.” She nodded and walked over to Giles. “Sit down please.”

“What do you need to do?” She asked, sitting down on the couch.

“Well, if everything goes right, after I put this in your eyes, you should be able to go outside and see Wulf. Thus breaking the curse.” Giles smiled. Rose smiled back. “Tip your head back please.” Rose did as she was asked. “I’m not sure if this will sting, none of the others complained of discomfort, but you never know.”

“Alright,” Rose said.

“I just need to stir this,” Giles said, swirling the eyedropper around the liquid.

Rose nodded. “I’m sixty-two days along.” She looked at Giles. “That is what you wanted to know, yes?”

Giles nodded. “How did you know?”

She shrugged. “Just a guess. You’re stalling, so that was a big hint. But I am three hundred years and sixty-two days along.” Rose sighed, tipping her head back again. “Before we were cursed, I could feel the beginning of labor coming on. But then it all stopped.”

“Sixty-two days and going into labor?” Giles asked, filling the eyedropper with the red liquid.

“Yes, the average gestation period of a wolf is sixty-three days. Wolf cubs are only a pound at birth. That’s why I’m not as big as a normal woman who’s just about to term.” Rose said quietly.

“Shouldn’t the human part of the baby make it a bit larger?” Giles asked.

Rose shook her head. “My father was a wolf, so I’m half and half and that makes it so the baby is going to be a normal wolf cub. Are you going to put that stuff in my eyes or what?”

“Oh, right,” Giles said. He picked up the eyedropper and squeezed one, two, three drops into Rose’s left eye, then another three into her right eye. “How does everything look?”

Rose tipped her head forward and looked around the room. “All the lights are red. Is that supposed to happen?”

Giles shrugged. “That’s what Wulf said he saw. Now go on,” Giles nodded towards the door. “He’s waiting for you.”

Rose smiled, kissing Giles’ cheek. “You have no idea how grateful I am.”

Giles smiled back. “Go on now.”

She nodded, turning and jogging out the door. Standing in the middle of the complex’s courtyard was Wulf. He stood looking up at the full moon, his mouth parted in awe, showing his fangs inadvertently. She looked around for the others and saw them all sitting on the edge of the fountain. Rose’s eyes began to tear when she saw that each man was in his own body.

She sighed and looked back at Wulf, he was still looking up at the sky. “Wulf,” she said softly.

Wulf’s head turned sharply when he heard Rose’s voice. His eyes went wide when he saw the girl. “Rosie!” He smiled, taking two large steps towards the girl and pulling her into his arms. He twirled her around then dipped her down, supporting her head with his hand. He pressed his lips to her’s in a tender and passionate kiss. A few very long minutes later, Wulf broke his lips away from Rose’s and put her back in a standing position.

“Rosie,” Wulf sighed, rubbing his hand across Rose’s wet cheek. “You’re crying.”

Rose laughed. “So are you.”

Wulf smiled. “You’re more beautiful than when I last saw you.”

Rose shook her head. “No I’m not, it just seems that way. It’s a mother’s glow.” She grabbed Wulf’s hand and guided it to her stomach. After a moment, Wulf’s eyes went wide. “That’s the first time I’ve felt a kick in three hundred years.” She whispered. Wulf nodded. “It’s your son in there, how do you feel about that?”

Wulf smiled, tears rolling down his cheeks. “I feel wonderful.” He laughed, looking up into Rose’s eyes. “I love you,”

She smiled. “I love you too.” Rose closed her eyes and clenched her stomach. “Did you guys find a cave for me?”

“Yes,” Vogel said, standing up from where he sat. “Just up the ridge a bit. Why?”

“Because I’m having the baby,” she said, wincing.

“Oh God,” Wulf sighed, grabbing Rose as her knees bent from the pain. He pulled her up into his arms. “Roth! Get Giles! He’ll have to deliver the cub for us! The rest of you, go get the den ready.”

They all nodded and four of the men turned into their wolf form and ran out of the apartment complex. Roth ran into Giles’ apartment and came back out, dragging the man by the wrist. “Got him!” Roth said.

“Okay, take him up to the den we made.” Wulf said.

“What?” Giles asked.

“Long story short,” Roth said. “You are now Rose’s midwife.”

Wulf started to run as fast as he could out of the apartment complex. Not wanting to hurt Rose, he settled for a quick jog, instead of an all-out run. He arrived at the cave a few moments later and ran inside. He placed Rose down on the bed of straw that the others had laid out and kissed her. “Alright, I’ll be right outside.”

Rose nodded. “Okay,”

“Wait, not okay.” Giles said. “Aren’t you going to be in here too?”

Wulf shook his head. “I’m the father, I can’t be in here! The others will be in here with you.” He leaned down and kissed Rose again. “I love you,”

“I love you too,” Rose sighed, breathing heavily. “Now get the hell out of here.” Wulf stood up and ran out of the cave, Ritter running after him.

To Be Continued…

So Rose is pregnant. Now, the gestation period of a wolf is sixty-three days, just for everyone's information.