Sabrina ran through the Vallo woods, letting her red cape sway behind her as she tracked Nick through the woods. They couldn’t quite keep up with all of the traditions of this night and there wasn’t anyone else participating like during the last Lupercalia, but it hardly mattered. She’d sat around sulking during the last Valentine’s Day that she was in Vallo. The day had only served as a reminder that Nick was trapped back home in Hell, suffering through whatever the Dark Lord was putting him through, and she had been unable to do anything about it.
So much had changed in the year since then--back home and in Vallo--and while dark Vallo and the addition of murder turkeys once they were safely back in Vallo had put a bit of a damper on things, Sabrina couldn’t stop smiling as she finally spotted Nick. He was there, he was alive and healing, and they were together. Sabrina couldn’t really ask for anything more.
She picked up speed and tackled him to the ground. “My my, what big eyes you have,” Sabrina teased.
Nick let out a laugh as he fell to the ground, looking at Sabrina as she had him pinned. "The better to see you with," he finished. With the dance the night before and now a long-awaited Lupercalia celebration that he was determined to see through this time, he found himself not waiting for the other shoe to drop for once. And he was surprised how easily he was getting used to it.
Lifting his head, his lips sought out hers. They had the entire night, but he didn't want to waste any time.
She easily kissed him back, hands smoothing up his chest because she didn’t want to waste any time either. Not after how rudely they had been deterred the last time. Sabrina worked to untie the cape from around her neck, letting it drift off to the ground before working to roll them so she was the one who was on her back instead.
“And what big teeth you have,” she continued, clearly not done teasing even as she ran her fingers through his hair.
"The better to…"
Nick was interrupted by a howl, much louder than any he'd heard previously, but for it to come on Lupercalia? No.
He sat straight up and stared at Sabrina.
"Tell me you just heard that and I'm not losing my mind."
Sabrina and Vallo were going to have words later.
She sat up as well, confusion evident as she looked around. “I heard that too.”
And it sounded near.
“Does it sound like…?” She wasn’t sure if she should say Amalia’s name or not? Had Vallo decided to send her here for Nick? Because way to be rude, Vallo.
Really, Nick had hoped he was just losing his mind rather than being haunted by a werewolf. But Sabrina hearing it made the possibility that it was Amalia even more real.
With a few choice words, he was on his feet, ready to go look for the source of the noise. If Vallo had sent him Amalia, he'd kill her himself this time.
Sabrina scrambled up after him, grabbing hold of her cloak before reaching for his hand. “We’re doing this together, okay?”
Because she didn’t want him facing this potential ghost of his past alone. Maybe they could reason with his familiar this time around? She hadn’t come out and directly attacked them like she had last time. That had to count for something, right?
Probably not.
Nick nodded, and took Sabrina's hand. He heard the howl again, but it was quieter this time. Softer? At least he knew what direction to head off in as they tracked the source down.
They heard it twice more before almost literally stumbling upon the creature responsible for the noise. Coming to a sudden halt, Nick made sure Sabrina was steady before locking eyes with the wolf pup in the forest. He knelt down, holding out his hand for the wolf to investigate.
"Sabrina…" he said, voice awed as he stole a quick glance up at her. "I think… he's mine?"
He couldn't explain it, but somehow he knew that this wasn't just a lost wolf. He was meant to find him.
Sabrina smiled, watching the two of them before she knelt down too so she was at the wolf pups level. She had felt a similar connection when her hellhounds and the little salamander had found her in the woods. She just knew they were meant to find one another.
“Maybe he’s what you’ve been hearing for the last week or so?” Could he have been what had taken out some of the turkeys around the mortuary as well? “He was just trying to get your attention.”
She held out her hand for the wolf pup to sniff, keeping her movements slow because she didn’t want to spook it.
"It is," Nick agreed, letting the wolf acquaint himself with Sabrina, then grinning as the pup nudged her hand. It was important for the two of them to get along, but it didn't seem as though that was going to be a problem.
"So this is what having a familiar is meant to feel like?" he asked, because somehow he just knew. "He tried to fight off the turkeys, and didn't do too bad for as young as he is." He swore that wolf sat up a little straighter.
"Good to know I wasn't losing my mind." And that he wasn't being stalked by his old familiar.
Sabrina rubbed behind the wolf cub’s ears like Salem and the hounds seemed to appreciate, grinning as he turned his head even more into her hand. The curiosity that she heard in Nick’s voice tugged at her heart though. He really hadn’t gotten to experience what it was like to have a familiar like she had with Salem. Instead there had been a constant worrying over who Amalia might hurt next.
Maybe Vallo wasn’t so bad if it was giving him the little guy in front of them as a second chance. Even if it could have waited for after they were finished with the Lupercalia ceremony to show up.
“It is, yeah, and he’s pretty amazing.” She glanced over at Nick. “Do you know his name?”
"Shadow," Nick answered, nodding at the wolf. Again, he couldn't have explained how he knew the wolf's name, just that it was right. In mere minutes he'd bonded more with his new familiar than he had with Amalia the entire time he'd known her.
Of course, the circumstances were incredibly different.
He looked at the wolf, who's attention had turned back to him. "I have bad news. Salem's going to hate you. The good news is, I don't care."
Sabrina snorted. Nick wasn’t wrong. Salem was going to hate the added addition of Shadow. Probably even more because the wolf pup was going to be allowed into the mortuary, unlike the hounds or the fire lizard. “Just push him off the bed if he tries to hog the pillows.”
She turned her attention back to Nick. “We should probably take him home and show him around so he knows the mortuary?” she asked as she tied her cloak back around her neck.
It took a lot of effort to stop her from pouting over their ruined evening. Though, the little wolf pup did make up for it.
"Probably," Nick agreed. But before they did that, he turned to Sabrina, drawing a hand to her face and letting his fingers graze her skin before leaning in to kiss her. "Take this as an IOU?"
“I am definitely holding you to that.” She brushed her lips against Nick’s one more time before ruffling his hair. “Now come on. We should probably let everyone else in the mortuary know about Shadow too.” Because it wasn’t every day that a wolf was let into a house.
She took hold of Nick’s hand and tugged on it. “I’m leaving it to you to tell Claire that she can’t dress him up like she tries to do to the cats.”
"Do you think that will stop her from trying?" Nick asked, amused, as he took Sabrina's hand and looked to make sure Shadow was going to follow them. He was going to owe his girlfriend, but he'd take this Lupercalia interruption over the last one any time.
“Probably not. Salem has learned to accept the dress up time.” Probably because it got him an extra can of tuna after enduring it for an hour. She might need to give him another one after they introduced Shadow to him. And probably a bunch of extra cuddles and attention. It was worth it to see Nick smile though and be happy about having a familiar.
Nick was happy, though the way Vallo switched things up on him had given him pause. Things may have been too good. Maybe he hadn't shaken that feeling that it was all going to come crashing down.
But for now, he could force those thoughts out of his head. "You know, I think I still owe Claire a tea party. So at least I won't be leaving Shadow to fend for himself." Because he couldn't control what might happen, but he was at least going to enjoy the moment.