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How Not To Become Lunch: 26 - Don’t Make the Same Mistake Twice
“And this is one of my puppy teeth. And this is a stick from that tree. Oh! Here it is!”
Granny Bea was sitting on Sissy’s bed, watching with a smile as the pup dug through a large chest, excitedly explaining every little thing she pulled out. Her granddaughter’s energy was quite endearing, but she was starting to wonder if the chest would ever run dry.
“My Jack bib!” Sissy exclaimed, yanking out a bit of tattered fabric with a picture stuck to the front. She draped it over herself proudly for display and turned to show it off. Beatrix stared for a moment at the slightly crumpled picture of a much younger Jack. The picture clearly showed he’d been known here for a number of years, but putting it on a bib was a strange choice for a family who seemed so adamant to keep the human off the menu.
“Where’d you get that?”
“I made it. We were doing an art project in school, but all I could think about was how tasty Jack is.”
“Tasty?”
“Yeah! Jack’s the tastiest…” She licked her chops, starting to drool the more she talked about it, but then her dreamy smile sunk into a frown. “I can’t eat him, though,” she pouted.
“Oh, you looked so frightened downstairs, I thought you were worried about him getting eaten, like everyone else.” She spoke with a touch of relief; at least not everyone in her family had gone mad.
“I was worried someone else was gonna get him instead of me. He’s supposed to be mine, you know. He’s my first human, the first one I ever ate.”
“He’s what!?” Granny Bea exclaimed, jumping to her feet. “But then he should be in your belly! He should be gone!”
“I know,” Sissy agreed emphatically. Her tone said nearly as clearly: finally someone gets it!
“You got him all the way down?”
“Uh-huh. I snuck up on him one day after school and swallowed him all up. But then Fiona got really mad, and mommy said I shouldn’t have done that and made me let him out.”
“She did what!? My puppy’s first human!?” Bea looked for a moment as if she might actually shed a tear. “Unbelievable! Unacceptable! Inadmissible!”
Sissy’s tail started to wag. She couldn’t understand those words, but they felt like the right ones, the kind of words she had wished she could say to tell everyone that her not eating Jack was bad. Granny Bea turned to her with a stern gaze.
“Sissy, I will not have my grandpup deprived of such a special meal. That human is your food, and it’s far past time he found his place.”
Meanwhile, downstairs…
“I’m so sorry about all that, Jack,” Mrs. Lupella said over her shoulder. “If I’d remembered she was coming to visit, I wouldn’t have had you over today.”
“It’s my fault,” Jack replied to the werewolf’s back. “After what happened with Sissy, I should have learned not to trust every werewolf that walks through that door.” He shifted in his seat at the table, watching the motherly pred tend to her spices and meats.
“Oh, I wish you could, though. I’m sure it’s hard enough for you out there without having to be on guard in your own home- Oh, I mean I always thought of this as sort of a second home for you. Your parents left you here so often when you were little.
“Ah, I can still remember those days. Fiona was just a little pup, and you two were so cute when you’d play together. Oh, I could’ve just eaten you two up-! Oh, um, not literally, of course! I guess what I’m trying to say is just that I’m really happy you’re back here with us- and I’m sure Fiona is too. And as long as we’re around, we’ll both do our best to make sure that you’re as safe as can be in our home. I hope that at least helps you relax a little bit.”
“…”
“Jack?”
Mrs. Lupella turned around. Her tail went limp and her ears fell flat. Jack wasn’t sitting at the table anymore. In fact he was nowhere to be seen at all!
“Jack! Jack!!” she started to call. Her ears flicked back up and she scanned intently for a response, but none came.
Her nose twitched furiously, locking onto the strong, alluring scent that she often tried so hard to ignore. She followed it out of the kitchen, but it only led back to the front door where he’d entered a few minutes earlier. He’d just finished rinsing himself off from his unexpected voyage down the throats of her mother and daughter, and that left his fresh scent heavily dulled. She wouldn’t be able to find him by smell, and there was no trace of him by sight or sound.
She had a thought. She hesitated for a moment, but decided she had to make sure. She started upstairs in a hurry.
Mom wouldn’t really take Jack after what I said, would she? I know she’s never been one to care for humans, but…
She arrived at Sissy’s room and opened the door with a woosh. The little pup was sitting on the floor, with a blanket wrapped loosely all around her, and a board game laid out in front of her. Further away, Beatrix stood with her hands on the window, which she finished closing just as Winowa arrived. At a glance, it seemed that the grandma had just gotten up from their game to close the window because Sissy was getting cold.
“Have you seen Jack?” Mrs. Lupella asked, trying not to sound too panicked or accusing.
“Yes,” Granny Bea replied, growing a bit of concern after seeing the stress on her daughter’s face. “I just saw him through the window.”
“Outside!?”
“That’s right. You didn’t notice him leave?”
“He probably went to find Fiona,” Sissy chimed in. “They’re always together.”
“I’m going out after him to make sure he’s safe. Mom, can you watch Sissy?”
“Of course, dear.”
With that, Mrs. Lupella rushed back down the stairs and out of the house, not even bothering to close any doors behind her. She sniffed, but the only trace of Jack she could find led back inside. So instead she went with a different plan.
“Fiooona!!” she howled loudly.
If Jack had gone off to find her, maybe they were already together? And if not, searching for him together would give them a much better chance.
Oh, why did he run off like that? Does he not trust me enough to protect him? The thought pained her. She howled again for her daughter. Why should he? Some predator I am if I can’t even keep track of a marked human in my own home.
Her ears perked up as the sound of scampering feet reached them. She looked and saw Fiona, racing on all fours with a single catch in her mouth- a mammal about the size of her non-bulging belly. The girl skidded to a stop in front of her mother and dropped the dead meal from her mouth to her hands as she stood up.
“What’s wrong!? Why are you out here!? I thought you were watching Jack!”
“I can’t find him! One second he was sitting with me in the kitchen and the next he was gone!”
Fiona’s tail went limp and her ears fell flat- much like her mother’s had a few moments ago. Her eyes went wide and cold for a brief moment, but then they narrowed into a frustrated glare. She snarled quietly.
Dropping her catch to the ground and dropping back down onto all fours, she raced into the house. She rushed straight up the stairs and barged into her little sister’s room. Sissy and Granny Bea were both sitting on the floor at opposite sides of a board game.
They looked up at her as she entered, and she looked at them. Granny gave her a startled expression at her sudden appearance; Sissy was smiling as she entered, but then suddenly looked a bit nervous, shrinking back a bit further into the blanket she had wrapped around her.
With a stern, suspicious eye- not too unlike her mother’s- Fiona walked over and pulled the blanket away.
“Sissy,” Fiona scolded angrily. She kept her voice level, but she was clearly holding back a growl. “Let Jack out, right now.”
Just as she’d suspected, she’d ‘uncovered’ a large, bulging belly- thankfully still wriggling- nearly the size of the pup herself. Sissy wrapped her arms around it protectively as far as they could go.
“But- but granny said I could,” she whimpered. She licked her muzzle lightly as she talked, as if determined to hold in every last drop of her human’s taste.
“Well mom said you couldn’t.”
“But granny is mom’s mom!”
“What’s going on in here!?” came Mrs. Lupella’s voice as she arrived into the room behind Fiona.
“Sissy ate Jack again!”
“What!?” The mother looked at her little pup and saw the unmistakable bulge, wondering how she’d manage to miss it before. “Sissy!” she scolded. “How!?”
“I helped her, of course,” Beatrix said, standing up. “That right there is my little grandpup’s first human, how could I not?”
“Mom!” Winowa gasped. “That’s your other grandpup’s best friend!”
“Oh, nonsense. Humans are food, not ‘friends’. Fiona will be much happier with a real friend.”
“No!” Fiona denied. “Sissy! Please let Jack out of your belly,” she pleaded.
“No,” came the stern voice of their grandma. “That’s your meal. You earned it. You’ll let him out properly when he’s done digesting.”
Sissy’s head sank low, her ears back and flat. She hugged her belly tighter, but she was clearly nervous and unsure, feeling the weight of the pressure.
“Mom! Stop encouraging her to digest her sister’s friend!”
“Stop encouraging your daughter to make friends with food! Oh, where did I go wrong, Winnie? I tried so hard. How could I have taught you so poorly?”
*gurgle*
Fiona’s eyes had never left Sissy’s belly. While her mother and grandmother were busy arguing, it was busy trying to digest her best friend. It wouldn’t be waiting for them to decide, it would be working it’s hardest- it was right at that moment. Jack was in there struggling for his life against a force of nature he couldn’t possibly escape. And who knew how long he’d been in there? He could run out of air any second, or the digestive juices could start working their way inside him. She couldn’t afford to stand there while her elders quarreled. Jack couldn’t afford it.
She heard her pulse quickening in her ears, even as the voices of the two older werewolves grew louder.
*glorp*
Her claws dug into the floor. For all she knew the next sound could be a *crunch* and Jack would be gone. She couldn’t take it anymore.
“Ugh!!” She jumped forward and grabbed Sissy with one hand around her muzzle. In a familiar move, she used just a single set of fingers to press open the pup’s much smaller jaws as wide as she could. Then she took her other arm and shoved it, fist clenched, right down her sister’s throat.
While everyone else was shocked, her own shock was overcome by the surrealness of the sensation she’d just plunged into. It was a strange and alien thing for her, feeling the inside of another’s throat, and yet somehow still familiar. The sensation of the slick walls squeezing tight against her fur- in a reflex she knew so intimately- it was like standing outside one’s own body looking in.
*gulp* went Sissy.
“Fiona!” both adults shouted, but she ignored them.
“I’m here, Jack! I’ll get you out!”
Her arm plunged down, just as she intended, and she felt around. It wasn’t easy. With Jack inside, Sissy’s stomach was just as tight as her throat- if not more so. And every surface of her meal’s body would be covered in thick layers of slime, making it feel quite similar to her own innards.
Sissy wiggled and gave muffled wines and whimpers of protest, but they were more to show her discomfort than anything else. Encumbered with such a full belly there wasn’t much she could do short of biting off her sister’s arm, and she would never even think of doing something like that- not even for a meal as tasty as Jack.
It was Jack’s clothes that finally gave Fiona the sign that she had reached him. The rough texture of his pants felt distinct, even soaked through with the little werewolf’s eager digestive soup. From there, she worked her way around the contours of his panicking body, pressing herself in even deeper until she finally found his arm, and then, a moment later, his hand.
She grabbed hold, and in a moment of immense relief, she felt Jack hold her right back. Taken with a sudden surge of strength, she pulled.
*shhhluuurp*
Fur and skin slid against the inner walls of the little werewolf’s throat. Jack, stewing upside-down in the pup’s belly, felt the tug as his arm was pulled up into the tight passage, dragging his whole body along with it. The lumps in the little werewolf’s engorged belly that were Jack’s outline shifted radically as the boy was pulled right-side-up again, slipping swiftly against the slimy stomach lining.
Sissy finally gave in.
*BLECH!*
The little werewolf squeezed her uncomfortable gut tight, with both her arms and her innards, and it deflated like an untied balloon. Jack came squelching from the pup’s maw, pulled by Fiona the whole way, and out onto the floor- covered thickly in slime from head to foot- so much that you could hardly believe it had all come from one little pup.
He took a huge, gasping breath, and his chest started heaving. Fiona could feel his pulse hammering through his hand as he clenched her tightly. She squeezed right back- leaving just barely enough room for his circulation- and crouched beside him as he sprawled out. She knew better than to ask if he was alright, he’d be far too out of it to answer right away, instead she just looked him over, checking for any obvious signs of injury.
“*gasp*! Where are your manners!?” Granny Bea asked sharply. “Grabbing another predator’s meal right out of their belly!? And your own sister’s!?”
That nearly drove Fiona to snap- in a manner she’d almost surely regret later- but luckily Mrs. Lupella beat her to it.
“Mother! That is enough!”
Everyone stopped to look at her. Feeling her children’s eyes on her, she took a curt breath.
“We are going to have a discussion. Come with me. Right now.” She pointed toward the door.
Beatrix looked at her daughter- more like a resentful child- but said nothing and walked out. Winowa Lupella was close behind. As their footsteps departed down the hall, Fiona let out her breath.
“Oh, that was way too close,” she exhaled.
She brought her free hand to her face in an expressive gesture and felt a wet glob against her fingertips. She brushed it quickly off her forehead and then shook her hand, grimacing lightly in disgust. Sissy’s spit had flown just about everywhere when she’d let Jack out; good thing this was her room. Of course that little drop had been nothing compared to what her arm was covered in after its little excursion down the pup’s throat. She looked down the length of her limb at the wet, matted fur. Then she reached Jack’s hand, and of course what covered her arm was nothing compared to what was covering every inch of his panting body. Come to think of it, those were still active digestive juices, weren’t they?
“Come on, Jack, we should get you cleaned up.” She let go of his hand, but only to slip her arms underneath him so she could lift him up. He mumbled something entirely incomprehensible. She stood up with him in her arms and started towards the door.
“Wait…” came the quietest, timid voice of a pup.
Fiona turned and saw her sister standing with her arms behind her back and her muzzle pointed forlornly toward the ground.
“…Could I come with you to your room?” Sissy asked with the hint of a whimper, looking up with sad puppy dog eyes.
Fiona knew that face, it was Sissy’s ‘I want to be with you’ face, though a bit sadder than usual. Fiona’s own expression grew mildly annoyed and incredulous. Is she seriously asking that after what she just pulled? She’s lucky I don’t-
“I’m sorry I ate Jack again,” the pup said, her nose twitching as she looked away.
That caught Fiona off guard and shifted her mood quite a bit. It was an odd apology to be sure; she could tell her little sister wasn’t sorry to Jack, and didn’t even fully regret what she’d done, but she did know that eating Jack made her big sister upset, and that was something she regretted. And this was the first time she’d ever apologized for going after him, so it was certainly a step in the right direction.
Still, Fiona wasn’t about to give the pup another chance at it. But before she could turn her down, Sissy spoke up again.
“My belly’s all empty now, and my throat hurts.” She almost sounded like she might start to cry.
Fiona had just pulled a big meal straight out of her, that couldn’t have been the nicest of feelings. Even if that ‘meal’ had been Jack- actually, especially since it had been Jack. And she knew from recent events that having an arm suddenly shoved down your throat wasn’t the most pleasant experience. Not to mention the conflicting orders from her mom and grandma, both yelling at her.
Now the little pup just looked so sad, and all she wanted was some of her big sister’s company. Could Fiona really leave her all alone in an empty room with an empty belly?
How did she manage to make me feel guilty?
“Fine,” Fiona said begrudgingly. “But only if you promise not to try anything else today, Jack’s had enough.”
Sissy nodded silently, in the most eager, sincere manner an incorrigible pup like her could manage.
Fiona’s expression relaxed into a vague smile. This was definitely a step in the right direction- not that she’d be letting her guard down for a second. She gestured toward the door with her snout, and carrying Jack she walked out with her little sister close behind.
…
Several minutes later Jack had recovered enough to reliably operate a shower, and Fiona had showed him into her bathroom after washing her own arms and picking out a new shirt (carrying him had been messy business). Now the sound of running water was just part of the background, and both Fiona and Sissy sat on the older sibling’s bed, the pup kicking her furry legs as they talked.
“So it was granny who grabbed Jack away from mom, and figured out how to hide him?”
Sissy nodded, and Fiona took a few moments to process.
“Wow, she’s a really good predator,” she muttered. Upset or not, she had to acknowledge that took some skill. She wished she could feel more proud of that skill, rather than concerned about how it might be put to use.
They heard the water in the bathroom turn off, signaling Jack would be coming out soon. Fiona knew there was no other entrance than the door she was watching, but she still felt compelled to remain on alert, so she listened closely to his footsteps as he stepped out of the shower, just to make sure nothing out of the ordinary was happening inside.
“He was really tasty today,” Sissy chimed in after a few moments. “I think he might even be getting tastier. What do you think?”
“What!? How should I know?! And stop talking about him like that!”
“You mean you don’t even taste him when you hang out?”
“Of course not! I don’t want to eat him, remember?”
“Yeah, but you don’t have to eat him to-”
Their conversation was interrupted by the rattle of the doorknob as it turned, and then in stepped their mother, clearly still brushing off the end of her ‘discussion’ with Beatrix. They both stopped and looked to her.
“Are you girls alright?” she asked, trying to sound casual.
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Fiona replied.
“Where’s Jack?”
“He’s washing up.” She nodded toward the bathroom door. “Where’s granny?”
“Downstairs,” was all Winowa replied.
A moment later there was another rattle and the bathroom door opened. Everyone looked, expecting to see Jack, but no one came out. Fiona was just about to call worriedly when his reluctant voice crept through the doorway.
“Promise me you won’t laugh,” he said.
Fiona hesitated. Promising to keep Jack alive was one thing, but this might be hard.
“Okay,” she replied after a moment.
Jack stepped out.
“Pfff hahahahaha!” But it was Sissy who was laughing… and pointing and tumbling over on her big sister’s bed. Fiona managed to restrain herself to a large smirk, which she did her best to cover with one hand.
Jack’s clothes were, of course, very messy from his gastrointestinal trip. They’d take some time to clean, and even then something would have to be done about the new holes. So in the meantime he had no choice but to wear some of Fiona’s, which she was kind enough to lend. Jack hadn’t been thrilled about the idea, but since the only alternative was wearing nothing but a towel, he took it.
Now he stood there blushing, somehow more embarrassed by Fiona’s suppressed smile than Sissy’s roaring laughter. The clothes were a bit small for him, but being pred clothes they were stretchy enough for him to get them on- after all, they were designed to accommodate prey, though that usually meant inside a belly. While that did allow them to ‘fit’, they were far from fitting. And they were made for a girl, after all, leaving them uncomfortably tight in certain places, to the point where they were almost revealing.
He was so humiliated that it took him a number of seconds before he even noticed Mrs. Lupella standing by the door. She startled him just a bit. She was smiling, but only dimly, and her eyes seemed troubled.
“Are you okay, Jack?” she asked sympathetically.
“Yeah, I think I’m fine,” he replied, trying to shrug off his embarrassment. He did his best to smile before looking away, but he found his eyes lingering on the open door behind her. There were three werewolves present, which still left one unaccounted for- the one he was worried about.
“…I want to apologize,” Mrs. Lupella said, picking up on his concern. He focused back on her; she seemed even more troubled now. “I said I would watch you and instead I let you get eaten. I tried to find you and I let her trick me. And then I stood there arguing while my own daughter was digesting you. I should have remembered she was coming to visit in the first place. I shouldn’t have let any of this happen. I hope you can forgive me, Jack.”
“Hold on a minute, you shouldn’t have to apologize for anything,” Jack replied, shaking his head and walking closer. “You were trying to help me. Except for Fiona- your other daughter- you do more for me than any pred in the world. You have no idea how much I appreciate just being able to be in this room without getting eaten. Please, don’t blame yourself for how other preds act.”
“Yeah, it’s not your fault some predators have no respect,” Fiona added (disrespectfully). While some of that might have been directed at her little sister, still giggling as she crawled closer to Jack to get a better look, it was clear most of it was directed at her absent grandmother.
“*sigh* Your grandmother was raised… differently. Her grandfather was a part of The Great Hunt, he helped storm some of the last all-human towns. In his day humans weren’t anything but food. The two of them were very close when she was growing up, I can only imagine he rubbed off on her quite a bit.”
Winowa turned her gaze to Jack. “Your mother and I got along famously, but she was never a fan. No matter what I told her, she would always insist I should’ve gone through with eating your mom instead of making friends with her. She even tried it herself a number of times- with your mom and your dad…”
Mrs. Lupella sighed again, half-frowning as she reminisced. “I never could get my mother to understand, but at least my children do: some humans are far better as friends than food.”
Fiona looked at her and smiled; that was a mother she could be proud of.
“Hey!!” came Jack’s alarmed yelp.
Everyone looked at him, but what they noticed was Sissy. He was standing next to the bed, clutching one hand close to his chest, and she was on all fours at the edge of the mattress, her neck extended in his direction, her tongue having just slipped back into her muzzle.
“Sissy!” both the other werewolves scolded in unison.
“No no! I promise I wasn’t gonna eat him again! I just wanted one more lick…” She smacked her lips lightly even while putting on the most innocent expression you’d ever seen.
Fiona grumbled and glared.
Well, at least one of my children understands, Mrs. Lupella thought.
“Sissy, you need to learn some manners,” she said. “That was in very poor taste.”
“… I thought he tasted pretty good,” the pup mumbled, sounding a bit confused.
Jack couldn’t help it, despite the circumstances he started to chuckle and then burst out laughing.
“What?” Sissy asked.
That was enough to get Fiona going too, and before long the whole room was laughing, all except poor Sissy.
Just another day in the Lupella house.