Prologue
What an unfortunate series of events.
Maelin
Did I expect to spend my day trapped within the heavy, sweaty, uncomfortable, and bulky confines of a fursuit?
Yes, actually.
But did I anticipate falling—in said fursuit—onto the lap of the most attractive man I have ever seen…?
Um.
No.
You see…it all started many, many moons ago…possibly on the night of a full one, when my fiancé of three years, at that time, had more likely than not been doing drugs.
“Maelin,” he’d said, looking sheepish, despite the wolf ears he was wearing, “I don’t think we can be together anymore.”
Naturally, I’d said, “You’re…breaking up with me…in cosplay?”
(I’m a very sane and stable sort of person, you see.)
(Harry…is not.)
Proving as much, he scowled at me as though I’d yeeted a puppy into the sun. “I’m not in cosplay .” The ire and disgust in his tone as he informed me of that persists to haunt my dreams to this day. “I’m a wolfkin . This is my calling, Mae. I’ve always been more than human. I’ve always known that. And I’ve found someone. Someone who understands me. I can no longer pretend to be solely human with you. Not when I’m so much more, not when I yearn for the wild abandon of a pack. I need to be in the sun and howl at the moon, Mae…and you’re like a dark cloud, blocking out my light.”
Yeah. Brutal. And confusing.
Flash forward a few months, and I am still trying to piece what exactly happened together.
I’ve scoured the internet and come to a conclusion that there are groups of people who wholeheartedly believe they are human and . They are called Otherkin or Therians or alterhumans. The and portion can include just about anything, even plants and robots. It is astounding sometimes to see how vast the world is, and how many people with vastly different understandings and beliefs inhabit it.
Now.
Am I one to judge people? On the whole? For whatever they believe of themselves or the world they find themselves in?
No. Absolutely not. You go, grasskin. I apologize if mowing my lawn hurts something deep inside you… Sincerely, I don’t entirely know how all this works. I just know that Sunset, West Virginia has some very, very strict rules about upkeep, and I need to maintain the house where my sister and I live, lest I identify as a homelesskin (haha).
Now…all this said…am I one to judge the decisions of my high school sweetheart, who I dedicated a freshman crush to, three dating years to, and now the past three years of engagement to?
Ab. So. Lute. Ly.
I mean, really , Harry? Really?
A wolfkin. All of a sudden you’re a wolfkin and you need a pack and—furthermore—I’m not a part of it?? After six years together, you’re throwing me away?
After six years, you can’t just tell me you’re a wolfkin and that I don’t understand you, while you’re wearing cheap faux fur ears you bought off Amazon. I could have made you an entire fursuit, boy. An en. ti. re. fursuit.
Which brings me back to the fursuit.
That I made.
And am wearing.
On top of Zakery Bachelor’s lap .
Um.
Is it hard to breathe in here? Or is that just the polyurethane foam snoot on my head? I could have sworn I followed the correct ventilation instructions, but, well…my lungs appear to be collapsing
“Are you all right?” Zakery asks, glancing sidelong at his table, which was displaying a slew of his comics and is now upended in front of a hundred or more gaping people.
It is, ahem, upended—of course—because I collided with it. Roughly thirty seconds ago.
Because. You know.
I was fleeing .
“My love!” Harry’s voice booms through the convention hall, drawing all kinds of attention well before he lifts his head and howls at the ceiling lights. “Where have you gone, you vision of beauty?” Harry locates me, locates Zakery, and growls, baring all his teeth. “ Get away from my mate. ”
Yelping, I fumble, desperate to get up. (Easier said than done in a fursuit, might I add.)
It isn’t until Zakery rises, placing me steadily on my feet that I manage to get my legs under me. I nod at him, grateful, but he grabs my paw before I can figure out my escape route.
“Clear the way!” he yells, then… Zakery Bachelor …is running in front of me, dragging my bulky fursuit-clad body through Sunny Con, and away from what I’m going to solidly and definitely say…is my crazy ex.