#wv02

Happy Lupercalia / Valentine’s Day / Horny Werewolf Day! You don’t have to be a fan of romance to sink your claws into WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE, our 176-page PDF of thematically relevant of werewolf fiction, comics, and art. 

Check out the wv02 tag for previews and teasers!

An excerpt from Stephanie Gallon's story, as seen in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE.

A wolf stood in the path.

Red shrieked and scurried back until she was pressed against a tree, her eyes never leaving the beast. She tried to run to safety, but her foot got caught under the tree root. She tumbled to the floor, her basket spilling the flowers. The wolf advanced towards her, slowly padding over the petal path. It stopped at her feet, teeth bared. It growled.

Red lay still, frozen in fear, heart racing and tears streaming. She screwed her eyes shut, waiting for the wolf to attack. She whispered a fevered prayer.

‘Blessed are thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.’

The wolf howled and licked her cheek. Red let out a single shocked laugh and flinched away. The wolf whimpered and nuzzled Red’s hand. Tentatively, she stroked its black fur and it bowed its head to her.

Once her heart had calmed and she had the strength to stand, Red gathered her flowers and walked the path home, mindful that the wolf followed her steps. Sometimes it would brush against her legs, its tail flicking her hands in playful teasing. She entertained thoughts of throwing it a stick as she had seen other children do with their pets. In the end though, she decided against it. She worried what she would do when the creature followed her into the village, but the moment she stepped out of the woods, the wolf lay down and whined.

‘I’m sorry, girl... but I can’t stay here. People can’t live in the woods,’ she said.

The wolf only snorted in the ground and looked up at her with pitiful amber eyes. Red was moved by the sight, and reached out to stroke the beast one more time.

Read the rest in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE. Download the entire issue for any price from Gumroad or Itch.io, and explore the entire WEREWOLVES VERSUS catalogue here.

An excerpt from Dan Wallbanks's story, as seen in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE.

A junior officer with tawny fur and a missing ear approached Valentinus, lolling tongue the only sign of exertion from the night’s operation. He dropped to all fours in deference. “Magister.”

“Yes, optio?”

“The male prisoners have been separated from the column, and disarmed. But we are having some difficulty keeping order among the mothers and children. We terrify them in this shape... enough so that they think fleeing offers a better chance at survival than accepting their fate.”

Valentinus reared up on his hind legs with a huff, and grinned at his lieutenant. Not a year ago, this one – Mettius, that was his name – was still an aspirant, barely able to conceive of what he would become. He had recovered from the change more swiftly than most, and since then had proved a quick study and a capable leader.

“Mettius, you are Roman-born, yes? Have you traveled much outside of the peninsula?”

“No, Magister.”

“You will. And when you do, you will come to learn the great and terrible truth of mankind.” Valentinus looked Mettius in the eye, a sad, solemn tone darkening his change-roughened voice.

Mettius waited patiently for him to continue, tail twitching absently side-to-side.

“If you are attentive, and wise, then you will come to learn that we often have more in common with those we fight, than we do with any one of our countrymen. These prisoners of ours, for example. Mark their wardrobe. Hides of beasts, bits of bone decoration. Rome calls them ‘barbarians’ because they are nearer to the earth than to the heavens. But as luperci, our faith makes them kin of a sort. If we preached to them of Faunus, do you think they would not understand?”

“No. No, I see. The gods do not care about the borders men draw. But then what is this great and terrible truth?”

Valentinus let silence hang a moment before he answered:

“The truth is that we kill them anyway, Mettius. Do you see? They do not fear us because we are beasts... they fear us because we are also men.”

An excerpt from Chris Khanna's story, as seen in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE.

More of Chris Khanna's work can be found here.

Mirela held her breath, her neck and back taut, toes and fingers tense. Her lithe, muscular arms ready to strike, her feet positioned to flee. Yet she turned with grace, sliding the paper she held into the hem of her uniform. Mirela smiled, ready to greet the entrant, but nothing in the room moved, and no one was at the doorway. Her nose twitched. A faint scent of smoke wafting from the smoking room, where the master of the house spent his evening. Searching more carefully, she recognized that she was the sole occupant of the room. Her teeth snapped and her hackles raised; someone had certainly been watching her.

The smell of that awful American weed choked and dulled her senses and grew more potent as she edged toward the safety of the servant’s quarter. A small snort followed by a heavy sigh accompanied closed eyes and a crooked neck. Firelight danced on his sharp features. The master of the house was not a good man, but she was unsurprised. Money and power always went hand in hand with a lack of kindness and morality. Her finger pinched at her hidden parcel. Her task was nearly completed – so close she could taste it, and yet with that thought came a deep foreboding.

Regret was an unfamiliar concept, and she felt the onset of terror at the mere possibility that it might sink its teeth into her chest. She wondered again why she had chosen this family, why she’d chosen this... profession, but the answer was obvious; she had no choice. Any lengthy period in a single place brought questions, and just as wealth brought cruelty, questions brought misery. No one asked for a life like hers, but one had to do what it took to live, and despite everything she’d experienced, she had embraced life.

The lady of the house, though, made her heart heavy. Lillian was so inexperienced. To have her life torn apart so young! She had such a large capacity for kindness, and given the right nudge and environment, might grow into an amazing mate. The word bubbled up from deep in her psyche with such intensity and force that her fingernails dug into her palms. Heightened senses detected the scent of danger below the stench of tobacco. Her other side itched below the surface, ready to pounce and use teeth to take what she so dearly wanted.

Cages

True love transcends class and shape. A preview of Cassandra Aponte's illustration from WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE. It accompanies Chris Khanna's beautiful story "Cages".

See the rest of the image (and read the story) in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE! Download the entire issue for $1 or more from Itch.io! Your purchase will benefit all of the contributors to this issue.

The Quickest Way to a Man’s Heart...

A preview of Ben Geldenhuys's illustration in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE.

See the rest in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE! Download the entire issue for $1 or more at Itch.io! Your purchase will benefit all of the contributors to this issue.

Get a copy of Ben's Werewolf Colouring Book (which contains art like this and so much more) right here!

Mothman Vs Werewolf

A preview of K. Pennington's comic published in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE.

See the rest in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE! Download the entire issue for any price on Gumroad or Itch.io! Your purchase will benefit all of the contributors to this issue.

Out of Love

When she wants to bring you home on the first date and it's a full moon, consider that you may be dessert. A preview of Todd A. McCullough's comic from WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE.

Read the rest in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE! Download the entire issue for $1 or more from Itch.io! Your purchase will benefit all of the contributors to this issue.