I don't know how long my brain erratically whipped through everything that had happened, but I lay on the bed and tried to figure out what I wanted, the solution to an impossible decision, a gamble that would change everything.

I swallowed hard. I felt terrible about my conflicted emotions. How could I have feelings for both of them? How was the decision not instantly obvious?

Even after everything he had done to me, it was obvious I had managed to develop feelings for Serge, but Matthias was something else altogether.

He was my friend, loyal and fun. He was also undeniably attractive and was definitely not just the boy I grew up with anymore. I had locked him in the friend box in my mind and I had never wanted to risk screwing that up.

But he had ripped lid off and here we were. The lid was in pieces, one way or another this box was not going to be closed again.

At some point my life had gone full on rpg and I had been cast as the poor, helpless princess. Perhaps Matthias was the hero on an epic quest to rescue me.

Serge did not have the makings of a final boss, but the curse sure as hell would suffice. Serge was more like a tortured and conflicted mini-boss who would dramatically switch sides somewhere near the end of the game.

Perhaps my comparison of myself to a helpless damsel should have annoyed me, but I could not bring myself to mind. The idea was sort of romantic. Plus, Matthias would look very good with a sword, battling minions on his way to rescue me.

I already loved Matthias and I let my mind wander over my millions of memories with the friend I knew so well and considered the possibilities. He had told me that he loved me and that was after he already knew everything about me. He was safe and comfortable, but the prospect of changing what we already was exciting and new.

The magic slapped me for my optimistic thoughts, but I pushed it aside.

Of course the magic did not want me to have anything, but I was so tired of it pushing me around.

I dragged myself to my feet and ignored the anxious prickles that attacked me. Denizen watched me and then followed me out of my room. I glanced around the house for Matthias, but I could not see him. I would have been more shocked to see him sitting there in Serge's house, patiently waiting for me to make my decision.

It was not Matthias's style. He would be running in the forest to wear off his anger and worry. Plus he obviously still loathed Serge more than I had realized. I supposed that I must have missed that too, just like it had taken me so long to clue in to Matthias's actual feelings.

I had thought I had known everything about my friend, but there was obviously still a lot left to discover.

Some unknown amount of time had passed while I lay in bed musing, but there was still a chance he might be nearby, maybe sitting on the back deck, maybe lurking nearby in the shadows of the forest. I pushed out the front door, ignoring the prickling anxiety that rushed over me and I wandered around the yard, but there was no sign of Matthias.

What he was thinking? Did he believe I had refused him because I did not answer immediately? He probably did, he tended to react first and think second. He was probably already running home.

Could I catch him if I tried to run after him? At least I could follow his scent if I transformed. He was likely to already be too far away for me to reach in my circumference, but he also might be lying in the bush somewhere like a great moping dog that did not get a treat.

I smiled a bit at the comparison and the fear attacked again.

I was tired of that magic. I hoped that letting myself fall in love with Matthias would dislodge the curse. I wanted my life back.

If that did not work, at least I could have some kind of life with Matthias, if he still wanted to take that risk with me. It would be hard to manage since I had to be near Serge, but...

Marched into the trees, I slipped off my clothing and lent myself to the change. I could almost feel each human cell of my body slip into its corresponding wolf form. Moments later I stood there on four legs. I picked up my clothing in my mouth and began to search for Matthias's scent.

It was not hard to find his trail. Back home it had been a lot harder to track him since his scent was much more common, but here there were only two fresh trails and I knew which way he had come so I could follow him through simple process of elimination.

I hoped I would catch him. Now that I had made up my mind, I did not want to have to wait until the next time he visited to tell him my decision—if he even visited, considering he had as likely as not jumped to all the wrong conclusions—or worse, tell him on a phone call.

Or maybe I could write him a letter, as he kept doing for me.

No, I wanted to tell Matthias in person. I wanted to see his reaction and I could not ask Serge to take me there to see him after everything that had happened.

I hurried through the forest in a mad dash so much like the one I had made to that fateful battle, but this time, it was the right thing to do.

I was fast, but so was Matthias. I might not even be able to catch up to him. Instead I tried a different method. I let out a long howl.

If he could hear he would recognize my canine voice and slow down, or even turn around.

Moving more cautiously forward, I passed my previous boundaries. The ever present curse fear was there, but it had not become worse. Perhaps even making the final decision had lightened its hold on me already, or perhaps my safe radius had expanded over time without me noticing.

I was light as I continued running. This was almost as good as before the whole mess began. Even if I did not find Matthias today, I felt great, although the idea made a little lump form in the pit of my stomach.

I howled again and charged forward. Could he hear me? I recklessly went beyond my usual circumference, although I did not know where the actual border was since I never dared to test it again before today.

And then my question was answered, because there he was. He was standing on top of rocky outcrop and was looking at me with quiet seriousness. I well recognized his dark grey fur, I had seen him in this form on and off for something like a decade and a half.

One of my earliest memories was when we were three or four and we had been playing in my backyard while our mothers watched us from lawn chairs. To everyone's surprise, Matthias had turned quite suddenly into his wolf form. He had ripped his clothing a bit, but his mother had been so delighted she had been completely unconcerned about the accidental destruction. He had been an adorable pup.

He was not nearly so small or fluffy now. I trotted up to him and I could tell by the way he held himself that he was happy to see me, but was also tense with worry. I dropped my clothing in a pile on the ground and closed the distance between us. I rubbed my fur along his side as came up to him and playfully nipped at his face. He relaxed a bit, but uneasy questions still lurked in his eyes.

I met them and reclaimed my clothes before disappearing from his sight into the trees. I flowed back into human and I quickly dressed myself.

"I'm coming back, Matt, are you dressed?" I asked him loudly.

"Yes," he called back.

I marched out of the trees.

"So?" he asked. His stance was no less tense as a human, although he tried to look nonchalant by leaning against a rock.

I walked a bit closer. "My answer is yes."

"What?" he asked. A tentative smile began in the corners of his mouth. "Really?"

"Yeah," I agreed.

He was quiet for a moment. I saw the exact moment when Matthias decided that he did not care to talk. It was Matthias's turn to remove the space between us.

His mouth was on mine before I could even think of a thing to say.

The curse raged at me and swept waves of fear over me, but I focused on his heat of his mouth on mine and knew that I had made no mistake as the kiss deepened. Excitement rushed through me, pushing away even the prickles of fear.

Why had I not thrown caution to the wind and tried this years ago? I wrapped my hands around Matthias's neck and his hands rested on my waist. He continued to claim my mouth in the most perfect way imaginable and I smiled with the pure happiness filling me up.

He broke the kiss and asked, "What is it?"

I grinned up at him. "To think we wasted all that time playing games."

He laughed. "I wouldn't say completely wasted, but yeah," he agreed. Then he paused. "And you're sure?"

His unusual insecurities brought me a swell of affection and an urge to smooth away his distress. "Yes," I told him. I had made up my mind and I would live with the results.

He kissed me again and I could feel heat building up, warding off the curse with the feelings inside me. I grinned at him. I felt a bit shy as I spoke again. "You know, I did think about you this way once or twice, Matt."

"Really?"

"But I thought you weren't interested, you know?"

"Yeah, I guessed. You would not have let me drag along so long if you did," he said.

We kissed again. He was really good at this.  Did he have practice with someone that he never told me about?  I decided I did not want to know.

"True, although maybe not. You're my best friend and I did not want to wreck that, Matt."

He nodded. "I know that feeling, Elise."

"I'm really happy," I told him earnestly. The feeling was strong enough to push past the magic for a moment.

"I thought you would choose him."

I paused. I always told him everything and I wanted to be honest going forward.

"I do care about h-him."

"I know."

"But this is something more, you know?" I indicated that I meant us with his hand. "But there is one thing," I said hesitantly.

Matthias looked at me warily, but he did not increase the distance between us.

"You know that this whole love thing isn't guaranteed to break the thrall curse, right, Matt? I might just be stuck like this."

"I know that," he agreed.

"What will we do if I'm still like this after everything?" I asked him.

He smiled. "Then we'll keep trying to find a way to break it together."

There was an embarrassed sweet sort of twinge before the curse slowly dissolved it back to tension.

"Sort of like an epic quest," I joked to ease my awkwardness.

He laughed at me. "Nerd."

I scoffed. "That sounds a bit like a drug dealer calling his client a criminal." He knew as well as I did I probably would have never even tried a game if it was not for his influence.

"Sounds like you're making excuses," he said and he dipped his head and he kissed me again.