Little Gil Shelbourne

Werewolf or human

He leaned over his sons cradle deep in the night. His son was still learning the difference between his father's werewolf appearance and human appearance. Mayor Shelbourne remembered the first time Gil saw him like this. He couldn't tell if his infant son really knew he was the same person. One thing he really wanted to avoid was Gil screaming at night thinking he was in the hands of a scary stranger.

Gil was just beginning to wake up, and mayor Shelbourne panicked for moment, about to jerk away from the cradle. Then, he thought again. How will his son ever understand that his father, whether a werewolf or a human, was the same person? Of course he was too young to actually understand it. However, maybe he could get Gil to recognize him somehow, whenever he was in wolf form.

Gil began to whine as he couldn't see his father. He whimpered looking for his father. Oh not the crying.. mayor Shelbourne thought to himself, ANYTHING but that! His son's voice irritated him to absolutely no end. He was dreading the day his son would say his first word. Then he would only talk more and more and more. He was dreading the day Gil would say (daddy) for the first time. Mayor Shelbourne was reminded again that he did this to himself.

He approached the cradle slowly not to startle his son. He looked down at his whimpering boy, and reached down and scooped him up with his big claws. He looked down at his boy in his arms. Gil looked up to his big wolf man of a father. Gil's eyes looked rather confused. The expression of confusion turned into a frightened look. Gil began to whimper again. No no no no no! Mayor Shelbourne said softly. Shhh, hush Gil! It's daddy!

Although even mayor Shelbourne's voice was a bit different when he was in werewolf form. It was much lower and had a growl like tone to it. It probably scared Gil. Mayor Shelbourne decided to talk very softly, hoping Gil would recognize the sound of his voice at least a little bit. This was definitely something they would have to work on. He couldn't explain it, but he felt more of a parental instinct as a werewolf more so than when he is a human. What Mayor Shelbourne didn't know was wolves, even father wolves, are naturally very protective of their pups.

He had the wolf instinct inside, even if he didn't know it. Even if his son was the most annoying thing on earth, he still felt that instinct. Gil cried out some more. Mayor Shelbourne knew Gil was crying out for him. Gil was crying for his father, he didn't realize he was in his father's arms! It was a cold night, mayor Shelbourne grabbed a blanket and wrapped his son in it. He talked very softly to him.

Mayor Shelbourne set Gil back down in the cradle, which only seemed to upset him further. Perhaps it was time for a bottle. He must be hungry, mayor Shelbourne thought to himself. He picked up his screaming son again. Gil hush! What did I say about screaming right near daddy!?? You're going to make daddy go deaf! Mayor shelbourne held him in his big strong werewolf arms. He went down stairs the mansion fixed up a bottle and came back up to his bedroom.  He made sure Gil was dressed warm and covered in blankets.

He set Gil down in his cradle for a moment while he decided to make things more comfortable. It was rather cold, so he turned up the heat, he got extra blankets, and pillows for them both to be comfortable. He picked Gil back up and then got into his own bed. Gil screamed until finally mayor Shelbourne held the bottle for him. Gil was finally content. He ate happily. Mayor Shelbourne wondered if Gil was really crying because his father looked scary, or if it's because he was hungry. Sometimes he really just couldn't tell.

Mayor Shelbourne held his baby close and watched him drink the bottle. Gil's light blue eyes looked up into his father's. Gil didn't look as scared this time. Mayor Shelbourne remembered a few times when he was hunting out in the woods at night, if people saw him they would scream. Grown people would scream and then run away just from looking at him in wolf form. All the more reason to expose Gil to his werewolf appearance as young as possible so he would get use to it. He HAD to get use to it.

Mayor Shelbourne took the bottle after Gil finished it and set it aside. He placed a large claw on his son's face to gently stroke his cheek, which calmed Gil from time to time. He had to stroke from the back of his claw instead, as they were so sharp he had to be extremely cautious not to accidentally cut his son's flesh. Gil then grabbed his father's big claw in his tiny little hands. He grabbed one of the long black nails of the claw. At first mayor Shelbourne was worried Gil would accidentally cut himself if he tried to suck on the claw. However he was falling asleep. It turns out maybe Gil would get use to this after all. Gil slept on mayor Shelbourne's belly. They were cozy and warm all night.