The spirit wolf lay in his comfortable den and yawned, stretching out as he felt the mortals approach.

"What will they want this time?" He murmured to himself, eyes blinking lazily as he contemplated the bright, approaching specs of life force. "Mmm." Then his sleep glazed eyes strayed over the large, earthen burrow that served as his main den.

He had others, but this one was his favorite. The ground had just the right coolness, the moss was just the right amount of plush. He fed that on his own power, keeping it lush and verdant for his tired body. Beautiful streamers of luminescent growths decorated the ceiling, dripping down like Spanish moss. They were a cool blue but he could command them to go out with a flick of his power, plunging the den into darkness. That was good, when he needed to sleep. All in all, it was a very plush den. And there was a side room for the few occasions he sought to entertain mortals. Would he be using it today? Only if the mortals proved interesting. If not, they could suffer without.

As the mortals entered his den, the spirit wolf raised his head curiously. Then a subtle scent of corruption reached his nostrils and he flipped to his feet, growling as he looked over his visitors.

One was a man with black hair and stubbly beard. The other was a boy with orange hair, barely out of childhood to the spirit wolf's eyes. The scent was coming from him and the wolf felt no sympathy. He knew what this was, now. It was the first time someone had dared approach him for this, but he knew what it was about.

"Oh great spirit of the forest, we have come to ask you to remove your curse from my son." The man's voice was clearly an attempt at supplication but the spirit wolf could hear the anger beneath.

"Really. And why should I do that?" The wolf rumbled, slate grey eyes narrowed as he looked at the orange haired boy. Brown eyes met grey fearlessly and that angered he spirit wolf. He paced forward and the boy held his place, scowling. Then he stopped, waiting for a response as he met those eyes. Did the boy understand that looking into his gaze this way was a challenge?

"My son is only sixteen. He does not deserve to suffer this way." The man said and he spirit wolf felt very little sympathy. He looked at the father for a moment, meeting his angry brown eyes. Then he looked back at the boy.

"But he does." He flatly contradicted the man. "Have you not told him?" He asked the boy, who suddenly looked uncertain. But that was no surprise. He had to have a very good idea of what had caused this.

"…Told him what?" The boy said, his voice strong. But the spirit wolf could hear the hint of worry beneath.

"About the innocent life you took." The wolf said evenly and brown eyes suddenly went wide. The anguish in them did surprise the wolf. "Was it done in anger? A crime of passion? Whose blood stains your hands?" He asked and the boy took a step back, shaking his head in denial. The father looked shocked by the accusation.

"My son would never do such a thing!" He said sharply. The spirit wolf flicked him a glance before looking back at the boy. He was trembling with emotion, his hands balled into fists.

"But he did. My curse is quite specific. It can only be triggered by the death of an innocent." He said softly and the orange haired boy suddenly covered his face with his hands. "You must have guessed. The timing would have been quite suspicious…"

"Shut up!" The boy suddenly burst out before sobbing. It was a harsh, jagged sound. "I – I didn't mean to! He… I didn't mean to hurt him! Dad I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" The father was staring at his son in horror.

"It's… true? Ichigo, what did you…?" He asked before taking his son in his arms. The spirit wolf listened as the story came out.

The boy was young, but he'd recently discovered that he was attracted to other men. He'd had a good friend, a handsome young man that he'd been quietly longing for. So he'd managed to convince him to join him on a cliff, a very romantic spot before he'd confessed his feelings.

It hadn't gone well. To say the other boy was rejecting would have been an understatement. They had fought and it had gotten physical. That in itself would have been nothing but –

"I – I shoved him. I didn't… the cliff broke and he…" The boy – Ichigo – broke down again as his father looked stricken, trying to comfort him. From the look on his face, he hadn't been aware of his son's inclinations. As they were absorbed in each other the spirit wolf sighed and concentrated, shifting to his human form. Then he walked over and gently set a hand on both of their shoulders. The father and boy both looked at him, their eyes widening as they took in his human appearance.

"Perhaps there is some hope for you. Please, come with me and we will discuss it." He said before turning away. He was naked, but that meant nothing to him. Although he was cold, without any fur to warm him. The den was cozy for a wolf, not a man.

Clothing waited for him in the side room and he put it on, doing up the rough ties. It was clothing of buckskin and he'd made it himself. Turning to his visitors he saw they were looking around awkwardly, trying to avoid looking at him. Smiling slightly, he addressed them.

"Would you like some tea?" Although it wasn't really tea. It was dried mushrooms and herbs. He steeped them in water when he had the urge, which was rarely. The father shook his head but the boy nodded hesitantly, meeting his eyes for a moment. The spirit wolf nodded before breaking the contact and preparing the tea. He used just a touch of power to heat the pot. "Please, have a seat. May I ask your names?" The boy was Ichigo but that was all he knew.

"I am Kurosaki Isshin. This is my son, Ichigo." The man said. He still sounded a bit off, unsurprisingly. He'd received a terrible shock. The spirit wolf nodded as he set out the tea for Ichigo and himself and a bit of cool water for Isshin.

"My name is Coyote Starrk." He introduced himself as he took a seat. He paused to sip his tea. "Before we begin there is one thing you should know… I cannot lift this curse." He said softly and Ichigo swallowed as Isshin frowned at him. "I am a spirit wolf. We do not have curse magic. I bargained for this curse with a queen of the unseelie court. If you wish, I could give her permission to lift it and then you could bargain with her, but I would frankly recommend against it. Any price she would exact would be too high." Starrk paused for a moment then smiled, sadly. "I was indentured to her for a hundred years in return for it." They hadn't been the best years of his life.

"Why? Why did you hate us so much?" Ichigo asked and Starrk winced to himself. They had forgotten even that? But it had been well over five hundred years since the unseelie queen had given him her bitter gift of revenge.

"Because of my sister." He said softly, setting down his tea. "Your ancestor was a very evil man. The pelt of a spirit wolf has many mystical properties and men have always hunted us for that. My sister and I were twins, born within minutes of each other and we maintained a spiritual connection. I could have forgiven him for killing her. Hunt and be hunted… it is the way of things. I could not forgive him for torturing her." Starrk's eyes went dark with remembrance. "I felt her pain. There was nothing clean about his kill… he played with her, made her suffer as much as he could. I tried to reach her. So desperately I tried… but it was too far. I arrived too late and he had made his escape, leaving the forest behind with her pelt in hand." Starrk paused before sipping his tea. The thought of it brought up strong emotions but it had been a very long time ago. He could speak of it, although he did not like to. "Do you know how the powers of a spirit wolf work?" They both shook their heads, not to his surprise. "We cannot leave the forest for long or we lose what we are. The wolf within fades and we become human… I considered doing it just to kill him, but I feared I would fail. I would only be a man and while my skills at stalking and killing in this form are good, he was every bit as good, to take my Lilinette." He managed a crooked smile. "I decided that any chance of failure was unacceptable and I went to the fey, instead."

"There was a great deal of dickering." He said as he remembered. The talking and arguing had taken days. "The unseelie fey delight in tormenting mortals. They don't particularly care if the mortal deserves it or not. If it had been my choice, the curse would not have been hereditary. However, I was overruled… the Queen wanted her fun and with my blood and my sister's remains, she was able to fashion a truly potent curse." Starrk sipped his tea, regarding the boy thoughtfully. "But the nature of the curse contains possibilities. In a sense, you are now a spirit wolf."

"I, what?" The boy said, his brown eyes wide. Starrk smiled, setting down his teacup.

"Only in a sense. Part of your soul has been twisted into a beast mind. This is a completely normal condition for a spirit wolf, but quite abnormal for a human being. Without training, the result is complete insanity as the beast takes over and does what it will." He said and the boy closed his eyes for a moment, swallowing hard. Had he already had problems with his beast? It would be no surprise. Starrk couldn't help but smile. He knew it was cruel, evil smile, but he simply couldn't help it. "That is what happened to your ancestor. He must have seeded a woman by rape, to be part of your bloodlines. Children sired before the curse was cast didn't count." That was simply the nature of curses.

"There must be something we can do!" Isshin said, sounding stressed. Starrk regarded him thoughtfully for a moment.

"I think you need some tea." He decided before standing up to go make some. The man looked ready to protest but the spirit wolf gave him a cold look. "It has calming properties. And yes, there is something we can do." He continued to speak as he busied himself with the tea. "Because this curse is based on the properties of the spirit wolf, I can teach your son how to control the wolf within." Turning around he brought the tea to the table. Isshin looked ready to refuse it but finally took a small sip. "It will be a long and difficult training. He may fail and if he does, I will be forced to put him down." Starrk sipped his tea as Isshin glared at him and Ichigo looked into his teacup. "That is how it is for young spirit wolves… those that fail to control the beast must die. If they do not, or if they lose control later, they become the loup garou, monsters that haunt the night." From the surprise on their faces, they hadn't known that. Starrk smiled at them gently. "We take care of our own, so that rarely comes to pass."

"…If I can't control this I'd rather die, dad. Yuzu…" Ichigo said very softly and Starrk nodded to himself. He'd come very close to hurting someone he loved. His father took a deep breath, sipping his tea to steady himself.

"We can go to the fey." He said and Ichigo looked away as Starrk sighed. Had mortals forgotten the nature of the unseelie court?

"Do you have any magical items? Anything rare or valuable, anything beautiful beyond words?" He said idly and the two of them shook their heads. "Then that is foolish. The fey will demand more than you can afford. Most likely they would require the service of your son for a time in the underhill. That is no problem for beings like myself… we are tied to the cycles of the world and time passes normally for us. But for mortals, they become unmoored, lost in the passage of time. He might return to you in a day, or in a thousand years. Not even the fey would know for certain." Starrk knew that mortal stories talked of men and women spending a single day in the halls of the fey, then returning to find everyone and everything they had known was ashes and dust. But they didn't know why. He knew, with his great store of lore to draw on. "And no matter how soon or how late he returned, he would never be the same." He said softly, remembering his time in the underhill. It hadn't been as bad for him as it would be for a mortal, but it hadn't been good. Ichigo would have no special worth to protect him. Two sets of brown eyes regarded him, one still resentful and suspicious but the other just troubled and sad.

"How long will you need to keep him here?" Isshin said in a tight tone. Starrk wondered if the man would ever stop resenting him. But even knowing that Ichigo had partly brought this on himself, he loved his son deeply. Just from the little he'd seen Starrk was certain of that.

"At least a year." Starrk said calmly and Ichigo stared at him wide eyed as Isshin looked like he must have misheard.

"A year? Why so long?" Ichigo asked and Starrk finished his tea, setting the empty cup aside.

"The beast within is tied to the seasons and behaves differently at different times. Winter is the time of laziness and torpor, when the world sleeps. Spring is for rutting." Starrk said candidly and both the men blushed, to his amusement. "Summer is for rutting but also the pleasures of the hunt. Autumn is for the great hunt, when the prey is at their fattest and most abundant. It is important to be able to control the beast in every season." He said before frowning. "Truthfully, a year is the bare minimum. Spirit wolves are attended to by their parents for much longer than that." He considered that for a moment. "Although for us the inner beast takes longer to mature, and we learn more than just controlling it." Childhood lessons… if he tried, Starrk could remember learning to stalk with his mother and sister. The memories were bittersweet. "Hopefully, a year will be enough." He really had no interest in hosting the boy for longer. He was reluctant to take him for even a year. Why was he considering it?

The answer was obvious and Starrk sighed to himself. The teen's story had tugged on his heart, because he too had killed for a similar reason. Although in his case, the victim had been far from innocent. Pushing aside that painful memory he rested his elbows on the table, looking at them expectantly. They would have to make their decision now.

"You are offering to teach him?" Isshin asked, in the tone of someone making certain. Starrk nodded. "Do you expect him to live here?" From the man's tone, he didn't consider this an acceptable living space. Starrk gave him a crooked smile.

"No. I do have a cabin in the woods, although I rarely use it. I bribe the brownies to keep it in good condition." He gave them treats of his power, whenever they came to see him. And the minor magic of brownies was very good at keeping roofs mended and flooring in good condition. "It is several days away. Do you wish to come?" He asked and Isshin nodded, his expression determined. Starrk glanced up at the ceiling and considered what he felt. "It is still early in the day. We should begin." He decided before standing. He tended to be lazy but he could be active when events called for it.

Before they left he gathered up his human items. A longbow, kept safe in a fine, enchanted case and a quiver of arrows. They were also heavily enchanted, legacies from his father. He'd never met the elder spirit wolf. The enchanted forest was vast and he'd chosen to wander, leaving his mother behind with only this bow and a necklace to gift to his children. Starrk sometimes wondered if things might have been different, if he had remained.

But he would never know. Setting aside the thought, Starrk led them outside. He was pleased to see that it was a lovely day in the enchanted forest. Glancing at the two humans, he wondered if they truly understood the ways of the forest. If not, they would learn.

Fortunately, they did. Starrk was pleased to see that they tried to light no fires and ate only simple fare, mostly consisting of cheese and bread. They did not attempt to hunt, which was good sense. The enchanted forest was full of shape shifting creatures and for a human, shooting one of them was a good way to die. For Starrk, however…

"Er, I thought you weren't supposed to hunt here?" Ichigo said as he pulled an arrow from the body of a goose. It was early in the year, spring edging into summer, so the bird was not as fat as he would have liked. Starrk glanced up, amused.

"Spirit wolves do often eat, you know." They didn't require much though. The land gave them sustenance. Ichigo and Isshin were both looking worried, though, so he relented and gave them the truth. "Mortals are well advised not to hunt here because you can't tell the difference between a spirit wolf and a real wolf, or a shape changed fey and an actual duck. I can and this is nothing but a bird." He lifted it up and saw relief in them both.

"Goose tonight! That will be tasty." Isshin said cheerfully as Starrk slung the bird over his shoulder with a smile. He thought he was beginning to see the man's real personality. As he started to relax, Isshin was showing signs of having a rather goofy sense of humor. Starrk found it quite amusing.

That night Starrk plucked the bird and dressed it, before they roasted it over an open fire. He handled it deftly, with the ease of long experience and eventually they all had some delicious, well-cooked bird in their bellies. The two humans fell asleep, unaware of the fact that the spirit wolf was still awake and on guard. There was something…

Why do you bring mortals so deep into the woods? The voice of that whisper was familiar and it angered him. Not only that, it angered the beast within. Starrk had to grit his teeth to quell the flickering rage. Have you forgotten all of your heritage?

"Begone, bitch. You are dead and no longer have any claim over me." He said harshly to the spirits of the woods. They were merely taunting him, to use that particular voice. The trees rustled for a moment and Starrk sensed the presence in the woods fading away. Sighing, he settled down onto the warm earth.

He could sleep now in safety. Nothing else in the forest would challenge him within his own hunting range.