Aster choked up at finally getting that off his chest. He shook off the physical wounds easily, but the trauma attached to them was proving far more difficult an adversary. Finally letting someone else know he was suffering with that weight just drove the final blow home, and his walls shattered as his tears fell from his confession.
"I- I could never be afraid of you Stahl... But that damned dragon... That fear consumes me. It's going to get me killed if I panic like that in a real fight... So th-that's why I thought you were mad... Because I just ran from that fear."
Aster was squeezing his eyes shut tightly along with the fists in his lap, shaking from anger towards his fragility. What the she-wolf did felt like the only natural thing she could do in a position like that. She sat beside the human on the bed, and pulled him closely into her breast in the tightest embrace she could manage.
The beast idly moved her hand to hold the boy's head to her own beating heart, cradling him tenderly as he let the fear fall from his eyes in muffled sobs. A single thought crossed the she-wolf's mind, finally calming her edge and bringing clarity to her.
THIS is what she needed to be for Aster. THIS was her duty now. THIS was how she could really protect him... And she wouldn't let ANYONE hurt her human like that ever again. She tightened her grip, and she embraced the boy even more snugly in her arms as she reassured him it would be alright, cooing soft words into his ear.
Eventually, the tears faded for Aster, and only warmth replaced where they had sprung forth from. The boy never realized how soft the lighter fur on the she-wolf's plump breast was, but it felt like plush silk on his tear-stained face.
He wanted to bury himself further into the warmth and safety of that big, fuzzy wolf tits... He wanted her arms to hold him like that for eternity. Finally, he pulled his head back just a bit, one hand lightly rested on the beast's torso still as the human stared up into the she-wolf's silvery eyes.
Aster didn't think it was possible for his face to flush even more after crying like that, but he certainly felt much warmer as he gazed into those tender eyes staring silently back into his own. It was Stahl who finally spoke.
"So... You're not scared of me?" Aster barely shook his head. He was not. Suddenly, the boy felt the she-wolf gently pushing him backwards, and he was soon laying on his back staring up at the noble beast.
Both of their hearts were beating uncontrollably as Stahl picked back up the conversation, now with her arms pinning the human's shoulders firmly as she held him just like in the courtyard earlier.
"And like this? Are you scared of me now, Aster?" Aster wasn't afraid at all, but still, he couldn't help but to answer the beast with a soft tone.
"Maybe just a little..." Stahl pressed her muzzle forward, and firmly planted her mouth on the boy's own pink, tender lips. Aster melted into shock at first, and bliss shortly after as he shuddered into the euphoria of his first kiss.
He returned the action soon after, pressing his own mouth back against the she-wolf's muzzle with increasing passion. He didn't want it to end. Aster instinctively placed his hand on the side of her face as he kissed her, as if he just knew that was where it belonged then.
His blood surged inside of him, drawing the human into a blistering heat while he pressed his body into Stahl's own with renewed vigor. Stahl responded with a light growl of satisfaction as she moved her right hand behind the boy's neck.
She lightly traced her claws upwards from the boy's hairline, grazing gently into the back of his head, gripping tightly on the hair now caught in her fist. Aster only moaned into the sensation. Stahl could feel herself growing more excited by the second. Her nipples was swelling beneath her, and her emotions were going berserk.
The she-wolf was going to lose herself again if she didn't stop... So as much as she wanted this, it couldn't be tonight. It was just too risky, that domineering new part of her was still lurking beneath the surface of the moon's light, waiting to pounce, and Aster wasn't ready for that.
So the slender canine finally broke the kiss, staring down in awe as both tried desperately to regain control of their breathing and stammering hearts. Stahl could only smile lovingly with her signature fanged smirk.
Aster gazed up in bewildered non-belief and silence, stunned by his first taste of love. It was Stahl once more that spoke first.
"Let's just take it slow, alright. Let's take tomorrow off from training, and let's just relax for once. We've both got a lot to sort out it seems... So let's wait until you can be sure. Just... Aster... Please don't be afraid of me, or afraid of telling me anything. I want to know when you're suffering like that. I want to be there with you through it... To protect you and fight it back beside you. You aren't alone anymore, so stop trying to fight everything alone."
And with a nod from the human, and a final, quick peck on the lips, the elegant she-wolf stood, and left the boy lying on his bed, still staring up at the ceiling trying to process that the unbelievable had really happened.
The she-wolf had kissed him. Neither the human nor the canine got any real sleep that night, but nobody woke up in any kind of sour mood the next morning as they had the previous one.
"FINALLY, Maybe now we can get a break from that constant obsessing. Was I that bad when Rouge came into the picture?" Byron chuckled as his son Amboss sent the thought. He knew what he meant, the blatant confusion and rage that had been building in his daughter and overflowing into their own minds had finally dissipated.
Stahl and his human had finally accepted each other as they were, and for how they felt. The old wolf chuckled before he sent his reply.
"No, you never had that... Other part to deal with. You drove us all crazy trying to accept your feelings and give shape to the ones you held for her, but it was never like this. It was never so... Primal. I'm not sure those two will really be good for each other with something like that looming over them, but I pray they can find happiness. I pray Aster can accept and tame that part of Stahl also... God's help us if he can't..."
The younger wolf could only share in his father's worry.
***