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proven to be as loyal to me as my best friend, Tommy. But in different ways.
    Very soon, our boys—Lena’s and mine—would be turning three years old. We would have an island-size party for them. Everyone was invited and I was hoping Atticai and Donya would make it, too.
    Tommy had mentioned he might have something to do that weekend. To be honest, it bothered me that he was going to miss his godsons’ third birthday party. But he had a date.
    Back in the day, Tommy had gotten really close to another werewolf named Yomaida. They had an on-and-off again relationship that I thought drove him insane at times. Tommy had never had much luck with women, except for my sister and she had died. I think it was his approach that was his undoing.
    Tommy attracted women who liked the bad boy in him, and therefore, he was expected to keep up that persona, not that it was hard for him to do so, but it did stop his relationships from growing past a certain point.
    Usually, those weren’t the type of women who made solid relationships with Tommy anyway. However, Yomaida was as quality as a woman got, but something about her didn’t click with him in my opinion. Maybe I worried that she accepted Tommy at face value, instead of encouraging him to reach his full potential, as Lena did with me. At times, I just felt he needed to be patient and find the Lena in his life, someone with whom he would grow into his full potential.
    As much as I loved Tommy—which was closer than brothers—I felt like he never aspired to become anything better than he was. Coaching MMA was great, but other than that job and watching sports and hanging out with me to re-hash old movies we liked, he didn’t have any… ambition . Whenever I spoke to him about finding a different love match, he just said that nobody would ever compare to Maya. And he left it at that—and what could I say to that? Nothing.
    Every so often, Tommy and I communicated telepathically. It was like having the world’s greatest walkie-talkies that only you and your friend could get on the frequency. Lena didn’t like it when we did that. She said it made things “too private.” And she slightly insinuated that “grown men shouldn’t have such secrets.” I thought she was a tiny bit jealous, but man friends are important to other men, even married ones with children.
    Tommy joked that Lena resembled and sounded more and more like Scarlett O’Hara as her hair grew and her melodrama increased. Nonetheless, she was my wife and the mother of my children—I loved her more than life itself.
    I could smell Lena’s beautiful hair as I came awake, and reached to pull her closer to me. She turned towards me and settled her head against my chest. Sometimes, I still couldn’t believe what my life had become. I lay there, thinking of all that had come about. Although Lena and I had been officially married for about almost two years, it seemed like only yesterday when we had been married by Atticai. At the same time, it felt as though we’d been together for an eternity.
    I smiled. I had the most beautiful woman in the universe for a wife, and incredible twin sons. I lived on an island in a sixteenth century castle. I had money in the bank. Life was good. Why was I so bored and itching to mix it up by becoming a superhero to the Tandra? I think it was who I was at a core level: a rescuer, a role model, a caretaker.
    Lena stirred and looked up at me.
    “Good morning, beautiful,” I whispered.
    “Hey there, superhero,” she said sleepily and snuggled closer, her hand now softly caressing my chest. I’d never known that a woman could continually arouse me as much as Lena did. Her hair, her eyes, those lips…and her perfect body…those curves…
    Thoughts of my mundane life faded as my mind became focused on one thing and one thing only: Lena’s body. Our bodies together, becoming one. We lost ourselves in each other and lost track of the time, for a good hour, I later