Danny-

"Dude. Have you ever seen this many different shifters in one place?" Asks Brenden in a quiet whisper. No real need to be quiet; everyone can hear everything.

I just shake my head and look over at Dad as he talks to the other leaders of our pack. Between Astoria and Seaside, there are about 900 shifters, mostly wolves like us. Tonight the leaders of both wolf packs are in attendance, alongside the mountain lions, the coyotes, the bears, the foxes, and hell, even the deer shifters. Those were the real surprise; it's not that we'd actually try and eat them....but the distrust runs deep.

"After what we all saw at the school last night. I'm not shocked that they all came here," I say back.

Dad said the deputies didn't find any trace of the creature. The school's security cameras gave off a vague massive shape.

"Madison! What are we doing here? We should be out hunting this thing down," shouts Gavin Parker, the alpha of the Seaside pack. Just down the road from us. A much smaller pack, but just as loud as Dad.

"We don't even know what it is," says Mr. Kramer, Theo's math teacher, and a coyote shifter. "I saw it last night. It was twice the size of a bear, and it looked more like a monster."

"It's nothing that we can't handle," snares Mr. Parker.

"Typical wolf mentality," groans one of the deer shifters. She's not the only one making that face right now. "Some of us don't live in packs. We can't all go out there and fight this thing."

"Why don't you go watch Bambi and eat some grass," shouts a Seaside wolf.

"ENOUGH!!!!!" Shouts Dad in a deep rumbling voice that brings even the other leaders down a peg. "Enough. That's why I called you all here. So we can figure out a plan."

"We still don't know what it is," says Mr. Kramer quietly. The coyote is a survivor, defensive to our offensive. "Anyone have an idea?"

I hear a throat clearing, and I turn to see grandpa walking into the room. A previous Alpha; respected even if he isn't in charge anymore. "It's a shifter who's eaten a human," he says in a gravelly voice.

This starts a commotion. "We don't eat people. None of us have for decades or longer," says a female wolf from Seaside.

Grandpa stares her down, and her husband stands in a defensive position. " that's because humans were hunting us down. They still are, but we're smarter now. Whatever this is, it doesn't care about our rules. Those rules keep us safe, but they limit our powers and strength."

"So you're saying that the humans are in danger? Are they the goal?" Asks Mr. Block. Father of the mountain lion twins at school.

"Who knows. Whatever this is, it's not from here. All the groups have everyone accounted for. It came from someplace. I need all of you to reach out to your connections in Seattle and Portland. If there were animal attacks, then they would have an idea," says Dad. "We need to stay out of the woods until we know more." The groans and shouts start. "LAST NIGHT,"'he shouts and then continues in a normal tone, " it came close to the high school, in plain sight about 20 of our kids and dozens of humans. It doesn't care. I don't want our kids to be their next victims. We should all stay out of the woods. Winter is coming anyways, but also push your human friends to stay out as well."

"Easier said than done," says a Fox.

"I know. Humans think they're invincible," says Dad. "But try. Once you hear back from the cities, tell me. We're all in this. The sheriff is going to issue warnings thanks to a lot of us being on the force."

The leaders all nod; their packs or herds or whatever won't push back now. The groups disperse soon after

"Think that'll work?" Asks Brenden as we start to help clean up the room.

I shrug, "I hope so. I can only imagine some dumbass humans out in the woods right now."

*******
Theo

"Theo. You shouldn't be out here. You saw that thing. It was huge," shouts Bryce as he wanders out to my reading spot in the woods.

"Shut up and go home," I groan. "Reading about the Muir guy made me want to get out of the house."

"So when we're eaten by a bear, I can blame homework? Cool cool," he says back.

"Nothing's out here. I promise. You're being so loud you've scared everything off," I snap.

"Fuck off, that thing was a beast," he says. "Plus, you heard Dad. He said he didn't want us out here."

"He told your Mom that. Not us. We're innocent," I say back, and it's kind of true.

I'm not scared of whatever that thing was last night. I'm curious more than anything, but it was probably just a big bear. I really did just want to get out of the house for a bit.

"I don't like this. Can we please go back?" Says Bryce in a begging tone. "It's not safe."

"Then go back, Bryce. You can see the house from here," I snap again and gesture to the houses in the distance. "I didn't even ask you to come out. I don't need you being overprotective of me." He mumbles something under his breath. "What was that?"

"Nothing. I'm heading back. Don't get eaten," he shouts.

"No. What'd you say? I really wanna know," I say back. I stand up to get in his way.

He sighs out. "You don't know what overprotective means. Your parents treated you like shit and didn't care about you."

"Fuck you, Bryce," I shout with a shove. "You don't know anything about them."

He shoves me back and walks past me, "The fuck I don't. Your Dad beat the shit out of you, and the last time I saw your Mom, she was stealing Stuff after throwing up all over the bathroom."

I can feel the tears starting to build up in my eyes. "Fuck off...." I say, trying to hold it all together. "It's not my....fault....just go." The last part starts to turn into a loud sob. Finally, I do what Mom did best, I turn and run away.

"Theo...wait," he says shouts, but I'm already gone.

Let the man-bear eat me. He's right; my parents are trash. I'm trash. I'm garbage, and everyone knows it even if they won't say it. I turn 18 in 14 months, and I'll just figure it out from there.

I'm running for what feels like hours, but I know it's not that long. Bryce didn't even try to chase after me. He's faster than me, so he could've done it. We learned this morning that I'm better on the ice than him. I Skated circles around him and Uncle Mason; skating was the one thing Dad and I would do together. He was always proud that his boy liked hockey like him. I was never good enough or tall enough for basketball, but his boy could play hockey.

I sit on a stump and just cry. I'm wearing my glasses now, so they'll be smudged, but that's not new. I'm a mess, a stupid, unloved mess.

"I really thought it would be better," I mumble to myself. I don't even try and stop myself from crying now... what's the point. I'm all alone....like always.

I'll always be alone or with people who hate me.....that's what I have to look forward to.

Maybe the beast thing is out there. Maybe it will just make everyone around me happier and eat me.

**********
Danny

I can hear Sheriff Collins yelling before I even hit the driveway. Which is the first sign that something's wrong; he never yells. He really never yells; Dad thinks it's weird that he's always has a level voice.

As I walk up the driveway, I make out what he's saying. "Damn it, Bryce. Where is he?" Nothing from Bryce, so he must've shrugged. His Dad continues, "I asked you to bring Theo back inside. Not drive him into the woods."

"Oh shit," I mumble to myself.

Mrs. Collins speaks up, "I could tell you two were fighting. What did he say, and what did you say?"

"Nothing. I don't want to talk about it," shouts Bryce finally.

"Don't walk away. We have to go find Theo. He left his Stuff at that tree stump he likes to read on. He doesn't have a jacket or his phone," shouts his Dad with a lot of concern in his voice.

"Maybe now he'll understand that he's not invincible, and we care about him," shouts Bryce as he walks down the main hall. I ring the doorbell now. Bryce answers it. "Not a good time, man. I'm sure you know why."

I nod and whisper, "I heard." I see his parents looking down the hall at me. "Theo and I were going to study. I have a math test this week."

Sheriff Collins comes up. "Theo's not here. I'll have him call you when he gets back."

"Oh ok .....can I wait and hang out with Bryce? Some good old-fashioned bro time?" I say, flashing my smile at them all.

Bryce rolls his eyes, Mrs. Collins looks won over, but the sheriff shakes his head. He's stressed and nervous. I can smell it on him. I can smell it on them all. "No. We have some family stuff to work on. You should go."

I nod, and the door closes behind me. I text Brenden.

Me- hey. Theo ran off into the woods, and the sheriff is really worried. Should I go after him?

He responds right away.

Brenden- fuck no. I just told our Dads. They're going to go into the woods and find him. That's the last thing we need is the sheriff's family involved.

Me- ok. Thanks, man. Glad my Dad was there today.

Brenden- don't do anything stupid.

Me- never.

I smile cause he knows me too well. I head around the back of Bryce's house and take a deep breath. Theo's scent is strong right now. I can smell the stress on him. Whatever happened between them was really bad.

I hear the back door opening, and I take my chance and run into the woods. The sheriff is going in with All the kids. He must really be worried about Theo. I don't smell the other shifter, but who knows what's out here.

Unlike during football practice, I let myself run at full speed. I can cover Theo's tracks pretty quickly. Dad and Mr. Thompson will be here soon, but I want to try and find him. I feel a weird connection to Theo. I've never felt this with another person- shifter or human. I have to protect him.

After 10 minutes of running, I come to a stop when I smell something. I turn and see a pair of wolves in the setting sunlight. Dad in his dark black coat and Brenden's Dad in his brown and grey coat are looking at me. Dad growls at me and nods his head, saying I should go back.

"I know. I know, but I can't just leave him. He's ....my friend," I say back. Of course, if Theo was around, this would look insane.

The pair of Wolves head off following his scent. "Well, I'm already in trouble. Might as well make it worthwhile," I say as I start to pull off my clothes.

I shift into my wolf form and pad off into the woods.
******
Theo

About 30 minutes into my crying session, I realized it was getting late. Then I realized I was lost. Then I realized I had left my phone and my jacket when Bryce and I fought.

Then I cried more out of panic. I don't know much about wildness survival, but I know you're not supposed to wander off. Uncle Mason will come looking for me. He doesn't realize I'm not worth the time yet. His sister threw me away cause I made her life miserable....and now I'm doing it to him.

I'm about to start crying again when I hear a branch snap close to me. I whip my head around to see what made that sound, and I just jump. "What the fuck," I shout. A big black wolf is standing there staring at me.

I see two more off in the distance; a brownish one and an even bigger black one. The one closest to me just stands there.....staring.

"Well. You're not a big bear monster," I say with a weak smile. "Are you going to eat me?"

If animals could look offended, all three of them would have that face. The little black one, it's huge, but the other one is double its size and walks closer to me. I can't help but slide back away from it. It's a wild animal, after all.

The wolf sees this movement and stops. It looks at the other two, and I have to be going crazy cause it seems like the biggest one nods at it. Finally, the little wolf wags its tail and picks up a stick, and tosses it to me.

I pick it up and look between the stick and the wolf. It's excited and looks playful. I toss the stick and watch the giant dog chasing it down. The other two are just sitting and watching this go down. The wolf brings the stick back, and I toss it again. I've never had a dog, so I've never played fetch, but I can see the appeal.

After a couple of throws, I sit down and wait for the coming night. I don't know how long I'll last without my jacket, but at least I have company. The two bigger wolves are sitting in the clearing now, and the smaller playful one is right next to me. I can tell he's a boy. "You're really not going to eat me, right? Do wolves play with their food?" I ask timidly.

The wolf makes a sound that sounds like a scoff and sits right next to me. Against my better judgment, I pet him, and he doesn't growl or back away. "Thanks for keeping me warm," I say and pet him some more. The other two come over and seem to be keeping me warm.

"You guys don't think I'm worthless trash, do you?" I say out loud. I feel a weight lift off my chest. "You're just dogs. You like everything."

The smaller wolf gives me a pitiful look. "I'm more like a cat. I don't like a lot of people.....and people don't like me...Bryce doesn't like me. My parents didn't like me."

Little black beauty seems to be over my pity party cause he stands up and looks me in the eyes for a second before his tongue falls out of his mouth. The next thing I know, he's licking my face. "Haha....stop it. Gross. Stop it. Ok. Ok. I get it. You like me....or I taste good," I say with a giggle. The wolf gives me the closest thing to a smile you could get on a dog's face. He looks oddly familiar.

Before I can voice this thought, his ears perk up. The other two are standing up looking around too.

"What is it?" I ask....like they can talk to me. "Is it that bear?"

The three of them look at me for a second then at each other. The bigger ones head off into the woods without a second look. The little one rubs his head on my legs before he runs off with them.

That's when I hear my name yelled in the distance.

They found me. "UNCLE MASON!!!!!!" I shout back.

I hear them all yelling my name as they get closer. So I head in their direction.

Uncle Mason pulls me into a hug when he sees me. "Theo. I told you not to go out into the woods. It's not safe."

I roll my eyes at him. "Don't scold me. It wasn't my plan."

Bryce is giving me a hard look that only I can see...there goes our friendship.

"Let's get home. Here's your jacket," says Aunt Tasha trying to head off a fight.

Uncle Mason just nods, and we head off back home.

Jackson walks next to me in silence for about a minute before he speaks up. "What'd Bryce say to you?" He's not really keeping his voice down. He's never been able to whisper.

Bryce stiffens, and I see his parents turn back slightly. They don't want to get into this now.

I just shake my head, "nothing I haven't been told before."

Jackson and Mandy walking with Bryce give me a sad look, but I cut him off before he speaks. "Don't. my Dad had a lot of the same feelings...I'll be ok." I speed up and brush past my cousin and walk behind Uncle Mason.

He drops back for a second, "we can talk about it when we get home, ok. I'm sure he didn't mean it."

I shake my head, "just cause he didn't mean it doesn't mean it's not true. I'll survive."

Uncle Mason wants to push it, but he stops when we hear the howling wolves in the distance. I wonder which one is my wolf buddy.

He seemed to like me.