"Hi, my name is Buck!"

I blinked in mild awe at the child squatting in front of me. It was new to me to find a child at my age not struggling to escape the fate of being the next meal of Ta.

Seeing him being so carefree and friendly and looking at me with so much hope in his eyes were.... refreshing and somehow reassuring. If he wasn't torn to strips of flesh yet then it only meant that Ta was still dead.

"What's your name?" He asked me.

"Go away," I muttered.

"That's a weird name. Do you have a better one?" He persisted.

Can I bite his head?

"Piss off."

I remained hidden behind the plants and stared vacuously at the child.

All my life all the children I knew were long dead and digested. Until now I see his kind as the consumable one and he will pass just like the others.

"That doesn't seem any better...can I just call you Boo? Because to others you might seem scary but to me you're the cute kind of scary!"

I can now deeply understand why Ta preferred children. They were annoying and obnoxious and they blabber nonsense.

There was a tattoo on the left part of Buck's chest that had a creature with a crescent moon as its crown. It was similar to a wolf. I was able to learn new animals and monsters while traveling with Lucius and Aramastus. Most animals were harmless but the monsters would pursue you even without being provoked.

The world wasn't just about Ta and his ravenous appetite— it was about a bigger world than our cave with more predators and a bigger appetite.

"Leave me alone."

Unlike the other children I've seen; Buck wasn't skinny or feeble looking. I would guess that he was the type that Ta would keep alive for a longer duration of time because he would fight back and maybe, he'd be one of those that I wouldn't watch to be killed in such an undignified way.

When Buck realized that he wasn't going to get anything from me, he withdrew from the bushes and transformed into a little four-legged wolf with silky purple fur. He dove inside the bush I was staying in, causing me to fall back to my butt and sparking a heated annoyance inside my chest.

Before I could smack him for invading my personal space, the tiny monster scampered out and scared a flock of birds that were pecking on the ground where blue berries were scattered on. He was able to snap one bird inside his jaw before it could escape with the rest of its flock. The injured bird twitched its remaining life away and Buck ended its life by gnawing it.

He turned to me and cautiously approached me with tamed eyes. He placed his fresh hunt on the ground where I could reach and he waited patiently for me to accept his gift. His tail wagged behind him and I couldn't help but have a growing sense of paranoia despite the tingling sensation to be closer to him.

I still didn't know why he came out of the village and knew where I was. Did the adults I were travelling with told him about me?

Buck nudged the dead bird with his nose, urging me to take it. He stepped backwards and waited eagerly. I wasn't planning to take his offer until I heard a saddened whine from him that seemed to affect me more than I should.

I snatched the corpse from the ground and Buck's mood lightened. His tail wagged even more when he saw me eating the entire thing and only spitting out the feathers.

He transformed back into his other form and watched me eat.

"Do you like me back now?" He asked.

Was it a requirement?

"Your tenderloins will suffice me one day."

Buck's expression brightened up and I rolled my eyes at his overly appreciated self. Did he even understand what I said?

"Buck? Where are you hijo?" Someone shouted.

Sadness befell Buck's expression when he heard his name get called by this tall adult with the same purple hair. He had an excessive amount of jewelry and he seemed to be a man of importance when other adults came out with him as protection.

"Oma (Grandpa) I'm here!" Buck responded. 

If he mentions me to his grandfather, no doubt I'd be hunted down because of my Ta's abhorred reputation. I'll have his brisket for that.

The boy ran to the older man's welcoming embrace and I briefly wondered what it would be like to be hugged like that. What was the necessity of being that close?

"Where have you been? Even if that soma is dead, you shouldn't be wandering about."

Buck proudly lifted his head. "It's not like he targets werewolves like us. We're the Silver Howler Pack. There's no other greater pack than us!"

The other men who were with his grandfather laughed at Buck's excessive pride.

"If there was any child that would be kidnapped and eaten by that Soma that would be you Buck!"

"Hey, I'm strong! I'll be the next Alpha just you wait!"

"Right right, kids sure are optimistic."

"Alright, that's enough. Let's head inside," Buck's oma spoke.

His grandchild excitedly jumped up and down  and I froze when he pointed at the bush.

I should have eaten him while I had the chance.

"Wait oma! I found him, I found him!" Buck declared.

His oma gently knelt at the height of his grandchild and cupped his cheek. "Who did you find?"

"My very own Luna!" He replied.

"You're too young to find him Buck. Perhaps that's just mere infatuation."

Buck placed his hands on his oma's shoulders and shook him as he whined.

"I'm sure about this oma! Can I keep him? Can I?"

His oma stood with a sigh and glanced where I was hiding. This was not going well.

"You're really such a handful Buccaneer and did you eat something before dinner? What is that scent of flesh?"

"I hunted a bird for him. Isn't that what you taught me?" Buck reminded him.

His oma chuckled and rubbed his forehead. "Yes I did say to swoon your Luna when you find him or her."

My body jolted when I felt a hand clamp over my mouth. My tail moved to hit the oppressor but it was grabbed with much ease.

"Those wolves won't hesitate to tear you apart once they discover your relation with him," Aramastus whispered.

Fear latched onto my muscles and I stayed still in his grasp. I was more afraid of him than them. 

"Go hide somewhere else. My master will cover your scent. Come back here by morning," Aramastus advised and pushed me to the side after pressing a certain area under my jaw.

My tail retracted inside my body and the skin completely covered the exposed bones on my legs and arms. The armor on my torso dispersed along with the helmet like protection of my face. 

I was reduced into looking like a harmless child. 

Without any second thoughts I scampered out of the bushes and entered deep inside the forestry. To oppose the man who killed my Ta would be like opposing Ta if he was still alive.

Drops of water began to fall from the skies, slowing me down and making me look at the puffs of dark clouds above. The sound of it was familiar as the water hit the ground. I never knew the origin of this sound when I was locked in my cage. I just knew that it made me sleep from the colder draft that accompanied it. It made my Ta happy. It somehow calmed him.

"When you don't know how to cry you'd appreciate the rain. The sky weeps for those who can't. The clouds grow dark as the people's minds and hearts and in one moment they release the tears they've kept in stored. In this way, you won't need to learn how to cry. The world does it for you. It knows your suffering. It knows your pain. What it only needs from you is to watch it and hear it weep until the darkness clears up," Ta murmured while he remained at rest on his bed. It was the only time where he would talk to me like I was something...like I was someone to him. 

The light rain enhanced the smell of the forest. A deep croak resounded as a black stripped frog with the height of about ten feet leaped past me.

I lifted my head even further and felt the cold droplets touch my face. The rain felt good. It felt like freedom.

I fell down on the mushy soil and let my shoulders relax. The rain got harder and the drops became faster. I was sitting on a puddle of water.

"That's it...cry for me. Cry even harder. Ta won't get mad anymore."

I waited for the rain to stop inside a big hole on a tree. I almost fell asleep but I heard a familiar voice yelling:

"Boo where are you?!"

I leaped down from the hole and readied to escape but the kid was faster than I thought.

I turned my head and found myself get tackled to the ground by an overjoyed and equally soaked Buck.

"Are you okay? Why did you leave? I was still going to show you to oma!" He cried. I lifted my head and found his oma standing from afar with a smile on his face.

The rain drops became gentler and the clouds began to clear up.

"Let's head back shall we?" The only adult urged.

"I don't belong there. Leave me alone,"  I resisted.

Buck pulled me up with him. "What do you mean? You belong to me. Isn't that enough for you to come with us?"

His oma finally decided to intervene. "I'm sorry for my grandson's childish and selfish request—"

Buck's eyes widened and he was to protest but he was silenced with one stern look.

"But what he's saying is—why not stay with us? You don't seem to be around from here."

"That would be too bothersome for you—"

"Okay? Let's go!" Buck answered for me and hauled me back with his oma on toe.

As we were about to enter the village, I saw Lucius and Aramastus exiting. They didn't say anything or even met my gaze. They treated me as a stranger and a nobody until our bodies aligned and the blond adult tapped my arm with the back of his knuckles.

Lucius briefly glanced at me and grinned. That was the last time I saw them. I didn't know what was coursing through their minds for them to leave a child of the monster they killed, but maybe they somehow knew that I would be in good hands despite the riskiness.

I stayed with the tribe's alpha and his only grandson. I was fed, sheltered, and cared of. I experienced the comfort that I never knew that existed. The adults never hurt me here. I didn't live in a cage. I became the grandson's best friend but there was this fear screaming in the depths of my consciousness. There was guilt. The guilt took in the form of Ta in my dreams. It whispered in my ears every night. He haunted me.

"They'll know. It would be impossible for them not to know. You are my flesh and blood. They will smell me in you. They will tear you piece by piece and your little Buck would have your as heart as his portion."

I turned to my left and curled the blanket with me. The blanket was snatched from my form and my body jolted in surprise once I was dragged by my ankles. I clawed on the wooden floors and my nails became sharper in distress.

Ta yanked my hair back and pressed the same area that Aramastus fondled with. My original form came bursting through and Ta lied on top of me as he held my head up to look at a mirror that wasn't there before.

"My poor son thought he'd pass by as a  harmless boy? You're no fairy, you're no sprite. You're a monster just like me."

A slender sword belonging to his murderer skewered us together and blood dripped out of our lips. Ta laughed and licked my ear.

"No more games Rui. It's time to go back to our cave."

My dream was cut short once I felt Buck's arm hit my face. I heard him groan before he rolled to the other side of the room.

I sat up and felt my body drenched in sweat. My breath was labored and my body was cold especially my nape. It was still nighttime but I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep from that kind of nightmare.

Buck was far across the room with no worries in the world. Ever since I got here, the adults that were attempting to kill him lessened. They would usually attack at night and I would be awakened by it. My tail would sprout from behind me and pierce through their hearts before they could land a hand on Buck.

It was amazing how that boy can still manage to smile despite the threats in his life. I heard that many people from the tribe were still angry with him because of an incident that happened before. His oma didn't disclose the secret fully and just told me that "Buck is a nice boy possessing a cruel power that he sometimes cannot control."

Most of the attackers were his fellow tribes men that were kicked out from the pack. How they got inside despite the strict security was one of the questions that I would like an answer to.

I went out of the room and out of the house before leaping up and sitting on the roof. The sound of crickets calmed me but once a cold breeze blew past me, I caught the scent of rot that was worse from the leftovers that Ta had for several days.

"Rui," Adoff-san, Amoux-san's beta called out from below. I peered from the roof and waved at him.

"Can't sleep again?" He asked.

"I took a nap after lunch," I responded.

Adoff-san cackled. "You should have gotten some rest. Being with a hyper lad like Buck all the time must be tiring."

I jumped down and Adoff-san ruffled my hair. "How about we head out and hunt something to eat for breakfast? Sounds good?"

I never hunted and never even joined their brawls. I knew how to hunt but they wouldn't know that.

"I...don't know how to hunt."

Adoff-san laughed. "Of course you do. I know you're a natural."

"I'll just watch," I told him.

Adoff-san shrugged. "Suit yourself. Let's go?"

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A/N: I hope you don't mind Rui and Buck's background. I'll make it quick.