::CHAPTER 7::

The next morning I sat at the table staring at the front page of The Den. Uncle had left the newspaper in the kitchen after having his coffee and it had gotten my attention. Now I sat with my tea gone cold and my sandwich untouched. I couldn’t eat. Even after maybe forty minutes, I looked at each face as if I hadn’t been looking at it for close to an hour. I couldn’t stop.

 I usually never read the paper but the main story had caught my eye. In fact, it was really the pictures that did it.

Five girls were missing from the village and the police were asking for information on their whereabouts. Their names and faces were plastered on the front page and I couldn’t look away. I knew those girls. All of them. I had seen them this week. Before they went missing.

They had been so happy. So carefree at the time. Driving around in their little, pink Volkswagen with the top down and the wind in their hair. Back from a vacation they’d said. I was kind of worried about them. Daddy had told them to put on their sunglasses but they hadn’t.

The girls were old enough. They should have known better. The town only really accepted pure humans; the ones who didn’t have an ounce of Chosen blood in their family tree. That wasn’t to say that they didn’t allow all humans in. They just weren’t treated the same. If you were a human from a Chosen family, you could live in the town but you had to wear the bright, royal blue band on your left hand at all times.

If you were from a Chosen family but was born human, you had to decide if you wanted to be associated with your family or not. My parents were like that. They had made their choice and lived in the town permanently. The only reason Aunty got free passage into the town was because she had me with her and I was the human child of town residents. A loophole to the treaty.

If someone in the town saw the girls’ eyes, I didn’t want to know what would happen to them. Those stupid heads. If they’d only put on their shades…

I looked at each face. The driver was the easiest one to recognize. She was by far the prettiest and had been the one to catch our attention first. It had been obvious that she was the head of the group.

She was the one with the bronzed skin and the wavy, dark hair. The picture didn’t do her ice blue eyes justice. The blue against the brown of her skin had been beautiful. Her best feature. She seemed to be the type that girls wanted to be and that guys simply wanted. The sort of girl that was always surrounded by people and walked up front with everyone else bringing up the rear. Like in those teen movies Eliza sometimes watched.

The next girl had been the obvious second in command. She was as pretty as the first but lacked her confidence. She was tanned and lightly freckled with flowing, blonde hair. Her eyes were the strange blue-green that people called turquoise. Something about her said surfer. I could see her with a group of guys on the beach, catching waves or eating fries in some local seafood shack slash teen hangout. She could probably fit in with the guys laughing about action movies and video games and still just as easily go out shopping with the girls.

I only remembered the third girl because she had been the shy one. She had been the one who barely made eye contact with us. She seemed tiny and frail. I could imagine that she was the one they picked on. The one who went to get them drinks and snacks and maybe do their homework.

Her glasses gave her the look of a cute bookworm. In fact, I could see her hitting the library some days and maybe sipping iced coffees while checking the lipgloss section at the malls on other days. She was nerdy but stylish. Her eyes had been brown with shards of grey and her hair was pale brown with yellowish gold streaking through the pin straight locks of her ponytail. Her pink outfit that day gave her that girly look that made her seem younger than she was. A submissive wolf.

Her opposite had sat beside her that day. The fourth girl had been one of the more dominant wolves in the car. She’d been the one barking at the other drivers. She was plump but that wasn’t to say that she wasn’t good looking. Far from it. She was pretty too. Her full lips and large, blue-violet eyes would probably catch the attention of a lot of guys. She had long, thick hair that was the blackest black with a lock of white curling at her cheek. She seemed to be the muscle of the group. The go-to chick for when the leader couldn’t talk her way into getting stuff.

The last girl had been the hardest to remember but I hadn’t forgotten her. She had been quiet and hadn’t looked at my father once. She’d been the only one of the five who hadn’t. It was as if she didn’t approve. That made me think of her as the voice of reason. The one to talk them out of doing stupid things. She’d probably been the one to tell them not to stop at my father in the first place.

I couldn’t tell the color of her eyes that day because she’d been wearing her sunglasses but the picture in the newspaper showed that they were a gorgeous quicksilver. Even in the picture the shimmer and glinting of the color was hard to dull. It reminded me of Orion’s eyes when his wolf was not showing through. Her hair was a stunning red and stood out against her milky skin. She had pouty lips and was attractive in a modest sort of way.

While they’d been making their moves on my dad, I had taken them all in. They were interesting to look at. Like the Pack’s hierarchy, they seemed to have a rank and purpose for everyone. Each was needed and important. I think anyone who paid close attention could pick up on those details.

I hoped that they weren’t hurt. They were rebellious and hardheaded but that didn’t mean they deserved what would definitely come to them if they’d been found in the town. The treaty between the town and the village worked both ways. We didn’t want them in here as much they didn’t want us there.

After school that day, I invited Orion over to hang out. My aunt had brought us both to my house and Orion called his dad from our phone. No one had picked up so he left a message. I had to talk him into coming in the first place but he had agreed in the end. He was still wary of me and I didn’t blame him. We had an understanding but the fact was that we were still using each other.

We couldn’t play any running or wrestling games together because we both knew that he’d win. Hide and seek was out since he had wicked hearing, sight and smell. In the end we decided to play with the stuff in my toy chest. I showed him some of my favorites and he seemed fascinated with the Iron Man one. It talked and lit up and you could even take out the little guy inside the suit.

We were outside on the front porch talking about the Iron Man movie when I spotted Richie walking up the street with Eliza. This is exactly why I had to invite someone to hang with. I don’t have it in me to be around that girl.

He waved at me and I turned my back to him. Orion smothered a laugh, “Wow, you should see his face right now. I think you hurt his feelings. You can be really mean when you want to be.” He was peering over my shoulder at the pair.

“Well if he wants to choose that little pimple pus over me then fine,” I scowled, “Can’t believe he chose her over me.”

“She’s a girl. He’s a teenager. Did you expect him to choose a boy over her?”

“No I expected him to choose his friend over that dumb Eliza.”

“If you were his friend, you’d want the best for him…wouldn’t you?” he asked, “If she makes him happy—.”

“Whose side are you on?” I demanded.

“Yours. Relax. I was just asking.”

“If we’re in this friendship together, rule number one is ‘Eliza is the enemy’. We hate Eliza.”

Orion nodded with a grin, “Fine. We hate Eliza.”

He cocked his head to the side as if he’d heard something. His eyes moved over to the side and I followed his gaze. Richie was walking up the porch steps. I turned away and ignored him even as he came closer. Orion got my full attention. I started a conversation that had nothing to do with what we’d been talking about before but Orion picked up fast. He replied and continued the conversation. Kevin would have looked at me weird and ruined the whole thing. I replied to Orion and we both refused to look at the other boy at the steps.

“Can I talk to you?”

“I’m busy,” I didn’t look at him.

“Please, Nye?”

Damn him. I turned to see him giving me the eyes. Those big soulful eyes that made you feel guilty in an instant. There was no way that I could be horrible to him when he gave me that look. And they call me the spoilt one. “I’ll be back,” I told Orion and stood up.

Richie led the way to the side of his house and stopped when we were out of Chosen hearing range. I shoved my hands into my pockets and waited for him to say something. He sat on a small barrel and motioned for me to do the same. I ignored the second barrel and kept his gaze.

“I have a friend waiting for me. Can we hurry this?”

“Nye, don’t be like that. We’re friends. Not you and Orion. I had to practically beg you to spend one night at his house and now you want me to believe that you two are cool?”

“We – er – have an understanding.”

“Do you?” he gave me a searching look, “You can’t replace me with him. No one could be as close as we are. I care about you and I know you still care about me so why are you freezing me out?”

“Because I asked you, one friend to another friend.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You could choose anyone. I asked you to pick any other girl. And you still chose her.”

“Why does it matter whether it’s her or another girl?” he frowned.

“Because you’re thirteen,” I shot back, “and it’s the same with all of you teenagers. You hang out with kids until you decide that you prefer to spend every waking hour thinking about girls. Then you get distant, after that you start pushing us away and then you ignore us altogether.”

“Nye—.”

“It okay. Really. I knew that it would happen a long time ago, but all I asked from you was to choose another girl. It’s bad enough to lose my best friend, but to lose him to the person I hate the most is worse. I can’t even stand to look at you. To know that you’re choosing her over me.”

“I…pup…” his voice trailed off, “I’m not…”

He shook his head. It didn’t seem as though he could finish a thought. Stunned. That’s what he was. Things had gone from me being the bad guy to him being the villain faster than he’d expected. Guilt fell onto his face.

“Do you honestly think that you’ll lose me like that?” he asked finally, “I would – I could never do that to you.”

“You can’t promise me that. We’re five years apart. We’re going to grow apart at some point and chances are that you’ll beat me to it. It’ll start with one girl, but it will get worse. It always gets worse. Look at all the other teenagers in this village. It’s disgusting.”

“Dude, don’t be stupid. I won’t abandon you. We’re best buds. We’re gonna be old men in a nursing home sitting in rocking chairs together complaining about politics, lime jello and kids these days.”

“You can’t promise me that,” I said again through a smile, “You won’t see it until after it happens and by that time, you won’t care. Eliza is the start. Trust me.”

I pulled my hands from my pockets and gave him one last look. He looked truly hurt by those final words. I wasn’t trying to hurt him. I wanted him to see. To understand. It sounded bad to say it aloud but it was something he couldn’t stop. He didn’t even realize that it had started. I saw that the day he left me to go skateboard shopping with her. 

Going back to him I murmured, “Even when you forget me, I’ll remember you. You’re my Pack.” I placed a single kiss on his lips. For the first time he met the stolen touch without shock or disgust because it was something Packmates did in their need for fur to fur touch-affection. He understood the meaning. There was no protesting or complaining this time.

“Okay. Alright,” he got off his barrel, “I’ll end it. With Eliza. I’ll choose someone else.” I stared him dead in the eyes. When it happens, then I’ll believe him. I knew that it would happen at some point but if it was someone new, I was sure that I could manage. “We’ll see,” I replied.

I went back toward my own house where Orion was playing in the distance with my favorite tennis ball. He was, once again, in his second form. His teeth were clamped around the toy and he sat gnawing away at it making little, cub sounds. I grinned.

As I crossed the lawn and neared the porch steps, he froze and turned his head to the side. I began climbing the steps. He sniffed at the air and shifted his body so that I was in plain view. My climbing slowed the closer I got to him. His eyes were focused on me with hair raising intent.

The usual joy that surged in the animal when he saw me was missing. The stare was hard and he was too still. Like a predator waiting to attack. I froze. Something’s wrong. The small animal suddenly seemed larger and much more dangerous. “Are you alright?” I asked. My voice came out at an unnatural pitch. At the sound of my voice his hackles rose and his lips pulled back. Sharp, little teeth flashed in a powerful jaw. A long, low growl rumbled in him. My heart skipped a beat and I took a step backwards, fully aware that he would outstrip me if I ran. He barked at me, his jaw snapping and spit flying from a furious mouth.

The presence of the wolf in him rose and held me in place. It towered over me in an invisible wall of anger and violence before slamming me back-first into the brick pillar. “Orion!” I gasped. The wind was knocked out of me. I would have been doubled over if the cold steel of the animal’s power didn’t have me pressed to the pillar. I struggled to get from behind it but he seemed to get more annoyed with me daring to put up a fight. The frightening thing was that he was not using even half of his full power. I could tell that none of his energy was really being used. He was hardly trying but it hurt all the same.

The wolf was standing five feet away but he didn’t need to lay a physical paw on me to cause pain. The grooves of the brick bruised my back. It felt like being stuck between a living, steel wall and an immovable surface. Breathing was a task. If I could, I would have called for help but not even that was possible.

“Orion,” I choked out. There was another bark from the pup and a strike to the face from an unseen beast far larger than him. The burning near my eye told me that I’d been cut. I could barely feel even that with the throbbing in my head. It made my eyes water. The tears seemed to simply anger the wolf. I knew that they respected strength but I was only human. He growled and the iron wall pressed against my chest a little harder. My breath hitched. “Please,” I gasped with what breath I managed to suck in. His eyes flashed white with his lips pulled back to show off two rows of canine teeth.

The presence slammed into me again, the impact lifting me off my feet even as my back was up against the wall. I cried out. Just as I thought I would pass out from the lack of air a voice caught my attention. Asher White was striding across to his son. I was wrong. There was something far more dangerous than the presence holding me dangling feet off the ground.

The Alpha’s presence was like an iron hurricane with us caught in the eye of the storm. He was in his human form and he definitely was not using his full power but his dominance was more than enough to scare both me and his out of control son. The steel wall seemed to melt and I fell in a heap onto the floor.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” the Alpha snapped at the cub, “You come here and didn’t even tell anyone. A voicemail? You left a voicemail to say you were leaving? And to hang out with someone who can’t fight you off, far less. Stupid. Absolutely stupid.”

The Alpha was furious but his wolf was well in check. Orion was in no danger. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t terrified of the man standing in front of him. “I come home to hear that you decided, without my okay, to come here. There was a bloody reason why I said Chosen friends only. You can’t control him yet!” he roared. Orion was standing nose down and giving little whimpers. He kept taking tiny steps back while his father towered over him. “And as for you,” he said addressing the wolf, “If I see you so much a lay a claw on another human, I will deal with you myself. You know better. You are not one year old anymore. Act like it. You have no right pulling rank on anyone, especially a human child.” The Alpha’s wolf’s presence rose for a split second and disappeared. His son reeled back as if being struck. He whimpered again. “I’ll deal with the both of you when we get home,” he said through clenched teeth.

He then turned to me. My head still lay on the floor and I couldn’t move. I wasn’t sure if it was pain, shock, fear or all three but I couldn’t bring myself to get up. “Danyel, are you alright?” he asked. He reached out to touch me and I flinched. Asher gave a sigh and threw a furious glance at his son before looking at me again. “I need to check for bruises or broken bones. I won’t hurt you. I promise,” he murmured. I swallowed and relaxed. He reached out again and the flinching was entirely instinctive but I left my hand in his grasp.

He checked and bended my arms, legs and wrists. He pressed at my ribs and back. I hissed in pain. I let him raise the back of my shirt and he swore. I didn’t think I’d ever be old enough to repeat those words. “Where’s your aunt?” he asked. I just stared at him. His gilded locks and pale skin. His sliver-white eyes and snowy lashes. His neatly trimmed beard and mustache. Nothing about him seemed genuinely human and that got to me.

“It’s alright. I’ll go find her. You,” he barked at Orion, “Come with me.” The wolf didn’t look at me once. He only had eyes for his Alpha. Head down, he slunk after the much taller man. Both went into the house and left me there. Blood rolled down the side of my face, but that barely made my radar. My mind was focused on the fact that I almost got killed by Orion. A young Chosen whose wolf had gotten out of control for just a moment.

And I’m living with two, fully grown Chosen adults. It only just occurred to me that they could lose control of their animals just as easily as anyone. All it could take was one trigger. It was easier for a younger wolf but that didn’t mean they were safe from it.

I’d thought I was safe simply because they were family. I realized now that it didn’t mean a thing. I was no safer in this house than I was in Asher’s house.

The pain in my back flared and I winced, shutting my eyes. Water sprang up and pooled in them. Aunty rushed outside and came to me. “Oh honey, are you alright?” she reached out to stroke my hair but I pulled away. Shock flashed across her face and then hurt trickled in.

I couldn’t explain it. The rational part of me knew that there was only one person that I needed to fear. Two if I counted the Alpha. After feeling his presence, anyone would be afraid of what he was capable of. The irrational part wasn’t comfortable with even my aunt’s touch.

“Great. How are we supposed to get him checked out if he won’t let anyone touch him?” Aunty snapped at her Alpha.

“Maybe he’ll let a human carry him.”

“Like who? There’s only the Crowleys in this area.”

“Then get a Crowley. He’s friends with Richard, isn’t he?”

“Yes,” was her clipped reply, “I’ll go get him.”

She strode over to the house next door and not long after, Richie was jogging over to me. He took in the blood on the floor and then looked at my face. “Shit. What happened to him? When you said hurt I thought…well I didn’t think this,” he reached out and paused as if expecting me to move away. I didn’t. The Alpha met my aunt’s eyes and frowned even as Richie scooped me up and lead the way to Aunty’s car.

We drove over to the village physician and went into his office. They told him what happened and he brought in a human intern. The girl was careful while she checked me. Asher went with Orion to the physician to check on his own issues.

I felt sorry for him. I saw firsthand how out of control that animal could get and how strong it was when it wasn’t at full strength. To have that animal raging war inside your body all the time must be tiring. This must have been as frightening for him as it was for me.

If the animal was trapped in Orion’s head while he was in human form, then he was trapped in the animal’s mind while in his second form. It was probably hard to watch your animal lose it and be stuck in its mind while it hurt the people you knew. To know that there was nothing you can do while you tried your hardest to rein him in. While it fought you for control over your own body.

I blinked out of my daydreaming. Everyone was back in the room again and talking. Orion was back in his first form wearing a shirt two sizes too big for him. He stood in front of me apologizing over and over again. Aunty rubbed his back and kissed his head. She was trying her hardest to soothe him the only way she knew how; through the Pack links. As an adult she understood what he went through.

Later that night I found that I could not fall asleep. Every time I closed my eyes, memories of what happened flooded back to me. It was not just the just the images of the feral cub that bothered me. It was the feeling of some invisible thing holding me down. I wasn’t stupid. I knew it wasn’t real, but that didn’t make it any less scary. My mind created these almost real dreams where I felt suffocated. I couldn’t move and I couldn’t breathe and I couldn’t call out for help. I lay in my bed trying to get breath in my lungs and I couldn’t.

When I finally forced my body awake, I gasped for air. I sat for a while sucking in the cold, early morning air. 4:12 glowed on my alarm clock. Pulling myself upright, I looked around the still dark room. My window was opened and breeze blew inside. I shivered in the chill. It was strangely calming to feel the breeze on my sweat damp skin.

From that spot I sat and stared out of the window. My heart stopped racing with time. I was tired but I was afraid to sleep again. Pulling my knees to my chest, I wrapped my arms around my legs and watched the sun come up. The longer I sat, the more the room lightened. I couldn’t see the actual sunrise from this side of the house, but the sunlight creeped inside.

My alarm clock began to beep and I turned to it. I’d never gotten up before my alarm before. I reached over and shut it off. Thank God it’s Friday. I can’t handle more school.

The door cracked open behind me and someone stepped inside. It was only a matter of time. I didn’t look around but I could tell from the heavy-booted steps that it was Uncle. I didn’t like having him at my back. The family trust that had given him the right to do that had gone. I hadn’t realized until this moment. My body tensed as he neared. I shifted so that he was at my side. He noticed but didn’t say anything. If it were Aunty, hurt would be splashed across her face. He was too shocked to be hurt.

This was the first time that he’d seen me since yesterday morning when he had left for work. He had worked the double shift yesterday so I wouldn’t be surprised that he had only just come home. Stunned, he stared at me. I wasn’t looking him in the face but I could tell that much from the side of my eye.

He neared the bed and I tensed even more. I felt his wolf under the surface. It was tamed and not fighting for control, but I was too aware of its presence in the room. I was extra sensitive to the presence of Chosen beasts in a way that I hadn’t been before; in a way that most humans weren’t.

Uncle sat at the edge and I raised my eyes to meet his. Now I saw the hurt creeping into his expression. “You’re afraid of me,” he said. It wasn’t a question. I didn’t take my eyes off him and my body didn’t relax. “Are you alright, Danny?” he asked reaching out for my hand. I recoiled. “You don’t want me to touch you? Danny, come on. It’s your Uncle Bert. I would never harm you. My wolf sees you as his cub. He would protect you,” he said.

As he said that I felt his wolf stir. It was aware of me being hurt. I felt its fur brush at my cheek. A scream ripped through my throat and filled the room. Flashes of memory from yesterday mixed with the touch of a new, more powerful animal. I flattened myself against the wall.

Uncle had jumped away at my reaction to him and to the wolf that had soothed me once after I had fallen in the park. My chest heaved and my hands fisted the sheets. I shivered at the memory of feeling fur on skin again. My skin crawled at the flood of images the fur had brought on. My eyes were trained on my uncle, expecting anything and everything.

His face was confused. There was pain, sympathy, anger, worry and a list of other emotions in the clench of his jaw and the downturn of his lips and the glint in his cobalt eyes. He ran a hand through auburn hair and backed out of the room. I would have felt bad if I wasn’t trying to shake my disgust at the furry feeling on my cheek.

*********************************

{3rd Person POV}

Bert went downstairs to find his wife rushing up toward him. “What’s wrong? I heard a scream,” she said peering over his shoulder. He took his mate by the waist and led her back downstairs. “What happened? Is he okay?” she demanded.

“That depends on your idea of okay.”

“Still silent?”

“Yes.”

“Still won’t let anyone touch him?”

“He moved when his back was to me,” Bert sat at the kitchen table, “He doesn’t trust me.”

“He doesn’t trust anyone,” she sighed, “I hate seeing him like this. He’s our cub, Bert. We’re supposed to protect him. I was supposed to protect him.”

“You were out back. You couldn’t have known,” he took her hand and kissed her palm, “It’s not your fault.”

“And poor Orion. He feels so bad. He won’t say what triggered his animal but it’s eating at him,” she added, “No cub should have to experience that. He needs to be able to trust his beast not be afraid of him.”

“I’m sure that Asher can take care of it. He and his son are close,” Bert said, “I’m more worried about Danyel. He’s—.”

“What’s wrong?” Richard skidded to a stop in the kitchen.

His hair resembled a bird’s nest with strands sticking up everywhere. He wore a pair of green and yellow boxers, a hastily thrown on t-shirt that was on inside out and backwards with the tag at his throat. On his feet were two sides of two different slippers; one red and one white. Both slippers were meant for his left foot but he didn’t seem to care. “I heard a kid scream while I was asleep. What happened to Nye?” he demanded.

“My wolf tried to soothe him with touch,” Bert admitted.

“Why would you let your wolf touch him after what happened yesterday?” Richard snapped at the much older and larger man, “He’s traumatized enough.”

“My animal sees Danyel as a cub for him to protect and love. It would never hurt him. It couldn’t bear to think of his cub not trusting him and hurting that way. It tried to soothe him the only way it knew how…touch.”

“Where is he?”

“In his room. Leave him to himself. I think he prefers to be alone. He can get ready for school on his own.”

“He’s going to school? How can he concentrate on fractions and adverbs when he almost died yesterday?”

“The school psychologist wants to see him. He’s going.”

Richard turned and went upstairs. Danyel was walking across the hall and back to his room. He was wrapped in a towel and his hair was dripping wet. The older boy followed him and took a seat at the desk. Danyel didn’t pay any attention to him while he put on his underwear and stepped into a pair of well pressed pants. He slipped on his crisp, white shirt and buttoned it up.

He put the tie around his neck and paused. He couldn’t tie it. Richard would have helped if he was any better off. Danyel looked at him but he only gave him a sheepish shrug from his spot at the desk. He had no idea how to tie a tie.

It was the first Friday of the term. Every first Friday, kids put on their best and went to the mandatory assembly. It was tradition. Danyel thought it was stupid and pointless. He could not pay attention just as well in jeans and sneakers. Instead he sat on the bed and pulled on his fancy shoes.

“Have you said anything since?” Richard asked. Danyel looked up at his friend and blinked. “I’ll take that as a no. Is it because you can’t talk or because you don’t want to?” he asked the younger boy. Danyel’s eyes dropped to the carpeted floors. Richard came to kneel in front of him.

“I’m your Richie, remember? You can tell me anything,” he whispered, “I’m human. I can’t do anything to you.” Danyel raised his head and Richard felt a wave of protectiveness come over him. He cared about all of his charges. He would do everything he could to keep them from harm. They were children. Children were meant to be looked after.

Danyel was always different though. He was resilient, independent and a lot more mature than some of the ones he babysat. Still, he was extra protective over him. It couldn’t be helped. He loved the crazy kid. After all, they were the best of friends, age difference aside. Seeing him battered and scared bothered him almost as much as the knowledge that he couldn’t do anything to help.

Danyel looked at him as if gauging something. His eyes narrowed but he didn’t say anything. Richard looked into the wary, mocha eyes and saw a child with an old soul. A kid who over thought things and was careful when other kids would be reckless. His lip was cut and his face was marked with cuts and bruises. Even looking at this, Richard could tell that the damage was far deeper and longer lasting than the marred skin showed.

He was slightly surprised to see Danyel slide off the bed and wrap his arms around his neck. After refusing to talk or be touched by anyone, this was a serious bit of progress. Richard felt his body shake with the sobs of the child. It didn’t matter to him that his shirt was being soaked through. This was not something that any eight year old should experience.

He admired the kid for staying strong for this long. He pressed a kiss to the bruise on his cheek. “Shh. It’s okay, Nye. It’s fine. You’re safe now,” he murmured meaningless words meant to calm him.

He rubbed circles into his back the way that always put him to sleep. The younger boy hissed in pain. Danyel’s grip tightened as fresh tears sprung from his eyes. Richard stroked the dark rooted brown hair steering clear from his injured back. He never stopped murmuring calming words to the child. His arms were tight bands keeping the child close as all of his little-boy strength shattered.

It was a while before the sobbing stopped and a few moments after that when the waterworks ended. Danyel pulled away and wiped his nose. He couldn’t bring himself to look Richard in the eyes but he felt a lot better. He rarely cried in front of other people. It was embarrassing. He felt like a baby. As if he’d read his thoughts, Richard smiled and said, “Don’t worry. You needed that.” Danyel gave a nod and went to wash his face. He looked pale and tired and as if he’d been beaten by a mob instead of a nine year old kid. A black eye had formed but it wasn’t too swollen.

Richard led him downstairs and they had a bowl of cereal each. It was about all Danyel could stomach that morning. The kitchen was empty. His uncle was sleeping upstairs after working sixteen full hours. When they were finished, they put away the dishes and went outside to wait on the porch. When the door swung open they turned to see his aunt standing there. Danyel froze on the spot and Richard could sense his tension.

“Can you tie his tie for him? Neither of us knew how,” he asked. She nodded at him and approached Danyel. She began tying and Richard could see that the boy was barely breathing. It was almost as if he was bracing himself for an attack. It was clear that there was a lot of work for that psychologist to do.

Danyel’s aunt, like her husband, was in her late twenties. She had medium brown hair with golden streaks appearing here and there and it was pulled away from her face. She was a simple beauty with large, magnificent jade eyes hidden behind even larger glasses. Her fair skin was smooth and flawless. She was loving and sweet natured and was motherly in the calm and gentle sort of way. She got even the rowdiest pups to behave and she rarely lost her temper.

They all came to her when they had a problem. The younglings always crowded the front porch when they needed to confide in her about something because they knew that she cared and would not judge. Even as a submissive wolf, she could use that submissive nature to talk even her Alpha down from doing something rash. No one could resist her tender charms.

It was ultimately a waste of maternal instinct as she had no cubs of her own. The couple both wanted children of their own but it didn’t seem to be a possibility at the moment. Instead they poured all of that love onto Danyel. He was their cub. The one they wanted to keep close and care for. Him wanting nothing to do with them was destroying her wolf.

She wanted the problem to be something simple like a thorn in his heal or a scraped knee so that she could kiss it better and put a band aid on until the problem disappeared.

“Have a good day, Danny,” she said. Danyel accepted the kiss to the forehead and resisted the urge to cringe as best as he could. He couldn’t live with making his aunt sad. The guilt would be too much. Even as he resisted the urge, she noticed the tensing of his shoulders and the clench of his jaw. She didn’t understand how the feel of her wolf wanting to hold him affected him. The animal was distressed and he sensed it.

His aunt led the way to the car and he went in after her. Richard stood in the driveway watching them pull away. He desperately wanted to go make sure that Danyel would be fine in school but he had to face his own school today. After the history lesson they’d had the last time, he was dreading it about as much as Danyel must have been dreading stepping into a building full of the Chosen. “Good luck, kiddo,” he muttered before going back to his own house.

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Sooo...I think I should point out that Part 1 of this story (the children part) will finish at Chapter 10. So only 3 more chapters until Part 2 (the teenager part). A bit will go on in the next few chapters as far as plot and changes go.

Sad to say, I could have uploaded this days ago. But sometime in the middle of working on Chapter 12 I realized that I was letting the characters run the story. The brats was doing what they wanted to do in the book and straying from the plot. So I had to go back in a couple of chapters and check my Idea Book for the right plots. I fixed everything. Thank God I make sure to have 6-7 chapters already written for times like this when I stray/ a new idea comes/ I find plotholes.