::CHAPTER 8::

We stood in the hallway as the older students swarmed every open space. A few stopped to say hello to my uncle and most came to hug my aunt. I was standing flat against the lockers, as usual, trying my hardest not to get trampled by the bigger kids.

I looked around me in awe. It was impossible for any single person to be able to separate the races as easily as I was doing now. I could sense the wolves just under the skin of the Chosen. I could tell which animals were sleeping or impatient or fighting to get out for a run.

I shut my eyes against dozens of wolves reaching out around me. The air was filled with their presence. Some playful, some fierce and some calm. When everyone had gone into their classes, Aunty gasped. “Danyel are you alright?” Uncle asked and took a cautious step toward me. I opened my eyes.

Without meaning to, I’d crouched knees-to-chest and huddled against the wall. Aunty made to come over but Uncle’s hand snapped out and held her back. I got up on my own with a trembling hand on the nearest locker. The hair on my arms stood up. My skin felt extra sensitive to everything. It was like having something sticky and thick spread all over my arms and face. That uncomfortable feeling of needing to take a long shower after touching something repulsive. I walked down the hall and got into the boys’ bathroom.

The janitor was in there mopping up a puddle. I dipped my hand into his trolley and pulled out a new sponge. He snapped at me but at this point I couldn’t care less. I needed to get that sickening feeling off me. I tore the wrapping off and used the rough end of the sponge to scrub my arms.

More soap.

Scrubbing harder.

Lather and rinse.

More soap.

Scrub and scrub again.

I scrubbed at my face and rubbed my cheek raw. The more I tried to get clean the dirtier I felt. I tried rubbing harder but nothing worked. “Hey kid, stop!” the elderly man grabbed hold of my wrist. I froze. Human. I relaxed. “What are you trying to do to yourself?” he demanded, “Look at you.” I followed his gaze. My arms were red and a few blisters had appeared.

“Danny, are you okay in here?” Uncle peered inside. I turned to him and the sponge fell from my grasp.

“What did you…” the question faded on his lips.

“Are you this boy’s father?” the janitor demanded.

“I’m his uncle. What happened in here?”

“I don’t know. He just barged in and stole one of the sponges. Kid damn near cleaned the skin right off his bones there,” he scowled, “What’ve you been doing to this boy? He’s looks battered and bruised and clearly he’s not in his right mind.”

“If you’re suggesting that I’m mistreating him, I—.”

“That’s exactly what I’m suggesting. What else do you expect me to think after what I just saw?”

“This is ridiculous. Come on, Danyel,” Uncle growled storming out of the bathroom.

“Kid,” the janitor bent to my level. I pat his shoulder and turned before he could say anything else.

Only Aunty was outside when I got into the hallways again. I looked around for Uncle but he was nowhere in sight. I couldn’t even sense him. “He needed to get some fresh air,” she answered looking at my arms, “Look at your – uh – let’s go see the lady.”

In the school psychologist’s office sat a young woman in a yellow sundress and wide, kind eyes. She took in my face and frowned for a fraction of a second before smiling at me. The smile was no less real for the hesitation. “Have a seat, sweetie,” she motioned toward a plush couch on one end. “You too. Go on,” she added to Aunty who took one a little distance away.

Uncle stepped in and took a seat beside his mate. She took his hand and they waited. “Well I’m Dr. Charles but you can call me Jessica if you prefer,” the woman started and walked over to a fridge in the office. “Before we start would you like something to drink?” she asked and gestured at the array of juices and fizzy drinks and energy boosters, “We’ll be talking for a while.”

I reached over and pulled out a grape soda. My aunt and uncle declined. It didn’t seem to matter. The point was to get me comfortable. “Something to munch on maybe?” Jessica asked and pushed a box of chocolate-based snacks for me to choose from. I looked up at her. She gave an encouraging nod. I plucked out a packet of mini chocolate chip cookies and passed the box back to her.

“Good,” she clapped her hands with finality, “We can get going now.” I opened the packet. My aunt and uncle would never let me have cookies and fizzy drinks at nine in the morning, but this time they didn’t question it. If the doctor okayed sugar then it had to be alright.

Admittedly, the sugar calmed me a bit. It was so weird. Sugar should do the opposite.

Jessica walked over to a seat near mine and sat down. I noticed the little flowers painted on each toe and couldn’t help smiling inwardly.

“So are you planning on saying anything to me?” she asked, “Or are you going to ignore me for the entire meeting.” I could tell that the second option was one she saw a lot. “Silence. I’ll take it that you’re going with the latter,” she sighed, “And I really did hope that we would start off better than this.”

Aunty went to say something but Jessica held up a hand. “I’m sorry but you can’t talk during the sessions unless we ask you to contribute. You are a big part of the problem and I’m letting you sit in, but I want no interruptions,” she said and turned to me. Aunty nodded and clutched her husband’s arm.

Jessica swung her legs over the armrest and settled into the chair. It was a very Chosen action given her posture. “Are you a human?” I whispered. I couldn’t feel the presence in her but her walk and her actions betrayed something abnormal. She smiled at my question and tapped a finger on her chin.

“I wonder if you would suddenly feel threatened by me if I said no,” she mused, “Would you?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t feel safe around the Chosen?”

“No.”

“Don’t you worry. I’m human. I won’t hurt you. I have Chosen parents, but the gene didn’t pass on. I suppose I picked up on some of their quirks though. I’m guessing that you noticed?” she asked. One slow nod.

She sat across on the couch putting her weight on one forearm. “Who do you trust most in the world right now?” she asked. My attention shifted to the pair sitting near me. The sadness lining my aunt’s face silenced me. Uncle didn’t look at me. He stared at his boots avoiding my gaze. “My parents,” I said finally. As I replied another name slipped into my mind. “My parents and Richie,” I corrected.

“What about your uncle and aunt? Don’t you love them too?”

“Yes. I love them very very much,” I murmured quietly trying to get them to see that. Both met my eyes. “I love them like my own mummy and daddy.”

“But…”

“But I don’t trust them. I can feel it all the time. All of it.”

“All of what?” she asked far more somber than she’d been before.

“The Chosen. I can feel everyone’s wolves at the same time. Their presence is everywhere. I can feel…fur,” I shivered at the too vivid memory of dozens of invisible, furry bodies passing through this morning. “Can you cure me? I don’t want to not trust Aunty and Uncle.”

Jessica blinked and instead of promising anything she turned to my guardians. “That happens sometimes in these cases. It’s not often but in this case it did,” she told them, “Extra sensitivity to wolf presence. That means he can feel the wolves of others to the extent where he can almost guess what each wolf feels. What they want.”

“That is too much sensitivity for a human child. So many wolves. Their strength. Their intensity…” Uncle shook his head, “When will it wear off?”

“I can’t tell. This is not a common thing. There’s no device to measure his sensitivity.”

“Please. There must be something we can do. He’s our Danny. We can’t even touch him anymore. H-He was huddled on the floor when a crowd of kids passed by today.”

“He endured a crowd of Chosen, in his condition, and came out fully functional?”

“This?” Uncle snapped pointing at me. “You call this fully functional?”

“Yes I do. Because dysfunctional entails a total sensory breakdown; nerves going haywire, reduced brain activity and seizures. Possible mental failure if the crowd was large enough. The fact that he’s walking and talking is a miracle after the trauma he’s experienced paired with the incident with the crowd. He should be bedridden in a hospital or perhaps a psychiatric ward.”

“Bert,” Aunty clutched his t-shirt.

“I know,” he kissed her knuckles in touch-comfort.

“Luckily we somehow avoided all of that,” Jessica said, “He’s fine. Better than we could hope for at least. I do suggest that you don’t test this luck. You need to move him into a house that is devoid of any Chosen or Chosen-related. He seems to pick up on even that. He needs an entirely human environment. Get him a human tutor too because he cannot spend any more time at school for the time being. Take no chances.”

“Do you think the Crowleys would mind? This is an indefinite situation,” Uncle asked the woman holding his hand, “They are the only all-human family in the village with no Chosen in their blood.”

“Ahh yes, the Crowleys. Richard is a good kid,” Jessica nodded her approval, “He keeps an eye on my niece sometimes. He’d be great company for your nephew.”

“I’ll talk to Richard’s parents. Maybe we can make an arrangement. Danyel’s parents are human but I don’t think his mother could bear it if he scorned her…and he’d never forgive himself,” Aunty frowned, “My sister has a lot of wolf-like quirks.”

“No. None of that. He’s on edge about me and we don’t even live in the same house. Talk with the Crowleys. His mind needs to be at ease to heal. He has a phobia that will take time to overcome, but I think if we arrange for me to come to the house and meet him we can continue with the sessions.”

“Great. We can do that,” Aunty said.

Jessica settled in her seat and looked at me again. She stared for a while and I avoided her gaze. “Do you mind telling me about what happened to your face and arms, sweetie?” she asked. I ignored the question. I did mind. It hadn’t been my best moment. For those few minutes my mind wasn’t my own. It had turned on me. I hadn’t been sane or normal in any way. That wasn’t something I was going to admit. Covering the red scratches on one arm, I bowed my head. 

“Is the lack of eye contact part of the – uh – problem?” Uncle asked. Jessica frowned at the interruption but answered anyways.

“Not always but it seems to be in his case. He’s drawing into himself as a form of protection,” she explained, “Allow him that comfort for now. He had no form of protection during the attack and I think he needs it now for his own healing process. He is a child. Children as young as him can be traumatized by the simplest experiences but this is an adult trauma. Be patient with him.”

The couple agreed and didn’t say a word for the remainder of the session. When we were dismissed, I decided that I liked Jessica. I trusted her as a doctor. She would help me.

It was class hours and I spotted two kids going into their rooms. I turned my head away from the romping wolves just under their skins. Unrolling my sleeves I let it cover the marks though my face was left bare.

Uncle and Aunty stepped aside from me and she called Richie’s parents. From where Uncle stood, I was sure that he could hear every word on the line.

I spotted one of the Upper School History teachers walking down the hall. She had a handbag on one shoulder and her lunch in hand. I followed the human teacher into the empty class and closed the door behind me. She glanced behind her and blinked her shock. I ducked my head from her stare, “I need your help.”

“With what exactly?” she put her things down.

“Chosen History,” I replied, “I need to know how they came about.”

“That’s not what your year is supposed to be learning, Danyel. Not the human children at least. I’m sorry,” she said pulling out a tray of sushi from a bag.

“Please miss?” I turned my best, wide-eyed stare at her, “It’s for my friend. He needs to know the real version. I know it’s a bunch of lies.”

“What’s a bunch of lies? What do you mean ‘real version’?” she scratched at her head.

“My friend goes to an all-human school and his History teacher told him that the Chosen were evil and that they tricked the humans into doing the experiment. That they killed a bunch of humans. That’s not true, is it miss? I want to tell him so that he won’t be sad. He was really really upset.”

She looked down at me with eyes going soft.  Abandoning her lunch, she came over to me and stooped so that we were eye to eye. Even now she seemed to be battling with herself. “I’m not allowed to tell you the full story,” she said in a whisper, “They say that when children learn the Chosen History that it opens their eyes to things they never knew about. Wars and racial prejudices that they were blind to before. It’s better that you don’t know. For now at least. Guard your innocence.”

I frowned. I had figured that she’d try to let me down easy. There’s nothing to do now but desperate times call for desperate measures. Aunty and Uncle definitely won’t tell me if I asked. I needed her to do it.

I gave a sniffle and water sprang from my eyes. She pulled back, completely taken off guard. Wiping the first batch from my cheeks, I worked on a second set of tears and a let loud gulp for extra measure. “But I promised, miss. I told him that I’d find a grown up who would know all about this stuff,” I let the crack in my voice show, “I told him it wasn’t true and that I’d come home and tell him everything. I’m little but he’s one of the big boys. He’s thirteen. You can tell him. He should at least know why the other mean kids pick on him, right? It can’t just be ‘cause he’s related to Drake Crowley…right?”

Her eyes darted around the class and I gave my cheeks a hard swipe for encouragement. I blinked tear dotted lashes at her, lower lip trembling. “He’s my best friend,” I bowed my head so that she couldn’t see my face and murmured, “I asked everyone and no one would tell me. But I-I promised.”

Oh come on, lady. I cried, I did the voice hitching thing, choked on some sobs, I gave a speech on friendship and used the most juvenile vocabulary that I could. What more could it take?

Wiping the last of my tears I looked up into her eyes; childlike innocence. No adult could say no to it. She cracked at that. “Fine but you tell your friend and no one else, do you understand? This does not get back to anyone other than him,” she said and led me to a chair, “Just…don’t cry.” About bloody time. She gave me tissue.

She started from the beginning and it began like Richie’s story but somewhere along the lines the facts changed. When she finished I thanked her and took the slip of paper she gave to me. It was the name of a book she wanted Richie to go find.

I went outside to see my aunt and uncle waiting for me. They’d seen me go into the class earlier. “Are you finished talking to your teacher?” Aunty asked. I nodded.

We went out to the car and I stopped as they jumped inside. I needed to get a hold of myself first. They allowed me to get a grip before I joined them. Uncle told me about their arrangement with the Crowleys. The couple hadn’t minded letting me stay. Not that any of us doubted it.

Just because we weren’t all wolves didn’t mean we didn’t understand Pack. The villagers saw after each other. It was an extended family in a way. Especially when the children were the ones that needed the help.

I didn’t have a lot of things to pack but it took a while to get everything in bags. I grabbed my stuffed dinosaur and headed downstairs with the last of my bags. The others had been sent over earlier with Uncle.

Aunty looked like she wanted to give me a big hug but she wrapped her arms around herself instead, told me to be good and have fun. I felt Uncle’s wolf on edge. The animal didn’t understand what was going on and batted against his skin in confusion. It wanted to come with me. With its cub.

I took a step back and tightened my grip on the bag straps. “Bye,” was all I could manage. The wolf distracted me too much to think of anything else. Its presence pawed around and huffed its annoyance at being held back. It wanted out but Uncle refused it. He wouldn’t shift until after I left. I was grateful for that.

“Can…we hug you goodbye?” Aunty asked in a timid voice. It was only next door but they were asked not to visit after today. I didn’t want to say yes and at the same time I wanted to soothe her. She had a soft heart. I couldn’t bear to leave her like that. “Yes,” I looked at Uncle too. His wolf was hardly under control. I didn’t want him close to me.

I went to Aunty and she bundled me into a hug that threatened to never end. Her wolf pressed against her skin, wanting to nuzzle against me. I pulled back with a glare for the animal. My nails cut into my palms to erase the brush of fur. Holding out a hand to Uncle, he shook it and kissed the top of my head. “Love you guys,” I forced a smile. Aunty’s lip trembled and Uncle’s grip tightened on her hand. I took that as my cue to leave.

The walk next door had never felt longer.

I went inside without knocking the way Richie did whenever he came over. His parents were on the couch watching TV. They waved their hellos and told me where their son was.

I went into the room and saw him on the computer messaging his friends on the popular chatting site, Downlink. He glanced around when the door shut behind me. For a split second his face brightened. That was before he saw the now faded scratches on my cheeks and forehead.

“Your face looks like hell.”

“Thanks. You always know what to say.”

“Well it does. What did you do to it?”

“I really want to forget that it happened in the first place,” I said, “So where do I sleep?”

“The attic is full and the spare room is now housing stuff for storage. I guess that means I’m stuck in here with you until you finally get out of here.” His happy grin dulled the insulting words to nothing.

I dove onto the bed and rolled onto one of the pillows. The entire room smelt of him. It was eerily calming. What cologne is that? One of these days I’ll have to check.

The sky was turning orangey-red. Soon it would be dinner. I won’t get to have any of that stewed pork Aunty was making. I groaned and rolled onto my stomach. Peering over at Richie, he was laughing away at something that someone online had said.

“I asked one of the History teachers to tell me what happened with the wolves,” I laced my fingers together and put them behind my head, “Do you wanna know the real story?” The room went silent. The sounds of tapping keys stopped. He turned. I took that as a yes. I pointed at the empty spot on the bed. “Come child. It’s story time,” I said. He huffed but fell onto the mattress not long after.

When he’d settled I moved my head onto his stomach, crossed my legs and put it up on the wall. Together we made a capital T.

“Before I start you should say thanks. I had to cry to get this woman to tell an eight year old this story. Cry, Richie. Cry and pout and act like I was two. It was embarrassing,” I said peering behind at him. He said his thanks even through his smile.

“You’re welcomed,” I settled into my spot again, “So the story started the same way. The three doctors did come to Rondesdale to do the experiment but they weren’t doing it to reach maximum human evolution or whatever you called it. Their plan was to improve the five human senses. Make them stronger. Have better eyesight, even in the night. Get a better sense of smell to the point where you might even be able to track a person by scent alone. They wanted to give humans better hearing so that even the deaf could benefit from it. They planned to give humans a sharper sense of taste and even touch. Touch – as in we can adjust body heat better – so that we wouldn’t freeze as quickly in the winter.”

Richie’s body rumbled with a laugh. “So they weren’t just trying to further evolution. They were trying to help make a difference. That was the theory that supposedly died with them according to my teacher. They were doing good. My great-great grandfather was doing good.” I turned to him. His joy was contagious. I laughed and gave his leg a pat.

“Yes yes. Now let me finish the story. As I was saying…” I settled in again, “The doctors came into the town spreading the word about this experimental procedure and what it was meant to do. People came from all over to hear the seminars about the experiment and the science and theories behind it. It was then opened to the public for those who wanted to volunteer to be a test subject.”

Richie pushed me up from him and turned me around. “Nye, are you saying that they went of their own free will? That they knew exactly what they were getting themselves into?” he demanded. I nodded. He was speechless. Jumping up from the bed he paced around muttering nonsense.

And I’m the one who needs a psychiatrist? He sat on the bed again but his mind was far from this room. “They’ve been lying to everyone for years. They knew what the plan was and everything about the experiment. This was a mistake. My great-grandfather didn’t mean to get anyone hurt,” he stared at me, “Right?”

“According to the teacher, the experiments were fine at first. That’s why they allowed more people to come in for testing. She said that it actually worked. People were coming to the labs in the forest and lining up to get a dosage. Every week a little more came. They kept the subjects close by for observation and at first everything went well.

Dr. Angela London got the volunteers and screened them. Dr. Crowley ran the tests on the ten children, ten teenagers and nine adults. There were five men and five women in each category except the last. They needed to find an adult female but no one came forward who had the right requirements. Then Dr. Tabitha White offered to be the last adult to be in the experiment.”

“Meaning that my great-grandfather wasn’t the only doctor not to take the dosage,” Richie shook his head, “So many lies.”

“That’s not all. The official test subjects all stayed in the first house they built in the forest. Orion’s house. Each floor held another category of test subjects and Dr. White was the only test subject who didn’t live there. The doctors stayed in the labs and slept there when they had to. Dr. White After weeks of testing they monitored the subjects for some months.

Soon the doctors noticed the changes in the tested. They didn’t only get stronger senses but the animal’s genes that were mixed with the drug had mutated the human genes and changed their DNA. Their cells mutated, miss said. Their eyes and hair turned color and their voices grew harsher, but they were fast and healed quickly and were very strong. The changes were welcomed at first. None of the subjects were upset. They were even happy with the change…especially the younger children who were the last to be tested with their parent’s permission. All of the children had some sickness or fault that the drug could help.

Some time passed again but the changes didn’t stop. The testers were getting more animalistic and picked up some wolfish traits. They developed night vision and better reflexes and wolfish movements. They felt more comfortable in groups and having skin to skin contact the way wolves preferred to stay physically close to their Packmates. The Change was so gradual that they didn’t realize until it was too late to do anything. The human side of the testers was fading fast and it became a risk to let them out of the forest.

By this point the doctors couldn’t control the large number of people and some left without their okay. During that time a few of the town’s people were killed and word got around about the doctors in the forest and their experiment gone wrong. It was then the stories went from ‘we agree to the experiments’ to ‘the doctors tricked us into it’.”

“Cowards,” Richie spat, “They didn’t want to admit that they consented to it. Didn’t they get a contract or something?” I nodded and continued with the story just as miss had told it.

“The doctors had made sure to have the test subjects sign contracts as proof of consent and acceptance of the consequences,” I said before adding, “That’s what miss said. Sounds important-like.”

“It is. Where are these contracts? Did she say?”

“Destroyed. Some of the towns people tried to get the doctors to leave but the three refused. One night the people came in and set fire to the lab. Dr. London was the only one to be caught inside while the other two were out on an errand.”

“Damn it,” he grumbled, “What happened after that?”

“Well by this time things were out of control and Dr. Crowley had to deal with a new problem…Dr. White was changing as fast as the others and getting just as dangerous. They tried to find an antidote but the changes were too swift to try to keep up with. With all the chaos around them they decided, in a moment of desperation, to go to the Oracles. They didn’t believe in the Oracles but their prayers to the gods weren’t being answered and they needed the help.

So they went up to the Mountain of Harper to see the women who people say lived there and supposedly never left. The story was that the immortal Oracles could see the future and that they didn’t agree to see everyone who came to talk to them. If they were interested in a case or if they thought the person worthy, they would come to meet the traveler who climbed their slopes. Not many people had ever seen the Oracles and they were seen as almost mythical because of it.

Miss said that the Oracles foresaw the doctors’ visit and knew about the experiment and thought the men worthy of their attention. They met the two doctors and brought them to where they lived. Dr. White’s journal talked about how unearthly and pulse stoppingly gorgeous the women were,” I giggled, “Dr. White said he couldn’t walk in a straight line after seeing them because he was drunk on their majesty.” Richie rolled his eyes at me.

“The men didn’t have to tell the Oracle anything. The women already knew what happened, what they wanted and what they needed to do. Apparently Oracles only do things the way they see fit or not at all. A person could either accept the help or go back down the mountain.

The Oracles said that Dr. White’s body belonged to both his beast and his human side and so his soul was a melding of the animal’s and the human’s. They told him that the animal’s soul was tormenting the soul of the human. That was causing the anger and violence in them though when wolves were usually tame animals.

The Oracles offered to help but to do that they would heal Dr. White’s single mutated soul by separating the animal side and the human side. Desperate, they agreed and brought the other twenty-nine test subjects to the mountain. It was a difficult journey but they got them all there.

When Drs. White and Crowley got to the place again, the Oracles weren’t there to meet them. The women had taken care of what they needed to and had passed them on to another being as magnificent as they were. He called himself Ahmose, Child of the Moon.”

“The Ahmose? The same Ahmose the Chosen pray to on a full moon for a safe Change. They actually met him?” Richie’s eyes were huge, “This story’s way better than the one in school.”

“I know right? I guess that’s how they got those sketches and paintings of him,” I said.

“He’s supposed to be as unearthly as the Oracles and they say he watches over them. Gives them protection. Anyways get on with the story.”

“Right. Um, so Ahmose came to meet them and brought them to the Oracles’ house but the women weren’t inside. There he had a crystal glass bowl waiting on a table and had them surround it. He had them all prick their fingers and told them that it was their genes that got them into trouble and it would be those genes that would get them out of it. They all placed a drop of blood into the glass and he announced that they were now bound by blood and Pack. As he said that, Dr. White wrote about how he felt the aggression of the animal detach from him and became a completely separate part of him yet he still controlled it.

Ahmose spent days teaching them. He taught them to bond with each other and their wolves, how to tame the beasts and control it while not stifling the animal. He spent three days in the mountains teaching them everything they needed to know about their new Pack and their wolves. How to care for each other and their young and how to love the animal within and accept that it was now a slave to the moon. How to not punish it for that.

He told them that the souls were separate but that meant the wolf would have to come out at times. Sometimes it would be willing, as in they choose to shift forms, or because of the full moon where they’re forced to shift.”

“Why not just take away the wolf completely?” Richie frowned, “It would have made things so much easier.”

“That’s what I said. Miss told me that Ahmose only taught them in order to help them, not to make them understand how he worked. Dr. White thought that Ahmose didn’t take away the wolf to remind everyone of what happened and what shouldn’t happen again.”

“I’d believe that.”

“Well when they went back down the mountain, they began living their lives normally in their own homes. The killing had stopped and the normal humans had gotten over their issues with them. It was months later when the full moon brought out the true animal in them.

They shifted into their third form; the werewolf. With all thirty werewolves out on the loose, many of the humans died. That was how the Rondesdale Massacre happened. The humans tried to fight back but nothing could bring down the animal on a full moon.

When the full moon was over and they were back to their own selves, the humans came at them full force. Eventually a truce was called after two days of warring. Normal humans stayed in the town while the survivors retreated into the forest and began building homes in the clearing. A miniature village formed and a treaty was signed saying that the villagers weren’t allowed into the town and the town’s people were banned from the forest.

A year later a pregnant woman gave birth to twins. After some blood tests, the doctors saw that one child was fully human and the other wasn’t. The doctors, by rules of the treaty, had to tell the human authorities of any new changes in the villagers. The humans found out that the mutation passed onto some of the children but not all. From that day the humans began calling the ones born with the mutation the Chosen because not all children got it.”

Richie was silent but that silence was heavy. I sat up and saw the pleating between his brows marking his face with confusion. Confusion or disbelief. Or maybe both. I pulled the slip of paper out of my pocket and placed it in his hand. “She said to give you this. It’s a book called Pack History,” I said as his eyes slid from left to right while he read it. He said his thanks and stuffed his feet into a pair of sneakers. He didn’t even bother to put on socks.

“Where are you going?”

“Library. Be back in a bit,” he said and dashed out of the room before I could say anything else.

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Possibly the fastest I've ever uploaded this (or any other) story. Almost constant writing and checking.  If it weren't for so many of you fans asking for more chapters it definitely wouldn't have happened this fast...plus its Carnival season (until Tuesday) so I had a lot of free time and cancelled classes. 

Vote, Fan, Comment. And Recommend. I don't really like badgering people to read my stuff so I rely on the fans to share it with there fans. It would be cool to get an extra read or four :)