The Wolves in the Willows

“...It’s unusual to find a female rogue, particularly one that has a distinct smell of posterity.” I deduce this authoritative deep voice as belonging to the Alpha.

“Ye...we believe she was either a mother or a wet nurse...” This one is the Beta.

“Is she full or half blooded? She’s certainly not bitten.”

“Her size indicated that she was full-blooded but Benji said he noticed that one of her eyes had some blue in it.”

“One of her eyes?! Have you checked?”

“No, we didn’t want to wake her cos we didn’t want her to cause us any trouble.”

“Fair enough, I think I’ll try to absorb her into our pack to be honest, we haven’t got many females after all and I don’t think she’s a hostile rogue; by the looks of it she hasn’t been out of a pack long. We will need to question her though...” At this point, I decide to open my eyes and take a look at my captors; I recognise the beta, Ozz, by his bright green eyes so I turn to gaze at the Alpha. Alphas, despite being the head and lead male of a pack, are not always the best looking, but this one genuinely resembles a Greek god. His skin is tanned from long days spent under the sun and his hair is a short and fluffy Brad-Pitt blonde, not to mention his beautifully broad Hercules chest; if it weren’t for my dire hunger and thirst, I would drool. He seems to notice me gazing at him and he smiles a half-smile, I repress a sigh.

“What’s your name?” His expression is encouraging but I hold my lips shut; if they knew who I was and what I’d been convicted of, they’d kill me for sure...but isn’t that what I wanted? He notices my deliberation and puts a warm, reassuring hand on mine, my eyes widen as I feel a current pass between us. He seems to notice it too as his eyes seem to momentarily focus on our hands. “We… won’t hurt you.”

“Errr...Cole, earlier...she...she seemed to want to die... I don’t know what she was running from but I don’t think she cares for her own life anymore...”

“Are you serious?!” He snatches his hand away and glowers at me like I don’t have the right to die.

“Ye, she only shifted on my promise that I would kill her as soon as she was human.” The alpha hasn’t removed his eyes from me, looking deep into my eyes, seeking the truth; my eyes are fixed on him of their own accord.

“What happened to you?” His voice suddenly becomes very gentle, although with a hint of an edge to it, and I finally gain the courage to speak, the part of me that wants to live rattles in my mind at the prospect of safety and security in a new pack.

“I was abjured from my pack.” His eyebrows knit together as he considers what I just said; he seems unable to speak so his Beta asks his unspoken question for him.

“That’s unusual for a female...why did they abjure you?”

“They...they thought...” But tears have sprung into my eyes at the excruciating memory that has resurfaced its ugly head. And suddenly the Alpha’s hand is back,

“It’s okay, you don’t have to tell us right now…” His Beta looks at him questioningly, “just tell me your name and why you came here and then we can take you to our doctor.” I look up into his beautiful blues and notice the genuine care that shines behind them; perhaps I’d be safe here after all…

“My name is Juna and I came here by accident.” He smiles warmly at me, coaxing me to timidly smile back.

“Okay, Juna, welcome to Three Willows pack. We’ve given you a pack remedy that will make you feel better for a couple of hours while we move you over to our doctor’s hut so she can treat your wounds.” I nod and he moves to lift me from the mattress, his Beta stands back, seemingly perplexed with something. He’s right, I only feel a dull ache from the gashes in my side which is bearable, his presence alone seems to be providing an effective distraction from the pain in my heart and I silently thank him with my eyes. The alpha strides out of the wooden hut, carrying me effortlessly while his Beta traipses along uncertainly behind us. Somewhere along the hour and a half long journey, I fall into a light sleep because I wake up in a more friendly looking hut where there are other people lying in beds adjacent to mine. I see movement in my peripheral vision and glance over to see a tall, slim women checking an IV next to the bed opposite me. I look down at my own wrist to find that I have a needle protruding from it and a long clear tube extended to my own IV. I attempt to remove the thing; unnatural medicine has always freaked me out, before a hand is placed firmly on mine to stop me.

“Don’t remove it please; you need it to get better.” I look up into the face of the tall slim woman and find that there is no hostility; her blue eyes resemble that of the Alpha’s, the same kindness glows in them. Her hair is the same sandy blonde as his too, perhaps a little darker, and her olive skin enhances the general glow of her face; it almost makes me smile.

“Errr…where am I, who are you?” She chuckles at my cliché questions.

“You’re in Three Willows nursing hut and I’m Frances Bailey, I’m the physician of this pack.”

“Why am I hooked up to an IV, it’s not natural.” She smiles as if she knows exactly what I mean.

“Sometimes I find it necessary to use human methods of treatment when injury exceeds the capabilities of pack remedies.”

“Oh.”

“You won’t be in here long, don’t worry, I’m just making sure you have enough strength to get better on your own. You haven’t fed in a while so you’re a bit underweight and your healing process is slower but as soon as you’re ready I’ll let you out of here so you can meet everyone.”

“I’m not going to be killed?” She actually winces at my assumption and looks genuinely concerned.

“Of course not! My son has decided to let you into our pack, he could see no reason why not to; you don’t pose any threat to us.”

“So I’m just part of this pack now?” Part of me howls with joy at the prospect of a new secure, safe home after what I’d been through, the other part of me still clings to the idea that death is the only release for my shredded soul.

“Well, not yet, unfortunately you are still a rogue so you will need to follow the initiation process of any new wolves.” Understandable I guess, but if I get thrown many more curve balls then the death part of me will most likely win over. I find myself gazing past Frances Bailey towards the window, my mind snapping back to my own pubescent initiation into my origin pack.

       “That has to be one of the fastest kills I’ve seen of any youngster.”

“Geez...she’s a natural alright...”

“Right, I’ll call her back, she’s definitely passed...Juna!”

“Yes, Alpha?”

“That was...surprisingly good.”

“Thankyou, Alpha.” My paws carry me back to him without much thought of my own; my body knows what to do even if my mind is still getting used to all this.

“Right, head over to Renver and she’ll take you to your chosen calling.” I set off on the mile hike...or lope... to Renver on the outskirts of our pack base, secretly listening in to Alpha Pyres’ telepathic conversation about me with Beta Sayers.

“I’ve never seen anyone so talented in so many tasks...but...” Beta Sayers always has a ‘but’ no matter what he says.

“But?” Oh great, Alpha’s actually listening to him for once...

“She’s...I’m told she’s never really ‘fitted in’ well within the pack, she’s always been a bit of a loner...”

“Why? I would have thought others would look up to her talent?”

“They would, but she has a habit of telling others how to do something, being bossy, taking the lead role...away from your son.” I was just helping the younger and weaker ones to cope under the tyranny of that little shit!

“Oh, well it’s probably just a phase; I think it shows a strong suitability to the Nurse-wolf calling.”

“You’re probably right, that calling ought to keep her busy anyway, she won’t be getting in the way... oh look, there’s your son now, looks like he got a baby deer!” And with that, I shift into human form a few metres short of Renver.

       “Right, get these clothes on and I’ll take you over to...what is your chosen calling?” I sigh as I change into what looks like nun gear, I hadn’t really chosen a calling, my leader had recommended me for a couple...

“Nurse-wolf, I guess...”

“Great, that’s a very admirable calling; it requires a lot of patience though...” I nod my head absent-mindedly as she rambles on about caring for youngsters, trying to come to terms with the concept that this is me set for life; my mind wanders habitually to other impossible places.