Moon Children

Territory Report

They came clattering through the front door with whoops of delight at the smell of food.

"Miriam, honey I'm home!" shouted David from the hallway.

Miriam rolled her eyes, "I am not your honey David Pewter and you would do well to remember that!"

He grinned at her as he walked in the room, "I know, dont spit in my food okay?"

He saw me eating my breakfast and tried to steal a pancake from my plate. I jabbed his hand with my fork.

William chuckled as David rubbed his hand, "You should know better than to try and steal food from her."

"Ah she's harmless," said David as he ruffled my hair.

I growled at him.

"Down girl!"

Miriam slapped him on his back, "Leave the girl be and go eat your breakfast."

Slowly the others started to arrive until the last person sauntered through the door.

"Craig," said my father, "You missed a hunt last night, where were you?"

"Frank," he nodded in greeting, "I was in the town at the bar. You know I cannot hunt as well as I used to."

Craig was the oldest wolf in the pack at fifty-eight years of age. He was also William's father.  Recently he'd stopped coming on hunts and was spending more and more time in the nearby town. My father was more lenient with him because they had been best friends since the dawn of time.

My father nodded, "How are things in town?"

"No scents of any rogues. Hunting season is coming up and I reminded the Hunting Society that our land is not to be hunted on."

"Good. Hopefully there will be no incidents like last year"

Everyone went silent. Last hunting season we had lost a good wolf to a hunters rifle. Jake's jaw tightened. That wolf had been his twin brother Jason.

Breakfast after that was a rather quiet affair. My dad cleared his throat when he was done eating.

"Okay, I ran our borders last night and I caught wind of another wolf. Not one of our own, " he looked round the table at all of us, "Now I only smelt the single wolf so it may only be a rogue and his trail didn't cross into our land, just skirted the edges. Obviously he knows we are here and may be interested in becoming a member of the pack,  but I don't want anyone wandering around alone," he looked straight at me, "Especially you, Skylar."

Rogue werewolves are wolves that have grown up in a pack and are either kicked out by the Alpha or they leave to become a lone wolf. Mutts on the other hand are far more dangerous. Mutts are humans that are bitten by rogues in an attempt to build their own pack. Mutts find it very hard to control the wolf and remain in a human settlement so most of them end up becoming man-eaters. They can't control the change like a pack wolf can so they turn volatile.

Of course not all mutts are bad, killing humans for sport and food.  Some become pack wolves. David was one of those few. Bitten when he was eighteen,  Craig found him hiding out in a cabin north of our territory and he's been in the pack ever since.

Craig shook his head, "That doesn't make sense. Rogues usually hang around human settlements, but there wasn't a trail."

"He could have travelled in from the north," said William, running a hand through his dark hair.

Frank nodded, "That's what I was thinking. I want you all patrolling tonight incase he decides to come into our territory. William, you and Jake will accompany Skylar. Don't let her out of your sight."