Lone Wolf (EDITING)

Solitude

A nervous glance toward Ian showed her that he was listening carefully, by his nodding, but he was not looking at her. She was not quite sure if that was a bad sign, but she had very little to lose anyway.

"But she lied. Every foster was just the same and they yelled at me for getting dirty and going outside too much. How did you know I was a wolf?"

Waiting patiently for her to finish, he listened to her every word, more of them from her than he had ever heard before. Though it pained him deeply to speak of Marie, she was the reason he had taken her in, knowing his wife would have accepted her in a heart beat. "My wife was one. She passed years ago."

"Did you make pups?" Suspicion laced the light blue in her eyes and dulled the sparkle that had begun to rekindle itself.

Ian shook his head. "No. No, we loved each other very much, but it was not meant to be. And let me make sure that you know that females, human or wolf, are not only for having children. Women have the same rights to a good life and happiness as males, because they are equal. Sometimes better," he winked. 

Seren smiled just barely. "Do you really think that?"

"I know that. My wife and I may not have been able to have children, but together, we have fostered and then adopted four wolves and they all grew up to join the Wind Runner pack. I hope that you-"

"Please!" She cried, suddenly terrified. "I don't want to be in a pack! I don't want to be with other wolves. Don't make me go there, please!" Eyes were blown wide with fright and a slight tremble shook her hand holding the spoon.

Startled by her sudden and intense reaction, his brows pressed together in concern. "Why don't you want to be in a pack? Wolves are social creatures. They will run with you and teach you things I cannot. They will love you and give you ice cream, too."

She shook her head, vehemently. "My mom and dad were in a pack. If you aren't at the top, you get picked on because someone is always above you. They tell you to do stuff. They tell you to do bad things for them, scary things. If you don't do them, they hurt you. If you lie, or cry, they cut you with the knife. I don't want them or an alpha telling me what to do and yelling at me, too. If I have to do everything they tell me to do, all the bad things, I won't be myself anymore. I want to be my own alpha and live in my own house and play outside whenever I want."

Ian's heart melted in pity as a current of anger swirled within his rib cage. What had been done to this poor girl? Could she even be convinced to consider a meeting with one of his prior fosters? "Alright. No packs. You can be whoever you want. You can decide when you want to be in a pack and if you don't, that is okay too."

It was just as good for him. He didn't have to worry about his only companion going off to be a part of the pack Marie had been in and losing her too. She would stay with him and he wouldn't be lonely anymore. 

When she had grown and finished high school, he had given her the keys to his old hunting cabin.

"It's not much," he'd said. "But it's yours. This way you can be out in the woods all the time."

Ian owned around a hundred acres that bordered the western edge of the Wind Runner pack's territory. His land was bottle-shaped, a large rectangular area with his home and orchard with a long skinny neck that tapered off in the north on the steep slope of one of the mountains and that was where his hunting cabin was. That thin strip of landed acted as a buffer between the Wind Runners and the Gray Paw pack that owned everything east all the way to the coast. There was no animosity between the two packs, but McGreggor's land was off limits to each, and it was understood that he was a peaceful old hermit to be left alone. The area was too narrow to be of any importance for hunting and it kept the packs' boundaries defined with a droopy wire fence. That way, there was never any issue with trespassing.