Perfectly Imperfect

Chapter Three

As the days we went by I grew closer to the people I was 'rooming' with. I had learned all their names, the two quiet men went by George and James and they were farmers. The timid woman in the corner was Sarah and the couple were Charlie and Alice. The three children were Tom, Carmine and Liam.

We talked well into the night, I could tell because of the weird window thing, prompting the guards to shut us up. I fell asleep, as always, to the sound of the howling wolves.

*~*~
I woke up gingerly. The bruises had fully formed on my skin by now but the ache wasn't all bad, it felt like I had been through a gruesome workout and no more. I slowly surveyed the room to see if anybody else was still sleeping. None of the adults were, I looked to the corner where the children had remained.

And right in the middle of the two youngest children was a wolf cub. What th- I jumped backwards, there was a wolf nestled in the corner with the two younger children. I stifled a scream as to not wake it up, for fear it might attack the children in panic. How did it get in here?! Did it fall through the window? It looked like it might fit. It was about a normal sized wolf, smaller than the ones outside. I glanced around in panic, fully prepared to go over there and move the children away from the wolf. But then I noticed two things, the adults were clearly not worried at all, and Tom was missing. There were clothes laid on the floor nearby. And on closer inspection, the wolf was nuzzling the children in its sleep.

"Wha-" I stuttered, my mind unable to comprehend what conclusion I was forming, "but- no, that's... Is he? Is that?" I briefly lost the ability to form a sentence.
"Is that Tom?" I asked, worried I was about to sound like a loony.
The adults all shifted glances awkwardly, as if not knowing how to tell me I was out of my mind for suggesting something like that.
Alice nodded gently as if trying to warn me of her answer before she vocalised it, "Yeah sweetie, it is."
Charles whistled quietly, as to not aggravate the guards, "Hey Tom, wake up buddy."
The wolfs head slowly raised sleepily from the tangle of limbs. He shook his head, his ears flopping around. I didn't dare move. I was both fascinated and utterly confused. Werewolves existed?

Tom whined and whimpered, I assumed he realised he had been busted. Things began making a lot more sense now. He glanced towards Alice and Charles before crawling towards me. He didn't extend himself to his full height, almost as if he was afraid he was going to scare me. He reached me and I slowly extended my hand. He shoved the side of his head into my hand and I began to gingerly stroke his ear.

He flopped over onto his back, belly up. A sign of submission or peace, I had learned from my research when I was younger. "Its okay buddy, I know you mean no harm," I glanced up to the adults, "He can understand me, right?"
They nodded in affirmation.
He flipped back over onto his front and gave my face a lick. I giggled quietly, it sounded foreign to my ears, having not laughed in so long, "You're adorable Tom." He gave a happy yap.
I ran my hand down his back, along his beautiful dark brown fur. It was unbelievably soft, his skin warm underneath. He gave a growl of content, almost like a purr.
"This is unbelievable," I gasped suddenly, "Alpha... that means, are they werewolves too?"
Farmer George answered me, "They are werewolves, but they give us a bad name. They're a pack of rogues."

I knew that a rogue meant a lone wolf, but how does a lone wolf remain a lone wolf if they group together? Surely then they become a normal pack, I voiced my question.
"A lot of people think that leaving a pack makes you a rogue, that's not true. You can be on your own or even part of a pack but living elsewhere. What makes you a rogue is being banished from your pack. Your scent changes and it is incredibly unlikely any other pack will accept you in. Usually, they are criminals who were banished instead of being executed but it could be anything really that gets you kicked out of the pack." James answered.

That explains so much. How they controlled the wolves, because they were the wolves, the secret behind their strength. The way that no matter how hard he pushed me to fight I stood no chance, it was because he was supernatural. It also explained how he knew everything that went on in the castle, when I was talking to the maid or sneaking food to the boy. Why he demanded people called him Alpha, it's because he was one.