In The Shadows (Re-written)

-FOUR-

Several weeks had passed since I had begun my 'training' under Coda. Every day was the same routine. Coda would formulate a ridiculous chore for me to complete if he had the time to plan it or he would just give me a list of tasks so long it took me several days to complete them all.

Sometimes I would outsmart him, finding some solution to easily finish his assignments like I had with the chickens, other times Coda would be the one several steps ahead of me.

There was one time I was to pick up every stick in the residential area of the pack and strangely enough all of the wheelbarrows were occupied, and the rakes all appeared to have gone missing. So, I had been left to pick the sticks up completely by hand, taking as many into my arms as I could and bringing them to the fire pits for kindling.

Another time I had been tasked with removing all of the burrs matted into several cloaks. Coda had warned me that the furs on the heavy fabrics were old, so I wasn't allowed to use a brush to clean them. My fingers had stung for days after and I had still been pulling out the little thorns that had imbedded themselves in my fingers.

I could see how anyone would get tired of Coda's antics after a few days, never mind weeks. It was no mystery why all of his apprentices had quit.

For me though, the chores were simply that. I didn't expect anything more from Coda. I was a joke to everyone, including myself, and he'd been burdened with my so called 'training' above everyone else. It came as no shock to me that he had no interest in actually taking me seriously. Why should the beta of all people waste his time in trying to teach a weak human how to fight?

Honestly, it was surprising he was even taking the time to come up with these outrageous tasks. Perhaps the old coot just enjoyed making people miserable.

However, after a few days, the chores didn't really bother me. In the beginning it was just having to deal with the crushing disappointment that I wasn't actually going to get to train that had frustrated me. Once I got over that, I came to appreciate the chores. I had something to do that wasn't counting the number of trees that constructed my house. Sometimes I even felt helpful, doing the things that needed to be done that most people didn't want to do.

Coda didn't even scare me that much anymore. Perhaps it was because I saw him almost every day, even if for just the minute it took for him to tell me what I was going to be doing for the rest of the day. Every now and then though, that fear would spike when he gave me a piercing stare that sent shivers down my spine as he tried to intimidate me into running away.

The beta grew more and more confused with every passing day that I continued to show up. He was intrigued by my grit, curious as to why I hadn't given up yet.

When winter came, I found myself free several days a week. Coda was far too busy with maintaining the hunting rotations. It was important to still be bringing in food for our pack, especially as prey started to grow scarce the deeper we dove into winter. Sometimes the beta would go on the hunting trips that would last several days and require a group of werewolves to travel off pack lands in search of deer and even the occasional bear.

During those times I would find myself wandering aimlessly around the pack lands, making sure to stay away from the borders.

Then the worst of winter passed and with it my thirteenth birthday. I was ashamed of myself for having the slightest glimmer of hope as I woke up that day and stared at myself in the mirror, watching and waiting for my beast to make an appearance.

I'd curled my lip only to find rounded teeth and stared into my own deep brown eyes hoping they would change into black pits.

Then another year passed, and I was fourteen, but when I woke up that morning I didn't even glance at the mirror as I rolled out of bed, slipping on my moccasins and changing into a two-piece deer skin outfit composed of a heavy shirt and long pants for the winter season.