He held out his hand to shake.
"Hi," I smiled. "I'm Sky. And it was lovely to meet you when I did but can you help? One of them swiped me good." I touched my bleeding shoulder with the opposite hand.
He dropped his hand, looking ashamed.
"Ya. Max."
At this name another wolf changed and stepped forward. He was older. With thinning hair and an medical bag in his hand.
They could change with objects. Odd. I thought only dragkon could.
"Fix her up." Alecc pointed at a me. Then at another wolf.
"Zacc I wanta talk. The rest of you. Set up a perimeter. I don't want a werewolf within ten miles of us. We'll be leaving for home shortly."
A wolf trodded over and Changed while the rest scattered.
Though Max's pockmarked face was unattractive, he had smile lines around his eyes and his eyes themselves were kind.
He smiled at me. "You might want to sit."
I gingerly sat on the soft meadow grass. The adrenaline was wearing off and my sholder was starting to throb in earnest.
Tears pricked my eyes. I blinked them away. It would not do to look weak here.
"So what are you, if not a werewolf?" I asked the doctor.
"Shifters." Was his one word answer.
"Now then dear, what are you?" He asked in return.
He opened the bag and started pulling things out.
"What?"
"What enables you to shift? I hope your not a werewolf. That would be bad for both of us."
My mouth opened and shut. What could I say? Were these people an enemy of dragkons? They weren't werewolves. But my mother had never told me of a shifter like them. Did they have an ancient grunge against my kind? I simply knew nothing about them. Could I trust them with my life? No, I couldn't tell them the truth. Not yet at least.
"Shifter, like you." I hoped my eyes didn't give anything away. I'm such a bad lier.
"Where is your pack?"
That was easy to answer.
"My pack was small. I went out on my own and when I came back-..they were dead...Werewolves."
I couldn't keep the words from faltering.
He nodded. Accepting my answer without question.
"He looks awful young to be commanding everyone."
I nodded at Alecc.
A smile lit his worn face.
"He's the chiefs son. They always start out young. Besides, this is only his second time as alpha of a mission. We weren't supposed to attack. But when he saw such a large group of werewolves close to our territory, he asked a couple Wolfbane scouting party's to help. And then there was you and we had to attack. Never a dull moment with Alecc."
He stood behind me and examined my shoulder.
"Looks like you need stiches. We can handle this back at camp with Sam." The second part was directed at Alecc.
I couldn't hear what he and the other boy were whispering about but I guessed they were arguing about if it was a good idea to let me, a stranger, join and travel to whereever they were going.
Suddenly, Alecc put his fingers on his mouth and whistled loud and hard. The decision was made.
One by one wolves melted from the forest.
"What are we going to do?" my werewolf voice said.
"There are no werewolves to touch and use to Change. And you lost your bag in the forest."
"I'm going to touch one of these wolves."
My werewolf scoffed. "I sure hope your wolves look the same."
"Lets go." Said Alecc then looked at me and changed.
All around me were wolves. I stepped toward Alecc.
"Alecc, thank you for saving my life."
I smiled and causally touched his shoulder.
His wolf grinned and nodded a little impatiently.
I focused on him and Changed.
My regular wolf was silver too. I sighed in relief.
The whole troup started off. I hoped they wouldn't notice my nose and shoulder were healed.
"Humm, he is pretty." Said my werewolf voice. I rolled my eyes.
"Are you going to keep invading my personal thoughts?"
"You better believe it. And I would stop staring if I were you. Which I am, I guess."
I realized I had been starting in his direction. If I had been human I would have blushed.
We finally came to a cluster of cabins. There were many more than the city I had seen before. No two were the same. Some were painted in erratic patterns and colors. Others looked as if no one had lived there for years.
They were all different sizes and shapes. Most were one story but some of them had two. I saw one with three. Among the cabins, tents were shoved everywhere. The tents were even more colorful. I didn't see one with one solid color.
I was escorted to a small cabin with a bright red roof. A middle aged woman was there. The rest of the pack scattered.
She seemed distracted as she looked over my shoulder, washed the blood off and stitched it back together.
I was no stranger to stitches. When I was eleven, my knife slipped off the wood I was carving and cut my hand. My mom had sewed me up and I still had a scar to prove it. My shoulder would be stiff for a while but I would live.
They gave me something that numbed the pain. More luxury than my parents and I had ever had.
Max dropped me off at a blue and green tent with three empty cots, promising I wouldn't be left alone for long and making me promise I wouldn't go anywhere untill the sensitive wore off.
The tent was barely tall enough for me to stand straight but was plenty wide enough for three people to sleep comfortably.
Should I stay here? They hadn't killed me. And they did stitch me up.
On the other hand, my parents had not been avenged. But on the other hand I was clearly not strong enough to do this on my own. But on the other other hand these people were.
I put my hands over my eyes. What was I suppose to do?
My head hurt.
I wish ma and da were here, they would know what to do.