The wolf woman

The Chief

She hugged me and kept wailing. I couldn't understand what to do. I tried comforting her. Without knowing the reason behind her tears, it was hard to handle.
An eerie silent spread across the jungle. Birds stopped singing. All the animals hid in their burrows. I could hear some rustling in the woods. It kept getting louder every passing moment. A big animal was slowly walking towards me. I wanted to run but Accalia was holding my leg. A tall man came out of the woods. He had a muscular body covered in scars. He was wearing only pants. Two beautiful women were following him. They were dressed well. The man seemed to be someone special. They were ignoring my existence. He turned to Accalia. "Accalia! We banished you from the clan. What are you doing in the territory." He said. Accalia hid behind me. I did not understand what he meant by that. I always thought that packs stick together. I interfered. "she can't speak. Yesterday, in an accident I hit her with my car. She seemed to lose all her memories." I said. That man looked at me. I could see in his eyes, he didn't want an outsider to interfere in their matter. "I am alpha. Chief of the clan. Accalia was banished because of her incompetency. She was bringing the whole clan down.", He said. I could not understand what he meant by incompetency. From what I have seen, Accalia is a fast learner. The chief invited me to their village. I agreed without giving it much thought. I wanted to learn more about Accalia and her origin. Chief said that he wanted to thank me for keeping their existence a secret. If their existence is revealed, their life would be under threat. I was scared. These are werewolves we are talking about. They could eat me to keep my mouth shut. Human on tonight's feast. I should have given it more thought before agreeing. This is how I would die. I will be eaten by werewolves. Accalia was hugging my hand tightly. This made me even more scared. I assumed she realised that these are some last few moments of my life. Alpha walked us through deep forest. He was guiding the path. His two beautiful subordinates were following us.  They were guarding our back. It felt more like they were making sure we couldn't run. I saw an opening in the thicket. It was the clan's village. They were more civilized than I imagined. Houses were made from bricks and concrete. A school to educate their children, a hospital. Adult werewolves were in human form while children were running around in wolf form. They need time to be able to change. There were some wolves who looked humanoid. A result of incomplete control over the transformation. Many questions were arising in my head but I did not have courage to ask them. I noticed a couple looking at Accalia with immense love in their eyes. They were the eyes of parents. My mother looked at me the same way. I assumed they were Accalia's biological parents. They must have been worried about her. Chief took us to his house. His house was the biggest in the entire village. . It was a bungalow. Nothing less than a human's bungalow, in fact the construction and design was better. I had many questions to ask. One question was yearning the most for an answer. "If you don't mind, can I ask what did you meant by incompetent?", I asked the chief. He looked at me. He gestured to sit down. Accalia sat beside me, still holding my hand. She was holding onto me as if I was about to be killed or taken away from her. It was surprising that she got so affectionate to me in just one day. Her affection can not be justified. I did not treat her in a way that makes me deserving for so much love. "Normally, a werewolf gives birth to a human child carrying our blood. When they grow 3 yrs old, we scratch or bite them to activate their powers. But Accalia took birth as a wolf. This makes her more animalistic than others. She can't do basic chores required for survival. She has not even been imprinted by a male yet because of her incompetency." I felt angry. A pack is supposed to stick together. A pack leader has the role binding the pack together. He has to make sure that everyone gets ready to leave the pack by the time they mature. Chief leaned back as his subordinate brought tea. "She spent all her life inside her room. She was banished yesterday because she caused a threat to us." said the chief. I asked him what threat he was referring to. Chief told me that Accalia was sent with a pack for hunting. They hoped that she would at least learn how to hunt if she is sent with a pack. She attracted the whole group of  wildebeest. The whole pack was charged. Many were injured. Accalia was born with an ability to heal faster than normal werewolf but her inability to do anything properly caused trouble to everyone in the pack. For the safety of the whole pack, the chief banished her. "You can't just leave her like that!" I exclaimed. I could see regret in the chief's eye over his decision. "I can't put the whole clan at risk for her", he said. I asked him to let her live inside the house forever. Chief denied that. It would set a bad role-model for the new generation. It would also disrupt the balance of nature. It is against their laws. What he was saying seemed logical but I still felt they were wrong.
Two people entered the house. They were the one  who were looking at Accalia affectionately. They kneeled down before the chief and asked for forgiveness. They asked the chief to let Accalia come back to them. I could see tears in their eyes. Accalia was whimpering but she was holding her tears back. "Accalia, do you want to go to your parents?" I asked her. She nodded. I smiled and told her to be with her parents. She turned into a wolf and jumped towards her mother. She cuddled her mother while crying. She must have missed her alot. Chief was surprised. He thought Accalia lacked communication skills. They tried to teach her but she wouldn't understand anything. I denied everything he said. I told him everything that happened till now. Chief saw improvement in Accalia. She couldn't understand anything told to her. They never explained anything to her the way I did. Accalia is a smart girl. They disregarded her since birth. She was always treated as someone different. They treated her as a retard and never showed love towards her. Her parents loved her but they put too much pressure on her. Some people can't do anything under pressure. Pressure took the best out of Accalia. She got scared. No matter how hard she tried, the immense pressure everyone was putting on her made her unable to do anything. She must be cracking inside her skin. I could not stuff my emotions inside. I studied psychology in my college. Moreover, growing up in a similar family, I could understand what she went through. I yelled at the chief. "It is your fault not hers! You were putting too much pressure. She couldn't handle it and cracked up!" Chief's subordinates pulled their blades on me. It is disrespectful in wolves to yell at the chief. Accalia growled at the subordinates. Her expression showed hostility towards them. The Chief ordered his subordinates to back off. He was devising a plan. Chief looked at me while stroking his beard. "I have a favour to ask off you." Chief said. I asked what favour he was referring to. I also added that  I am not sure if there is something I can help them with. Chief answered that he wants me to take care of Accalia. I was bamboozled. I denied without giving a second thought. I didn't know anything about werewolves or their civilization. It is impossible for me to take care of her. Upon hearing my reasons, the chief offered me to live with them for a month and learn their way of living. It was quite intriguing to me that he was being quite generous to someone he banished. I was reluctant but I agreed. It's a unique chance for a human to be offered to live with werewolves.
Accalia's parents were asked to take me under their care. They prepared Accalia's room for me to stay. She was asked to sleep in the living room. Werewolves live in tightly closed communities. They don't have guests to come over. So, they don't have guests' room. I denied staying in Accalia's room. She's a girl. She needs her privacy. The werewolves have a standard of living similar to  humans. They fulfill all feasible requests made by guests I asked them to allow me to live in the living room while Accalia stays in her room. Accalia might not have long time at her home. I want her to make and cherish as many memories as she could. Accalia didn't say anything. She agrees to everything her parents asked her to do. This is fear. She is afraid of her parents.
It was dinner time. The whole clan eats together in a feast every night. Their meal portions are bigger than humans and their meat intake is larger as well.. Accalia and I were asked to stay in the house. Chief didn't want the community to freak out upon seeing a human or someone who's been banned. Meal was brought to us. Chief was going to talk to his community about this. He will order them to not attack me. For the next one month, I will be taught werewolves' way of living. I started eating. I looked at Accalia. She wasn't using knives and forks, instead she was eating with her hands. She was eating like a savage. I didn't mind her but I wonder if others will think the same. I agreed to taking care of her. I am a man of my words. I will start with teaching her how to eat. "Accalia.", I said while patting her head. She thought I was trying to steal her food. She growled at me. "Accalia. It's me." I patted her again. She looked at me. I have never taught someone how to eat. My parents used to yell at me but that may not work on her. She clearly can not work under pressure. I wiped her mouth. Her lips were soft like petals. My heart was pounding. I should not lose my control. "Eat like I do." She shook her head. I rubbed her head. "It's bad manners to eat like that. Please copy me." She whimpered. Her hands were trembling. She was getting anxious. I caressed her head gently. "it's okay. You can do it. Just do as I do. It will be fine." She started to copy me. She sat straight and held a knife and a fork in her hands. She tried her best. She messed up a bit but she deserves praising. I patted her head. "Good job! I am proud of you!" I gave a chocolate that happened to be in my pocket. Accalia hugged me tightly and started crying. I was confused. "I haven't said anything wrong, have I?" I wondered. She sunk her head more into my chest and kept crying. "why are you crying?" I asked. "Happ….grr." Accalia replied. I asked if she meant happy by that. She growled and nodded affirmatively. This was the first time she got praised even after messing up. I tucked her in her bed and put her to sleep. I came back to the living room. This house was much better than my apartment. It's bigger, has more space and new television. I turned on the television and started watching the news.
I was wondering why Accalia didn't grow up mentally. She had pressure but still, she could learn at school. She could at least learn how to talk. Accalia's state could be a result of bad parenting. I dozed off while thinking about her.