As The Woe Turns: A World Before Woe

Full Moon (E.S.)

Enid woke with a start as the designated cook and the other wolves working the kitchen for breakfast filed in. Sun light was barely trickling in through the large east facing glass window that took up most of one wall of the bunk house. Obviously Enid wasn't happy. She wanted nothing more than to sleep and forget she even existed. At some point in the night someone had covered her with a blanket. She had cried herself to sleep on one of the couches in the communal dwelling after she ran away from her ruined camp site. She refused to share a tent with her parents like a pup and she had nowhere else to go so yeah.

Sometime during dinner, someone or someones had destroyed everything. Her brothers of course denied it. She had no proof either, but it didn't change the outcome. Her little home away from home for however long they were there was trashed. Her tent was shredded. Her sleeping mat, sleeping bag, pillow and extra blanket were all torn to bits. Her camp chair was mangled. Her fan and lights were smashed. Her camp bag and her duffle of clothes had been peed on. PEED On! What the hell was wrong with people. 'Wolves will be wolves' was all her mother had said after she found her in the bunk house. She hadn't even been looking for Enid. Esther had found her by accident while she was getting Murray a snack.

Speaking of her father, he whipped out his phone and got to work immediately ordering her an entire new set of gear. It should all be delivered to the camp P.O. Box in a matter of days. Exact replicas of what had been ruined. Stark reminders that she would never fit in. Not until she wolfed out. That's what he did though. Her father didn't try to fix things, or even help clean them up. He just replaced them. It's a wonder they hadn't tried to replace her yet. Or maybe they did. Either way, he tried to spoil her like the princess he thought she should be. If she even mentioned it in passing, she got it whiled she was home it would show up at Nevermore once she got back to school. Clothes, shoes, bags, stuffed animals, electronics. But she wasn't a princess. Enid didn't want stuff. She just needed him to have her back every once in a while...and maybe a hug or something sometimes.

Right now Enid could really use a hug. But no. Most of the other wolves, including her own family avoided touching her after a certain age. She got side hugs at best. Pats on the back or a ruffle of her hair. They felt forced and there was zero casual touch. After she didn't wolf out when she hit puberty it was like she carried the plague. Like not being able to wolf out was contagious or something. One of her love languages was physical touch. It was torture. It sucked. It really really sucked. It's a good thing her friends at Nevermore didn't mind her more touchy nature while she was there. They blamed it on her being a werewolf but the why didn't really matter they accepted her for who she was. She couldn't wait to go back.

Enid sat up with a grumble. Her head was killing her. Her ears were buzzing. Her hearing was intense. She felt a pressure behind her eyes she had never felt before. She could smell the food cooking in the other room way more intensely. Her entire body ached, and she was totally starving. She threw the blanket off with a huff. She stood abruptly and nearly tripped. Her duffle full of clothes and the bag itself had been washed, the clothing folded, and left for her to find next to the couch with a towel and her toiletries all cleaned up. Her phone had been plugged in and sat on the back of the couch. Her earbuds were also charging. Her immediate thought was that it had to be some kind of trick, or a trap. Something nice to lure her into a false sense of security. She still wasn't convinced it wasn't. Her next thought was how could anyone get that close to her without her noticing. The next after that? What would happen to her if she went down to take a shower? She stretched and nearly all her joints popped and cracked in a bad way. Her whole body just hurt. Her muscles, joints, and tendons felt tight like at any moment they could snap and pull apart. Enid decided the risk to shower was worth it. She felt gross.

She grabbed her toiletries, towel, and a change of clothes. She hid her newly washed duffle, phone, and earbuds behind the couch. Enid walked down a wide set of stairs towards the communal showers there were three separate rooms one for women, one for men, and one for families with a tub and more curtains for privacy. Each room other than the family room contained five single curtained shower stalls and one large handicapped accessible one with a bench, and a large central place to change with a few lockers. Enid put her clean clothes in what she thought was a safe place in the changing area. She chose a stall and stripped. Leaving her dirty clothes just outside she hung her towel over the divider and turned on the water. She was about one third of the way through her routine when she heard hushed voices. Immediately she thought someone was there to mess with her. How wrong she was.