She Who Bears The Wolf's Mark

Heavy Price

Heavy Price

Moments passed by as my mind processed my father's words -or tried to.

"What?" The word slipped out of my mouth. What on Earth was he talking about? Had everyone all of a sudden gone crazy and I was the only sane one left?

A low, dangerous growl from behind me emitted, causing me to whirl around in fear of what my mind decided to assume was one of the man-eating monsters, but all I saw was a snarling Xander, his teeth bared maliciously at my father like some kind of animal. My eyebrows drew together in a frown at this odd behavior of his. I instantly registered the intriguing glow of his amber eyes, their brilliant radiance shocking.

"We're not monsters, Mr. Richard. You of all people ought to know that. Finish the story quickly or I will; you must leave before sundown," Xander said in a deep, authoritative voice that transmitted a hidden warning toward my father.

Dad's only response was a dirty look he shot at Xander, then his eyes trained on me, softening instantaneously. "You have to believe your mother and I when we tell you there was no another choice, and what we did was to ensure your future. After all, we did what any parents would do if they were in our situation, even if it meant sacrificing your happiness in order for you to live. Those beings are real, but they're not what everyone thinks they are. Only a few people know of the existence of the Evergreen Pack. Only a few humans, that is." He paused to grip my mother's shaking hand, glancing over my shoulder for an instant before continuing, "I know you'll think we're crazy, and we don't blame you, but you will see it soon enough with your own eyes. There are other things out there, other creatures..." Trailing off, his eyes fell to the ground, an expression of contemplation spreading across his face. "I don't even know how to say this." He admitted.

"Dad, you're scaring me." It was true, for throughout his entire speech or explanation or whatever the hell was telling me, my heart had been pounding against my ribcage crazily, my body sweating profusely out of nervousness in spite of the cold weather. Even my birthmark had started tingling. The man-eating beings were real? What nonsense was the man I called my father saying? They couldn't possibly exist!

"The monsters in the story are a pack of wolves, Carly. A pack of werewolves, to be exact, and they're called the Evergreen Pack after this very forest."

Abruptly, my mind conjured up an image of a large, black wolf. I blinked it away.

Silence draped over the clearing like a blanket. Everyone and everything went still as anticipating and anxious eyes awaited my reaction. Another gust of even colder wind blew across the clearing. His words took longer than they should to register into my brain, clashing with every piece of logic, science and truth I had stored in my mind, but when they did, it felt like someone had backhanded me across the face, hard. What would a normal teenage girl such as myself do if she was told werewolves- beings that were only supposed to exist in tales and nightmares- were actually real?

Why, laugh hysterically of course. "Dad, are you drunk? Is this some kind of birthday joke? Werewolves are fictional, dad. I turn eighteen today, you can't expect me to fall for that!" My laughing subsided to soft chuckles as I relaxed a bit, my muscles un-tensing. So this had been a prank all along...!

"How about I prove it to you?" It was said so nonchalantly, so casually that it didn't lead me to believe Xander was serious about it.

How could he possibly prove it?

Humoring him, I said with a smirk, "Go right ahead."

How the hell was I to know that he'd really morph into a massive black wolf with canines as large as daggers and sharper than blades right before my eyes?!