Chapter 24
No one spoke for the next few minutes, and the only movement was Charlie bouncing over to sit on my other side and I began stroking his shorter, scruffier mane.
‘You’re lucky, Kez. That they let you do that to them. And we are not so used to having a... human in our midst. I think the last human I came across was over two decades ago.’ As I looked up to watch him again, a shadow seemed to cross over his face and his skin seemed to grey slightly as he turned sideways to the firelight. ‘Now.’ He looked up again and walked through the wolves that were dotted about, just visible around the camp’s edge. ‘We need to sort your pack out now, don’t we?’
‘As you wish,’ Baz replied, though he slouched into my side more.
Once again, I was confused and had no idea to what he meant. ‘Firstly, it would be a good idea if we know everyone’s names,’ the Alpha suggested.
As one, all the wolves around me jumped up onto their hind legs and instantly changed their forms. Picking out my friends, I decided not to focus too much on the others that I did not know; however, I did count the males and females (four and three).
‘There are more of us than this, but the others do not need to be here and I’ve sent them on patrol around our borders,’ the Alpha said. ‘So, to find out who we all are...’
One by one, the group of werewolves reeled off their names around the circle. Other than the ones I knew, I couldn’t quite remember any of the others but they seemed to be names from around the eighteenth century, may be earlier with a few of them.
‘And who is your alpha?’ asked the man.
No one answered, but as I looked around at my friends I saw they were all looking back in my direction; it took a few seconds but I managed to figure out they were looking at Barry. When I turned to look at him, he had his eyes closed and his head bowed and resting in his hands. ‘That would be me,’ he spoke. His voice was low and deep and each word was followed by a small hesitation.
‘Ah, I thought it might be.’ His words were followed by husky chuckling, not just from his throat but also from the others of his pack.
‘An alpha with a human? Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous?’ spoke the man who occupied the same spot as the Gamma wolf a minute or so ago. His ridiculed comment was swiftly followed by growling and once again Charlie had transformed and began slowly pacing towards him with bared teeth and snarling throat.
‘Stop! Enough! You two will behave yourselves or you are out of this camp,’ ordered the Alpha human.
Charlie backed down, though reluctant as he returned to my left side and eying Baz who eyed him back warningly. He shot his arm round me and his hand gripped at my side sharply; I wriggled in his grasp and he released me suddenly.
‘Charlie, please. We can’t piss them off; they will fight us if we do until we are out of their territory. And you know that. Just sit down and be quiet,’ Baz spoke to him, with an authority that I had never heard from him before; I didn’t know what to make of it. Shuffling along the log away from him, I turned my head away and put my hands between my knees.
‘Kerry, come with me,’ spoke another man from behind me. I jumped and turned around in my seat and saw that he looked almost similar to the first man I had spoken to. ‘I will explain more and these can talk without annoying you.’ As gentle as his words were, I was cautious as I stood and stepped over the log towards him.
He began walking into the trees and I followed until I was level with him. We walked on in silence for a bit before turning left and continuing.
‘Who are you?’ I managed to ask finally, after reassuring myself that he wasn’t going to harm me.
‘I am Theodore; you can call me Theo if you like. I am the Beta of this pack. And you have many questions?’ I picked up on this being a question itself.
‘Yes. Barry said you were my friends’ elders. But I don’t quite understand. Unless you were their grandparents then it is impossible that you should be alive. And I’m sorry but none of you look any older than my own parents.’
He mumbled to himself for some seconds. ‘I can see how this is confusing for you, but you are after all... human.’ He said that last word the way that all of this pack had said it; a hushed voice and heavy lips.
I took a deep breath. ‘What did your Gamma mean that it was ridiculous for Barry to be with me? Surely if he is an alpha then he can choose to be with who he likes,’ I said with conviction in my own voice.
As I looked at him, he looked at me with a hard gaze and shaking his head. ‘It is more complicated than that. Him being an alpha means that he should be with another wolf or werewolf as you humans call us. That is why your Beta...’
‘Who?’ I interrupted swiftly.
‘Erm, the one who sat by your left.’
‘Oh, Charlie. Wait.’ I touched his arm and we both stopped. ‘Charlie is Barry’s second?’ He dipped his head in affirmation. ‘Wow that explains a few things. But...’ I stumbled. ‘They behave as brothers to each other, they’re best friends.’
‘The way that I am with my own Alpha. That is usually how it is, and have you seen how protective they can be with each other and each other’s possessions?’ he asked delicately.
‘Possessions? You mean their girlfriends?’ Once again, he nodded. ‘But Charlie’s girlfriend, Ashley, is a werewolf herself.’
‘Ah yes, but in our world females belong to our males. I have studied you humans a little and you don’t have that system in the way you live. It’s a structural thing; you have lovers, and we have mates.’ He gestured for us to start walking again.
Slowly but surely, I found myself understanding a bit more about my friends and their personalities reflecting their positions and way of life.
‘So all this time, to every other werewolf, I am a sort of a pet to Barry.’ It only seemed to right to use Baz’s proper name.
‘Yes, though seeing how he holds you, he doesn’t like that idea. But as much as he may try, he cannot change the way us werewolves think and act.’
Biting my lip, I walked on thinking over a few things from the past years and saw in my memories the reasons for the funny looks that some females gave me as I walked past them with Baz beside me.
‘Forgive me; I still haven’t quite answered your confusion. We are their elders. Though a few generations separate us, your friends and my pack are all related. In some way or another, I am probably related to Charlie. That may be true or not, none of us really know. But it is a common thing that a Beta will always produce a line of Betas for other packs. These positions can change, whether it is due to death, fighting or backing down from a position.’
Just then, our conversation ceased as we heard yelping and barking from the direction of the camp.
‘What do you think is going on?’ I asked while looking over my shoulder though all I saw were trees and gloom.
He took ahold of my lower arm, firmly but not so it hurt. ‘I cannot be sure. May be we should be getting back. Is there anything you still want answering on the way?’
‘I have many questions,’ I started. ‘It’s just knowing whether I should ask them or not, or how to ask them.’
We headed back the way we came, him leading me as there was no way I could find the way back by myself.
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The Turn of a Page
Romance*Short chapters and one off story* As Kerry is trying to fit in and stay out of trouble in a new school that she has moved towns to be in with her boyfriend, Barry, things start becoming very difficult. Their drama teacher, Cayleb, decides to interv...
