Her Human

Two

I decided to go back to the pack today, the thoughts I've had recently have been dangerous. It took all I had to leave my little spot overlooking his house.

After an hour of running, I break through the trees and into the small clearing. Familiar scents and faces greet me with slight nods of acknowledgment, as I head to the biggest tent in the center. I poke my head through, immediately making eye contact with my mother. She gives me a knowing look and presses a slender finger to her mouth, motioning for me to be quiet. I give her a nod.

When my mother does this, it could mean two things. One, my father is asleep. Two, my baby  brother is asleep.

As I'm about to sit down at the little table in the middle of the tent, barely raised off of the ground, I trip over a stray rattle and crash to the floor.

The tent is set up like this: a large, dark green interior, with three "rooms" (more like pods) attached to it, and a short stubby table with a makeshift kitchen parallel to it.

As I trip over the rattle, I crash into the makeshift kitchen, causing pots and pans to fly everywhere. Then I hear a loud wail.

"Oops," I mutter. So it was the baby.

My mother casts me a sharp look and rushes over to the smallest of the three rooms. A few minutes later and the young pup has calmed down. My mother comes out of the room with a small furry wolf cradled in her arms.

I realize this sight to normal human eyes must appear absurd to say the least. A grown, human looking woman cradling a small, wolf pup as if it were her own biological child. But it is, that furry creature with sharp little daggers for teeth is her own, in flesh and blood.

I snort, to me, this is picturesque normalcy.

Babies come out as wolves when they're born. It may seem odd, but when they're in their wolf form, they're able to grow at a faster and stronger rate. When they're around the age of five or six, they gain the ability to shift into a human child.

Not many people do this though, as we are more comfortable in our wolf form. It's hard to explain but it's something akin to post work-out soreness. Then you get this itchy feeling and feel the need to shift back. You can try and counteract this uncomfortable feeling, intense stretching and meditation, practice makes perfect after all, but it won't go away completely until you've shift back. So yeah, not very fun.

The only reason I saw a lot of "humans" today upon arrival, was because it's harvest season and we need to scavenge for resources as we prepare for winter. Meaning we need to gather things like seeds and lumber, kind of hard to do with large paws...

"Shh..." she coos and hums to the baby. I don't think I'll ever know why my parents decided to have another baby. I've never been particularly close to them, something I'll occasionally beat myself up over. Part of me thinks they had him because of me. I'm always out and never home. They think I roam around the woods for no reason. I can't tell them the real reason though,  they wouldn't understand why I'm hiding my human mate from them. While human mates used to be practically unheard of in the olden days, today they're more or less accepted in the werewolf world. Uncommon, yes, but your typical pack won't banish you or have you both hanged. However, while humans can enter werewolf packs, there's a sort of unspoken rule about telling every human on the planet about our existence. I imagine that wouldn't go over so well, considering our pasts with humans and their crazy mythological ideas about us (which is fairly based on truth but still, come on folks.)

Anyway, back to my parents. They're already pretty old and the baby and I have almost a twenty year age gap between us. I don't think I'll ever be very close to the young thing, but I'll admit he is pretty cute.

He gives me his wide, doe-like eyes and for a moment I'm captivated, then starts babbling and drooling and I see myself out.

I'd looked around for my dad, but didn't see him. I'd assumed he was on a run with some other wolves, on the look out for danger.

I spent a month back home. My folks were surprised to see me around for so long, helping out with the harvest. I haven't stayed with the pack this long in years. I almost got comfortable. Until today.

My father burst through the tent. I shared a look with my mother. "Start packing," he grit out. He was seething, we hadn't had an attack in ages. It was like the huge reason why we're a nomadic pack.

My mother rushed to my brother's room and gathered him in her arms. He was sound asleep, completely unconcerned with the real world. I almost envied the kid.

"Quickly! We need to leave!" He says as he starts throwing clothes in suitcases.

Leaving? Suddenly, my mate crossed my mind. Wait what?" I question.

"We're leaving, we are severely outnumbered and I will not risk any of my pack's lives, Lane!" My father roared.

"No, I can't leave!" I reply, watching as my mother packs with one arm, holding my brother with the one.

He freezes and sends a cold gaze in my direction. "I don't have time for this, either you come with us, or you can stay here and die!"

I stop. My mother stops. He stops, his face softens considerably. "Lane I-"

I cut him off by throwing my stuff in a bag and head toward the exit of the tent. Without turning around I bite out, "Don't waste your time looking for me. I'll find my own place, never felt like I belonged in your cowardly pack anyway. You've already replaced me in the family. Finding a new gatherer for the harvest shouldn't be too hard."

They're stunned, I leave.