After (Wolves of Mercy Falls Fan Fic)

Prologue

Koby

-Age 12-

The night I met her was the night of my twelfth birthday. My awesome party had been the weekend before so tonight Mom made my favorite dinner. I had gotten bored with watching and waiting because of my ADD so I went for a walk. Mom and Dad were busy preparing to spoil me so they didn't think twice before I shut the back door.

Boundary Woods was our back yard. Long before I was even a thought, the wolves had been moved so they wouldn't be killed by my second godmother's dad. From what I'd been told, it wasn't the first hunt he put on. My dad still has a scar from that one.

I could still feel their lingering presence though. The beaten trails of the wolves guided my feet just as they had guided the creatures back then. The scent of the trees made the wolf inside me claw its way to my stomach and up my throat, but I pushed it down. Uncle Cole-Dad hates it when I call Cole that-said that because I was a generation down from my parents who were bitten, the shifting may be different. I couldn't remember how many times he'd take my blood to examine or asked me to shift so he could watch for differences in the change. Dad hated that too.

I stopped, any thoughts of needles or shifting melted away. I stood completely still other than my fingers tapping against my pants. Wood creaked less than a few feet away. The shed. Slowly, slowly I walked towards it. No one had been in the shed for about six years. Back then, it was used because I couldn't control my shifts yet and I was unsteady in my human form. Now, the shed was alive with the smell of wolf... or was it human? I couldn't tell...

I pushed the door open just enough to see a young girl shaking and wrapped in a blanket. I shut the door with a bang and locked it. If she was a werewolf, we had to get her away from Boundary Woods. Tom Culpeper moved back about a year ago so it wasn't safe here anymore. Not for a wolf anyway.

I ran the whole way back screaming, " MOM! DAD! THERE'S SOMEONE IN THE SHED! THERE'S A GIRL IN THE SHED! WHAT DO I DO?!" By the time I got to the house, I was out of breath but I still managed to burst through the door-Mom wasn't too happy about that because I almost broke the door down. They abandoned their preparations and came running to the shed behind me-mostly because I was pulling them along by their wrists.

The girl seemed stable enough for her not to change while taking her back to the house, but she didn't look too willing to move. She looked fragile and weak. Her legs didn't hold her when we tried to get her to stand, either. Dad ended up having to carry her back to the house.

She was a tiny thing. Even through the blanket, I could see her bones. Like a tiny skeleton with pale skin, big, dark evergreen eyes and extremely messy hair. I couldn't even tell what color it was.

She wouldn't talk to us. In fact, whenever we tried to say something, she would flinch away. Once she got to the room and found a corner, there was no moving her. Or coming near her for that matter.

That night, I snuck out of my room to see her. Her green eyes haunted my sleep. They seemed to draw me in. Then again, I was a twelve-year-old with ADD. Hard to keep me where you wanted me.

Gently, I rapped on the door. No response. I tried again, a bit louder but I still had no response. I tilted my head and listened just as I had done when I was a wolf. I didn't hear any scratching so I opened the door slightly.

She sat silently and shakily in the center of the room. Mom's old, yellow dress hung on her frail shoulders. Her hair was matted to her cheeks. I still couldn't tell the color.

Her eyes though... her eyes were two shining stars watching me from afar. Honestly, I didn't know if I was crept out or mesmerized. Probably both.

"Hi," I whispered. She blinked. I took that as a sign. Shutting the door behind me, I slid down to sit in front of it. Not necessarily blocking it, but in the way. "Can you talk?" She simply nodded in a way that my head got sleepy just thinking about making such a slow motion. Her eyes never left mine. I shifted my weight.

"I'm Koby. Will you tell me your name?" She shook her head in the same slow motion. Left. Right. Center. "Do you have a name?" Blink. "Will you talk at all?" Her head swung slowly again.

My face twisted slightly. How to make her trust me... I pulled a piece of candy from my pajama pants' pocket and held it out to her; I had to lean my body toward her to trust her arm to be long enough to reach. She simply stared at it.

"Don't worry. It's not poisoned. I was saving it for later but go ahead." She looked back up at me, but with only her eyes. Her hand stretched to me cautiously: painfully slowly to me.

She smiled shyly at me as she popped it in her mouth. It was incredibly sweet for a girl covered in dirt and a dress that was far too big for her. I smiled back.

"Can I call you Lila?"