Trials of the Bitten

Part 19

That was interesting, Martin mused, looking around again. There were a lot of them but it wasn't an insane about of people. If they were the biggest pack, it also stood to reason why they were planning to split a small number of people away. Leon yawned again and finally just lay down, head on Martin's thigh. Martin stiffened for a moment before relaxing again. He rested a hand on Leon's shoulder and Greg reached over to pat the teenager's thigh. Leon grumbled but didn't move away, just shifting to be a little more comfortable. 

"I'm just glad Trent's pack is far from us. Means we have some ground spread," Greg commented. "Plus Trent's pack doesn't really work like a proper pack," he said disapprovingly.

"What's... working like a pack?" asked Martin with a small voice, furrowing his brows. 

"Family," Sarah said firmly, "Pack is family. We stay near each other and protect each other. We run together. Pack is meant to be home. But Trent," she made an uncertain face. "He treats his boys well enough but he spends a good 6 months cut off from them every 4 to 5 years training his new catches. There is a solid core of fifty who live in one area but the rest are spread out to the point they might as well be lones."

"Is that bad?" asked the boy, fidgeting with the glass beneath his fingers. All of this, the pack around him while not insane was still rather unnerving. How people managed to live in a community like this, he wasn't sure. He was a city boy and this was far too countryside small town for his liking. 

"We stay better grounded in packs, its why we form them. The majority of Trent's pack are bitten which makes them more likely to go out of control if they keep running on their own. More than a few have been semi-adopted by family packs to keep an eye on them. Trent himself would prefer they stick together but considering he's the one who has forced them into this life," Sarah shrugged. Martin instantly felt dislike growing towards this Trent. He was biting innocent people and forcing them to be monsters. No wonder they wanted away once they were able. "Our pack never changes humans without their permission or if they are a danger. He and his born wolves go hunting for humans," she grimaced.

"Stupid thing to do," Greg grumbled, moving to wrap an arm around Martin and nuzzling his hair in a way Martin had seen him do a hundred time to his sons. It was clearly meant to be reassuring and it kind of worked. The feeling of dread which had been building in him faded and Martin felt safe under Greg's arm. He leant his head on Greg's shoulder, not shifting as he was still rather aware of Leon dozing on his lap.  

"Our numbers are dwindling. If we don't start doing something, we may disappear by the turn of the next century," Sarah murmured in a rather serious tone, her eyes looking over the pack. 

In the middle of that field, it didn't feel like it to Martin but he was not aware of any wolves outside of this pack so what would he know? Still. That concept. Hunting humans and biting them, it scared him and made him wonder if it had been one of Trent's wolves who had bitten his uncle and gotten him locked in this mess. Only. It sounded like Trent kidnapped and trained the people he bit so maybe it wasn't the man's pack directly. But if bitten were likely to lose control, maybe it had been one of the man's victims after. 

"Without their permission," Martin murmured, looking back up at Sarah. "Who would want this?" he demanded. Who would want to be cursed with this fate. To be a monster among monsters. It was different, and he had seen almost too clearly that today, it was different for the people born with the wolf inside. He couldn't even hope to be able to do some of the things he had seen children much younger than him doing. Leia was the youngest but there were plenty of children older than her and younger than Martin able to do amazing things.