Secrets Of The Woods: Werewolf Story

Chapter 3: Trouble

Mason Foster's PoV

After arguing with Morgan I finally won watching the wolf pack all day long. We take turns watching the pack in our wolf form. It keeps them safe and helps us keep an eye out for any hunters or predators that could threaten the pack. We used to have a bigger pack with the house being filled with pack members but they all started moving out because they wanted to try and live a normal life. Liam told them to keep our secret about being Werewolves and they agreed. We still keep in contact with each other whenever we can. We have this big house but the only ones left is me, Morgan, Liam, and Crystal. Liam and Crystal can't control when they change so they are gone for a long time during the winter and colder months which leaves me and Morgan alone to watch over the pack. We do have Zoe but she is still in high school so she can't be here full time to help. She plans on moving into the pack house once she graduates. I head out of the pack house, take off my clothes, hide them, then change into my wolf. I can control when I change which is why I'm one of the wolves that defends the wolf pack. Part of the wolf pack is made up of wild wolves. Another part is wolves like me who control when we change. The rest of the pack is made up of those of us who can't control when they change. They change when it's cold outside. As the years go by, they start remaining in wolf form longer until one day they don't change anymore. It's hard watching our pack members who are that type of wolf, knowing one day you won't get to speak to them ever again. Those who can't control when they change only know that they changed and then sometime they wake up. They don't know how long it's been until they get back to the pack house and we tell them. I love watching over the pack. When I first changed at the age of twenty I wasn't too happy about it. It was hard learning how to control myself. Even though I can control when I change I still have to be careful. When we get too angry it can force us to change. I tend to have more of a temper when it comes to things like taking care of Morgan because she's like a sister to me.

I run around until I find the pack. They don't mind that I'm with them. Even though the wolves are wild they have learned to trust us and recognize us. They know seeing us in our wolf forms or even seeing us in Human form that we are here to protect them. It also helps that we leave food out for them to help gain their trust. I run around following after the pack. They travel in and out of the protected forest. I begged Liam to put up fences around our property to keep them safe. He told me that he won't until he's bought more of the forest. If he builds fences then buys more of the forest then he has to take the fences down and rebuild them. He has also said that the wolves love having space to run around and that we don't own enough private property yet to build fences to try and keep them in our area to keep them safe and happy. I know he's right but I'm still worried. When they aren't in our protected forest property it's harder to keep them all safe. It helps that the people in the town don't seem interested in going hunting which helps keep them safe from the wild wolves and helps us protect the pack.

Most of the day goes by and their aren't any people wandering off the trail towards us. I'm happy and I'm about to head back to the pack house to let Morgan take over watching the pack when I smell someone. Its a unfamiliar scent and that makes me be on guard. I don't recognize the scent which means I don't know what they could possibly end up doing. Are they out on a walk? I look around and stand guard while the pack is still running around, not sensing the threat. I watch as a girl follows after us taking pictures. I growl and force the pack to move back into the protected property. When they are inside our property I turn back towards the girl. She's looking at the private property. When she turns towards me I start growling a warning growl at her. That seems to scare her. She quickly turns around and leaves. Who is she? Why was she taking pictures of the wolves? I don't like how she is taking pictures of us but what can I do? I don't want to hurt her, I just want to scare her and hopefully get her to leave us alone. I look and see the sun is slowly starting to set. Once I know the pack is safe and sense that her scent is gone I quickly run back to the pack house and change into my human form. I quickly get my clothes that I hid and put them back on. I run inside where I see Liam and Morgan eating dinner. I tell them "We have a problem."
Liam stops eating and asks "Did one of the wolves die?"
"No but there's a girl watching us. She was taking pictures. And..."
"And what?"
"I think she noticed that I'm different from the others."
He gets up and asks "How? Tell me what happened."
Morgan quickly finishes eating and tells us "I'm gonna go watch over them."
Liam nods and she quickly rushes off. I look over at the thermostat as I start sweating. It's almost ninety degrees. I ask him as I take my shirt off "Does it have to be this hot inside?"
He tells me "It is. Unless you want to lose me to the cold. It's already getting cold outside. If I go outside..."
"You'll change."
"You still need me around. But I can feel it. I'm going to change soon. Tell me what happened."
I explain my whole day in as much detail as possible. Even the small details. It might seem stupid telling him the small details but sometimes Liam can figure out something from the small details that you didn't catch yourself. He sits down and starts running his hand across his chin. That's what he does when he's stressed or nervous. Zoe walks in and asks "What's going on?"
I don't say anything so she asks again "What's going on? I can tell something's wrong. Was one of the wolves killed?"
Liam tells her "there's a girl that's curious about the wolves. She might have noticed when Mason was watching the pack how he's different."
She looks at me and sarcastically replies "of course it would be you to give it away."
I angrily reply "How would you know? I've been part of this pack longer than you have. You're still in school."
Before she can respond Liam looks at her and asks "You're still in high school?"
Its hard for Liam to keep track of everyone and everything thats going on because he's gone for long periods of time during the winter and cold months. Their aren't that many of us in the pack here but its still hard keeping up with everything. She tells him "I am. It's my senior year. Why does that matter?"
He looks at me and asks "How old does the girl look whose watching you?"
"Maybe high school age? I'm not really sure. I didn't get a good look at her. But I'm pretty sure she's gonna show up again taking pictures. I tried to growl at her to scare her away but I feel like she will come back again. From how curious she was to seeing us and also looking at our private property."
Zoe asks "What kind of camera did she have?"
I ask her "How would I know?"
"Because you also like photography. Unless all those pictures in your room aren't yours."
I sigh and tell her "I was too busy watching and trying to scare her away to look at her camera."
Liam asks "If Zoe takes pictures of some girls at school, would you know who she is?"
"Possibly. It's hard to tell. I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful. I guess I was tired from-"
Liam interrupts and tells me "It's not your fault. Get some sleep. If what you said is true, then we might have you and Morgan taking longer shifts or watching after the pack together."
Zoe asks before I start walking to my room "Why is it so hot in here?"
Liam tells her "It's the only thing keeping me from changing. If I change then I don't know when I will come back. We need to fix this problem before I change."
"Why can't we handle the problem?"
Why does Zoe have to be so annoying? Why did we have to end up with her? I know I was the one that bit her to change her into a wolf but she is the worst person to have bitten. She is so annoying and constantly talks back to us. She doesn't seem to understand or doesn't care that Liam is in charge and when he is gone I am. Liam yells "Because we already lost Crystal! And I'm trying to finish my last few cases before changing! Or would you rather have us lose our giant house? And the property that keeps us wolves safe?"
Liam is a lawyer and he tries to do as many cases as possible when he's around. He does cases in our small town but mainly helps out with different cases online. The people in the small town think that when he is gone he is traveling for work but he's actually stuck in wolf form. Zoe shuts up after that. She tells us "I'm... gonna...go help Morgan with...the night shift..."
She heads outside and I quickly head to my room. Zoe tends to be more annoying and pushes people to their limits until they snap. Its easier to get Liam to snap because he's stressed dealing with work, being the pack leader, and dealing with problems like this one. Its also harder because he is going to change into wolf form soon. He won't be able to help us when he is stuck in wolf form. It's hard when he is stuck in wolf form and we need his help but he isn't here. When he is gone I am the pack leader but it's hard trying to do his job watching over the pack while he's gone. He is trying to teach me as much as he can when he is around. But there is only so much I can learn during the time he is here. He has to work as a lawyer to make money. His income is what supports the pack and helps us keep our house. It also was hard when I for a while didn't want anything to do with him when I learned he had me get bit to turn into a wolf. If it was up to me I would've been able to continue my life like normal going to school, hetting my college degree, get a job, and someday settle down someday with a family. Now I have to be careful I don't turn into a wolf and keep our secret. It's hard because at times it can be very isolating and lonely but eventually I've started to enjoy this kind of life. It's not every day you can say you got a big new family. Morgan is a younger sister to me and if she wasn't here I probably wouldn't have stayed with the pack. The other person that makes it easier living here is Crsytal.

It's easier when Crystal is around because she is the peacekeeper of the pack. She can easily calm all of us down. She also helps run our bookstore and coffee shop when she's around. Having the shop helps us make money and gives us a way for the people in town to get to know us. The shop also helps provide some extra income while Liam is gone in wolf form for long periods of time. I'm not sure what we will do when he eventually will change into wolf form forever. Morgan has told me I should sell my pictures I take but I haven't. I feel like they aren't that good or it is more of a hobby. I also don't have much time to take pictures when I have to help watch over the pack and lead it when Liam is gone. At least right now we do have our bookstore and shop. People seem to enjoy going their and they love talking with Crystal. She is a very easy going, cheerful, friendly, and a peacekeeper. She is easy to talk to and also gives great suggestions for what to read next. When she is here we don't argue as much because she is here to calm us down. We all miss having her around. Why did she have to change so soon this year? 

When Crystal changed into her wolf form it was very painful for her. I watched in my wolf form as she changed outside of the pack house while Liam stood inside helplessly watching. When it starts getting colder outside Liam stays inside as much as possible to try to keep himself from turning into a wolf. After Crystal changed into her wolf form it was hard finishing my shift with her being their. To be honest I started getting feelings for her but I was too scared to tell her. And now I can't. She's stuck in wolf form for who knows how long. It's making me sad thinking about her being gone. I head up the stairs and to my bedroom. I close my bedroom door, get undressed, take a quick shower, dry off, get underwear on then lay down on my bed. It's too hot to wear any layers. I am used to it being very hot in the house to try and keep Liam from turning into his wolf form but it's also hard going from normal or colder temperatures outside to very hot inside. 

After trying to sleep and failing I get up and turn on my floor fan and ceiling fan. I'm not allowed to leave them on when I am not in my room. Liam is afraid if he walks into my room or nearby it when I'm not in their it will force him to change. Some years he gets more stressed about trying not to turn into wolf form. All the stress makes him believe things like one floor fan or ceiling fan blowing cold air will make him change into his wolf form. It seems like he gets more paranoid of everything. I try my best to turn my floor fan and ceiling fan off when I am not in my room to help him. I might not think a floor fan or ceiling fan would make him change into a wolf but any way I can help him I try. And honestly theirs certain things you don't want to get into arguements about no matter how stupid it might be about. I move my floor fan closer to my bed before I lay down and very slowly fall asleep.

Throughout the night I wake up a very sweaty mess. The floor fan doesn't really help but there's nothing else I can really do. It's one of my most restless nights I've ever had. Maybe I should try sleeping in the bathroom on the cold tile floor or in our basement. It's old in their. Even if I do want to try to sleep somewhere else I don't think I would be able to fall asleep. It's hard trying to sleep when I'm so hot and sweaty but also because I am worried about the mysterious girl who was taking pictures of the pack. How she may have possibly figured out I'm different than the other wolves. 

*Picture at the top of the chapter is what the pack house looks like*