Secrets Of The Woods: Werewolf Story

Chapter 10: Distracting

Matthew Knight's PoV

Mason and Zoe run to go hunt and bring back raw meat. I'm watching the pack and making sure they stay. Occasionally I have to threaten them to get them to stay but most the time they just stay. It's like they can sense I'm here to help them. I know that I have to do anything I can to protect them. I can't believe the hunter is Elizabeth's dad. He threatened me to stay away from her. I check the injured wolves and they seem to be ok. They occasionally whimper and whine but they seem fine.

When the tan wolf, Mason, comes back with raw meat he motions me to follow him. I follow him around the house. He sets the raw meat down then starts digging. I go over and lift up a group of tree branches. It reveals a keypad to the basement. I look at him confused. I don't know the code. He goes over and I watch as he awkwardly types the code with his paw. The door unlocks and I open it. I throw the raw meat inside while he runs away.

I keep repeatedly typing the code in to unlock the door and throw meat in when Zoe and Mason come back with the meat. Surprisingly, the wolf pack doesn't follow after the raw meat. I lost track of how many times I've had to unlock the door and throw raw meat inside.

Eventually there's a huge pile of raw meat inside. Mason and Zoe stop running back to the woods and sit by the basement door. I ask them "Does this mean we have to move them inside now?"
They both nod there wolf heads. Mason's tongue is sticking out. He looks more like a dog then a wolf with that. I unlock the basement door and leave it open. I go inside, grab some meat, then walk out and to the wolf pack. They all turn there heads when they smell the raw meat. They stand up but don't follow. They are worried about the injured wolves. I watch as Mason starts moving slowly closer to me until he grabs some of the meat from me and starts eating it. That gets all the wolves going crazy. I quickly run and throw the raw meat into the basement and get out of the way. All the wolves and baby wolves that aren't injured or that have minor injures make it into the basement. The ones with the bad injures slowly move to the basement. I lift up Crystal and set her down in the basement. Then I help the other wolves into the basement before closing the door. After I close the door I move the branches back on top of the door. I look and see Zoe and Mason sitting there in wolf form. Mason finishes eating the small piece of raw meat he took. How can you stand eating that? That's disgusting. Zoe runs off and Mason does too. A couple minutes later they come back in human form and dressed. Mason tells me "Thanks for helping."
I tell him "I'm part of the pack now so I should help you out."
Mason tells me "It wasn't your choice to get bit. You don't have to stay and help. We just want you to keep us a secret. You're the schools social butterfly. How can you go from social to pretty quiet to keep our secret?"
I tell him "I'll manage. It will be hard but I can do it."
Zoe tells me with a huge smile "Looks like we get to be friends now."
I ask Mason "Is she always this annoying?"
He laughs and tells me "you never get used to it."
Zoe tells us "You're stuck with me whether you like it or not."
We head inside and to the living area. The girl is laying on a couch unconscious with a blanket on her. Mason tells me "I did dress her before laying her there. And no we aren't dating. We have more of a brother sister bond."
We sit down on some of the other chairs. I check my phone and it's blown up with messages. The only message I check is the one from Elizabeth. I reply to her then put my phone back in my pocket. Mason tells me "I should tell you more about us."
I ask "Why do you have a giant house? How many people live here?"
"Right now? There's only four. Five if you count when Zoe sleeps over. There used to be a lot more but they either moved somewhere else to start a family or continue there careers or are stuck in wolf form forever. The ones following after there dreams are like us, they can control when they change. Liam told them to keep being a werewolf a secret. They can't tell who they marry what they are unless they have kids that show signs of being a werewolf. We still stay in contact with them."
"Who are the people who live here?"
"I'll start with our current leader. Liam Williams is thirty years old and he's a lawyer. He does most of his work online. He occasionally does stuff for the town too. He can't control when he changes. The man who helped him is stuck in his wolf form forever now. Liam never told me which wolf his mentor is or if his mentor is a wolf that died."
"Are there wolves that are wild wolves in the pack?"
"Yes there is. It's made up of those of us who can control when we change. We protect the pack and do our best to keep them inside our private property. Those who can't control when they change are also part of the pack. Surprisingly they never run away. They stay with us. It's like part of them still knows we will do our best to keep them safe. Then there are wild wolves. They leave and join all the time. But as you probably saw more of them keep coming and joining our pack. That's probably what got the hunter interested in our small town. I'm guessing he kills wolves for his job. There are some who believe humans rule the woods, not the wolves. If they kill the wolves then it's easier to expand small towns into bigger ones, maybe even into cities. The wild wolves were probably chased from there own woods and came here. They can tell that they are safe here so they stayed. That's probably how there's baby wolves. Me and Liam built the cave inside our property. It looks real but it's fake. It goes underground and everything like a normal cave would. The wolf pack usually sleeps inside the cave most nights. Occasionally they sleep in random clearings."
"Why did most of the wolves who can control when the change leave?"
"They didn't want to live a life being isolated. It's hard trying not to get too close to others to keep our life a secret. We spend most of our time working at our coffee store and bookstore or protecting the pack. It's a hard life to live. It's hard to adjust to."
"How did you get adjusted?"
"When I was twenty I was a college student. I was studying art, and more specifically photography. I was out in the woods taking pictures when I got bit. I was taken in by Liam. The first year is always the hardest but he trained me and taught me everything he could. That was when he wasn't stuck as a wolf. I dropped out of college to join the pack. And eventually I became very close to Morgan. She's like the sister I never had. I'm twenty four now."
"Who is Morgan?"
"Her name is Morgan Rogers. When she was fourteen she became a orphan when her parents were killed by a drunk driver. She ran away from her foster parents and tried surviving on her own. Liam felt bad for her. He wanted to take her in but the only way he could was by changing her. He bit her and took her in. He's been like a father figure to her. She's eighteen now."
"Who is Crystal?"
"Crystal Smith when she was eighteen changed into a wolf. Not all of us get bit and change. She was one who didn't get bit and changed. She can't control when she changes. The other wolves in the pack would've killed her if some of the wolves who can control when they change didn't help her. She didn't know what happened. She woke up in the woods naked. Liam gave her clothes and took her in. When we moved here she wanted to open the bookstore and coffee shop. It's a way for people to see us and so we can make some more money. That way people don't get suspicious of us. Other people in town also work there. Zoe helps pay the bills for the store and paying the workers when Crystal is gone. She's twenty now."
"What happened to Zoe?"
Zoe looks at me and tells me "Last year, when I was sixteen I was running on the trail through the woods. I got bit by a tan wolf, which is Mason if you didn't know. I went back home and cleaned up my bite wound. A couple days later I had a really high fever and during the night I changed into a wolf in my room. That scared me. I managed to change back to my human form. I got dressed and ran outside and into the woods. I was stressed and changed again. I start running and eventually I ran into the wolf pack. They started circling me. It scared me. I thought I was going to die. I was surprised when a tan wolf and white wolf came and saved me from the pack. Mason, who bit me also saved me from the pack. The white wolf is Morgan. They scared the pack away from me and took me to the pack house. They changed into human form and got dressed. It surprised me that they didn't care they were right next to each other naked. I learned later it doesn't bother them because they are used to it and they have a brother sister bond. Mason had to explain to me about being a Werewolf because Liam was gone. I still live with my parents but I visit the pack house whenever I can. When I'm not at school or helping run our store. My parents don't care when I tell them I'm sleeping over at a friend's house. They tell me it will prepare me for when I go to college."
"Are you going to college?"
"Nope. I might do online classes but when I graduate high school I'm staying here at the pack house. They need my help ecspecially if the hunter is still here."
Should I tell them about Elizabeth? She knows something is going on with the wolves. And her dad is the hunter. I decide I should tell them. They should know. I tell them "I have to tell you something. It's about the hunter."
They both turn me to with interested expressions. I'm about to start talking when Morgan wakes up. Mason rushes over to her.

*Picture at the top of the chapter is part of the wolf pack*