Stranger Yet

Chapter 8: Ayra the Enigma

Chapter 8

The long tail pack house

Tiernan was sitting in his study with his eyebrows tied together, deep in thought. He had a lot to think about. His pack had lost the hunters. The keenest of his pack had spent the rest of the day collecting all the traps and he had tracked the girl down.

He hadn't realized the possibility that the girl, Ayra, really wasn't a threat. He hadn't considered that she really wasn't working for any humans. He hadn't considered that she was a NEW wolf, that she had just began to shift. That is, until she told him, with sincerity. He felt like an idiot for not considering it, but he knew why he hadn't. She was old enough to have been shifting for a few years, at least, and besides that, she was so capable out there! How was it possible that she was just barely beginning to shift? An even bigger question was how, in the hell, did a wolf pup get adopted by humans?

Werewolf's kept a close eye on adoptions in the surrounding areas. It was rare for a pup to escape werewolf territory, but it wasn't unheard of. Sometimes toddlers wandered, but not often did they make it far enough to reach human towns. Besides THAT fact, they had people delegated to watch for the missing and to look for the signs of a werewolf in children about to be adopted. So HOW had she gotten through the cracks. It simply WASN'T possible.

He had gone through the paperwork. There were no missing pups from the time that she would have had to have gone missing. Not from any of the surrounding packs. No matter how much the packs disagreed or fought, there was one thing they could all agree on, all the time: More humans did NOT need to know about the existence of werewolves. A pup becoming a full-blown wolf in the middle of town was the thing of nightmares for every pack.

He couldn't figure it out.

Moreover, what did she mean, 'Clarification'. What did she need to clarify that she could clarify at the Dires family home, specifically? He thought about it. He really needed to know WHEN she was adopted. He needed to know her age, and how old she had been when she was adopted. He needed to know about the conditions and circumstances surrounding her adoption. He hated to admit it, but the only place he could find the answers, besides from Ayra herself, would be in the human town, and he wasn't keen on looking there.

Ayra was an enigma, and one he planned to figure out.

He was frustrated to say the least. He shouldn't have left until he had all the facts, but the cracking in her voice made him break a little. He didn't want to make her day any harder, even if he didn't like her or appreciate her crossing into his world. Regardless, he needed to know more, because her existence and her connection to the humans still put him and his people at risk. That was the ONLY reason he needed to know more. It had nothing to do with her looking like the woman from his bizarre dreams either. That was just a coincidence.

He was deep in thought when he heard a soft knock at his door.

It opened before he said for them to come in.

He grunted in annoyance and looked up at his sister. Tristan was never one to follow HIS rules about privacy and personal space, regardless of his position.

"What have I said about coming in before I tell you to?" He asked sternly.

His little sister just smiled at him happily.

"You don't need privacy." She laughed at his irritation before becoming more serious and saying, "did you find the girl?"

He grunted again, and then became more serious as well. "Yes. I found her. But more than that, I found an impossible situation. One I can't make sense of." His sister just stared at him, waiting for him to explain.

He sighed before telling smart little Tristan what Ayra had told him.

"That is... Literally not possible." Tristan's eyes were wide as she asked, "Does her adoptive family know?"

"I... I don't know." He felt like a fool, as he said, "I didn't think to ask that."

Tristan didn't judge him, she just asked, "Are you going back? Should we try to follow her, make sure she was telling the truth?"

"I suppose we should." He sighed once more before saying. "Something feels off about her. I can't place it. She doesn't... She doesn't SMELL like an outsider. And now her words are ringing in my head. I feel like I am missing something that's right in front of me but I just can't figure out what it is that I'm not seeing."

He was rubbing his forehead in thought as Tristan plopped down in the chair across from him and leaned onto his desk, staring at him. She had that look in her eye, the one that made him think that she had a theory forming.

"You said she was near the Dire house when you found her?"

"Yeah."

"And she didn't say why?"

"Just that she was clarifying something." He said, considering.

"You said she called herself Emmaleine, right?" She tilted her head, considering.

"Well, yeah, she did. But she admitted that she had said that out of fear."

"Okay, but how did she know about Emmaleine to begin with?"

"Well, she had been through the house, so I assume she had seen the name above the door."

"Well... that's a fair point, but she also said that she had Em with her... It's just odd, that's all. Its all very peculiar. Maybe we should follow her for a bit, and if nothing comes from that, perhaps you should talk to her again... Have another simple conversation. A CIVIL conversation." Tristan was quiet for a second, staring at her older brother before her eyes lit up, and she laughed, "And maybe this time, if things do become a little heated, try not to get your ass kicked, kay?"

Tiernan grimaced at his sister and pointed at the door, "Alright, enough from you. Get out."

"Okay!" Tristan laughed again, her childlike playfulness coming back. She skipped to the study door, waving at her brother and saying, "I want you to consider what she meant about Em being with her though, okay? Just think about it. LOVE YOU!" Tristan slammed the door and could be heard whistling her way through the house, followed by the yells of others begging her to pipe down.

Tiernan shook his head. His sister was annoying, but at least she had helped him sort out a game plan. It was something to start with and It was better than nothing.

With that advice in mind, he organized a team to follow the strange girl.

He decided he would be the first, followed by Tristan, then his middle sister, Dierdre and her twin Micah. He, and the oldest of his siblings, would rotate days.