Jacob
Mystic sat at the kitchen table, holding numbered cards and placing them down in front of her. She placed the corresponding amount of marbles on each card. Eli sat next to her, his head barely reaching above the table. He played with the nobles, stacking them on top of each other as he waited for Mystic to finish setting up.
I leaned against a wall, watching silently as Mystic taught Eli how to count. I smiled softly, inhaling the sweet scent of honeysuckle mixed with a tint of fruitiness to it.
"You see this right here? This is three. Three, is one more then two. Three is also two more than one." Mystic explained, emphasizing the numbers as she pointed at the marbles on the table.
She split the marbles, separating them into groups.
"Now, how many marbles are in this pile?"
"Two!" Eli shouted enthusiastically as he held up two fingers.
"That's correct! Good job Eli! Here's another treat!" Mystic grabbed a piece of candy from under the table and handed it to Eli.
Eli took the candy happily and immediately ate it.
"Y'know, you shouldn't be treating him like a dog." I joked, walking over to ruffle both of their hair.
Mystic gently smacked my hand away and stuck her tongue out at me.
"I meeeean, he is half wolf. And dogs are technically descendants of wolves. Soooooo, it wouldn't be to off to treat him like a puppy," She laughed.
"Yeah, but if you keep giving him treats, he'll think that he'll be rewarded every time he answers a question correctly."
"Who said I wouldn't be rewarding him?"
I frowned.
"No offense, but i don't think that's the best way to teach a child stuff. What if he grows up expecting to get a reward for everything he does? What if he only does things if he knows that there's a reward?" I questioned, staring at Mystic as she looked confused.
"Wouldn't you want to do something that would reward you? I mean, feeling satisfied for doing a good deed is nice, but getting something like food or money is nicer. If anything, I'd feel even more satisfied and happier because I got a reward. Rewards are pretty nice. Doing something because I have to just makes me feel drained, even if it's life saving bs. I don't get much satisfaction out of that. But if I got rewarded, it means that someone recognizes my hard work and they decided to give you stuff because they think I deserve it. Now, that's pretty satisfying." She explained, petting Eli on the head.
"That's true... but you can easily get stuff with money, but that can never buy satisfaction. I know a bunch of good deeds that would give me more satisfaction than a solid object would. And plus, what if that reward sucks?"
"Not everyone gets the same amount of satisfaction at helping someone. And even if the reward is horrible, it's free. Everyone likes free stuff! Anyways, I gotta continue—someone's at the door." She stopped abruptly, spinning her head around to face the door.
"That's strange... there shouldn't be anyone visiting us." I scrunched my nose up as I took a whiff of their scent. I gagged at the stench.
Only one person wears that much fucking cologne in the middle of rogue territory like that.
I quickly ran to the door and opened it before the person could knock.
"Marvin, how many times has my mom told you to stop wearing that much cologne?! Not only does it stink, it stays in the air for hours! Also, what the heck are you doing here?" I sniffled, stepping back to let him in.
Marvin entered the house, breathing heavily as if he'd just ran a marathon.
"Sorry... I came... without... warning. Diana... told me... about the pup. She told... me to come... as quickly as... I could." Marvin took a deep breath, dropping the suitcase he was carrying.
"It's Marvin!" Mystic let out a happy gasp, jumping from her seat as she quickly shifted into her wolf form.
She jumped up and down and yipped happily. She ran over to Marvin, rubbing herself against him.
Catching his breath, Marvin chuckled. "You seem pretty happy to see me. I'm not even an actual member of you pack. And it's not like I'm related to you either."
Shifting back, Mystic shouted, "Of course you are! Everyone knows this! Well not everyone, but mostly everyone! But you probably might not know since you aren't actually a member of the pack, but you are family! Unlike other packs where there's a bunch of rondos, everyone is related to each other. That's why all of our mates come from a different pack! It's also why our pack is tinier than most mainstream packs!
Like I've said countless times, my pack is very old school! These days, everyone's pack follows the ranking system and just allows anyone to come into their pack. But OUR pack, doesn't do that so we're only made up of family members! We also have a lot less betrayal since any adult can just whoop our butts and discipline us without having to worry about getting in trouble with the parents! And since everyone is family, no pup every has issues involving their parents or siblings since they can just go and complain directly to the alpha! We're also pretty closely knit so no one ever feels out of place!
I have absolutely no idea who your grandfather might be, but you're most likely one of my cousins something something removed something times! It's always fun meeting family that we've never met! Oh sorry, am I rambling again?"
Mystic backed away from Marvin to give him some space before bouncing around.
I turned to look at Marvin face, his jaw dropping to the ground. He quickly founded his composure and straightened his back.
"Family...", he muttered under his breath. He smiled softly before saying out loud. "I guess we really are family. But there's really no time to be catching up, there's a pup I have to examine."
~~~~
"He's losing his teeth which is good. It means that his growth isn't too stunted. He's slightly stunted, but due to his young age, that can be easily fixed if he gets the proper nutrients. Other than his height, there's no long term or life threatening affects of the experimentation down to him. He doesn't even seem remotely traumatized. But do watch out for when he's older, the memories might resurface.
His eyesights are fine along with his hearing. His sense of smell is excellent. He's otherwise healthy and a pretty happy pup. There's nothing much to worry about"
"You hear that bud, you're pretty healthy!" I exclaimed, looking down at Eli who was sitting on my lap.
"By the way, Diana told me to stay here with you pups for a few days. She thinks it's too dangerous to leave you guys alone without an adult."
YOU ARE READING
A Pack of Misfits
WerewolfAfter a horrible accident that left her orphaned and packless, Mystic is left to fend for herself at age 12. Alone in rogue territory with no one other than her wolf, she struggles to survive. Luckily for her, she finds a wolf pup just like her. R...