Bite of a werewolf

Leaving the pack

Chapter three

"Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

"Nope!" Michael said cheerily. "I don't want to spoil it. How about you tell me about your life and then I'll ask you questions about mine."

"Sure, I suppose so." She paused for a second before speaking. "Alrighty. My mom has always wanted me to join some kind of Pack. Since I wasn't interested in learning about packs, she gave up on the idea after a few years, but recently she thinks I should maybe consider joining a pack since it's the right thing to do after all I lost."

Michael frowned. "Lost? What did you lose? What happened to you that you weren't ready for anymore?"

She looked down at the floor. Her lips pressed into a thin line as tears threatened to spill over. For some reason Michael felt like he should hold her. He wasn't sure why. It seemed wrong and yet he just couldn't bring himself to pull away.

"Nothing important," she replied quickly, not looking him in the eye. "I lost... a lot. More than you'd think." Michael nodded slowly.

He could see what must have been an awful battle taking place within her mind. She was fighting hard to keep control, but eventually the tears slipped down her cheeks and spilled onto the ground beneath her.

The next thing she knew, she had wrapped her arms around his neck and was holding him tightly against her chest.

It took Michael a little longer to find the words to speak. Finally he decided that if he didn't say anything now, he might never be able to. And so he spoke again.

"What can I do to help? Is there something I can do? Something I can do to fix it for you?"

She pulled back and wiped at her face with one hand. When she finally met his gaze, she smiled sadly.

"You'r a good friend, Michael. I don't deserve any of your kindness or friendship. And besides... you're already too busy." With those words she let go of him and turned towards the door. Michael reached out to catch her arm. He gently tugged until she sat back down next to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed heavily.

For a while neither of them said anything. They simply listened to each other breathing and watching the shadows of the trees swaying slightly above their heads. Eventually Michael broke the silence.

"So is there any chance you might tell me more about it?"

Her eyes widened. "More about what?"

"About you losing everything. About being alone."

"No," she stated flatly. "There isn't." She stared off into space as if trying to remember something from long ago.

She sighed again.

"I guess you don't really need to know about my past. I mean, we're here now. We can figure things out together. But I will tell you one thing, though."

"Yeah?" Michael said eagerly.

"You are my best friend, Michael." Michael beamed. His heart swelled at her words. There was nothing better than having someone who cared about you. Someone who would listen and care for you no matter what.

They continued to sit like this for another half hour. Neither of them saying much of anything, just enjoying one another company. They were both feeling a bit sad, but they were doing their best to hide it. Eventually, Michael got up and stretched.

"Well, I'm going to get going. Thanks for sharing your story with me, though."

"Any time," she told him. "I'm glad I made it through tonight."

"Me too." Michael smiled and opened the door. Before turning back towards her, he added, "Goodnight. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Goodnight."

He shut the door behind him and headed downstairs. As soon as he hit the first step he felt the tears well up in his eyes. The fact that he'd spent most of his childhood without anyone to care about him was starting to feel like a burden. No one knew what he’d like, no one understood him, and no one ever bothered to try. Even worse than all the hurt he'd experienced growing up was the pain he carried deep inside of his heart, even after he'd moved out of his parents house. He'd never found his way home. And as he stood there, crying silently to himself in the middle of the empty hallway, the truth of the situation set in. No matter how far he went, how many people he met, he'd never really belong anywhere, because that wasn't a possibility for him anymore.

***

After that night, the two friends had become closer. Michael still visited her every once in awhile. Most days they played video games or did some homework while discussing new ideas for pranks. At least until one day Michael walked into her room and saw her curled up in a ball on the bed.

He didn't say anything as he dropped his backpack on the ground. He didn't hesitate when he climbed on the mattress next to her and laid down close enough to hear her heartbeat if she so chose to open her mouth.

"Hey, what's up?" Michael asked softly as he lay his head on her shoulder.

"I... I can't do this anymore." Her voice wavered as she started to cry.

"Do what?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her.

"This," she sniffled. "This whole pack thing. This entire stupid Alpha thing. I'm so sick of it. I can' t deal with it anymore. Not now, not ever, no matter what I do. It's just so exhausting."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm tired of fighting with everyone. I'm tired of pretending to like these people. I'm tired of pretending everything's okay."

"Hey, hey," Michael soothed. "Listen to me. Listen to yourself. You are strong. You've fought for your life and won every fight. You have survived through all kinds of things. Don't give up now."

"But I'm tired. Every day I fight with the Pack and pretend to be happy with them. I' m sick of it! And I hate being called werewolf! Why can't we just be normal humans instead?"

"We can't," Michael assured her. "Because that's not how it works. We're Pack and we have to stick together. If we break apart, who's going to protect us?"

"Who cares about protecting us?" she shot back bitterly. "We're doomed anyway. Why not just get rid of the pretense and accept it?"

"Because we are a pack and we have to stick together. We need each other. And besides, I wouldn't throw away my friendships just because I thought it was the right thing to do."

"That doesn’t change the fact that I just want to leave."

"Leave?"

"Yes! Leave this horrible pack and take your chances. It'll probably suck, but I think you'll find somewhere you belong. Maybe there's a pack somewhere that needs a brave person like you."

"Maybe," Michael muttered to himself.

"Besides," he continued, "it's not like we'll be stuck with this Pack forever. Once everything blows over, we'll find our own ways to be free of this whole Pack business."

"You sound so sure."

"Of course I am."

"But we can't be sure of anything anymore. Look at where we live. Do you know how dangerous it is to be left outside by yourself? How much of a threat are you to whoever lives around you? What about those other hunters? Can you really promise they wouldn't attack you if given the opportunity?"

"If anyone comes near me, I'll scream." He laughed quietly. "And I'll be very loud." She giggled as well before sighing.

"Look," she said. "I'm sorry for bringing this up, but we're doomed to always be surrounded by danger whether we want to admit it or not. Whether I like it or not, it's inevitable. I just don' t want to waste my time with people who think they can take advantage of me when I'm vulnerable."

Michael frowned at her words. He didn't really understand what she meant, but at least he knew what he wanted to do for her. She needed him. Just like him, she needed someone to look after her. Someone who understood her and knew what it was like to be left in a strange world by yourself.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "Whatever happens, whatever it takes, you'll have me. You just have to let me help you."

She nodded slowly and then suddenly pushed herself backwards away from Michael. "Okay," she muttered to herself. "Okay. That was easy enough. Now all I have to do is wait."

"Wait what?"

"I have to wait and see which wolves we choose. Which packs we end up being part of."

Michael looked at her quizzically. Wasn't she supposed to stay here? She seemed pretty adamant about leaving, though he couldn't exactly imagine why that was. And yet it wasn’t like she could just leave her house either since no one else lived there. In the past Michael had often noticed that she seemed to have some sort of telepathic ability. Perhaps it was possible that she had some powers that she used when it came to reading minds. And it wouldn' t be that bad of an idea to find out for sure. So he decided to follow her suggestion.

"Why don' u tell me what pack you think you should join? Like, what type of wolves are they?" he suggested, trying to keep his voice calm.

"I don't know. Some kind of hybrid maybe."

A hybrid, Michael thought to himself. Of course. A wolf who was half human. But that would only make it easier for her to blend in. To blend into the pack that she claimed to despise. And yet... and yet... there was something different about her choice. Something that bothered him.

"There must be some wolf that you actually like," he finally ventured to ask her.

"No," she replied quickly. "Like I said, it doesn’t matter. Any pack I'm part of doesn’t matter."

Her answer made him more confused than ever. What on earth was this girl thinking? It was obvious that she did not agree with the Alpha. Why would she choose a pack over a group of people she considered her family?

"Come on, what if you get picked for a team?"

"I already said I don’t care."

"What's wrong with a team anyways? You'd have people looking after you, people who'd defend you at any cost if necessary."

"That's not enough. I'm not strong enough to be alone, to face everything on my own. I don' t want to go against the alpha."

"Then don't. There has to be another way."

"Michael, just drop it." She pushed him off of her. "Please."

It seemed like she really didn't want to discuss this any further. Michael tried again, "Look, we don' t have to talk about this if-"

"Michael, please!" she interrupted loudly, startling him. She sighed and took his hands in hers. "Just forget it. Forget everything I said. Please, I need to be alone right now. Please, just leave."

With that, she turned away from him and buried her face in her pillow, trying desperately to calm down so that she could get some sleep. For a moment Michael just stared at her back, watching the tears roll down her cheeks as she tried to hold back the sobs threatening to escape her throat. After a few seconds spent gathering strength, he finally gave up and got up from the bed. He grabbed his backpack and threw it over his shoulders, ready to walk away. However, as soon as he turned to leave her room, her voice stopped him cold.

"Michael." He turned toward her. "Thank you." He felt his heart leap slightly, and the smile spread across his lips. As he stood there, he watched her turn over and burry her head under her pillow. A few seconds later, he heard her soft breathing even out, signaling that she was asleep again. Michael walked closer to her until he stopped a foot away from her, careful not to wake her, and bent down, laying a soft kiss atop her head. He smiled once more before he pulled himself together and walked out of the room.