Father Wolf

Chapter 1: Family

I’ve heard that ‘family’ are the people who love and take care of you. They never betray you, and they would take a bullet for you. Family is forever. But if that’s true, then I guess that means I’m all on my own.

The pit of my stomach turns in defiance as the red brick silhouette of my house comes into view. I try to ignore the familiar soreness on my back from the bruises that I’m certain are an unsettling color, and as my fingers turn the doorknob, the familiar bitter scent fills my nose. With it comes a blanket of calm; Dad is likely passed out and will probably leave me alone today. Good.

I don’t bother greeting my mother, who is too busy in the mirror with her makeup kit to notice my entrance. Instead, I make a beeline for my bedroom. If I’m quiet enough, maybe she won’t notice that I’ve come home at all.

Once I’ve closed my bedroom door behind me, the unsettling feeling fades from my stomach, but doesn’t entirely go away. I can’t think of a time since my early childhood that is has. With nothing else to do with the rest of my evening, I dump the contents of my backpack onto my floor and start my homework.

It isn’t long before the pale light of the full moon begins to inch through the cracks of my blinds, leaving rectangular slivers of light on the floor of my otherwise darkened room. Soon, I know I’ll start to hear the unmistakable howling that can only belong to one creature. Many people don’t believe in werewolves, but I know better. I know, because I’ve seen one with my own eyes.

I was only around seven, and that practically guaranteed that nobody would believe me when I told them about the huge wolf that I was sure could have bested twenty men with one swing of its claw. Being the adventurous child that I was with no adults to watch, I’d wandered a little too far into the woods just outside my house and as the day grew dark and ominous, I lost sight of the trail and couldn’t find my way back. In fear, I hid behind a tree and called out for my mother a few times before the panicked tears began to trickle down my face.

That’s when I saw it- a large black wolf with silver eyes that reflected the moonlight in such a way that they almost appeared lit up on their own. The fearsome creature slowly stepped toward me before giving me a sniff and a gentle reassuring nudge. In wonder, my tears had disappeared. After giving the ground a quick sniff, the wolf gently nudged me back in the direction of the trail and walked protectively beside me until the warmly lit windows of my house came back into view.

My parents didn’t believe me when I told them about it.

“It was probably just a figment of your imagination!” My father had said- Children came up with things all the time. Why would my story have been any different?

Mother simply shrugged. “Maybe it was a large dog. Of course it seemed large to you- you’re a child.”

But I never stopped believing what I’d seen- and to this day I firmly believe that a werewolf had found me that day and protected me in a way that I’d only dreamed of being by my own family.

Worse than the disbelief were the shocked responses from those who actually believed my story. They were the people who thought I was lucky to have not been eaten- but I know that was never a risk.

Closing my notebook, I tuck it back inside my backpack and climb into bed as the howling begins outside my window. One after another, the howls resemble an echo as each wolf makes it known where they are. More than once I’ve wondered what it must be like to belong to a werewolf pack, always having someone to rely on and check in with. In that regard, I’m envious of the wolves howling outside. As my eyes close, I sink into an envious dream, imagining myself amongst a family that I could never have.

•••••••••••••••••••

An abrupt pounding on my door startles me from my dream escape and I’m surprised to read on my phone that it’s only eight A.M. Why would mother wake me so early on a Saturday?

Her pounding continues. “Maddox, get out of bed and pack your things! I expect you downstairs in ten minutes,” her voice is tainted with a slight hint of fear.

Did I hear that correctly? Her words replay faintly in my mind, but I can hardly believe it; Is she really kicking me out at sixteen?

I’m out of bed before the digits on my phone’s clock change again. I don’t have a lot of bags to carry any belongings in so I dump my school supplies out of my backpack and fill it with as much as it can carry in clothes, a pair of shoes, and various other things that I consider essential.

An angry conversation between my mother and an unknown man grows audible as I make my way down the steps. Peeking over the railing, I spot a large man wearing a suit. Everything about him from his bulging muscles to his sharp eyes yells Don’t-Mess-With-Me-Or-You’ll-Regret-It. The part of him that catches my eye, though, are his teeth. As he opens his mouth to say another mouthful of stern words to my mother, I catch a glimpse of his unusually pointed teeth that send a chill down my spine.

The man’s angry expression changes to a warm smile as he notices me on the stairs. “You must be Maddox,” he says.

I continue down the stairs but I don’t approach the man yet. I simply nod.

He starts toward me and offers his hand to shake. Up close, I can guess that the man is around the same age as my parents, but that’s where the similarities end. Though my father’s arms could lift more than twice my weight, this man is muscular enough to put even Dad on edge. I make a mental note not to make him angry.

The man’s eyes sharply dart back at my parents. “Next time you’ll behave yourselves.” This statement is met with horrified nods from both my parents before the man again turns to me. “Ready to go?”

“Go where?” Though this man looks like he could kill with his eyes alone, I’m still not foolish enough to avoid asking about our destination.

His anger has practically melted away, and by now he doesn’t seem so fearsome. I could have convinced myself that he was friendly if I didn’t know that he was practically stealing me.

He gently nudges me forward with the back of his hand. “We’ll discuss that in the car.”

It was this nudge that reminded me of the wolf from the forest all those years ago. It felt so familiar- so much so that my next question slips out of my mouth without much thought.

“Are you a werewolf?” I ask.

The man shuts the door behind us and pauses before glancing back at me with a sheepish grin. “My, aren’t you observant? I suppose now is a good time as any to tell you that I’m an alpha. We’re going to the pack mansion where you’ll be staying from now on.”

The man’s car is by far the most beautiful vehicle I’ve ever seen, far outshining the rusty paint-chipped ford sitting in the back of my parent’s yard. He opens the passenger door and closes it after I climb inside before traveling around to the driver’s side. The car makes a soft hum as he turns the key in the lock.

I strike up the nerve to ask my next question. “So... what are you planning on doing with me?”

He presses the heat setting on the dashboard and the hot air begins to break through the icy atmosphere. “It’s a bit of a lengthy story. But, I suppose we’ll have time to discuss that on the way home,” he says.

The story takes place about a month ago at a grocery store. The man- he now introduces himself as Ivan- had been buying groceries with his wife. They’d stopped in the bread aisle when a woman -my mother- bumped into her. In anger, apparently mother shoved her and caused Ivan’s wife to fall to the ground.

“So someone shoved your wife, and that angered you so greatly that you decided to steal their child?” I ask.

Ivan shakes his head and thinks hard for a moment. “When I saw my wife fall, I immediately went to confront your mother. But then I recognized a scent. Your scent.”

“Mine? When did you...?”

“You might not remember, but I found you in the woods once. You were just a little kid. But seeing how your mother acted, it was then that I knew how a child that age could have wandered off so easily.”

My eyes lock onto his- and I recognize them- they are the silver eyes that I’d seen on the wolf those years ago. He nods in confirmation.

He continues the tale. After he left the grocery store, Ivan had remembered me and before he knew it, he was driving close to the woods where he’d first seen me. That was when he found my house, and met my father for the first time. It was then that he witnessed how my father treated me.

“So that’s when you decided to take me,” I say.

He shrugs. “Not quite. Obviously, one does not simply make the decision to take a child from their parents on such short notice. After that, I continued watching from afar, and making preparations. Once I’d made up my mind, I went to your parents and scared them into signing you over to me. Of course, the paperwork hasn’t been filled out yet. If you don’t want to-“

I interject almost too quickly. “No, I never want to go back. I hate it there.”

He lets out a breath. “I’ve never seen a kid so eager. Makes me wish I’d kept an eye on you after that night in the woods. Could have gotten to you sooner. But, there is one condition to you staying, Maddox.”

“And that is?”

He taps his fingers on the steering wheel before locking eyes with me again. “You’ll have to become a werewolf.”

Once, when I was about then, I accidentally swallowed an entire ice cube. The thing got stuck in my throat and nearly burned as it sent a chill to the pit of my stomach. That was close to how I feel at this very moment. Me, a werewolf?

I’m half inclined to say yes almost instantly- of course I want to join a werewolf pack and have that support system that I’d dreamt about just last night. Who wouldn’t want that?

The other half of me is terrified at the thought of what being a werewolf would entail. I’ve only heard the worst things about being a werewolf- the uncontrollable transformations every month that are said to be excruciatingly painful, and everything from dealing with heightened anger to even being hunted.

He draws back my attention with a nod. “It’s not an easy decision to make, that’s for sure. I can’t expect a sixteen year old to decide that so quickly.”

Soon a large stone mansion comes into view. The aged grey bricks of the building give off a haunting medieval feel and seems just like the kind of place for a pack of supernatural creatures to live.

Three people- a man and two teens my age are in front of the place waiting for us. The man looks around the same age as Ivan, and the teens share everything from their platinum blonde hair and icy eyes to even their shoulder length hair. Their outfits even match to an extent although the girl is wearing a skirt whereas the boy wears shorts.

The girl eagerly walks up to Ivan as he exits the car. “Is he here? The new-blood?” She warmly waves at me as I exit.

“Welcome to the pack! I’m Loire,” she offers her hand. The boy watches me carefully but says nothing.

Ivan closes the car door. “The twins will be in charge of showing you around and helping you get situated. Lake doesn’t talk much, but he’ll warm up to you soon.”

Loire eagerly grabs my backpack and swings it over her shoulder before grabbing my other hand and pulling me with her toward the mansion.

“Tell me about yourself! You’re Maddox, right? Alpha Ivan didn’t tell us much about you. So why are you joining us? Lake and I were found in the woods by Luna Diana when we were babies so we grew up here.”

I shrug. “Just awful parents I guess. Nothing special,” I say.

We enter the mansion and take a left toward a staircase. Once we reach the top, we walk down a hallway of doors before reaching the end where Loire places my bag down in front of the last door on the left.

“We’re across-the-hall mates! If you need anything, just let us know, kay? Lake can be quiet, but he’ll be happy to help.”

At that, she leaves me to settle into my new room.