Lone Wolf (EDITING)

Solitude

Seren brought the last box of beer up from the cellar and set it down on top of the others, shaking her hands to dispel the chill from the basement that had stained her skin a red color. Business in the tiny convenience store had been crazy that day which meant that the Wind Runner pack was planning another huge party. In such a remote town tucked away in the mountains north of Seattle, the only place that supplied enough beer to keep a hall of giant men happy was McGreggor's log cabin-turned-shop at the end of Main Street. Seren worked there faithfully for the old man every day and at the end of the month, he paid her in cash for her time, insisting she keep it and save it up.

Ian McGreggor had been the mate of a she-wolf named Marie in the Wind Runner pack. Unable to bear any children, the sweet couple fostered those carrying the wolf gene to keep them safe from the foster system and the horrors that might befall them and their kind if discovered. Marie could smell whether or not they were wolves during the meet and greets and gave them a home within the pack once they were of age. Four in total had grown up with the couple, one girl and three boys. 

When Marie had died early, Ian had not fostered another for a long time, until he turned sixty-six in fact. Since her death, he had drifted from the pack, seeing all of them made him sad and reclusive. Though he was cordial and had them to thank for most of his business, he no longer attended the parties, nor lived in their giant house.

He had never desired to foster another wolf-child, but when Happy Days Foster Agency had called, they had all but begged them to take the problem child with a tendency to run off into the woods for days at a time. They sent him a picture of the  little girl, a mess of blonde hair and distrusting, blue, doe-eyes, and he had agreed to give her a home, though he prayed she would be human.

She had been dropped off at his house with not a possession to her name and not older than twelve.  She said nothing for days at a time, preferring solitude that Ian was happy to give. It wasn't until the moon was full and she disappeared that he knew what she was. It rained so hard, that his lantern did little to illuminate the trail through the woods. It took him nearly an hour, stumbling over roots, his old bones protesting to the cold, to find the sandy-gold wolf, the same color as the girl's hair, covered in dark mud, sitting under a tree with the most forlorn expression. Coat saturated from a hard run, her head hung in shame of what she was, knowing she would soon lose her new home.

He stood there for a moment, staring at her, chewing on his lip and said, "Come on then." He turned around and marched home, hoping she had followed, but knowing no elderly human male was going to be able to force a wolf to budge. When he got there, Seren was thankfully at his heels, caution and confusion written all over her face. He let her in the bathroom, ignoring her muddy little prints and put a fluffy towel and a change of clothes on the toilet seat, filling up the tub with warm water and bubbles as the small wolf sat in the corner, avoiding eye contact.

"Now you just hop in there and relax," Ian had said. "I know your first few years of shifting hurts and makes you sore. You come out when you're done and have changed back and we will have some ice cream. How's that sound?"

Seren had looked at him then with such hope and given him the sweetest little woof that he knew she too would stay. She appeared an hour later, her big eyes hesitant as she twisted her wet hair with one finger nervously and sat at the kitchen table. Ian put a bowl in front of her and a spoon. He sat next to her with his own and dug into the chocolate chip cookie dough. 

"What's your story then? Do you remember where you came from? If you don't want to tell me you don't have to, but it will make me understand better."

She took a bite and stared at him. "My mom and dad drank alcohol," she said quietly. "They did drugs, too. Alpha gave them drugs so that my mom would make pups for him and her mate would not get mad. The alpha made pups with a lot of females. That's what we are for he says.  When the police came and Alpha got arrested, a lady came and said she would get me out of there and I would never be yelled at again."