Age: 8 Years Old

“When the world was first young there was another species that the humans knew of. The species that had the ability to be both an animal and human form. The most famous that are still remembered today are the ones that we like to call Lycans. They could transform into wolves. Humans were already jealous of the humans so they had stayed away from those who could transform, but shifters wanted to be accepted to have a normal human life fitting in with everyone else. Humans could not have that they believed they were demons sent to them to cause trouble.”

I look up from under my blanket, “What do you mean mommy?”

My mother looks down at me, “I mean humans cannot except us for what we are. They will try to kill us on the first try. Humans fear us because we are not in their term of normal. We are abominations to them.”

“How can that be most of my friends at school are human?”

My mother looks down at me, “That may be true, but how would they act if they knew what you really are. You are not human. Jae Hwa, us wolves are the only shifters that are still alive without having what little of us being hunted down and killed.”

“They won’t happen. I will make it so humans and wolves can live among each other without fear.”

My mother smiles at me, “Maybe 1 day that can happen, but humans are used to being on top of the food chain. One of the most dangerous creatures that are to be hunted. That’s if you don’t think about us.”

I see my father stick his head inside my room. I watch the light outside in the hallway dance on his scars from a fight.

“Father, you never told me how you got those scars?”

“It was a little spat I had with Uncle Dave nothing to think about.”

I nodded my head not completely believing in my father, but there seemed to be something off about his answer.

“Sweetie,” my mother says as she walks up to him kissing his cheek where the scar is.

“Mommy, why isn’t there any girls in our pack?”

“There’s not many of us left,” my mommy tells me.

I nod my head, “Is that why Uncle Dave and daddy fought over you?”

My dad seems shocked that I know this, “Why do you say that?”

“Because Uncle Dave won’t look at mommy unless he needs to.”

My father smiles at me then my mother, “This is surprising to know that our daughter is so smart.”

My father comes sit by my side and smiles, “Let’s have a small story time with a story I have to tell.”

I nod my head and watch as daddy comes over to my bed and crawls in with me.

He grabs a book that was written by my grandmother.

My father tells me a story about a young wolf that had lost her way and to find her way home she had gone up to 3 different people and asked them for help.

The first two had told her they would not help her unless their brother agrees to help them.

So she went up to the last sibling and asked him if he could help him and the brother had asked one thing for her to answer a riddle.

What is the only thing that changes a wolf and water?

She answered the moon, because it changes the wolf’s cries the tides of the water.

The oldest sibling told her that she was correct and that he would help her find her way home.

As the days went by one night the young wolf heard a cry in the night while she was changed. She had run towards the voice to find the oldest sibling hurt. She went and helped him at first he was afraid, but then he had accepted the wolf’s help.

She helped him back to the campsite then left him to sleep. She had changed back and slipped into her sleeping bag without the oldest sibling noticing.

Soon days passed and every night the oldest brother would sit up and think about the wolf with such human eyes that had helped him.

A month had passed and it was another full moon causing the young wolf to shift without her permission.

She was running through the night when she had found the oldest brother sitting by a river bank.

Slowly and carefully afraid what he might do she walked up to the older brother.

When he saw her reflection in the river he turned around a bit excited to see the young wolf again.

He asked her where she came from and she pointed the way that he’s heading with her in her human form.

He nodded and sat down with her at his side. They stayed like that staring at the stars until dawn started to come. The young wolf felt fear in her small heart she did not expect to stay with him for too long. Before she could run off she heard the 2 brother’s yell that she was missing.

She felt fear in her chest hearing the brother’s say that.

Slowly the oldest brother looks at her to see fear in her wolf eyes and quietly he whispers her name as he kneels down to her height so they were eye to eye. He hugs her neck and slowly as the sun starts to shine on them the young girl transforms back into a human. The oldest brother who wasn’t much older than her smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

He promised to keep her secret surprising the young girl, but secretly she was excited for it.

They did not know that the youngest brother had seen her transformation and how he was appalled by his brother hugging someone who had just transformed back from an animal into a human form. That night when they had made it to the young wolf’s home the youngest brother had told his other brother what he had seen that morning they agreed to save their brother from the demon.

When they had reached the girl’s home and was about to transform the two brothers caught her off guard and tied her up. The oldest sibling was surprised by his brothers’ actions.

He questioned them what they were doing and they told him that they had to save him from the devil’s songstress.

The boy scoffed at his brother's foolishness telling them how are we better than she is herself. How was she a demon sent by the devil when all she has done was help him?

They tried to tell him that he would know once they kill the girl and her family.

The brother went against his brothers and tried to make it so the girl would not be shot.

When the gunshot was heard from miles around, but instead of hitting the girl the eldest was the one on the ground bleeding. In seeing the 1 she loved on the ground bleeding the girl fought against the bonds that held her.

Soon she heard a few howls in the distance telling her that her parents had heard the shot and were coming.

When they were in view the girl was laying on the ground with the eldest crying begging him to stay with her. Soon she had slipped out of her restraints to take one of his hands in her own. Holding onto to it tightly.

She looked up again and asked, “Can you save him?”

They had done what they could to save the human boy.

“Daddy, why is it in every story we have to fear humans? Even in this one where the two of them loved each other.”

“Because humans are fickle creatures. Do you not want to hear the ending of this story?”

I shrug, “I’m not sure. Does the boy die? Does the family of wolves?”

He peeks into the book and shakes his head.

“Then continue,” I tell him waving my hand.

“As you wish, my princess,” my father jokes.

He tells me about how the family was able to save the boy, but not without a price.

To help with healing to buy time they had their daughter who had a strong bond with him give him her blood. They did not expect what had happened to happen, but when the next full moon rises the boy had transformed.

His luck had been with him because he had stayed with the family until he was healed enough to travel sending his brother’s home to tell their parents that he was not to come home again for the red string of fate had tied the young wolf and the boy’s fate together from the moment they were born.

I smile as I cuddle into my dad’s side feeling it’s warmth, “Daddy, please always tell me stories like this.”

He chuckles, “Of course i will only tell my darling happy stories.”

I hear my father stand up and leave the room with my mother waiting for him.

In hushed tones not knowing how good my hearing has become my mother says, “Why did you change the end? It turned out happy.”

“Because I wanted her to always keep her ideals alive.”

“What ideals?”

“Ideals of a better world. A world that we had stopped fighting for long ago. Our daughter might be the one in the story.”

My mother chuckled, “If she is then I’ll kick Uncle Dave’s .”

I want to chuckle and I hear my father do it for me, “No way would I have my beautiful wife do something so foul like that. We are leaders in this pack and it’s our jobs to make our pack safe. I want our daughter to keep ideals that she can use to better our pack.”

“So what you’re going to train her under these ideals?”

“Of course I am,” I hear my father huff.

I hear my older adoptive brother shout at them to be quiet.

I smile as I think about how lucky I am to have such a big family. Not just my mommy, daddy, and big brother, but also the pack.

“I love my family,” I whisper as I curl up on my bed, “I will help us all.”

I hear everyone crawl into their own beds and the lights turn off. Turning on my side I look outside to see the stars.