Where There's a Wolf There's a Way [1]

Two Steps Back

Sang POV

I wake up feeling very warm. That's odd. I'm always cold when I wake up usually. I can also feel something soft underneath me that is definitely not the ground. My eyes pop open at the realization. It all comes rushing back to me. The claws, no bears and the log, the humans. I blink at the bright light filling the room. I push myself up or at least I try. My muscles are stiff and sore and make it difficult. I whimper slightly at a twinge in my side.

I glance down at my new form, my human body. The shirt Luke gave me covers almost all of me. My skin is pale just like my fur. My fur. I feel a bubble of worry beginning to form. I miss being a wolf. Can I change back? I'll have to ask Luke. The fur on my head is long. Too long. It weighs down my head weird and it's all clumped together. I don't like it. I don't like this form very much. I feel weird. My paws won't work right.

Ignoring it for now I glance around the room. Besides the couch it is filled with foreign objects I don't recognize. For some reason some of them seem familiar but I have no idea why. I don't remember ever seeing them before. It's always just been me and the forest.

"Well, good morning sunshine!" says a cheerful voice pulling me out of my thoughts. I whip around to see Sean standing behind the couch. I jump a little at his loud voice. I didn't even hear him coming. I'm usually more alert than this. "Are you hungry? You passed out before we could get any food in you last night." Remembering the word hungry I nod like I saw Luke do. It seems to be an agreement of sorts. The rest I don't understand though. Why are there so many words?

"Good because North and Luke are cooking enough food to feed an army at this point," he continues. I stare at him because I have no idea what he is saying. "Before we eat, do you think you could meet the rest of the pack?" I tilt my head trying to convey my confusion. "Ah, let's see," he says sitting on the opposite end of the couch. "There are more of us, of wolf shifters who live here. They would like to talk to you as well, to meet you."

I think I get it. I did smell nine different scents when I woke up. I've only met, as they say, Luke, North, and Sean. That means there are six more left. I don't know where these terms are coming from but they seem right. I nod my head slightly again. He looks at me in a way I don't really understand but I like it. His eyes glaze over and soon I hear multiple footsteps headed in our direction. I can't help but tense as they get nearer. I never been around this many two-le- I mean humans, except for the bad time. I shudder just thinking about it.

"It will be okay, Sang. None of us will ever hurt you." I remember hearing that word from Luke as well.

Hurt? I ask hesitantly. Sean stares at me and nods.

"The bear hurt you," he says pointing to where the white strips are wrapped around me. "We will never hurt you or cause you pain." He just had to throw another one out there.

Pain?

"You know like, Ow! When something hurts," he tries to explain. I think I get it, a little at least. Finally they enter the room. They walk around the couch sitting and standing in various places. I try to take them all in.

One is huge with hair the color of leaves just before the cold time. Another is even bigger. There is one with different colored hair with eyes the color of the sky on a sunny day. Another is sitting down but his eyes are what draw me in. It's like they have fires in them. Two of them have weird stick things on their face. Both of them are standing directly in front of me, the taller one slightly ahead of the other. Immediately I feel their aura of dominance. Finally something I'm familiar with. Other wolves use to do this all the time but I was always more dominant so they would run away. I didn't even try to push my dominance forward these two clearly had me beat.