The air around me burned in the summer sun. I was covered in sweat just being out here. Not helping me was my brother leaning on me offering me a beer. “Come on, just one drink," Charles said, reeking of alcohol.

“For the last time no," I growled pushing my drunk brother off me, “I am not interested in getting drunk."

Charles leaned on me again, “Why not? You're old enough for a drink. The whole college experience is going to class drunk at least once."

I pushed his drunk ass aside, “If you must know, yes I did get drunk, but the hospital visit was not worth it."

“Oh, honey," my mom hugged me, “why didn't you tell me you were in the hospital?"

“This happened months ago, and it was for a twisted wrist. When did we become a huggy feely family?"

My dad laughed, “who knows." he goes back to his grill, “Still, I'm happy you came home for my birthday."

“It's fine. Shouldn't one of us be manning the grill?"

“Nope. Your brother is too drunk, and both you and your mother never learned how to grill."

I pushed mother and brother off me. “Can you two stop hugging me in this heat?" I pulled out a water bottle and took a swig of it. “So whose idea was it to eat outdoors during the heatwave?"

“It was mine, I was in the mood for steaks and thought, why not eat outside as well."

I sighed, “sometimes I wonder what goes through your head, Dad."

Charles tapped my shoulder “Hey Elliot, I need to ask you something. Let go over there."

“Is it really that important?"

Charles grabbed my shoulders, “yep." he started to pull me away from Mom and Dad. He turned around, making sure they were out of earshot. “Okay serious talk Elliot, when do you plan on telling them?"

“Charles, what are you talking about?" I asked in my grumpiest voice.

“Your...interests."

My face turned red, “Charles, there are better places than this to do it then dad's birthday."

“Look you promised--"

“I know, I know," I interrupted, “I just...what do I do if they don't like it? Besides I'm not sure I am one yet. I mean it was a one-time thing; it probably doesn't mean anything."

“You were the one who called me drunk at three in the morning saying you figured yourself out. Okay, answer me this: What do you think Mom and Dad would do if you told them?"

“Well, first they would disinherit-"

Charles covered my mouth, “Wow, you said something stupid in less than 10 words, that's a record."

I removed Charles hand from my mouth, “Alright, what do you think they might do then?"

“They would not care at all."

“What makes you--"

“Elliot think about it. Think about our parents-- and I mean actually think about it for a minute not just stare into the void like an idiot. Would Mom and Dad disinherit you just because you-" 

“Umm, excuse me," a voice said. Charles and I jumped. Behind us was a thin Hispanic man we never met before. “Have you seen my daughter?"

“Daughter?" I asked.

“Yes, my daughter," the guy said, “She's 9. Have you seen her?"

“No, I haven't seen her."

“Oh no, oh no. I thought you might have seen her."

“Why would you think that?"

“She was talking about heading down to the river. I thought she might have come through here."

“Well, I can head down to the river with you," I offered.

“Elliot!" Charles yelled, getting the attention of our parents.

“What?"

Charles pulled me away from the strange man, “Don't you think this is suspicious?"

“About what?"

Mom and Dad approached us. “What's going on?" my Dad asked.

“This man has lost his daughter," I answered, “he said that she may have gone to the river."

Dad looked at the man, “well, we haven't seen her. She might have used a different way."

“But this is the only path she knows," the man said, “She must have come through here."

I asked, “Well, why not check the river?"

“That was what I am planing." the man said, “Do anyone of you want to come?"

“Well," Dad scratched the back of his head, “We are about to eat dinner and--"

“I'll check the river," I said.

All their eyes were on me. “Elliot," Dad said, “what do you think you're doing?"

“What? It's a nine-year-old girl. You really don't expect me to sit back and leave a father worried." I turn to the man, “So what is your daughter's name?"

“Her name is Kelly."

“Okay," I walked away from them. “Save some steak for me," I yelled back at them, “Actually just take the meat back home. I'd rather eat it in an air-conditioned house."

###

We both looked at Elliot. He was still in wolf form. “He's not changing back," I said.

“He will," Hector responded.

“It's been thirty minutes."

“I know, but he will change back," Hector went back to his book.

I messed with some apps on my phone. I kept glancing at Elliot. He was alive but didn't move or make a sound. Are we too late? Is he already a Feral?

“Chester, would you stop having those thoughts," Hector groaned.

“What thoughts?"

“Things like 'are we too late' or 'is he already Feral' seems like a good guess."

“How do you keep doing that?"

“You keep glancing at Elliot with such a worried look on your face. You're really transparent about the whole thing.`` Hector put his hand on my shoulder, “we're going to help him, Chester. He's going to be alright."

My phone buzzed in my hand, “A text?" I opened Messenger, “It's from the Alpha. Notice to all Betas, we will be having another meeting at 5 pm. All Betas must attend. Why so late?"

“They had work, Chester. At least El understands that," he said

I turned to Hector, “What about you, Hector? Don't you have classes to teach?"

He shrugged, “They have a test tomorrow, so I sent emails to them to use my class time to study. Some of them need it. Like Jacob." Just mentioning his name caused Hector to groan. I met Jacob so I understood the reaction. “So how are your classes going? None of my coworkers are too hard on you I hope."

“They've been going fine. Having professors that know about werewolves does help with assignments and tests."

“That's good. I had to pull a lot of strings to make sure they ended up as your teachers."

“I've been meaning to ask if they are part of the Pack, too. I've never seen them around."

“They are part of the pack; they just don't come to the camp too often."

My phone buzzed again, “Another text from the Alpha. Chester and Hector, please come to my office when you get a minute. This involves Elliot. What could she mean by that?"

“Knowing El, anything." Hector had a look of concern on his face. “So want to head there now or push it off till later?"

“I would recommend going to her now," a voice said. We turned around and see Doc standing in the doorway. He was carrying a small box. “She's in a pleasant mood right now, so now is the best time as any to see her." Doc crouched before Elliot's cage and put the box on the floor beside him.

“Come on, Chester, let's go see El."

“But Elliot's--"

“Is fine," Hector interrupted, “Oscar can take care of himself if Elliot wakes up if he can."

Doc opened Elliot's cage, “So let's get started."  Doc pulled out a stethoscope and slipped it under Elliot's shirt as we leave the room.

We were both silent as we walked to the Alpha's office. Thoughts on what she wanted to talk about made me nervous. Did they found something out in their investigation? Why would she just ask for me and Hector? Could Elliot situation be that dire? We-- I bumped into Hector. “Sorry."

Hector said nothing and entered the room. “Hey El, you wanted to talk?"

The Alpha sat at her desk. On her desk were the usual things: stack of papers, folders, computer, an ice cream carton with a spoon hanging out of it, and a jar of pickles. “Good good," she covered her mouth as she silently belches into her fist, “Sit, sit."

We took our seats, “So what do you want now, El?"

“Your opinions on Elliot," she answered, “What do you think about him?"

We both looked at each other. “Mind if I go first?" Hector asked.

I nodded.

Hector leaned into the chair, “Well, he's cute enough for starters. Usually not into the more thin guys, but some meat would look good on him. Maybe a--"

“Hector, I mean with your big brain here!" the Alpha shouted.

“I know," he said, a smirk on his face. Should you really rile up a pregnant woman Hector? “While my little brain finds him cute, it's quite clear that Elliot is terrified. When I was talking to him earlier, it was clear he didn't understand anything I was saying. I'm also concerned with his mental health. I think it is in our best interest to put him in some sort of therapy, probably give him some medication too."

“Why didn't you say all that first?" the Alpha sighed then continued, “What about you, Chester? Are your feelings the same?"

“Yeah," I said, “He needs help."

“ Then this is going to sound shocking to you, but Claude gave a different opinion."

“What was it?"

The Alpha took a deep breath, “He said that Elliot is too dangerous and that we should hand him over to the Hunters."

“What! How could Claude say that?" anger filled me. While Claude and I weren't friends, this was the closest I wanted to punch the guy. I turned to leave the room.

“Stop right there, Chester," Hector grabbed my arm, “you need to calm down." 

“Did you not hear what the Alpha said? Claude said we should hand Elliot to the Hunters. They're going to kill him." I tried to break out of Hector's iron grip that squeezed my arm.

“Chester, you either calm down or I'll knock you out." With a yank, Hector forced me into the chair, “Besides, however much of a bitch Hellena is, even she wouldn't hand over someone to the Hunters to be killed."

“Was the 'bitch' comment really necessary?" the Alpha asked.

“Yes," Hector was standing behind me, his hands on my shoulders, keeping me in the chair. I wasn't calm by any means, but I stayed in my seat.

She sighed, “Well, even if we turn him in, I doubt the Hunters will execute him. While looking into his background we learned a few things. One, he was in a coma for over a month. Second, the operation that exterminated the werewolves in that area happened during that time frame. Elliot only woke up long after the operation was completed. From what little info we could get our hands on, the only immediate family visited him during that time."

“It was in that month that Elliot changed into a werewolf, right?"

“Yeah, that is the theory anyway."

“I'm curious how the doctors taking care of him didn't notice he was transforming. Wouldn't the doctors notice something about his health if he was transforming under their watch."

“That is something the report didn't say. I also saw that it made no mention about illegal transformations, but considering that Elliot is the only survivor, I doubt they looked into it. Also, he was only in town for a few days. His parents told me--"

“Wait, you talked to Elliot's parents?" I asked without thinking.

The Alpha didn't seem bothered, “yes, and before you ask, yes they know the existence of werewolves."

I tried to speak again, but Hector squeezed my shoulders, silently telling me to shut up and listen.

“They told me that Elliot was only in town for a couple of days to celebrate his father's birthday. In that time wasn't in contact with anyone from the Pack."

“Then how was he mauled?"

“From what I found he has led him away from the party they were having and mauled then. If the report I got was accurate, the only reason the Hunters found out about the incident was because of Elliot's mother."

“How--" Hector squeezed my shoulder.

“Elliot's mother, Rachel Rice, happens to be a reporter and a fairly good one at that. She did a segment on it, which we found a video of. In it, she also mentions that Elliot's case isn't unique and that things like this happened before. The Hunters learned about the segment and used her findings to jump start their own investigations into the incident. You can see where that went."

“But wait what about the other survivors?" I ask.

The Alpha's body language changed. She turned her gaze away, not looking me in the eye. This doesen't sound good. “There are none. From what I found, Elliot is the only one who survived those Maulings."

My heart sank into my chest. There were no survivors. I was mixed on this info. Should I be glad there aren't any more like Elliot wandering around? If they succeeded with anyone else, would they have continued their actions? I can't even imagine what kind of mentality the pack has or what they would have done to the one who lived.

Hector let go of my shoulders, “just that was it. If that guy was part of the Pack, they have an eyewitness account that Elliot was led away, meaning the other also must have been lead away too." Hector sat down in the chair, “but that doesn't matter, does it? You wouldn't call us here just for a status report."

“Correct, there is something you should know," the Alpha clenched her baby bump.

Hector laughed, “See, even your child getting tired of your shit."

“Stuff it," the Alpha groaned, “I am bringing this up because Claude plans to hold a vote at tonight's meeting. What are we going to do with Elliot? He's obviously planing on kicking Elliot to the curb. I suggest using what I told to sway the others."

I stood up, “I won't let you down Alpha. I won't let Claude kick Elliot out." I turn to leave the room.

“Hold your horses, Chester," Hector grabbed my arm again before I left the room, “don't you think this is odd?"

“What is?"

“El is planning something, I can tell."

“I can still hear you," the Alpha said.

“I know," Hector said. He faced the Alpha, “that is why I am so concerned as to what you plan to do with Elliot."

I shook loose from Hector's grip, “So? What does that have to do with anything? Are you really going to let Claude kick Elliot out because of that?"

“Well, no--"

“Then there is no issue. I plan on helping Elliot and Claude is not going to stop me."

###

Even before I opened my eyes, I could tell I was in an odd place. Odd smells assaulted my nose. Something moving through my fur. Maybe it was a mistake to follow that wolf. Some time ago, I met an odd wolf. He took that thing off my neck and gave me food, so he couldn't be a bad wolf, even if his ability to change form was creepy. He took me to a place with other wolves. To be honest it was overwhelming just being there. The last thing I could recall was someone trying to enter his den while he was gone, then something happened. 

I opened my eyes. The was something in front of me. Its fur was odd, it was multi-colored but flat. It also didn't seem connected with the body, moving while the body was still. Is it more of that removable fur that other wolf had. Why would a wolf wear such things? The thing was making noise while I looked at my surroundings. This den was darker than the wolf's like little light comes in here.

My body felt warm. Not this again. I lose conscience again.