CHAPTER 04

She'd never seen anything like this in all of her long life, and even when counting the things she's experienced, this one ranked among the top.

The boy was as blank as a sheet could get, one even devoid of the appropriate emotions a child like him should have.

Fear, hate, like, excitement, trust, defiance – none were present, or were in less than satisfactory quantity, only showing the barest amount when he was in a tussle with her. The events that played during her acquisition of him were still fresh in her mind after all. 

As far as her senses could tell, he was definitely human, a stark contrast when compared to what was normally considered of a human male child. 

She had briefly wondered, 'What would happen if he were to be given the bite?', but shook her head at that thought. She didn't know why but something drew her to the boy, not just her but any supernatural with acute senses would have been drawn to that location. Despite being a variation of what a human should be, because that was exactly what the boy was, he had been drawn to the Nemeton and she had been drawn to that connection because she was the closest to that vicinity. 

If any other Alpha were to be in her place then she was sure that the boy would have been turned at that instant because no Alpha, even the most righteous, would throw away something that could be the ideal representation of them. The boy was a canvas to any Alpha to be painted on, including her. Someone with such lacking sense of self, she wondered what his reflection would be. 

Would it be an ideal of herself or would it be the amalgamation made from what he identifies with? Different from what others might be led to think, an Alpha's bite is not always guaranteed to produce a successor of the same descent. The bite was a way, so to say, to see past the preconception and stare at the true reflection of oneself. 

Hang around a werewolf too much and the probability of you being one when you receive the bite is astronomically high but being true to yourself to the core is a way to see past the preconceived notion of what the Alpha thinks of you. 

Now what if her, an Alpha, were to bite someone who not only knew what others were, but also lacked a sense of self that the most he could do was mirror back a reflection of whatever stirs him? Even she as an Alpha was driven by that prospect. 

He had no name, no memories, no vibrant emotion to show off and no concrete impression of anything. 

She watched as the little girl still trapped in her coyote form wrapped itself around the boy in a bid to protect him from any danger - her. It warmed her heart that even after whatever trial she must have faced or she had gone through, she still retained a part of her humanity that enabled her to anchor unto the purest soul she could find. 

She had already made the decision to change the girl back to her human form the moment she told her to follow her. It would be better all the more if she taught her to let go of her nightmares and achieve the peace she needed on her own. 

Looking at the way the two of them hugged each other subconsciously as a pillar of support, she wondered what type of life they would lead. What sort of experiences life had laid in front of them that made them find each other? All she knew instinctively knew was that it would one day take them back to Beacon Hills. Whether that would be a good or bad thing was something she had no idea of. 

… 

His eyes fluttered open and the first thing that graced his sights were the all too now familiar ash-brown fur of his animal friend. He had gotten the memo from the older woman that it was a she so that was something new he had learned. 

She laid directly on top of him in a way that made them look like a cross from anyone watching with her tail wrapped around one of his arms. 

Trying for a bit and seeing that he couldn't move, he relaxed and just laid there until she decided to wake up or decided it was time she let him go. Thankfully for him, due to his stirring, she woke up and got up from him on her own before proceeding to lick his face, an action that drew no reaction from the boy except staring at her as she did so. It was something he was used to after all as it was something she'd been doing since the first time they've met. 

"I see that the both of you are up." He heard the voice of the woman that had brought him away from the forest. He didn't know why but ever since he had woken up in her presence, he no longer felt the pull like he did before. 

His animal friend circled around him twice before nudging at his legs a little as he stood up from the bed they slept. 

They were not the only ones who didn't know what to do as the same could be said for the woman. She had taken him into her hands in the spur of the moment without any concrete plan on what she wanted to do with him, but it wasn't something that would stomp her since she's been taking care of children throughout her long life. She did have an inkling as to what to do with the girl who turned out to be a natural werecoyote coyote. Talk about rarity, and speaking of children:

"You children can come in now." At her words, the door to the room opened and a group of people came in. 

They all stood behind their Alpha awkwardly as the boy just stared ahead at them while the coyote growled in a lone voice threatenly until Satomi began with the introduction. 

"These are my family… my pack. I hope in time you will learn about them and come to see them as your own family, your own brothers and sisters." She looked at the boy and the way his eyes glided through everyone let her know that he at least had understood what she was trying to convey. The only problem lied with the little coyote. While it was very easy for her to force the unruly girl into submission, the act of doing such a thing was against her beliefs. 

"Uhm, Satomi-san, are you sure about this? He's human, right? Or do you plan to turn him?" One of her older pack members asked. It was a point that had occurred early on to the aged members as they knew that not all the betas in the pack could control their shift and their intense emotions, mostly during a full moon where everything was heightened to a 10. Having a human nearby was akin to dropping blood in an ocean of sharks, it would easily rile up their inner monsters. 

"I do plan on giving him the bite, but not yet. I feel as if he's not yet ready. When he is, the choice will ultimately belong to him." She said. While it was true that she was tempted to give him the bite and find out what type of supernatural would he be, even as a werewolf there were still a few distinctions that a bite could give, she felt like doing it now would be robbing him of something – a sense of self.

"So can he, like understand what we are saying, or are we going to start learning sign language?" 

"Lori!!" The mouth of the girl who asked the first question was quickly covered by the boy beside her which quickly drew the attention of all the occupants, including the new arrivals. 

Satomi let out a small laugh at the antics of her children but waved of the girl's concern. "The boy can understand, though to what extent is something I have no idea of. The coyote however mainly understands intent so know that when you attempt to speak to her." At her words, the gradually bubbly atmosphere of the room suddenly plummeted. 

Even though she hadn't said anything about the coyote, everyone understood that something traumatic must have happened to have made her take that form that reduced her to her baser instincts and the worst part about it was that they've all seen her blue eyes. 

The sky blue eyes of someone who's taken a life. 

But even with that, none of them faulted her as even though it was clear that she had taken a life, her current state was enough to garner pity from them, not that it helped her in any way. 

"They only have each other, you can clearly see that. I want you to care for them as you care for each other. Their past matters little and shouldn't be the first criteria we judge them with. Hopefully in time they'll open up to us as well." She addressed that to not only the members of her pack but also the two people she was introducing into it. She then walked towards the two of them, the boy just taking in everything with the most innocent and blank gaze she's ever seen while the little girl never once stopped regarding her with hostility. 

She knelt down in front of the duo, the coyote being the only one who reacted, and her brown eyes turned blood red. 

The coyote seemed to shrink back at the front of her gaze and for the first time since she's met them, the boy reacted violently. 

"Grrrrrlll."

He outright growled at her just like he had seen the coyote do so many times. He didn't know why she growled but he understood that it must be something that was used to steer threats away. 

This time he was the one who was at the front of his companion which was different than what it used to be. 

Instinctually, the eyes of all her pack members glowed yellow with very few glowing iridescent blue and they all glared at the duo, one shivering behind while the other stood at the forefront, not displaying even the tiniest bit of fear. He knew not fear after all. 

ROOOOAR! 

!!! 

The entire room vibrated but the boy didn't move a step back but instead used one hand to hold the spasmic and shivering form of his longtime companion, while also glaring at Satomi with the first true emotion he's ever shown. 

Hate. 

Murderous hate and a pure one at that. 

He even made even the most vile of emotions seem innocent. Oh how she truly wanted to give him the bite right now but she held in. He needed to grow first. 

~Whimper~

The boys focus immediately changed as he felt that the soothing fur of who he was holding immediately changed to that of the smooth skin of a girl. 

And for the second time that day, the boy showed another apparent emotion. 

Confusion. 

Genuine confusion that seemed as if it was taking him a hard time to understand. But even at that, he never let go of the girl he held. 

He turned to look at the woman and found that her eyes no longer looked dangerous and so were those of the people in the room. 

It was the definition of what a pack was. All for one, and one for all. If a pack member was ever to be threatened, the rest will grow out their fangs for retaliation, regardless of what the threat represented. 

Loyal to a fault. 

Bonds thicker than that of family. 

A wolf's pack.

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