Chapter 5:

Body shaking, teeth chattering from the unknown power that was coming from me, I am standing on all fours and looking at my new family of strangers for help, but all of which seemed to be happy about this ordeal. My mind is racing, heart pounding… I do not know what is going on, but they should be concerned. I am a werewolf standing in front of them. How can they not be more concerned? I changed… How can they be calm about this?

I whimpered for a sign of help but also, I was in pain. I tried to talk, but of course the only thing that came out was a whimper, a growl, or a bark. I kept looking around for help, but they stood there smiling.

"Eve, you need to relax," Brian said, soothingly petting my head.

My mind is racing. How can I calm down? What is going on with me?

I look at the dark monster, who seemed to be pleased with himself, but also intrigued at what happened. The beast just sat there and stared at me with a look of whimsy, until George cleared his throat and nodded his head for the wolf to follow his order. As the dark werewolf went behind the men, I was confused at what had happened. The adults knew who it was and were not afraid. Whatever the monster is, was about to show its' true form. I could not wait to see and kill who had hurt the twins.

Coming out from behind the men, I see Kenny standing with a smug look on his face as he came closer as if to look at me. I was so enraged to think that a kid that I was supposed to be living with would do this. Not only that but he did it to Evan and John. With rage on my side, I let out a warning growl. He ignored it. Then on instinct, I lunge forward at Kenny, teeth at the ready. But before I could drive my teeth into his skin, Brian stood in front of me, stopping me barely. But I still had my teeth showing and low growls coming from deep down in my lungs.

"Enough!" Marcus commanded, stopping Kenny in his tracks. "Get him out of here." His voice seemed to have some power over everyone else, because when he talked everyone slightly bowed their heads. Marcus looked at me with some concern on his face and stared directly into my eyes as if he were trying to control me. With an angry release of air, he turned to Brian and said, "Get her back to normal, then bring her to the house!"

"Yessir," Brian said, staring at me.

Coming from behind the corner, Evan came over to help John up. Then they both seemed to be fine, which made me relax a little. With stress leaving my body, I turned back into a human. Cold and naked, I lay on the floor for a few seconds when Brian put a blanket on me. Scooping me up, he started to carry me back to the house.

I was so tired that it felt nice to be carried, but I was still angry with everyone, so I started to squirm and yell out, "Put me down. I can walk on my own."

But in return to me struggling, Brian just held me tighter and continued to walk. After a few more moments of fighting, I knew it was no use, so I lay there in his arms and pouted. Anger flowing through every fiber of my being, I really want to go home now.

Arriving at the house, Brian brought me into the bathroom where clothes were waiting for me.

"After you are done, come into the library and wait for us. Okay, Eve?" Brain said with some concern.

I still felt rage towards him, but I shook my head in agreement. He shut the door and left me alone. I listened to the door as the footsteps receded into the kitchen and I heard whispering… I heard Marcus and he seemed to be yelling in a whisper. I stepped away from the door and investigated the mirror. I started to cry and wonder about things. But then I was fueled with rage as to what just happened. They seemed to be excited about what happened, and I was not about to let them get away with having me on their team. I must get out of here. Quickly getting dressed, I walked slowly out of the bathroom and turned into the living room. I stood there for a second too long, seeing a golden glow around the chair that Marcus sat in. I stopped in awe. I wanted to leave, but there was a feeling that made me stay.

As I stood there, taking in deep breaths. My ears started to hear more. I could hear other conversations happening throughout the house, not just low whisperings anymore. I continued to stand there in the middle of one of my strides and I listened…

"Why did you leave her alone? You know that she is special," Brian said. I could hear the anger in his voice.

"It is not my fault. She must learn how to take care of herself. I am not going to do it! " replied Sly. He seemed to be irritated and annoyed with his father.

"She is your sister, and you have to protect her. She has gone through a lot. And she does not know anything about this world. You are her big brother. Help her," Brian almost yelled.

"Oh, come on, I lost my mom, too. Mom was the only one I could talk to and now she is gone. All I have now is you and this little twerp that thinks she is normal and that everyone will take care of her. Well, she is wrong. The adults and you think she is innocent. The twins and Kenny want her for themselves. And all I can think is how she is wrapped around your finger like she has been here the whole time," he yelled and whispered to Brian.

"Sly, that is enough. She is your sister. You are the bigger one, and you need to protect her and teach her. She is only now learning what she is. Please, Sly, can you do this one thing for me and your mom?" he begged too Sly.

"Fine, but everyone has to stop treating her so special. I have the same genes as her." I could almost feel the anger in his voice when he said that. It hurt him to even think about helping me.

"Okay. We will try, but that may be hard to do for everyone," he said, talking mostly about himself.

That conversation started to die out. The next conversation I heard was between John and Evan.

"How did we not guess she was a beast?" asked Evan.

"How were we supposed to know? She was just some cute girl whose mom knew Marcus. Also, I do not think she knew," replied John.

"Marcus never told us. We are a pack; we are supposed to tell everyone everything when it deals with the pack, right?"

"Yes, but we are talking about the Alpha. He only told us to stay next to Eve and not to let anything happen to her. We did that... until Kenny. The only thing that we can be sure about is that we need to keep her safe. She is special. I can feel it in my gut. She is part of the pack, and we must protect the ones we love," said John.

"You're right, John. We must protect our pack and those that we care about."

That conversation started to die out and another one started to be heard...

"Sir, maybe we should tell her about what had just happened and the past, too," remarked Donny.

"You're right but, is she ready for what is going to happen to her after we reveal the truth about her?" asked Marcus.

"We just need to train her and help her understand what just happened to her. And it needs to be done by when school starts and that is in like two months from now."

"Yeah. I am going to check on Kenny and George to see if they are still with us. From now on, Eve is a part of our pack, and she is not going anywhere."

I heard footsteps coming from where the conversation seemed to be. They walked in silence as another conversation came into play...

"Dad, how was I supposed to know that she was the girl? No one knew about her until she came and gave Marcus the letter," said Kenny.

"Yeah, but still, that is not how you treat people, we are not wild animals," remarked George.

"Still, this is not all my fault," Kenny said defensively.

"You're right, Kenny," said Marcus with his deep voice. Kenny and George's attitude changed somehow, but I could not tell how or why it changed for a certain reason. "And I need to know, Kenny, is she going to be a problem for you?"

"No, sir."

"Good. And George, do you have a problem with it?"

"Of course not, as long as you are okay with it, I am too," he replied as if he was a soldier in an army.

"Good. Now let us go make our new addition to the pack feel more at home… shall we?"

The sounds of the voices stopped, and I was faced with the choice of staying and learning what they meant or leaving. Right then all three doors opened, I stood in the middle of the hallway in the middle of walking away. They all stood and stared at me. I felt the tension in Marcus' look at me. It felt the exact same as when I was a wolf. I could not tell by this tension if he was angry with me, ordering me, studying me… I could not read the situation. All I knew was he was not impressed with the situation.

Brian cleared his throat, breaking Marcus from his staring. Marcus gestured for everyone to sit. They each took their seemed to be assigned seats with Marcus in the middle, Brian to his left, George to his right, and Donny standing behind. Then the kids were all sitting on the couch farthest away from them, seeming to be making room for me. I just stood there looking at the atmosphere around me, feeling the tension. I was on high alert with them. I cannot trust them, but another feeling came across me… a feeling of support.

"Now, Belle," Marcus said, breaking me from my trance. "You are probably wondering what in the world is going on." He seemed to be hating this almost as much as I did. I just stared at him down. He must have been threatened by this because he let out a low rumble from his chest. Brian cleared his throat, breaking Marcus of his defensive stance. "Belle," Marcus said with a fake smile. "Please sit. So, we can talk."

I was a little irritated with what was happening. I got the feeling that they felt like they had control over me. "No!" I declared.

Marcus was taken back by this and said again in a commanding voice, "I said sit, Belle."

"And I said, no."

"And why is that?" he asked, as he puffed out his chest.

"Because my name is not Belle and I don't like it here," I said, staring him down.

Cracking his knuckles, Marcus said with an enraged fake smile, "Well, Eve… Let us have a chat and get to know each other a little bit more. This way I can also tell you about yourself and what you are."

I looked around and still wanted to leave, but I needed to know more about myself. So, I readjusted my stance to being a little less defensive and said, "What am I?"

"Well, Eve, where do I start? Let us just start... from the very beginning. For generations starting back in the early 1500s…" Marcus said, seeming to be a little more relaxed with my change in positioning.

"Wait. What? What does this have to do with me?" I was confused as to what I am about to learn.

"Just listen and it will all make sense," Marcus said, seeming to tense back up. "So, for generations starting in the early 1500's, there was this family who got cursed by a witch because they were being cruel to the witch's pet wolf. So, the witch cast a spell that would change the family into wolves whenever the moon was out, when they got mad, or when they were scared or frightened…"

"So basically, they always changed," I said slyly with a smile. The boys got a chuckle out of that.

"Yes. Now listen and no more comments…" Marcus said, in an aggressive tone. He was about ready to jump out of the chair and attack me, but also gave the boys a nasty look. "But there were some other parts to this curse. Only the males would have this ability. No one knows why only the males have this ability. It could have been to make them feel excluded or because only the males were being cruel to the wolf. So, if they ever had kids and if it was a boy, then it would be part wolf and change. However, there was a way for the wolf gene to be in a girl. That way is if it is a twin: one male, and one female. And unfortunately, twins skip generations. Then after many generations, the spell has evolved and changed so that the beast can change into any kind of predator and can be picked by them and then changed into. But the first transformation and the weakest are the wolf form."

"Okay, hold up. So, what you are saying is that I am a twin and that my dad is a wolf part thingy?" I asked, not listening to his warning from before.

"We prefer to be called beasts. It is just simpler. And yes, your dad is a beast. Now, listen!" Marcus ordered.

"And you said that it originally started with one family, so we are all related then? And do you know who my dad and my brother are?" I asked.

Marcus cracked his knuckles again and snapped back, "Yes, we are all related...down the line… and yes, I know who your dad and brother are. Now… No more questions!"

"Let me guess, is it Brian and Sly?"

Marcus threw his head down in defeat and Brian asked, "How did you know?"

"On my birthday each year, my mom would cry a little and write a letter to some guy named Brian. She would write and sob, then throw it away. When I was eleven, I read the letter for that year. It said something about Sly and I on our birthday. The fact she wanted us to meet. Then that day is coming. I never knew what that meant until now. How did my mom know about you and still not tell me, her daughter?"

"Your mom promised us that if she got you, then she would keep it to herself; no one had to know anything. We both had our secrets, and this was for the best of both worlds for you and Sly," said Brian.

I was about to ask some more questions, but Marcus snapped his head up and exclaimed, "Now that is enough for today. We should turn in. It is going to be a long couple of months for you, Eve. We must get you ready for the outside world since you transformed and your mom's death. Okay?"

I looked at him puzzling, wondering what was wrong with him. But Brian said, "That is a great idea… boys, take her up to her room. We need to go out for a run."

The boys bowed their heads and swarmed around me. Well actually just John and Evan. Taking hold of my hands, John and Evan started the tour up the front hallway to the stairs. Once we reached the second floor, Evan said, "This floor is where mostly everyone sleeps. Along the east side, there is where we sleep and our dad and Brian. Then Marcus's is directly in the middle. Westside has Kenny, George, and Sly. Unfortunately, you are sleeping on the third floor."

We kept going up the stairs to the third floor. "This here is the medical room. Over here is where either Evan or I will stay if we are not getting along. And this is your room, Eve. It is probably the biggest and safest room in the house. You also get a wicked cool lookout to see the best view of the sunset."

"Thanks." Evan was on his way out the door when I noticed John still standing there. "Can I help you?"

"I was wondering if you wanted me to stay the night here with you. We can talk and I can keep you company. New place can make it scary to fall asleep," John said.

"Sure," I said, hesitant but willing to have the company.

"Great!" John exclaimed… a little so happy that I said yes.

"Well night," Evan said, closing the door behind him.

Leaving John and I alone, I went to the bathroom and shut the door, but outside the door John was talking about this new world. I was so exhausted from listening that I ended up just getting out of the bathroom curling up with my stuffed dog my mom gave me for my sixth birthday. I ended up falling asleep to the sound of John telling me about his life. As I closed my eyes, I whispered, "Please let this be a nightmare.