Twelve

Whisper woke up disoriented. She wasn't in a white room on a white cot. She wasn't wearing white clothes or being woken up at eight o-clock sharp by a nurse dressed in white. Nor was her room lit up by white florescent lights, but rather sunshine through a large window. When she stretched her arms about her, she couldn't feel either side of the bed, and the blankets were as soft as silk! She moaned in delight, hoping this wasn't a dream that was about to end when someone shouted at her to wake up.

The woman opened her eyes and almost squealed. There was a desk littered with papers, clothes strewn about the floor, navy blue blankets covering her, a closet wide open so she could see men clothing inside, and a large window looking out at a bright forest. Whisper pinched herself, hardly believing what she was seeing. It was no dream…it was all real.

She tensed, for she heard the sound of heavy footsteps. At first, she thought it was Hystola coming to get Whisper for a shower or give her food for what was now lunch time. Bunching the blanket in her fists, Whisper drew them up close to her face and watched the stairs that appeared from a hole in the floor. Her heart pounded hard in her chest, making her breathing a bit heavy and uneven.

Then she saw a male's head pop up and then a tray of what looked like a lid and something in a glass. The head looked up from the tray and blue eyes met hers for a moment, twinkling a little. The lips curved upwards in a warm smile of joy and delight. Whisper relaxed when she realized it was Zane.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked as he put the tray on the desk.

Whisper didn't answer but sat up and looked around again. "Where am I?"

Zane walked over and sat beside her on the bed. "My home."

She looked around again, still unable to process that what she saw was real. "Where did the facility go?"

"Whisper, the facility isn't here. It's back in town where it'll stay until I sue them," Zane said softly, putting a hand to her cheek in a way of calming her down. When he noticed her body slightly relaxed, he smiled. "Hungry?"

She glanced at the tray and eyed it suspiciously. "What is it?"

Chuckling, Zane grabbed the tray and set it on her lap, taking off the lid. Scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast was revealed to her. When she eyed the glass he gestured for her to take it, saying, "It's orange juice. Try it."

She did and made a funny face at the sour taste, to which Zane laughed a little. Setting the glass down, she started to eat, savoring each bite like it might be her last. The crispiness of the bacon made her taste buds sing and dance in the greasy goodness. The fluffy eggs almost melted in her mouth. And the golden toast slathered in butter was almost too good to eat.

When Whisper finished the plate, she picked up her glass and drank some more. "So, I'm not going back?"

Zane shrugs. "I don't know what's going to happen with that yet. But I do know what you will do now."

"What?"

He smiled. "Take a nice, hot bath!"

This time, Whisper did squeal. "Really?" He nods, amusement glowing in his eyes. "With actual hot water? And flowery scented soaps?"

"I don't know about the soaps because Wren will need to buy some later, but truly hot water." He stood. "Come on, little wolf."

As she got out of bed, he went inside his closet and found some clean pants and a shirt for her to wear. He then proceeded to lead her downstairs to the bathroom where he showed her how to turn the faucet on and off and adjust the temperature. When Whisper confirmed she understood everything, he left her, shutting the door behind him.

Once Whisper was in the tub, it was like pure bliss. Nothing had ever felt so wonderful in all her life. Unlike the hospital, the water was smooth like silk and hugged her body in a caress she hadn't felt for a long time. After a sigh of contentment, Whisper closed her eyes.

"Whisper!" a little boy called behind the five-year old little girl as she ran. "Whisper, where are you?"

She giggled and ran towards the center of their little village. "Mother!" she squealed.

A woman with soft brown wavy locks looked over to her and smiled, opening up her arms to the girl and laughing softly. "Whisper, what are you doing?"

"Running away! They're going to get me!" she breathed in mock fear. "But my mate hasn't come so I cannot be saved!"

Her mother laughed again and held her daughter closer to her. "When you're old enough, you'll find your mate. He'll be the best thing in the whole world for you."

"And I'll be the best for him, too!" Whisper squealed.

"That's right."

"I want my mate! I want to be with him so I can be happy and safe!"

"And soon he will appear to share his love, my sweet." The woman kissed the top of Whisper's head as a boy came up, panting hard. "Luc, are you scaring my daughter?"

The boy blinked innocently. "Not on purpose, I swear!"

"What game are you playing?"

"Rogue and Pack."

Whisper's mother shook her head in disbelief. "I don't understand why you two continue to play that game."

"It's fun!" Luc defended.

Whisper giggled and looked down at her friend. "You always end up chasing me!"

Luc shrugged. "You always end up running!"

The woman shook her head then put her daughter down. "Alright you two, go play."

Giggling together, they ran off, Luc pulling Whisper behind him.

"Whisper?" Whisper turned her head, smiling slightly at the dream she was having. Zane chuckled and shook her shoulder a little. "Whisper, wake up."

Slowly, she opened her eyes to find his blue ones watching her with some amusement. "What are you doing here?"

He chuckled again. "You fell asleep in the tub. I've been calling your name for over a half hour and got worried."

Thanks to his mentioning how long she was in the water, she realized it was cold. Shivering, she sat up a little, crossing her arms over her chest due to the lack of soap suds. "Sorry, I just fell asleep."

Zane nodded. "Why don't you get out and dress. You don't want to get sick."

She nodded her agreement and waited for him to leave, then did as she was told. She put on a very large sweatshirt, a pair of boxers, and some huge socks. When she was done, it looked like Whisper had drowned in all the clothing Zane had loaned to her. She combed her fingers through her hair then stepped out to see Zane leaning on the opposite wall, waiting for her.

When she stepped out, he smiled. "Follow me."

Zane led her down the stairs and into a living room where her mouth proceeded to drop open as the male went into a different room, leaving her to stare about. There were two plush couches, softer than anything she had ever seen. There was of course a tv, a coffee table, and a bookshelf crammed full of books. She rushed over and looked at the titles. Most were important stuff like history or ledgers, but she found a few fairytale books that she recognized

"Whisper?" She spun around to see Zane watching her. He didn't look mad, so she turned back around and grabbed a book, Children of the Moon. She flipped through the pages and saw how loved the book was, even if it hadn't been opened for quite some time. Pictures were still visible and the paper was just beginning to yellow. "What are you looking at?"

The woman felt him come up behind her and closed the book so he could see it. "It's one of my favorite books from when I was younger," she explained to him.

He smiled. "I haven't read it in a while." He looked up at her. "Do you read?"

Whisper slumped with sadness. "I never learned how to read properly. I know some, but my mother didn't have time to teach me everything."

Putting his hand on her back, Zane led her to one of the couches and made her sit down beside him. When he saw she sat halfway on the other side, he pulled her closer, wrapping his arm around her comfortingly, then opened the book and began to read. "Long, long ago, before the first hybrid was made lived a wolf…"

Whisper smiled and laid her head on his shoulder, content to listen to him for hours. His voice was smooth and rumbly, confident and flowed perfectly with each word he spoke.

The story, Children of the Moon, is about the making of the first werewolf and how it came to be. It spoke of a Moon Goddess who had granted a wolf the gift of opportunity, making him part human. There was a price though, as there was to everything in life: the power of the wolf will not be existent in the human form, thus, he'd have to learn to adapt. There was also a bonus because the Moon Goddess was very generous and kind to her family: the gift of a stronger mate bond. As a wolf, the mate bond was nothing compared to a normal human falling in love, because the mate bond was permanent and unbreakable. But being part human meant more unexplored emotions, for which the Goddess made the bond stronger to help with those extra emotions.

So, then the first werewolf learned to be human, learned to deal with all the extra emotions, and learned how to shift between the two forms simultaneously. He found a mate, a female human and had children. Both were born as a hybrid and able to continue the family lineage of werewolves for hundreds of years. There were many obstacles in their lives, and in the beginning, there was a chance the hybrid wouldn't last far into the future. So they hid for a few centuries, living in the forests or areas that were dormant of humans. If their mate was human, they were careful on how to break the news and on the whereabouts of other wolves like them. It was tedious work, but somewhere in the mid nineteen hundreds, werewolves slowly started to mingle with their counterpart and live civilly since.