Chapter 25

The wolves regarded her closely as she stood there, feeling uneasy. She could not help but feel as though they were all communicating somehow, with the way their ears or nose would twitch. The eyes if the one on the furthest left shifted toward the large wolf at the front then back to her. They were somehow talking. A strange sadness filled her at this realization. She knew so little of her own kind, and she felt as though the hunters had robbed her of her entire history.

When the large wolf stepped forward, Aeiel tensed, ready to run. Instead of attacking, it shifted into a large man with dark brown skin, startling green eyes and a powerful aura.

"What is your business in out territory?" He demanded, Ariel blinking in surprise at his question.

"Your territory?" She asked, giving a little shake of her head to let him know she didn't understand.

"Yes. Our territory. The Blue River Pack territory. Why are you here?" There was irritation in his voice.

"I didn't know I was trespassing. I didn't know this was anyone's territory." Shw replied quickly, but he growled. 

"Didn't you smell the scent marking? It's very clear." He explained, and realization hit her.

"That's what that smell was? I didn't know." She replied, a strange mix of impatience and curiosity on the man's face.

"How did you not know? Pups are taught this before they can walk." He seemed like he was trying to catch her in a lie. She tried to control the look on her face, but she could still feel the frown.

"I wasn't raised by my parents or a pack. I was kidnapped very young and raised by-" She realized before she spoke that saying hunters might be bad. "Humans." She made sure the pause was not long, but it was still enough that it was clear she had not wanted to explain. The wolves behind the man seemed uncomfortable and they tensed more. 

"You were raised by humans?" The man was now suspicious. "Then why are you out here?" His tone was still strange. Clearly there was a lot of mistrust for strange wolves. 

"I escaped. They fed me wolvesbane to keep my wolf suppressed and lied to me my whole life. There were others that escaped with me but..." She trailed off, shifting her eyes from his face for the first time. His posture relaxed slightly.

"How many did you lose?" He sounded worried.

"Too many to count." Her answer was hollow and she could swear she saw one of the wolves pale.

"Why would the humans attack you? If they took you as children, they raised you, yes?" He was worried again, and now his demanding tone was clear. He wanted answers.

"They were hunters. They didn't see us as their children once our wolves woke. When we tried to get away, we were just monsters." Her tone was flat, and she could hear the hatred dripping from it. The wolves stepped back and the man narrowed his eyes.

"Why would hunters raise wolves? Their only goal is to get rid of them." He didn't believe her.

"They are raising them as humans, and were marrying them off to humans. The goal was to breed them out." She explained to them, but before the man could speak, she continued.

"They would send out spies and find smaller packs, or ones that are not well defended. They would then swarm the packs and kill every wolf over the age of five. The young children would be taken and separated out between five different towns, given to hunter couples to raise. They are given small doses of wolvesbane to keep their wolf suppressed from the moment they arrive. If they fight it, they are killed." She finished. The man was silent, looking equal parts enraged and an emotion she could not pinpoint.

"You will leave our territory and never come back." How voice was far too calm. He was so beyond angry. Ariel nodded, but paused a moment.

"If you smell a faint amount of paint with overwhelming acorns, watch the ground. It's a hunters trap. They hide the smell of the traps with paint and acorn meat, and dust the bear traps with powdered silver." She watched all of the wolves and the man tense, then she shifted. The man pointed a direction and she took took off running. 

It was not long before she passed that scent again and left it behind her. She now knew what it smelled like, she would be able to avoid any other pack territories that she came across. Thankfully, it was another few days before she came across the scent again. She traveled along the edge of the tereitory, watching for wolves that might be close to the border. As much as she wanted to be around her own kind, it was clear she had to be careful with pack wolves. There was a deep mistrust for outsiders.