Declan leaned back against his chair and observed the different emotions crossing over Dustin’s face. It was clear that Dustin was having just as much trouble as Declan in accepting the truth of the matter.

“I’m sorry,” Dustin grumbled. “I’m just having a really tough time understanding all of this.”

“You and me both, friend.” Declan sighed.

He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the situation he was in. He finally met the man who turned him into a wolf, and now he was no longer a wolf. All of those fantasies of going out on hunts and learning from another wolf how things were done, became wisps; unreachable ideas that were floating in the space above him. Literally, out of reach, like clouds above his head.

“So, this doctor guy, he tells you that he has the cure for silver. You give him literally half a million dollars to make the cure. And then he turns around and gives you a quote-unquote ‘cure’ which actually made you a human.”

“That’s how it seems, yes.”

“Okay,” said Dustin definitively. “This is simple then. We find that guy and we make him change you back.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple.” Declan let out a frustrated groan.

“Why not? I mean nothing about this situation says simple, exactly. But that solution seems pretty viable to me.”

“Because I think I know what cure he gave to me,” Declan explained. He went on to tell Dustin about Noelle and her request for a cure to change her family back. He said, “The only thing I can’t seem to understand, is that he told us once the transformation had become complete by turning into the wolf form, you wouldn’t be able to use the cure. He said it wouldn’t work. So, I guess my half a million dollars went toward him figuring out how it could work.”

“Come on, Declan,” Dustin growled.

“What? Where are we going?”

“I’m taking you somewhere I should have taken you the day that I turned you,” Dustin explained. “You’re going to meet my pack.”

Declan stood from his place at the table and he suddenly felt nervous. It wasn’t his style to be a shy person, per say, but he had no idea how a pack of wolves he didn’t know might respond to someone who used to be a werewolf. The entire situation was unprecedented and Declan wasn’t sure that he really wanted to be the first one stuck in this position.

Dustin walked out of the front door without looking behind him to see if Declan was following or not. Declan hesitated for a moment at the door. He had a thought of shutting the door behind Dustin and locking himself inside. He could try to start a new life here, the same way he lived with his mother. He could learn to be alone.

“Stop overthinking!” Dustin yelled, nearly a hundred yards from where Declan stood.

Declan grinned and closed the front door behind him before he jogged up to meet Dustin. “I’m coming.”

“Just a fair warning,” Dustin said, “our pack is not as civilized as yours.”

“What does that mean?” Declan asked.

“You’ll see.”

They walked along the woods for what seemed like forever. The trees were blurring into one another. Declan tripped over exposed roots, and more than once he jumped. He watched as a small woodland creature darted in front of them. He was acutely aware that these were all things which would have never happened if he were still a wolf.

The limited light in the woods dwindled into nothing, and the moon did little to penetrate the darkness of the trees. Dustin walked on with no issues, but Declan felt unsure with every step he took. Finally, Dustin began to slow his pace. He looked back at Declan and winked.

“Ready?” he asked.

Declan could only nod as he didn’t know what exactly to be ready for. Dustin pushed away heavy tree branches and revealed a large clearing in the middle of the woods. There were at least a hundred tents lined around the clearing and they all faced the center where a large fire was burning. People milled about with one another; laughing and talking animatedly. Declan could see a large deer carcass on the outskirts of the fire which must have been from a recent hunt. A few people turned in their direction, and after waving at Dustin, they continued to walk on.

“It’s not as fancy as your apartment building,” Dustin said, “but this is home to us.”

Declan felt the heat from the fire as they walked by, and he immediately thought of the funerals he’d had for Cassidy and the other members of the pack. The ones who had lost their lives so recently. It was because of them that Declan had become so desperate to find a cure, and now, it was the reason he was no longer a wolf.

Without warning, Dustin let out a loud howl and Declan watched in amazement as all of the other pack members immediately stopped what they were doing and circled around him. They became immediately attentive and were waiting patiently to hear what Dustin had to say.

“Good evening everyone,” Dustin said as he greeted them. “I trust you all had a good hunt tonight?”

The pack smiled at him and cheered in agreement; still on a high from the hunt. They had all obviously filled their bellies and had been enjoying each other’s company.

“Good, good.” Dustin smiled. “I would like for you all to meet someone.” Dustin stepped to the side and revealed Declan.

For the first time in his life, Declan was not the biggest person in the room. Other pack members seemed to tower over him, with their muscles bulging from beneath their shirts. Declan felt intimidated, and the ancient survival technique to run had started rearing its instinctive head.

“This is Declan,” Dustin continued. “He is the alpha of the pack in the north.” The pack looked at Declan with approval and he noticed a few of the females offering him more than friendly glances.

“Now Declan’s pack has run into a bit of an interesting problem,” Dustin explained. “As the alpha of the pack, Declan searched for a cure for silver, a cure which he would have given to all of us. However, in his effort to find this cure, he met a doctor who came from a family of hunters. As it turns out, this doctor had no intention of giving Declan a cure, and instead, he gave him something which took away his ability to turn into a wolf.”

Declan watched as the pack members started growing restless. He observed several of the male pack members look at each other with wary glances.

“Although he may not be able to transform right now,” Dustin added, continuing to ignore the quiet murmurs, “this does not mean anything to us, other than we have a wolf brother who needs our help. Are we in agreement?”

The pack mumbled quietly in response. There was some whispering and some heads nodding.

“I said, are we in agreement?” Dustin demanded.

The pack answered in unison, “Yes!”

“Good.” Dustin smiled. “So, in the meantime, let’s make sure that we make Declan feel right at home. Someone get him something to eat.”

The pack disbursed and Declan noticed that a majority of the women who had given him approving looks just minutes before, were now looking at him as though he was an obnoxious wasp. It was as if he was an annoyance flying about in their hair. He wanted to say something but he knew it would not do any good. And of course, he had no idea what he could say at this point in time.

A younger woman walked over to him with a friendly smile. She had soft blonde hair which fell in waves just below her shoulders. Her lips were full and plump, and when she smiled at him, Declan could fell his knees grow weaker.

“Hi,” she said, “I’m Maria.” Declan stared at her dumbly with his mouth open prepared to say something, but no words were coming out.

Is this how humans would feel when they looked at me? he wondered to himself.

Maria’s smile faltered a little at Declan’s lack of response. “Are you hungry?” she offered. This time, Declan managed a nod. She smiled again and that familiar feeling washed over him.

Maria led him over to the deer on the ground, and in one swift motion, she ripped off a huge hunk of meat. She pierced the meat with a skewer and held it over the open flame, turning it ever so often.

“I imagine you don’t like it raw anymore, huh?” she asked.

“I —I’m not sure,” Declan said, finally recovering his voice. “I mean, I haven’t tried to eat anything since I became, well, this.”

Maria smiled at him sweetly. “I imagine it’s a tremendous change for you going from the alpha to a human. I don’t even know what I would do if that ever happened to me.”

“Oh, are you the alpha female here?” Maria nodded her head and Declan felt a wave of disappointment wash over him.

“So, you and Dustin are together?” Declan asked. The minute the words came out of his mouth he regretted them.

Can you look any more desperate? Declan chastised himself.

Maria laughed softly and answered, “No, we don’t do things like that here. It’s really just a matter of who is the best leader, you know? Besides, Dustin had a huge love affair with some woman a long time ago, and although he never speaks about what happened, we all know it ended badly. He went off the rails for a little bit, but luckily we were able to pull him back in.” As Maria spoke, Declan watched at how the fire danced in her eyes making them seem almost purple in color.

“Was she a werewolf, too?” Declan asked.

Maria shrugged. “No one really knows, to be honest. He was so secretive about the whole thing. All I know is one day he came back here and started tearing through everything like a mad man. I guess she must have broken his heart or something.”

Declan nodded, understanding the pain of losing someone you care for. And then his mind moved to Noelle. The sound of her name in his mind sent a flurry of emotions. They coursed through him and he had to sit down in order to catch his breath. He could see that Maria was watching him closely.

“Who is she?” she asked him.

Declan looked at her and hesitated for a moment, but he was in no position to turn down a friend right now. “Her name is Noelle,” he said quietly.

“Hmm.” Maria sighed. “Troubles there?”

Declan couldn’t help but laugh. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Maria looked at him and handed him the skewer of meat. She smiled her familiar smile and said, “Try me.”

Declan bit into the meat and relished the taste of it. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he started eating. And it was there, beneath the hidden stars and the canopy of the trees that Declan shared his story with his new friend, Maria. He told her about Cassidy and about the day he met Noelle. He explained their affair which had led to Cassidy’s death. He watched Maria’s reaction as he told her about the ambush. The one which had led to the death of seven of his own pack members, and the transforming of Noelle’s family. As he talked to her about meeting the doctor and their interests in a cure, he couldn’t help the bitterness that ensued, as it entered his voice. He told Maria about Noelle’s new-found relationship with Edmund, and how even after she had leaned on him (after learning about her grandmother’s death) she still sought Edmund.

“That’s pretty much that,” Declan said. “That was the last time that we saw her. She disappeared and no one knows where she is now, not even her own father.”

“Declan,” Maria said, her eyes wide. “You had to have made all of this up. This isn’t possible.”

Declan laughed. “I told you that you wouldn’t believe me.”

Maria let out a small giggle of disbelief. “This is crazy!” she said.

“Trust me, I know.”

“Well, I know one thing for certain,” Maria said.

“What’s that?”

“She wasn’t going to him for comfort.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just know. Call it a woman’s intuition or whatever you want, but I think she really does love you, Declan. And I don’t think she just left, either. I think maybe something happened to her.”

“Yeah.” Declan considered her words thoughtfully. “Maybe something did happen.”

“Ducky!” Dustin called from a few tents away. Declan grimaced at his nickname.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Declan called out.

“Come over here,” Dustin said, “I want to talk to you.”

Declan walked over to where Dustin stood and he pulled back the flap of the tent that served as the door. Declan pulled his eyebrows together in confusion, and Dustin nodded his head, indicating that Declan should walk inside.

As he entered the tent, he could see that they were not alone. There were six other pack members sitting in a circle. Declan sat down next to an older looking man who wore a mustache that crawled from his upper lip. It went all the way down the side of his mouth to his chin. The man gave him a small nod, but said nothing. A few moments later, Maria joined them as well.

“This,” Dustin said as he sat down next to Declan, “is our War Council.”

“War Council?” Declan asked, looking around at the faces of the pack members sitting in the tent.

“Yes.” Dustin nodded. “As of tonight, we are officially at war.”

“At war with who?” Declan asked, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible. “Is this because of me? Because honestly guys, I’ll figure this out. I just need a second to wrap my mind around things.”

“Not just you, Declan,” Maria said. Declan looked at her and gone were her friendly smile and her kind, animated eyes. “Our pack has been dwindling in numbers. There are hunters here who use advanced weapons so that we cannot even hear them or see them coming. We have been limiting our hunting grounds, and only a few members can go out every night.”

Dustin nodded as she spoke. “Yes, it’s not good, my friend. And now with this revelation of what’s happened with you. I called the council together to figure out our next move; or the next thing we know, we will all be dead, or worse. We might be… humans.”

Declan tried not to be offended by Dustin’s remark, but his words hit home. Declan needed to figure things out for himself so that he would be able to protect his pack. He didn’t know anything about the hunters in this area, but he did know of someone who might be able to help.

He needed to find Noelle.

* * *

Once Noelle recovered from the news about Declan, she felt even more determined to find him. If she truly was the one who had done this to him, then she was going to do everything in her power to help things return to normal.

She looked at her father and asked, “Was this the surprise you referred to before? Because if it was, you need a serious lesson in surprises.”

Garett laughed and leaned back in his chair. “No, this wasn’t the surprise, Noelle.”

“Come on,” Abigail said excitedly, “follow us.”

Noelle stood up warily from her seat and followed her parents as they walked out of the apartment. They descended the stairs and pulled open the doors of the basement. Noelle wanted to ask them what in the world they were doing, but she knew that they wouldn’t answer her until they had showed her what they wanted to show her.

Noelle filtered inside of the room and Garett switched on the light. The basement was still lined up with the chairs from the pack meeting the previous day, and all the equipment was still shoved in the corner with the tarp hung over it, haphazardly.

Noelle looked at them and asked, “Am I missing something?” Garett smiled as he walked over to the supply closet. He pulled open the door and Noelle stumbled backward at the sight.

A man sat in the chair with his arms and legs tied together and a piece of duct tape over his mouth. Noelle walked closer to the man and then looked at her parents.

“What did you do?” she said as she breathed out.

“He came here last night,” Garett explained. “Your mother and I saw him sneak in here while you were still sleeping. So, we tied him up and put him in the closet.”

Noelle walked over to the man and lifted his head so that his eyes could meet hers. “If I take off the tape, do you promise not to scream?” she asked. The man nodded slowly.

In one swift motion Noelle ripped the tape from his mouth, leaving a red mark where the tape used to be. He scrunched up his face against the pain and let out a loud groan. Once he had recovered, he lifted his head once again. His eyes now met Noelle’s eyes and he gave her a sad smile.

“Hello, Noelle.”

Noelle looked at her parents and then back at him. “Edmund?”

“He needed to find Noelle.”