~I.C~
"We're not keeping her."
"She's not a pet, Rogan! Where the hell is she going to go?"
"Dolly. You don't know what the fuck she is."
"Don't Dolly me! You, as well as Sam and I, know what she is! She won't last in foster care, and if anyone who is like us senses what she is, it's game over! We might as well have left her in the woods to die."
"You should have."
"Rogan! Enough!"
I flinched at the loud, gruff voice of Uncle Sam. I knew that when he raised his voice, it meant he had enough of the conversation. My gaze maneuvered to a red-faced Dolly whose body shook.
Dolly never played around with children. She said she always wanted a kid, but it just never happened. She was like a mom to me, and I was the closest to her compared to the others.
I glanced over at Rogan. He was the asshole of the family. I knew Dolly said I wasn't allowed to call him that in public, but he was a jerk, even to me. I was angry like Dolly and Sam. I didn't want them to get rid of the girl.
Even if I didn't know who she was or what she'd been running from, I didn't want to leave her. Neither did my wolf. We liked her. Something about her called to me right away.
I wasn't supposed to be running in the forest, but I needed some space. Normally, I snuck out because it was fun, and I didn't get caught most of the time. Today was different.
The sound of something popping freaked me out, but instead of running back home, I went in the direction of the sound. My wolf wouldn't let me do anything else.
It was against our rules. Dolly always said if I heard something like a pop sound it was a gun and it meant Hunters were nearby.
Sam said the others and I were different rare wolf races, and Hunters would do anything to catch us. That's why we weren't supposed to run outside the guarded walls at night by ourselves, but I didn't like rules.
They were meant to be broken.
I didn't see any hunters, but I never expected to find a girl. A beautiful girl with really pretty eyes. They reminded me of the sky or the crystal clear waters up in the mountains. As pretty as she was, she was hurt. Really bad.
The scent of her blood was what made me run faster and led the way to her limp body. She was barely awake, clinging to some type of blade and what we later discovered was a picture of her and her family.
I'd never reveal that I was breaking the rules, but I feared she'd die. Those teal like eyes were weak and struggled to stay open, but my presence seemed to give her a brief moment of energy.
She could have tried to run or reserve that boost of energy to keep herself alive. Yet, she reached out to pet me. Her little hand was cold and trembling, but she stroked my fur with the cutest smile on her lips.
She said my fur was soft. Her eyes looked at me with affection and love. A girl who'd just met me, a wolf that could have been a predator to come and kill her as a late-night dinner, looked at me with so much compassion it made me want to do anything to save her.
She deserved to be saved. I had to save her, and my wolf felt the same. Our heart begged us to do something.
Wolfie.
The simple nickname held weight, a heavy aura that only pushed me to raise my head up to the moon above and howl as loudly as I could.
I howled and howled, letting the sound float on the night sky and hoped it would reach my friends. My family.
This girl only looked to be around five, two years younger than me, which left me even more confused and worried as to why Hunters with guns were chasing after her in the middle of the night. She can't be human.
Or that's what I hoped. There were no female wolves in these parts. To be honest, there was no one around these parts, period. We lived in the mountains, away from the mini towns and big city. It was for our own safety. We are endangered, after all.
"We'll wait for her to heal and see what she remembers. That wound on her head may have done a lot more damage than we think. Throwing her into the foster care system would be suicide."
"She WILL go to foster care when she heals. We already have a deal with those packs of wolves. We're not letting that girl stay. She'll be a distraction and only bring trouble."
"You don't know that!"
"Shut it, Dolly! You're just defending the little twat because you've always wanted a daught-"
The sound of Dolly's hand hitting Rogan's cheek silenced the room. I lowered my gaze to the ground, but my wolf urged me to enter the dimly lit living room. I did just that, slowly walking into their sight and up to a still trembling Dolly.
I knew she'd be crying, upset with Rogan's words. Sam always told us not to talk about children around Dolly. Especially girls.
It wasn't like Dolly truly couldn't have kids. She had tried a few times. All of them had been something called a miscarriage, and each one broke her heart until she stopped trying.
Her trouble having a baby was the reason why she dedicated her life here and didn’t mingle with other adult women.
'They ask too many questions,' Dolly would always state with a small smile on her face. I didn't want her to be sad. She was too kind to be crying. Rogan was just being the ass he always was.
I reached out to hold Dolly's hand; she looked down with her tearful golden eyes and met my light silver ones. "I want her to stay, Dolly. She's special. My wolf likes her."
The wolf side of me wasn't much for words. It wasn't as if I liked to talk much either, but he'd rather I do the talking unless he really had to prove a point. Dolly's sad eyes softened and she knelt to pat my head.
"Do you like her, Ian?"
"Yes. She has kindness in her, Dolly. Can't she stay?" I begged, staring directly into her eyes. I never asked for much. I was happy to be here, but I knew how it felt to be alone. I didn't want this girl to be alone. Especially if she was a wolf.
"You're really going to listen to a-"
I turned my head and, with a blink of my eyes, my wolf was in control and ready to leave a mark on Rogan to shut him up. I didn't need to move for him to stop talking, and Sam got up to walk over to us.
"Easy with the glare," Sam instructed, trying to divert my attention from our target. Me and my wolf didn’t like Rogan at all. If we didn't get our way with this because of him, he'd wake up in a lot more pain than he'd ever imagined.
"Ian."
A few seconds passed before I turned to look at Dolly. Her eyes showed she understood my anger. "How about this. We'll let the girl stay here until she's healed up and can tell us if she has any family. If she does, she gets to go home."
A frown formed on my lips and my wolf retreated to let me listen to the rest of the deal so he could analyze if it was beneficial.
"But if she doesn't, we have to at least see if a few foster homes will take her. I don't know if she'll respond well, and if she doesn't, she can stay here. Do you understand?"
My wolf didn't see the harm in the plan, even though I didn't want to be away from the girl. If she did have a family...I guess I'd have no choice but to let her go.
"If...she has to go away, can we still be friends?"
Dolly smiled, and a gentle expression formed on Sam’s face. "You sure can, kid. I think it would be a good plan since you two are close in age."
"Doesn't sound like a good plan to me," Rogan huffed, but everyone ignored him.
"Good. Now, you should be sleeping. You don't do well without enough sleep," Dolly pointed out.
"Can I stay with the girl a bit longer?" I asked. "What if she has a nightmare?"
Dolly and Sam exchanged looks. "You can stay with her, but you can't tell her you're a wolf, Ian," Sam stressed.
"Why? Isn't she one?" I asked, giving them confused looks.
Rogan mumbled something under his breath before he walked out of the living room and out the door, slamming it behind him. Sam shook his head and Dolly sighed.
"I don't think she knows, Ian," Dolly admitted.
"Like me?" I asked. When I first got here, I didn't know what I was. It was hard to adjust, but the others made it easier. It would be tough for the girl though. That's what I thought, anyway.
"Somewhat like you, Ian. There's a problem though." Dolly pursed her lips.
"Problem? Is she still hurt? Is she sick?" I asked, my wolf and I feeling worried something bad would happen. Sam moved to stand next to Dolly and knelt down and placed his hand on my shoulder.
"It's difficult to explain. We won't know until we can run some tests on her, but someone did something to seal her wolf."
"Seal her wolf! She...can't shift? Won't she die?!" I exclaimed with wide eyes. My wolf snarled in my mind. We didn't want her to die. How could someone do such a thing?
Dolly placed a hand on my cheek and I turned my attention to her. "We don't know, Ian. We have to figure this out. Female wolves are different from males. We don't know where she's coming from or if her family were endangered wolves like you guys and were in hiding. We have to figure this out slowly, but you can't tell her what you are. You have to promise me this or she can't stay here."
I lowered my gaze to the floor, my wolf and I trying to figure out if this was worth agreeing on. We were smart enough to understand what Dolly was saying, but it was hard to promise something like this. I didn't want to hide who I was. I really liked her. I wanted to tell the truth.
"Ian," Sam said softly. "You'll be able to tell her one day. Just not now. If you tell her what you are and she ends up returning to her family or a new family, it puts you and the rest of the guys at risk. Do you want them to get into trouble?"
"No," I whispered. "But...I don't want to lie."
"You're keeping a secret to protect your new family, Ian. It's not lying. Maybe once we figure out what is going on and if this girl does end up staying with us, we can slowly introduce her to this world. For now, you have to let her adapt. She may have lost her family and friends. Let's focus on making her happy and seeing if she has anyone to return to, okay?"
"I guess...I'll stay with her in my wolf form for now. Can I do that?" My wolf wasn't going to sleep, obviously, but maybe it would help if she woke up to us rather than a random boy in her room.
"That's fine. If she wakes up and we aren't there, you let us know," Dolly replied with a small smile.
"Okay. I'm going now," I announced, giving Dolly a quick hug before I waved to Sam and moved toward the stairs. I had climbed two-thirds of the way when I picked up their conversation.
"He's fond of her already," Sam pointed out.
"They could be mates," Dolly suggested.
"Could be. Still doesn't add up as to why she was being Hunted. A few of the boys are scouting the area, and I'm going to go assist. There must be a blood trail. If we can find out where she ran from, we could determine if her family was murdered or not."
"She won't do well in foster care, Sam. You know what they do to girls in these parts. She's innocent and pure. I can't allow it." Dolly's voice was thick with emotion, and I crouched down to get a peek at the two of them.
Sam sighed and moved to hug Dolly. "Don't cry, Doll. I'll keep my eyes on her, you hear? We just got to prove to Rogan she won't adapt well and she can stay here. We won't turn a blind eye like others have in the past."
Dolly nodded; her quiet sobs reached my ears and made me sad. I silently made my way up the remaining stairs and down the dark hall to the last room. Opening the door slowly, I poked my head through the small space and scanned the room that was lit by the moonlight that shone through the window.
I slipped into the room, closing the door as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb the little girl who was fast asleep beneath the covers. I moved to her bedside and watched her little chest move as she breathed.
Dolly had cleaned her up and put her in a nice white dress. The picture and dagger she'd been holding were on the nightstand; Dolly said earlier that if she woke up, they wanted those items nearby so she wouldn't freak out.
None of them had touched the silver locket that was around her neck, not knowing if it was a normal necklace or an heirloom of some sort. Shifter traditions were different depending on the pack, area, and family you were raised in.
Tampering with anything and not having the knowledge about its origin was dangerous. That's what Carter always lectured about.
The little girl whimpered, turning slightly, which made me notice the tear that rolled down her cheek. My shoulders sank and I immediately slipped under the covers to hug her. She cried for a minute or two, still deep in sleep, before she settled once more, snuggling against me like I was a warm teddy bear.
My wolf decided this would be the time to shift back, both of us feeling tired and figuring it would be safer to shift now rather than later.
Shifting was super easy now, but it had been really painful before. We'd been practicing a lot lately thanks to Levi's added assistance and now it was almost like second nature. The shift was quick and the little girl didn't notice.
She snuggled even closer to me, and a little smile formed on her lips. "Wolfie."
If I could smile, I would be grinning from ear to ear. Her unconscious acknowledgment made me and my wolf happy and gave us peace of mind that she'd hopefully accept us.
I knew it was selfish of us to want her to stay, hoping she didn't have anywhere else to turn to, but my heart wanted her to be here. She deserved to be here with me and maybe even the others.
It could have been just my feelings or the fact I never had a friend who was a girl, but I silently wished for a future she'd still be in with me. Regardless of whether she had a family or not.
Please...don't leave us.