The Aberrant She-Wolf

The air smells stagnant, like the smell of books drenched by floodwater and left in the cabinet for months. The heavy atmosphere is stale. I feel like I am underneath a roaring waterfall that pushes me down, making me kneel in utter horror at the macabre scene before me. Blood is everywhere. It sprinkles the furniture, the rough floor, and my mother. It is her scr*eam that’s making my ears tingle. Nathan is beside me, enclosing my hands in his as he pulls me away from the scene. He is saying something to me. But I can’t hear him. I can’t focus on his voice. There is only the enormous werewolf in front of me. Its head reaches the ceiling and yet, it is only crouching. Black coated wolf, red eyes, saliva dripping from its mouth down the corpse of my father. Its claws are still impaled to his chest. My father’s eyes are unseeing and in his hands is the family sword–an heirloom from his warrior family. And my mother is in the corner, bruises are on her arms and legs. I’m not even sure if it's from my father’s abuses or that black werewolf. The werewolf shifts its attention to me and makes a low growl. My father’s body makes a soft crunching sound as it is lifted while the monster is taking its claws out. Then, it falls again once its claws are free. Is this a rogue wolf? Do rogues smell like this? Ancient and musty? As if it’s been hiding for a very long time and is only released now? And yet, despite its decaying smell, there is an alluring quality to it. Something to praise and adore for, something, no, my gut instinct is telling me that I know this wolf. “Rhian! We have to run!” This time, Nathan’s voice registers in my head. I withdraw my hand from him. This wolf is familiar, something that I love the most in this world. Something I care for. I take a step towards the wolf and the wolf faces me. I stare into its eyes. It’s undulating, like little globes with different colored clouds spiraling and revolving around it. It’s trying to focus its mind. And it is… scared and aching. And that fear in its eyes eliminates my own. I am no longer scared. I reach up to it. I know this wolf. No. I know him. He is my brother, shifting for the first time at fifteen years old. He is powerful but he can’t control it. He needs help. He–His claws hits my right torso before I see it. I skid and before I hit the wall on my left, I transform half of my body into a wolf to minimize the damage. My brother roars, but it is a scream for help. This shrill cry, he’s breaking down. I revert to my human form and stand up. My body hurts but it doesn’t seem that I have broken a bone. “Gerald,” I whisper, coaxing it into submission. As a human, it always works on him. My brother is a sweet child. He loves our mother dearly and fears my father. If he’s in control, he won’t do this. “Calm down. You can control it.” He growls and hits the floor on either side of me. It thuds and breaks at the contact, creating a gaping hole in it. I don’t know any wolf who can do this. Not even Rico, our alpha, the one who leads the huge Sierra Madre pack, can manage a hole in a cemented, tiled floor. It bares its teeth at me, but instead of being afraid, I am irritated by this display of power. He is my darling little brother. He obeys me. He is a filial child. He–He slashes the wall behind me. I duck just in time before it cuts my head off. I am angry now. I stand up again and it roars in my face. I glare at it. “Stop this tantrum, right now! You are too old for this!” I scream. But my admonishment is only met by another howl. It’s saliva spitting on my face. I close my eyes before wiping them off. I see it lifting its massive arm, like a brown bear, and bring it down on me. Enraged at his impudent actions, I say in a flat, level tone, one that tells him I am nearing my boiling point. “Stop. You don’t want to anger your sister.” He pauses and then he whimpers. Just as I thought, my dear brother is still inside this violent mass of flesh and black fur. “Revert to your human form.” He shivers and then whimpers. “Slowly. Calm yourself.” He whimpers again as if it's hard to obey my orders, but I know that he is trying. His wolf form is getting smaller. It also has its head bowing before me, as if it’s sorry for showing that act of defiance earlier. “You are doing good, keep it up,” I say. I walk closer to it and touch its head. It closes its eyes and rubs its head on my hand. My first shift was painful too, disconcerting and I felt like I would lose control of it anytime. During that time, I wanted comfort. For someone to assure me that everything was all right, that it was just a phase people like us needed to undergo. And now, I want to do it for my younger brother too. So, I say, “That’s right. You’re excellent. Nothing will change. You are still our Gerald.” Gerald makes another whimper until he fully changes back into a human. He’s sweating and bloodied. His black, curly hair is sticking on his forehead. Even in this state, he still looks adorable and sweet. I plant a quick kiss on his forehead and say, “You will be alright. Your sister will always be here for you.” Then, I get up and take a blanket from the cabinet. Back to him, I find him crouching like a baby and trembling on the cold, rough floor. I wrap him with the blanket and his eyes open to look at me. His eyes are a disconcerting gray. I touch his cheeks. It is not as transparent as this before. Is this the result of his shifting? As mine is the change of some of my hair strands from black to a striking red, that people ask if I dyed my hair? “Rhian, sis, I am sorry…” he sobs. “Father tried to hurt mother again… I can’t watch anymore…” I want to tell him that it will be fine, but I will be lying. He killed our father and my mother is now reduced to a hunkering, quivering woman in the corner of the dining room. So instead I say, “We’ll get through this. I promise you that.” As long as alpha Rico does not get wind of this. We need to escape before he does. Expelling us to be rogues is the least punishment he could give us. Killing my brother is the most rational action, like what he did to all the other wolves who killed another person while shifting. This is a capital offense especially when my brother killed our father. I force my brother to stand up. He’s weak. How can we escape when both my brother and mother are like this? I might be able to carry them both in my wolf form, but do I have time to prepare our things? I forgot! Nathan is here. He can help me! I look in the direction of Nathan. He’s standing by the door. He’s covering his ears and leaning over the door frame. He is sweating and heaving. What’s wrong with him? Then, my eyes widen at the person beside him. Alpha Rico! What’s he doing here?! Since when has he been standing there? I gather my brother’s body and hug him. I glare at the alpha. He will not kill my brother! Nathan is an omega, he can’t help me. But I am an Epsilon, a warrior class, I won’t go down that easy! And I can definitely go against his orders if my family’s lives are on the line. But wait, are there wolves outside? The betas? And all the other powerful warriors in our clan? My scowl deepens. Alpha Rico stands in the doorway. He is already in his forties but he still exudes a threatening vibe. He’s wearing shorts and a tank top–a sign that he ran here by transforming into a wolf. It’s a Sierra Madre pack rule—to always bring something light to wear when we are planning to transform–which reminds me that I wrecked half of my clothes when I transformed earlier. Conscious, I look at myself and see that a piece of my shirt is hanging on my body, but it is enough to cover myself. Nothing to get embarrassed about. I return my gaze to alpha Rico who is still scrutinizing me as if deciding what to do with my family. He crowds the door, making Nathan look like he’s not a six-foot-tall nineteen years old. He takes a step forward and I hug Gerald’s head into my chest. I growl at him. He won’t hurt my family! But he takes another step. “Don’t come any closer,” I threaten. That’s it. We’re finished. I just bared my teeth at the alpha. But instead of killing me, he pauses, closes his eyes, and then takes small breaths. When his eyes open again, he says, “Don’t use the Voice on me, little girl. I am your Alpha.”