Cassandra
If I was uncomfortable before, then this was the epiphany of awkwardness. I stood in the center of the gorge, right below the rock ledge. I was in the center of the spotlight. All activities in the gorge had paused just to marvel at me, the newcomer. I shifted, their attention suddenly bringing consciousness to my own appearance. Was I a mess? Were there twigs in my fur? Did I hold myself upright as a real wolf would? Or did I stand funky? These uncertainties only made me feel more out of place. But worst of all, all three of the wolves up on the ledge had noticed my presence. Each of their gazes held some level of judgmental scrutiny, and it made me squirm even more.
"Those are the Betas," Arabella whispered beside me. "The scary looking one on the left"—she gestured to the grey and black wolf—"is Jaxton. The one in the middle"—the silver wolf—"is Raisa. She may look intimidating, but I promise you she's really nice. Oh, and the one over there on the right is Hayden. He's nice too."
Ah, so Hayden was his name. I snuck a quick glance at him, and he returned the look, tilting his head with a smirk, eyes twinkling.
"The Betas," I said to Arabella, "are they the leaders?"
"Oh, not at all," she replied. "The Alpha is our leader, and the Betas hold the rank below him. They're like vice leaders."
"Oh, I see."
But from the way they held themselves, those three wolves certainly gave off the confident, 'I'm in charge' air. They almost demanded respect, and I felt obligated to give it to them.
Raisa stepped forward. "As Hayden had mentioned," she began, "we have a newcomer in our midst." She rested her gaze on me. "What is your name?"
"I'm Cassandra," I said, raising my eyes to hers, "Cassandra Anne."
"Where do you come from, Cassandra?"
I paused. Should I tell them where I came from? But what if they turned me away? Our village didn't have the nicest relationship with carnivorous wildlife. I could play it off as one of the rogues Arabella had mentioned. Oh, but I had already told her that I was human. She could call me out for lying. I'd just make everything worse trying to cover things up.
I sucked in a breath. "I come from the village."
As if the word was forbidden or cursed, the pack immediately burst into whispers and mumbles, gossip and rumors about me already being birthed so soon upon my arrival.
"The human village?" Jaxton asked.
"Yes…?"
He let out a boisterous laugh. "That's preposterous. The village kills on sight. You didn't come from that hateful place. That or you're a walking corpse."
"No, it's true," Arabella said. "Cassandra was once human."
Like the word village, human had the same effect on the wolves, but instead it gave rise to hopeful murmurs as if it were a long time dream or fantasy.
"You were human?" Raisa asked.
"Yes. I had a mother and father and four, annoying brothers. We lived in a small house just beyond your woods, and oftentimes I would run up and down the glade for mere enjoyment. My best friend's name was Claire, but she lived closer to the center of the town because her father is a leatherworker. We hang out all the time, and her brother, Peter…" My words trailed off as an aching twinge squeezed my heart. "Never mind," I said, "I'd rather not talk about Peter."
"And how did you get to be this way, Cassandra?"
"I don't know." It was the truth. Though my blood was special, it only forced Lune to shift. It shouldn't have affected me at all—I wasn't of magic descent. Therefore, this wolf body was the result of other means, means that I can't remember. "The night before the transformation," I said, "I was with Lune, and we—"
"Lune?" A hazel-colored wolf shoved his way to the front of the crowd. "You were with Lune?" I nodded, and the wolf's gaze darkened. "Where is she now?" I opened my mouth to speak, but the wolf didn't let me get a word in. "Where is she?" he snarled. "What did you do to her?"
"I don't know where she is," I said, backing slightly away from him. "We were just friends, and—"
"Friends? Wolves and humans can't be friends." A conclusive look crossed his face as a realization dawned upon him. "You killed her, didn't you?"
"No, I—"
The wolf leapt at me, pinning me to the ground. "You killed her," he screamed in my face. "You killed her! You killed her!"
Arabella and two other wolves jumped into action and pulled the wolf off me. I saw hatred burning in his eyes as they dragged him back into the reaches of the crowd, restraining him on the other side of the gorge. Arabella returned to my side as I shakily got back to my paws.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
I nodded, but I wasn't so sure myself. Here in the pack itself, I was seeing a different side to these creatures. Lune was gentle and kind, but not all wolves were like that. If nobody had stopped him, I was sure that wolf would have torn me limb from limb without an ounce of regret. And suddenly, I realized that Ma was right. These beasts, they'd kill you in a heartbeat.
"Look at her, and look at us," the wolf said. Though he was held down, his mouth was still free to talk. "She claims she was once human like we were. Do you remember how we got here? How we came to this state?"
"You're jumping to conclusions, Marvey," Raisa said, but from the look on her face, I could tell she had her doubts about me.
"I didn't kill Lune," I said. "There's a beast running about in the woods. It's been killing off our livestock, and the villagers blamed it on her."
"Lune frequented the village?" Jaxton said. "Who knew about this? Marvey? Did you know?"
"No, I didn't," he said quickly. "I mean, I knew she went out often, but I didn't realize it was to go to the village."
"I hope you're not lying, Marvey," Raisa said, her tail flicking back and forth. "Everyone knows that the village is off limits. It's a dangerous place and traveling there often could lead to the extinction of our pack. Personally visiting or failing to inform one of the higher ups of a wolf that is visiting the village is deemed punishable by the Alpha."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hayden grimace and drop his gaze, his stance going visibly stiffer. He knew, didn't he? He knew Lune was at the village.
"I didn't know about Lune, I swear," Marvey said, and the attention returned to me.
"What do you suppose we do with her?" Raisa said to Jaxton.
Jaxton turned his gaze to me. "Well," he said, "if she remains here, she may lead the rest of the humans to us. She's missing at home. They would look for her, would they not?"
"And how do you suppose they would find us?" Raisa said. "We're deep in the woods. No human would or could come this far."
"Are you suggesting she stays?"
"We can't let her fend for herself. If what she said about another beast prowling our lands is true, we'd be sending her off to her doom."
"So be it." Jaxton's ear flicked. "She's a murderer."
"You're making assumptions. We don't know that Lune is dead."
"Well, I'm smart enough to realize that strangers mean bad news. She should leave."
Raisa shot back an argument for why I ought to stay, but Jaxton simply retaliated with a counter argument of his own. I noticed Hayden sneaking out of the debate, slinking down to the bottom of the gorge with his peers. I furrowed my brow. He hadn't spoken at all so far, and now he was leaving? If he truly had such an important position as Arabella said he did, why wasn't he taking advantage of his influence?
"The girl goes, Raisa," Jaxton said. "It's my job to ensure that our pack will continue to live their best lives, and in order for that to happen, she must leave."
"We could assimilate her into our society. If she becomes one of us, the pack could live an even better life than you propose."
"I believe that if anyone should make this decision, it should be I."
Bowing their heads, Jaxton and Raisa hastily moved down from the ledge making way for a large, black wolf: the Alpha.