86

When the blood work didn’t show the results they wanted, they started injecting me with werewolf saliva. It didn’t do a thing.
It was during my second summer here that they decided on more drastic means. They had captured a young werewolf, stuck in wolf form, rabid and without thought. He was brought in to the cell across from me and dumped on the bed. Muzzled and collared, his neck was chained to the wall when he finally woke up hours later.
Two men wearing protective suits went into his cell as I watched. They carefully attached two long leashes to his collar, then removed his muzzle with their gloved hands protected with steel armor. They pulled him out, holding the straining creature between the two leashes, and then a third man opened my door.
The wolf saw me and lunged forward; they let the leashes slack so he could get to me as I hugged the back of my cell. He leaped for my throat, but I blocked him with my arm. The men pulled him back, fighting and straining against him, as his bloodied jaws let go of my arm. He was hit with a dart and sagged to the floor. When he no longer moved, they dragged him into the cell and left him in the center.
I rinsed my bloody left forearm off in the sink, then used a towel to slow down the bleeding. I was a little frustrated that they would endanger my life like that and not even provide first aid. I laid down on my bed, arm elevated, and waited for it to scab over. I hated that I didn’t have werewolf healing rates any more, this bite would be sore for weeks.
I woke up in the middle of the night; I had no clock, and with no view of the outside the only changes were when the lights dimmed at 10 PM and brightened again at 6 AM. I could hear whining and scratching; the werewolf had woken up. He was pacing his empty cell, his eyes looking for a way out as he growled.
I moved over to one of the holes drilled along the base of the glass, there were two lines of these at the bottom and four at the top. The holes were about an inch in diameter, too small for a hand and the acrylic panel too thick for me to stick a finger through. I pulled my blanket over my body, hiding my head from the camera. I didn’t want them to be able to read my lips, and if I whispered quietly enough, they wouldn’t be able to make out what I whispered into the hole.
The werewolf could hear everything if he settled down.
“You’re not crazy,” I whispered. “Your wolf is a part of you now, you need to learn to share. Each of you helping the other.”
He stopped moving and whined, laying up against the acrylic wall. I could see one ear cocked near a vent hole. He could easily hear me now.
“You aren’t alone, either. There are thousands of people like you. They live their lives, they have families, children. They like all the things you did before. You were bitten, weren’t you?” He whined and set his head on his front paws. “I’m sorry about that. Before the war, it was strictly forbidden to turn someone without their consent. We had all kinds of rules when we dealt with humans, just to avoid what happened to you. Is the war still going on?”
He nodded his head, then let out a low howl.
“Is that how you were bitten?” He nodded. He didn’t look big enough to be a full grown werewolf, if I had to guess he was about ten. Being a kid is probably what saved him from being killed immediately; even after all this time, shooting a kid is not something police and soldiers like to do.
“All right. Do you know how to shift back?” He shook his head no. “Think of your human and your wolf side, side by side in your brain. Close your eyes, imagine it.” He closed his eyes. “Now imagine your human side walking forward, and your wolf side walking back.” He squeezed his eyes, he was trying, but nothing happened. “All right, we’ll try later. For now, I want you to close your eyes and spend time talking with your wolf. He’s part of you, he’s always been part of you. He’s nothing to be afraid of, he won’t hurt you because that would be hurting himself. All right?” He nodded. “Just get some sleep. My name is Ella, I can’t wait to talk to you.”
He put his head on his paws and closed his eyes; I went back to my mattress and went to bed.
When the lights went bright, I woke up as was my habit. I sat up and looked across the hall, shocked to find a boy huddled up on his mattress, the blanket wrapped around him. I went and sat by the holes, and he did the same. “Hi, glad to see you figured it out. You need to whisper loud enough for me to hear, I’m human.”
He looked at me, cocking his head a little as he took another sniff. “How? My wolf says you are an Alpha.”
I nodded. “I was once, I used to be a werewolf, but my wolf was killed. I still have a Pack, though. I think. It’s been almost two years I’ve been in here with no news. Since I don’t have a wolf, I can’t feel the mate bond or my Pack bonds.”
“Bonds?”
“Yes… when a wolf is in a Pack, or mates, a bond forms between their wolf and the other person. Since I’m human, it’s enough to get the attraction with my mate, to feel the responsibility for my Pack. On the werewolf side, it’s much stronger.”
“How strong?”
“Strong enough so that you can talk to each other in your minds, you feel what they feel, you are two parts of a whole. It’s a bond so strong that many mates choose to follow their mate into death rather than live without them and their bond. It’s the best feeling, being part of a Pack.”
“Sounds wonderful,” he said. “By the way, I’m Charlie. Charlie Cassidy.”
I waved my hand at him. “Ella Grey.” I looked down the hall. “If you want, you can join my Pack. Talk to your wolf about it.”
He closed his eyes. “He wants to.”
“Fine. Just say to yourself, ‘We accept Ella as our Alpha.'” He did, I couldn’t feel it myself but I could see his wolf straighten up, he seemed calmer, happier. “I’m not sure if you want them to see you like this, it might be easier if you’re in wolf form when they arrive. Do you think you can change back?”
“Same as before, but this time my wolf comes forward?”
“Exactly.” I watched as he shifted into his small grey wolf. He yipped as he ran around his cell. It was only a few minutes later when the guards entered with breakfast. They were shocked to see the wolf, now calm and wagging its tail while looking at them. My eggs and bacon were put through my slot, and they came back with a steak for him.