The Rest of Us

To say driving was simple is an understatement, all the jerking forward every time the brake pedal was pushed and driving slow because of the fast speeds some people drove.

An hour of learning from my mistakes, either from getting the horn beeped continuously or almost being run off the road for how close they got to my rear bumper.

There were times where I just wanted to say ‘fuck it’, ditch the truck and make my own way as a wolf.

But my instincts halted me from doing so, the human resting against my right side being the reason.

Nichole had stayed awake long enough to where I was used to driving. Hell I was surprised with myself for learning so quickly.

When my driving became a lot calmer, she had leaned against the door frame on the opposite side, eyes barely able to stay open.

It was then I reached out to pull her next to me, her hand slightly pressing on my arm as if to tell me to leave her alone and she was fine.

Nichole didn’t argue, not having any fight left in her as my arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her close and nuzzling my head on top of hers.

-----

I turned off the highway and followed a dirt road until I was stopped by a fallen tree in the path, it was then I put the truck in park and turned off the ignition before looking around.

It was quiet, more so then I was used to. I unbuckled the seat belt and laid Nichole gently down on the seat. She stirred a little, opening one eye and peeking up at me.

A sad smile formed on my face as I looked back, “We’re here, I just gotta go find my friend and see if he will welcome us in.”

I closed the truck door gently before walking a few steps away, my two feet turning into four paws. Being back to my original form that I was used to, I set out on a trail that my nose figured was the right way.

It was about a mile before I came upon a house. It didn’t look out of the ordinary as it was a giant log cabin home.

As I continued to walk closer to the building, I was halted suddenly by a deep growl to my right.

I stood up tall, waiting patiently as the older wolf approached me.

“Pierre? Is that you?”

My tail swished back and forth, “Patrick, I haven’t seen you since we were pups!”

His wolf color was a mixture between brown and black, muzzle slightly white either from aging or stress. The tips of his paws had white too.

He sat down in front of me, “How are you?”

A small whimper escaped my muzzle, “Could be better I guess. My entire pack was slaughtered, the only wolf I wasn’t able to find a body of is my mother. I don’t know how or why, but we were ambushed. I was knocked out and tied up and never had a chance to fight back.”

Pat lowered his head, “I’m sorry for your loss, Pierre. If it makes you feel a little at ease, we haven’t had any attacks here. There have been other lone wolves like yourself who’ve joined us because they lost their packs as well. You are more then welcome to stay as long as you want.”

A content sigh left me, glad that I was accepted and not turned down. “Thank you Patrick, I appreciate that more then you’ll ever know. So what have you been up to since I last saw you?”

The Tundra wolf smiled, “My pack made me their Shaman, although I am not the oldest or wisest, I do good work at helping the wounded. What about you?”

A bigger smile came to my face, “Ever since I last saw you my father had been training me to become the greatest Alpha I can be. He was going to give me his position this up coming season.”

Pat nodded his head, “Well, I’m not going to take that position away from you, Pierre. We all knew you were born an Alpha, the only thing I ask is to not make decisions for my pack without speaking to me about it first. Now, how about you come inside and make yourself at home.” he stood up and turned, making his way towards the house.

I stood up also, but instead of moving forward, I transformed back into my human form.

“I have someone with me, Patrick.”

When I looked up, Pat was standing in his human form as well. An uneasy look crossed his face.

“Well, bring em’ in. What are you waiting for?”

I breathed in before responding, “She’s human, and not a wolf-blood like us.”

Patrick’s lips curled, a light growl escaping him. “I will not allow someone who isn’t a wolf-blood on to my territory, Pierre.”

For the first time I felt my Alpha figure falter slightly in front of my friend, a whine escaping as I did not want to think of Nichole being stranded once again.

“Please, Patrick. She’s just a pup…”

Patrick’s hands fisted before pushing into my chest, moving me back only an inch. “Don’t call that human a pup, Pierre! She is not one of us, she’s not your blood.”

I closed my eyes before lowering my head, “You know what I meant, Pat. She’s young and there is no one else she has to go to.”

Patrick turned away from me, shaking his head and walking back towards the house again. “I really don’t give a shit, Pierre. Why do you? Our families grew up hating their species, why is this one so important to bring in.”

I took the few steps forward that separated us, looking around before my eyes looked into his. “Because I bit her.”

Surprise lit up on the Shaman’s face, “Why the hell did you bite her and not kill her? Please tell me you didn’t mate with that thing.”

Surprise shown on my face too, “What? No, what the hell does that have to deal with anything about a bite?”

Pat shrugged his shoulders, “There have been dumb wolf-bloods in the past who’ve mated to humans. If you bite a human deep enough, and have a lot of saliva enter the wound, you’re turning one of them into a wolf-blood. Do you know if her body is going through the transformation at all?”

I shook my head slowly, “I haven’t seen the bite since I last saw her wrap it up yesterday. I don’t know if its healing or getting worse.”

A deep sigh escaped Patrick, “Maybe she’s in the middle, like the bite is working but the transformation is too much and it’s killing her.”

My hands instantly went up into my hair, I grabbed fistfuls’ “Is there any way you can tell for sure?”

The Shaman nodded his head, “Yeah, go grab her and follow me to my office.”

I didn’t waste another second as I ran quickly back towards the direction of the truck. When I came upon it and opened the door, Nichole was still laying in the same spot I had left her.

Both eyes had opened this time, “How did it go?”

I put one arm around her shoulders and used my free arm to lift under her legs and pull her out of the truck, Nichole instantly clung to my side, arms going around my neck.

“I’m bringing you to my friend Patrick, he’s a Shaman and we’re going to see what’s going on with that bite I gave you.”

Nichole nodded, tucking her face into my neck. I couldn’t blame her for wanting to hide, we were on a wolf-bloods territory. Humans were not welcomed, and I was lucky so far that another of my kind hadn’t shown up to attack yet.

When I arrived back to the house, Pat was standing by the front door. He closed it behind us and guided me towards the end of the hallway.

I carried Nichole through a door that read “Health ”, the Shaman pointed to the table in the center of the room.

With each step I took closer to the table, the more I felt Nichole curl into my chest. I placed her down gently before taking a step back.

Patrick grabbed her left arm, turning it slightly to examine. It was enough to make Nichole cry out, making her turn in the direction of her arm and stare up at the elder.

I immediately stepped in front of Pat’s view, a snarl escaping me. “Please be more gentle or I’ll make sure you’re the one laying on this table while I break your arm.”

Pat lifted the arm up again more slowly, uncovering the wound.

“Well, the bite was deep. Just enough to bruise this section of the arm. It’ll be that way for about a week, so she’ll have to take it slow. You got lucky, Pierre.”

I crossed my arms and sighed, “Is she going to be okay?”

Pat nodded his head, “She’ll be fine, it looks like she’s kept it pretty clean. But, just to ease the pain I’ll give her some medication and rewrap her arm.”

Before I could ask what kind of medication she was going to get, I saw a needle press into her neck.

“No!”

Nichole tensed, her body lifting slightly off the table as a whimper escaped her lips. Her right hand gripped tightly on to my shirt, I reached down to hold her hand in mine but by the time I had ahold of it, her hand went limp, body lying flat.

A long whimper escaped me, tears threatening to leave my eyes. I kneeled on to the ground, my chin resting on the table. “You didn’t have to put her to sleep, Patrick.”

Pat didn’t show any concern as he cleaned up the bruise, then wrapping it. “I did what had to be done, Pierre. She is a threat to us all”

I stood back up on my feet, making sure to show this Shaman that I was taller and more built then he was. “She has rested all this morning and hasn’t ate anything yet, how can I expect her to get better if she doesn’t eat.”

Pat huffed, keeping his eyes away from me. “The less food we have to share, the better. Leave your pet here in my office while we get you settled in. No one will come in unless I tell them to.”

I growled, “Do not call Nichole my pet, we are equals.”

Pat laughed at me, “What does this pathetic excuse of a human have that makes you both equals?”

I glared down at my friend, I knew I should’ve been agreeing with him as it was only a little over twenty-four hours ago where I was thinking the same thing.

“Your bite must have created a bond between you two.”

Confusion clouded my features, “W-What?”

Pat crossed his arms and looked between her and I, “Why else wouldn’t you have killed her already? I have a feeling she already knows our secret. One less human in the world just makes us stronger.”

I growled again, “Not this one, we need to keep her alive.”

Patrick’s posture changed slightly, a sigh escaping him. “Pierre. Whatever kind of bond you two have, you need to cut it. She will make you look weak.”

I thought about it for a moment, ever since I did give her the bite I had suddenly felt somewhat of a connection that I couldn’t shake. It definitely wasn’t a bite that made us mates, but I did feel like I owed her my life, which I do, to protect hers.
I felt like I had to hold and protect her as if she were my pup, attack and put anyone in their place if they so much as looked at her wrong which made me feel like she was my little sister and I was the big brother no one wanted to mess with.

But then, there was a small portion where when our bodies were flushed together like the night before. I felt like I was whole again, Nichole had calmed down the side of me I hadn’t been able to control.

I wasn’t sure what kind of bond I had put us in.

Patrick put his arm around my shoulders, “Come on, let’s go meet the rest of the pack.”

I hesitated, not knowing if Nichole was truly safe in this room or not. “Pierre, she will be asleep for at least an hour, you can relax.”

I looked down at Nichole, “Please give her something to ease the pain.”

The Elder wolf walked over to a cabinet, grabbing a small bottle and another needle. When he came back to the table, he pressed the needle into her left arm.

“I can’t guarantee how long this will work, but she shouldn’t feel any pain.”

Satisfied, I followed Pat out of the office, closing the door behind me.

----

“Alright everyone, gather around.”

I stood beside Patrick as at least eight pack members walked towards us. I felt slightly intimidated as some of the males were my height or taller.

A pleased smile came to the Shaman’s face, “We have two new guests that will be joining us. This is Pierre, some of you may already recognize him as the Northern Wolf, he’s an Alpha and will keep that status while he stays with us. He has brought a friend that is not of our kind, and I ask that you don’t interact with her as she is part of the reason we’re not able to run wild and free like we used to.”

“If she is a threat to us, why keep her here?”

I growled, looking at each face to see who spoke up.

“She isn’t a threat, Nichole is a good human and she would do whatever it takes to protect us.” I felt my heart begin to beat fast.

“No human will defend our species, Pierre. That’s a disgrace! Why trust someone who just wants us killed. If she isn’t wolf-blood, we won’t welcome her.” another voice from the crowd spoke louder then the last.

Patrick stepped in front of me before I could respond “Alright, let’s take it down a few notches. The human will have no contact with our kind. If she becomes a problem, Pierre will have to take care of it.”

He turned to me and rested a hand on my shoulder, “Five of our pack members are out on a hunt right now. Some are still roaming around the property and may have missed this meeting, but in time you will get to meet everyone. For now I will have one of our Guardians show you around.”

As soon as he said that, a bald headed male stepped up to me with a smile on his face. “Alpha Pierre, it’s an honor to finally meet you. My name is Jeff and I’ll be your tour guide for this afternoon.”

I bowed my head in acknowledgement, “It’s nice to meet you too, Jeff.” we began heading towards the house once more. Worry creeping into my thoughts knowing that most of the pack knew Nichole was inside the house now.

----

Jeff stood beside me, “The biggest bedroom we have is on the second floor, it comes with a king sized bed, curtains for privacy, a balcony to walk outside and look around. Shower water is always hot, and we filled the cabinet with the proper size clothing for you. There will be an Omega standing right outside the door if you ever need anything.”

I looked to Jeff, “Does Nichole get to share this bedroom with me?”

The Guardian looked confused at my question, “Excuse me, who exactly..Alpha?”

I cleared my throat before standing straighter, “My human friend, Nichole.”

Jeff lowered his eyes to the ground, “Oh, the Pet. I don’t know how to say this, Alpha. But the luxury master bedroom is just for the Alpha and their mate. No human is allowed upstairs, nor in the same part of the house as us wolf-bloods. Its bedroom is on the first floor, north side of the house, the storage room.”

I grabbed his shirt, a growl building up in my throat. “Nichole is not an ‘it’, she’s female and I expect you to show her respect like you would if she were a female wolf-blood.”

Jeff looked at me with panic in his eyes, but he kept his ground as he looked into my eyes. “I’m sorry Alpha, but you can not ask me to treat your pet as if she were important like the females of our kind. You know as well as I do that a female wolf-blood holds more power then you yourself have control over. This thing will never possess such power over me.”

I snorted, “I think I can handle the rest from here, Jeff. Thank you for showing me around the house. Please let your Alpha know that I will not be staying in the room he has offered me.”

Jeff took a step back. “B-But Alpha Pierre, I-”

I held my hand up, silencing him immediately. “You’ve already told me that Nichole is not welcome on this side of the house, nor can she stay in the same bedroom as I. I won’t be needing your assistance anymore this afternoon.”

----

I walked back into Patrick’s office, opening the door ever so slightly to check up on my friend.

I pressed my hand to the side of her face, a sigh escaped Nichole as she opened her eyes slowly to look up at me. A lazy smirk instantly spread across her face, “Hey, Pie.”

The smile that spread across my face couldn’t be contained, “Hey Nic, you ready to get up?”

She nodded, and I was there to reach my hand out and help steady Nichole on to her feet, knowing the drugs were slowly wearing off.

We made it outside without a pack member seeing us, which was a miracle knowing how many were at the meeting.

As we made our way back to the truck I transformed back into my wolf form, keeping my eyes and ears at high alert. Nichole had her hand placed on top of my head, I knew she needed to in order to keep her balance. There were some times when she started to walk off to the side and I had to gently nudge her back on to the trail.

Each time I corrected her, I was given a small pat on the head.

I waited patiently when we did arrive to the truck, watching as Nichole had a thoughtful look on her face, debating on what to bring to the house.

“Do you mind carrying my blanket for me, Pierre?”

I stood up, my eyes looking into hers. She came up to me and placed the blanket on my back, smoothing it out so it would lie flat.

I received my chin being rubbed gently, her thumb brushing along my fur.

A low growl sounded out in the woods, I placed myself in front of Nichole.

A grey wolf walked slowly up to us, stopping when he felt it was close enough. A light growl came out of me as I stared at him.

“We do not mean any trouble, but if you try to hurt this human I will not hesitate to kill you.”

The grey wolf continued to stare, tail swishing back and forth slowly. A smile looked to be on his muzzle.

After a few more minutes of watching, he stood up and walked back into the woods towards the house.

----

Pierre had followed Nichole back to the house, he stood in the hallway and watched as she walked towards the room she was assigned to.

He stood there for a few minutes, listening throughout the house and making sure a threat wasn’t headed their way.

Satisfied, he walked the opposite side of the hallway and towards the living room to nap.

----

Nichole was in her bedroom for under an hour, the room she was given wasn’t big nor looked comfortable in any way. But she accepted it as she placed the blanket Pierre carried back on to a chair and walked towards the window to open it.

Claws hitting the wooden floor caught her attention, Nichole turned around and was greeted with the same grey wolf they saw by the truck, it grabbed the blanket off the chair and turned, making a quick run for it and disappearing just as quick as he had came.

“Wait! Please don’t take my blanket!” she ran quickly out of her bedroom and down the hall, only catching a glimpse of the grey tail as the wolf made a yipping noise as it ran up the stairs. Once at the top, he laid down on top of the blanket, grabbing a piece and pulling it apart.

Nichole turned and walked back towards her room.

----

I waited patiently as I watched from a distance as the rest of the pack Patrick talked about was hauling back an entire moose. It wasn’t often when a pack could bring home such a big creature, but I guess it was a plus that the human part of us could cut and haul more weight then our wolf form could.

The meat was placed on to the ground in front of the house, those who hauled it back began walking inside to clean up as the rest of the pack slowly made their way towards dinner.

I grabbed on to a piece of moose and began to pull back, taking somewhat of a big piece and began walking it over to Nichole.

I was stopped immediately, Patrick blocking my way. A deep growl formed in his throat while his ears were perked back, tail low as he watched my movements.

“She will get whatever is left over, you either eat the piece you took or go without dinner.”

I looked past him and towards Nichole, she was sitting at the table with an empty plate in front of her.

It didn’t take more then a few seconds to know what decision I’d make. Lowering my head, I dropped the meat on the ground before walking past Pat and back over to Nichole.

“I told you she would make you weak Pierre. You’d rather starve yourself instead of eat with the pack.”

I ignored him as I climbed up the steps and walked over to the table, once I was next to Nichole I laid down and watched quietly as each pack member took turns eating.

----

It had to have been a little over an hour before the pack had walked away from the carcass, Nichole had fallen asleep.

I stood up quickly and walked back over to the moose, my ears perked back, tail tucking underneath myself as I saw nothing good was left over.

A door opening caught my attention, I looked back on the porch and saw one of the pack members walking towards Nichole.

A snarl came out of me as I instantly ran back up the stairs and towards the intruder.

He lowered his head as soon as I came into eye sight, “I don’t mean any harm, Pierre. I saw that the pack wouldn’t share their food with her so I made something for the both of you.

I shifted, looking down at the plates he had in his hands.

“Chicken and mashed potatoes with gravy.”

The smell of the food caused my stomach to growl, Nic must have smelt the food too as she lifted her head and looked towards the pack member.

“Is that what I think it is?” hope was evident in her voice. I looked between them both, a little confused as to why the food he brought out meant so much to her.

The male smiled, he set the plates on the table. “It sure is, made it myself.”

I took a seat beside Nichole, “How did you learn to make this?” she asked.

He placed his hands on our chairs, “Well, my mate taught me how to cook. Her food was the most amazing thing in the world. The rest of the pack doesn’t eat the food when I cook it. They hunt in their true form, I don’t hunt as a wolf that much anymore. ”

“Why is that?” I asked.

The shorter male turned to me, sadness crossed his features. “That will have to be a question for another day, Pierre. Besides, cooking human food means I don’t have to worry if I’ll have dinner or not. It’s always available and easy to make. I’m sure your mate here has made you dinner once before hasn’t she?”

Both Nichole’s and my cheeks tinted slightly red, a small chuckle escaped me. “We’re not mates, just met each other yesterday actually.”

Surprise shown on this pack member’s face, “Oh, I apologize about that then.” a nervous laugh escaped him.

“Just figured since you two are nearly inseparable that you were mates.”

“Hmm.., I already heard from your Shaman what he thinks of a human and wolf-blood being mated. Going with the rest of your pack’s vibes I’m sure they agree with him.” I looked up to him with my eyebrows narrowed.

“I didn’t mean to bring it up as if it were a bad thing, Pierre. I was just hoping there would have been another wolf who was for once on the same terms as I was. Having a human as a mate is a good thing.”

“Thanks for the support, but Nichole and I will not becomes mates. I already have one that is my own species.” I growled.

Nichole had occupied herself with eating the food that was served to us, it was quiet for a moment before she spoke. “Do you guys travel around as wolves while you are here?”

He shook his head slowly, “Not that often. When all this started to happen, it was difficult to convince the pack to shift into our human skin. They didn’t like it, but it is keeping us alive right now.”

Nichole nodded her head, “Well, I thank you-”

He turned his attention towards her, “Chuck Comeau, Beta of the pack.”

Nichole smiled, “Thank you Chuck for feeding us, I had expected the cold shoulder and didn’t think I was going to eat tonight. I’ll sleep with a full stomach, I truly do appreciate what you did.”

A big smile came to Chuck’s face, “Your very welcome, Nichole. I hope both you and Pierre enjoy your stay here.”

With that, he turned and walked back inside the house, leaving us both alone once more.

----

I waited patiently, listening as each pack member went to their rooms and settled down for the night. I sat in the living room, not minding the darkness that surrounded me.

I had kept to my word when I said I wouldn’t stay in the master bedroom. Not without Nichole anyways. The rules still were intact, and there was nothing I could do to change their mind about this one human.

Chuck had brought me a folded up comforter and two pillows. A small smile came to his lips as if he could read my mind and knew exactly where I was going to sleep for the night.

I just shook my head and rolled my eyes, no matter what he thought, there was nothing going on between Nic and I.

After a few more minutes of silence, I stood up and walked down the hallway where Patrick told me Nichole’s room would be at.

I knocked gently on the door, a quiet ‘Come in’ responded.

I opened the door and stepped inside, my eyes instantly looked throughout the room seeing what this pack considered a good bedroom that met human standards. To me it was a complete joke, Nichole was lying on nothing but the hard floor beneath her.

No pillow or blanket in sight, one window and a single lamp that sat on the floor. Judging by the window shades being wide open and the moonlight shining through, the light bulb was burnt out in the lamp.

“Welcome to the luxury five star hotel room, where mothballs and spider-webs are plentiful.”

I sighed, a frown coming to my face.

Although she didn’t speak it, I could suddenly feel the gratefulness she felt that I had shown up.

She sat up, crossing her arms and looking at me with tiredness. “How come you’re not up in the master bedroom enjoying yourself, Pierre?”

I laughed at her joke, sitting down in front of her. “Did you really think I would leave you down here by yourself?”

Nichole shook her head slowly, “I’m sorry Pierre, but this isn’t your house to make the decision of my sleeping arrangements.”

A smirk came to my face, “If you’re not sleeping in a nice warm comfy bed like everyone else, then I’m not either.”

Nichole sighed at my stubbornness, “Pierre, please go back upstairs and sleep in your bed. Last thing this pack needs is a grumpy Alpha male.”

I ignored her as I looked around the room again, then glanced back to Nichole. “Where’s that blanket you packed?”

I was suddenly hit with a wave of sadness, “The grey wolf came in here when I was unpacking, he took the blanket and ran. I saw him a few hours ago at the top of the stairs, ripping it apart..” her voiced cracked.

She cleared her throat before looking back up at me, “It was a blanket my mother made for me a few years back. I didn’t start using it until I came North.”

I stood up and walked out of the bedroom without another word, making my way quickly back into the living room.

Moments later I returned, slipping back into Nichole’s room quietly and making my way towards her. Once we stood face-to-face, I sat down and dropped the blanket and pillows in front of us.

My ears perked back as we stared at the huge comforter and fluffy pillows.

I was taken by surprise as Nichole closed the distance between us, her arms going around my shoulders and pulling me into a hug. My front paws lifted slightly off the ground from the hug I was pulled into, glad that my tail was able to balance the rest of me.

“Thank you, Pierre.” she kissed my forehead before sitting back down in her previous spot.

I shifted back into my human form, “I actually got the blanket for myself, thank you very much.”

We both chuckled, “I was serious when I said that if you’re not sleeping comfortably, then I’m not.”

“Pierre” she began to disagree.

I held my hand up, “I’m only going to say this once, and I’m never going to repeat myself again. I actually enjoyed the thing we did last night…”

Nichole tilted her head to the side, “What? Sleep?”

I shook my head, looking the other way as I felt my face heat up, “No.., with your head nuzzling underneath mine, our bodies close together.”

Realization dawned on her then, “Oh! The cuddling!” she had a big cheeky grin on her face, the word she used to describe what we did sounded so…cute?

“Um, sure. Let’s call it that.”

She nodded her head slowly, “I did too, Pierre. It makes you forget what’s going on in the world right now, and you just live in the moment.”

We sat there quietly for a few minutes, the silence surrounding us. Nichole was the first to speak again.

“So, seeing as it’s difficult for me to get food around her without getting you into trouble, why don’t we go out tomorrow?”

My eyebrows rose, “Like where exactly?”

Nichole shrugged her shoulders, “Have you ever been fishing?”

I shook my head slowly, “No, I only ever ate moose or white-tail deer, rabbit on a rare occasion when looking for a snack. Bears eat the fish, Nic.”

She reached over and pushed my shoulder, “Well, I’m going fishing tomorrow. If you want to join, by all means. There’s a first time for everything.”

I smiled and watched as Nichole laid back down, I picked up the blanket and placed it on the ground, spreading it out.

I grabbed the bottom of my pajama shirt and lifted it over my head, tossing it to one corner of the room.

“Didn’t wear one last night, why the hell should I wear one now.”

Nichole laughed in agreement, she rolled over on to her side, facing away from me.

I growled, knowing she was playing with me since she knew how I wanted to sleep. She kept her back to me though, two could play this game.

I reached out, putting my arm around her waist and easily moving her closer to me. A giggle sounded in the darkness, causing me to chuckle at how simple that sound made me feel like nothing in the world could bring me down.

Nichole finally turned towards me, she kissed my nose before pressing her forehead to mine.

My eyes started to drift close, they shut completely as a hand brushed slowly through my hair. This repeated for a couple of minutes before I felt Nichole’s head tuck underneath mine, the small nuzzle against my jaw.