“This child will be part Lokoti Werewolf too.”

  (Small Fry Chapter 1)

 

            “Tell me again you don’t have a bad feeling about this?” He rasped out, as if he were having difficulty breathing.  “Tell me how you’re gonna live through this?”

            “As Aunt B said, this child will be part Lokoti Werewolf too.”  Ki reminded.  “Maybe this baby will be exactly half and half?  I’ll keep a close eye on Aunt B, I promise.  You two won’t be alone, no Lokoti Werewolf ever stands alone.  You know this yourself, Uncle.”

            But Declan didn’t seem to hear, he was too busy staring at his mate. 

            “Tell me B, what can you 'see'?  Tell me what you ‘see’ in ours and the baby's future.”  He pleaded. 

            Next, he watched me turn to walk into the shadowy kitchen.  The whole house darkened in fact, as the sun was taken away from the grey clouds which were heavy with snow.  As if I were in a trance, I wandered over to the kitchen sink to stare out the window at my garden. 

            The grass was still short as the cold weather stagnated its growth.  I saw the bare branches of our Jacaranda Tree bend in the strong wind.  Then I stared at my withered garden plots, which were waiting to be buried under the thick snow of a long winter.

            Our small, two bedroom, two story, brown wooden cottage with its stone chimney; sat on top of a hill in the community centre inside the vast Lokoti National Park, in the Alaska Range.  Our home was normally cosy with life, love, cooking and company.  We had family, tribe and pack whom we intermingled or hunted with.  Our life could be called 'quiet' by some, but when you had to hide your supernatural state, where and how we lived was ideal.

            The signs of winter coming, also represented signs of something else to come.  Our home would be changed forever, as would be the people inside it.  As if to confirm this, I saw a snowflake fly past on the icy wind.

            I wasn't experiencing any visions, whilst I stared hypnotically at life outside.  Just as I could have bad feelings which warn of danger, I felt several new sensations.  They didn’t fill me with a sense of dread, instead they filled me with a sense of purpose.

            “Our daughter isn’t going to be a Circulator.” I spoke quietly, almost unsure of my own words.  “She’s going to be the eldest of three sisters and none of them will be 'Light People'.  I am the last Circulator to be born.”

            Suddenly, the window rattled loudly from a gust of wind, as my Jacaranda Tree bent back and forth.  I watched the snowflakes begin to fall thick and fast, but from the gale they fell in a sloping pattern.  I watched the many white dots cover the grass. 

            “The timeline has to make adjustments to Declan’s altered state of being.”  I said softly.  “Because their mother changed their father, our daughters will be born, but not as Circulators.”

            Then I felt my mate come to stand beside at the sink, as his greater body-heat radiated outwards.

            “Daughters?”  He asked hopeful.  “No boys?”

            A tear slipped down my cheek, as his relief didn’t bring me happiness, but disappointment.

            “And what would you have done if it was a son?”  I challenged.

            “If we had a son who was half Lokoti Werewolf but wasn’t a Circulator?  I would do exactly what I’m going to do now.”  He said firmly.

            “And what’s that?”

            “Give his mother a kiss and a cuddle and help her raise the little troublemaker.” He emitted a small smile.

 

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Is this why he’s so afraid of creating anymore European Werewolves, even as children?

  (Small Fry Chapter 1)

 

            “Why are you so adamant that you want a girl?”  I wondered aloud.

            “Because they’re not as strong as males!"  He flared.  "Female European Werewolves aren’t as strong as males, just as female Lokoti Werewolves aren’t as strong as their male counterparts!  Besides, I don’t trust other European Werewolves!  A son of mine would no sooner knock his Lokoti Werewolf mother out of the way, to attack the human she was trying to protect!”

            “But you were a young male European Werewolf and you didn’t hurt your mother…” I began to argue back, but his guilty expression stopped me.

            “Once.”

            “What was that?”  I thought I had misheard.

            Declan’s face paled, "Once I did when I was three years old, when the full moon triggered my first change.  Luckily, your Dad, Grandpa and Grandfather were there.  Your Dad caught my Mom before she hit the wall and your Grandfather caught me before I smashed through the locked front door.  I would have made a run at a human, but the male Lokoti Werewolves were able to stop me.”

            At first I was startled into silence, but then I tried to console. 

            “But Declan,” I began, "it was your first change and you were only three years old.  You had to be trained.”

            “I know, but it took years for my training to come into effect."  He reminded.  "Your Dad caught my Mom.  But from the force I used when I threw her out of the way, I could have harmed Derik whom she was pregnant with at the time.  Your Dad never trusted me because of it, which was why he hated the idea of you ending up with me.” 

            At first I found it hard to imagine a three year old boy, throwing his mother against a wall when she tried to restrain him.  But then I could, if the three year old was in his European Werewolf body.  Since they expanded so much with supernatural muscle, he was probably as tall as an adult human, let alone stronger than one.  Is this why he’s so afraid of creating anymore European Werewolves, even as children?

            “Hang on,” I shook my head in disagreement, "don’t forget that our baby will be half Lokoti Werewolf as well, like its mother.”

            “And what if it’s also a Circulator, like its mother?”  He arched a wary eyebrow.  “Then it could have my strength and your speed!  Just imagine if it snuck out of the house by instantaneously phasing, to go snacking on human that way.  A Circulator – slash – European Werewolf; we could be creating an almost unstoppable murderer!”

            “Declan!” I walked up to hold his head in my hands, to force him to look into my eyes.  “I just did create a Circulator – slash – European Werewolf!  And I have faith in YOU!  Just as I have faith that we could train our child to respect life.”

            “B, you’re not listening to me.” He put my hands over his heart.  “When I first turned at the age of three, the bloodlust almost ate me inside out!  Night after night, your Grandfather sat with me.  I tried so hard not to hunt human, for the sake of my Mom and my little brother.  But just as much as I loved my family; sometimes when the pain got so bad, I would even crave THEM!”

            I shook my head again, “I don’t believe you.”

            “That first year that I changed, there was a reason why your Grandfather stayed with me night after night, to train me.  Sometimes I'd stand in Derik’s room and watch him sleep in his cot.  At first I'd look on my little brother with love, but then my stomach would rumble, my mouth would water and the bloodlust would be saying, ‘do it, feed your hunger!  He'd taste so good and he'd take the pain away.’  Then my Mom would come into the room and stroke my hair, thinking that I was acting all brotherly?  Her soft hands smelled like the tenderest steak you've ever tasted in your life.”

            “Declan!” I cried out in alarm, as I pulled my hands back sharply.

            “THIS is why I don’t want to risk a son ever thinking that way about you!”  He grabbed hold of my arms.  “I may have fought the bloodlust to protect my loved ones, but I WILL NOT abide another threat to come along and destroy everything!”

 

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