The man frightened her, not because she was scared of what he could do to her, but she had to wonder if the wolf had somehow taken hold of him. He still remembered that he was human. She wondered how much of that the military had beaten out of him. He was not so far gone as the wolf in the cage had been; a wolf in human shell. Thinking of that reminded her of Denmark. Even that brought pain. Even if she felt fear, the pain was the stronger of the two things she felt. Elyse formed a campfire in her mind, solidly and put it into the clearing before sitting down in front of it.
”I know very little here,” she said, staring at the flames. ”I know enough to know how little I know. I know enough to keep myself safe, and I know how to get out. I will not stop you from hunting, but I will not join if you do. But if you want to learn the basics, I will try to teach what I know. she continued to stare at the flames.
”Wolfkin like us - we have keen eyesight and sense of smell. We can talk to the wolves and they can talk to us, but there’s more. Inside - there is “the wolf”. It is strong and it is primal. It longs for the hunt - to chase and to kill. We have to remember our humanity. We are not wolves. We are humans. To forget this is to lose ourselves. Ive seen this. It isn’t pleasant.”
She looked up at him, his clothing shifting. ”Picture yourself in your mind - make it clear and solid. Then the clothes shifting will stop. Tell me your name. Your real name - not the one the wolves gave you.” she had gotten the name from the wolf called night hunter. She nodded her head to the other side of the fire, offering him a spot. ”The wolves call me Silent Fang, but my name is Elyse. Then tell me of home.”
It had been the man who had spoken of home. And home could remind him of his humanity. It did for Elyse anyway. But that was where her family was. The hodge podge group of people that was family now. She stared back into the flames and they reflected in her golden eyes. She thought of them - Marta, Kallisti, the kids, Liv, Liam, Hayden, Nox, and Anna. She thought of Rachel too - the crush itself seeming odd. It reminded her of Anna’s crush on Cade and her insistence that she didn’t have one. Even if a few tears came from Elyse’s eyes, she smiled at that. It was the little things that made you human.
”I know very little here,” she said, staring at the flames. ”I know enough to know how little I know. I know enough to keep myself safe, and I know how to get out. I will not stop you from hunting, but I will not join if you do. But if you want to learn the basics, I will try to teach what I know. she continued to stare at the flames.
”Wolfkin like us - we have keen eyesight and sense of smell. We can talk to the wolves and they can talk to us, but there’s more. Inside - there is “the wolf”. It is strong and it is primal. It longs for the hunt - to chase and to kill. We have to remember our humanity. We are not wolves. We are humans. To forget this is to lose ourselves. Ive seen this. It isn’t pleasant.”
She looked up at him, his clothing shifting. ”Picture yourself in your mind - make it clear and solid. Then the clothes shifting will stop. Tell me your name. Your real name - not the one the wolves gave you.” she had gotten the name from the wolf called night hunter. She nodded her head to the other side of the fire, offering him a spot. ”The wolves call me Silent Fang, but my name is Elyse. Then tell me of home.”
It had been the man who had spoken of home. And home could remind him of his humanity. It did for Elyse anyway. But that was where her family was. The hodge podge group of people that was family now. She stared back into the flames and they reflected in her golden eyes. She thought of them - Marta, Kallisti, the kids, Liv, Liam, Hayden, Nox, and Anna. She thought of Rachel too - the crush itself seeming odd. It reminded her of Anna’s crush on Cade and her insistence that she didn’t have one. Even if a few tears came from Elyse’s eyes, she smiled at that. It was the little things that made you human.