I am not the first nor the last of my kind. 

We cover the land. Our number is too great for one man to count.

We fight.

We find flaws to differentiate one from another, even when nothing is wrong.

But now we are all the same. 

Cattle—that has finally found ourselves beneath a master.

Our number is great, but theirs is greater. 

“What are you writing?”

I clapped the notebook shut. “Nothing.”

“Come on, let me see,” said Maggie.

“There’s nothing to see.”

“Please, Jax. Just let me see it,” she begged.

“No.” I tucked the book along the side of my chair. 

My sister rested her head on my shoulder. “Why write if you don’t plan on letting anyone read it?”

“I said no.”

Maggie laughed and stood, tucking her long blonde hair behind her ear. “Fine.” Walking past me, she started into the field. “Are you okay there?”

“I’m fine.” I waved her off. “Go on before you get in trouble.”

Shaking her head, she ran off into the sugar beet field to help with the wedding. I pulled out my notebook and flipped through the pages. I peered down at the blanket covering my withered legs. I wrote because there was nothing else I could do. If no one ever read it, that would be fine with me. I sank lower in my wheelchair and stared up at the tree branches. This was my life—boring and uneventful. Any other pack would have done away with a cripple. I didn’t even have the strength to get myself back into the house. 

Maggie caught up with my brothers. My parents weren’t too far off. I glanced down the road between our house and the field and sat up in my chair. Werewolves—my father left the field to greet them. He kept nodding as the overgrown dogs kept barking at him. I gritted my teeth. Placed under servitude to them, it was sickening. Humans used to own all of this. We used to be free until they came along and destroyed the world.

“What’s this?”

I turned in my chair and stared at the brown werewolf.

Another werewolf with darker fur and gray markings who managed our town joined him. “Marty Row’s eldest son.” He pointed to my father. “The boy’s been crippled since birth.”

“Really?” The brown werewolf grabbed my arm and lifted me into the air. 

My breath caught. It hurt. 

“Wow,” laughed the brown one. “Humans are born like this.”

“Some,” said the gray-marked werewolf. 

“Why keep him?” He released me, and I dropped to the ground. “It’s a waste of food that could go to one of those boys.” He motioned into the field where my brothers were working. 

“Pack policy. We don’t kill. If the family is willing to take care of them, they can stay.”

My father hurried up the small hill and knelt. “Are you alright, Jax?”

I pushed myself upright. My arms were shaking, but I was able to do it. “I’m fine.”

“Let’s get you back in your chair.” He bowed his head to the werewolves and picked me up. Setting me in my wheelchair, he faced the gray-marked werewolf. “Let me take him inside, and I’ll be right back.”

The werewolf nodded and stepped to the side. My father pushed me to the house and into the living room. He picked me up and placed me on the couch. Pulling the blanket off the backrest, he draped it over me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

I nodded. “He didn’t hurt me.”

My dad checked my arm to find reddened skin. “I’ll send your mother in to check on you.”

“Okay.”

He patted my head and went back out to see what the werewolves wanted. The brown one was not from around here. I hoped they weren’t changing who managed the town. They always went on a power trip when they first arrived.

My father was usually the one to deal with the overseers. I leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Closing my eyes, I tried to ignore the pulsing pain that came from my arm. My condition was getting worse. I glanced at my chair to see my notebook fall over into the seat. Rolling it closer, I grabbed it and my pen. Peering out the window, I finished the thought:

Slaves to the wolves. 

No better than cattle.

***

“How are you feeling?” my mother finished wrapping my arm. 

“I’m fine, Mom.”

“Your father said one lifted you in the air.”

“So? The man wasn’t trying to hurt me. Everyone in this family has had a worse experience with the werewolves. He didn’t use toxins.”

She sighed. “Jax, please just tell me if something is wrong.”

“I will.”

She hugged me. “I need to start dinner. Do you want to come in the kitchen with me or stay here?”

“I’m fine here.”

“Okay.” She pushed my hair off my forehead. “Just yell if you need anything.”

I nodded and relaxed into the cushions. Pots and pans were taken out of the cupboards. I was thankful for the pack I was born into, but I hated the werewolf. Humans of the south were free, while my family belonged to Midfield. It was better than Northern Ridge from what I had heard. The northern lands were cold, and the work was harder. I’d be dead if I had been born on Wolfsbane land. Humans were property, and their only value was what they could do. People like me were killed. Some of the humans in our town had been sold to Midfield because they weren’t strong enough, but they had been perfectly healthy.

It wasn’t much of a life, though. I was young when my legs stopped working, and little by little, more of my body started to shut down. My parents were hopeful, but I felt my life was slowly coming to an end. At least, with me gone, it would lessen the burden on my family.

The door slammed open, shaking the whole house. I jumped as my mother hurried from the kitchen.

“No!” yelled Jedrek. “I’m not going. Those mutts can’t ship me off like this.”

My mother ran over and hushed him. “Please, Jed. Keep your voice down. You’ll be punished if they hear you.”

“Let them hear!” yelled my brother. “Let them all hear. I’m tired of being a dog’s pet.” He marched up the stairs. 

Richard entered with my father. “I’ll talk to him.”

My mother nodded as she looked at her husband. “What did the overseer want?”

“They want to lease the twins to Northern Ridge to the lumberyards. It’s just for the rest of the summer, and they will return.”

“What about the farm?” My mother clutched her chest. “If we fall behind….”

“Don’t worry, Amanda.” He kissed her cheek. “They are going to send some women to help us. It’s not hard work. We’ll be fine. Maggie knows how to run most of the machinery by herself. We’ll take care of the farm, and the boys will get to come back. They assured me they would come home before the first snowfall.”

My parents moved into the dining room. Maggie entered and seemed confused by why the door was open. Closing it, she looked upstairs, where Jedrek’s voice could clearly be heard. The redhead's temper was showing. Then again, except for the girls in this family, we were all redheads, but none of us had a temper like Jed. 

She glanced at our parents and then at me. Maggie slipped into the living room and knelt beside the couch. “What’s going on?”

“Jed and Ricky are being sent to Northern Ridge,” I whispered.

She gasped. “Forever?”

I shook my head. “Just until the snow starts to fall.”

Maggie grabbed my hand. “What about us?”

“The werewolves will send help—the women from the townsite that get moved from farm to farm.”

With a sigh, she rested her chin on the couch. “I’m guessing Jed didn’t take it well?”

“Ricky is trying to calm him down.”

She shrugged. “There’s nothing we can do. They’ll have to go. Once it is decided, that’s how it is.”

I nodded. “The twins will get to come back. Some don’t.”

“True.” She stood. “Do you want help into your chair?”

“Yeah.” I lifted myself up. 

Maggie helped me into my seat. “You’re getting lighter.”

I swallowed hard. 

She knelt in front of me. “Eat more. You’ll worry, Mom.”

“I don’t need to. I do nothing all day.”

“Says you,” she smiled. “Eat more, or I’ll tell Mom.”

My mouth fell open. “You’re threatening me?”

She nodded. “Yep.”

“Since when did this happen.” I waved my hand at her. “I’m your older brother. You’re supposed to respect me.”

“I do.” She hugged me around the neck. “Come on. Best to get Mom and Dad’s mind off things.” She pushed me into the dining room. “Mom, Jax is super hungry.”

I scoffed. “I’m fine.”

Our mother perked up, smiling at us. “The pasta should be almost done.” She went to check.

Maggie pushed me to the table. I rested my head in my hand. 

My sister sat down at my side after grabbing the card deck. “Want to play, Dad?”

“What game?” 

“Royalty.” She divided the cards into three piles. “Losser does the dishes.”

I shook my head at her attempt to get out of her doing her turn.

He laughed. “How about looser help with the dishes? Jax doesn’t count in this deal. He can’t reach the sink.”

“I can scrape the dishes,” I offered.

My father nodded.

My sister sighed. “As long as I don’t have to do it alone, deal.”