Chapter One

It was a quiet night at the inn. Most of the pack was out hunting. It was the last big hunt before winter, so we had to sure up our supplies before the snow came. The village was mostly empty, except for a few guards, the elderly, the children and me.  

I was no good at hunting, or at anything that a werewolf was supposed to be good at. Most thought it was because I was weak, but I think it’s just because I don’t want to be a werewolf at all. I actually started working at the inn because I hoped that one day I would meet a nice human there, that would sweep me off my feet and take me far, far, far away from this world.

That night, I was giving the tables a good polish. Or at least, that’s what I was trying to do, but inexplicably I constantly found myself just stopping and staring at the door. I would try to force myself back to work, but I was distracted by this strange sense of apprehension. And it just seemed to be getting stronger as the night went on.

Frustrated, I threw my cleaning cloth on the table that I was currently working on. I moved towards the kitchen, intending to find myself another task to do, when suddenly I heard the click of the door latch. Turning around, I saw two bodies shuffling through the doorway.

A stout, middle-aged woman and a young man. Their hair was blonde and matted, and the man had a wispy beard. They wore cloaks, stained and frayed, which they pulled tightly around themselves. Their feet and legs were bare, suggesting that they wore nothing other than the cloaks.

Initially, I was frightened. I could tell that they were werewolves, but they smelt unfamiliar. Tonight would be the perfect night for a rival pack to launch an attack. Though I knew in the back of my mind that the guards would have already noticed them and would have decided it was safe to let them into the village. Our pack abided by the laws of the humans, so we did not immediately treat rogues with suspicion and allowed them to pass through our territory.

“Can I help you?” I asked cautiously.

“We just need a place to stay tonight,” answered the woman, with a strained but kind smile.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place! Come on in!” I replied, my caution thawed.

They shuffled further inside, making themselves comfortable in front of the fire burning in the hearth. I couldn’t keep my eyes from the young man’s face, which still had a hint a youthful roundness. He would be pretty, I supposed, if it wasn’t for that scraggly beard, but he wasn’t anything special. Yet I couldn’t help but stare at him. It was almost like some strange force was pulling my eyes to him. And then he was looking back at me, with his brow furrowed.

“I don’t suppose…” the woman said, suddenly interrupting the awkward silence, “that you might be able to get us some food? We have some coins, so we can pay.”

“Oh, of course! I can get you some bread and heat-up some stew.”

“Also, is there somewhere that we could bathe? And, do you think that you would be able to find us some clothes? I’m sorry to ask so much of you. It’s just that we’ve been travelling for so long in our wolf forms and we weren’t able to carry anything other than our cloaks.”

“The inn has a washing room that you can use. As for the clothes… I am sure that my mother wouldn’t mind if you borrowed something of hers. And as for you…” I directed my attention back towards the young man. “You’re probably a bit too big to fit into my clothes. I might be able to find something of my brothers for you.”

“…thank you,” replied the man, his voice quiet and deep.

“Yes, thank you for your generosity…young man. I’m sorry, I don’t know your name,” said the woman.

“Oh! Sorry! I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Pip.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Pip. My name is Daisy and this is my son, Trist.”

“…Trist,” I repeated slowly, as once again I felt a strange sensation, almost like a push urging me closer to the young man.

My eyes felt stuck to him again, and he was still staring back. It continued like that for a moment, until he tilted his head to the side with a puzzled expression. Heat flooded my face and I quickly turned around to hide it.

“Let me show you to your room!” I said, leading the way upstairs.

After that, I showed them where they could wash-up and then I set about warming the stew over the fire. Despite my best efforts to ignore him, I could feel Trist’s presence following behind me and that strange sensation continued to urge me closer to him.  

As soon as I had finished serving up the stew, I rushed out of the inn to find them some clothes. My house, or rather, my mother’s house, was thankfully not far. My mother was the alpha of the pack, so we all lived in the big hall in the centre of the village, except for my younger brother, Luca, who had built his own house last year.

It was quick work to pull something out of my mother’s closet for Daisy. My mother was never particular about her clothing and she would never begrudge me taking something of hers to help someone less fortunate. Finding something for Trist was a bit more difficult.

Luca had left a few old things behind when he moved out, but it was all buried in the storage room somewhere. I had to move things around and dig through dusty old chests, which was taking a lot of time. And I was still distracted by that strange feeling that had plagued me all night.
Finally, I found a shirt and a pair of pants that would fit Trist, but they were a little worn around the edges. I rushed back to the inn, where I found Dahlia washing the bowls in a bucket. I passed her my mother’s clothes and then went off to find Trist.

As I walked down the hall, I suddenly realised that I was going in the same direction that the strange sensation had been pushing me. Before I could think any further about it, I found Trist, just as he was about to enter the washroom.

“I’ve got you some clothes,” I said stepping closer.

Involuntarily, I took another step and then another, getting closer and closer to Trist without meaning to. My heart was beating wildly. Trist, meanwhile, stared at me without saying a word.

“I’ll just—just put them inside for you.”

I turned towards the washroom door, trying to force myself to pull away, but I couldn’t do it. Trist then grabbed hold of my wrists and I dropped the clothes. His cloak had fallen open, exposing his naked body, but I was too busy staring at his golden brown eyes to notice. Slowly, they were moving closer to me. And I leant up towards him and then his mouth was pressed against mine.

It wasn’t a kiss, exactly. His lips parted and mine followed. Then something passed between us, intangible like a breath, but it settled in my chest like a solid weight. For a moment, we stood frozen together. Then Trist’s fingers loosened, and I wrenched free.

“Wait!” he called after me as I rushed back down the hall, but I wasn’t going to stop. I was going home. There wasn’t anything else that I could do for the rogues tonight, so Mr. Leaf, the innkeeper, couldn’t complain if I went home early. I was going to go to sleep, and I was going to forget about whatever had just happened between Trist and me.