Chapter 5: Strangers *Asher*
Running through the Nyssa trees, scenting my clan all around me; there could not be anything better than being where I am or who I am. My people did not have a shame about being werewolves, there was more shame being a man. They were so much more violent than animals and careless about what was around them. So, we spent most of our time in feral form; learning how to communicate as animals.
A scent quickly hit my snout pulling me away from my careless thoughts; it seemed to be coming from the Eastern River. It was a sweet, wonderful scent, almost like honey, one I've never scented before. I headed in the direction of the river to the East, but as I got closer, I began slowly stalking. The trees thinned out, and that is when I saw her.
She was the most magnificent thing I had ever seen; the most wondrous scent that reached my nose. Then she spotted me, staring at her through the trees. She was more aware than I thought. She aimed the bow that she held in her left hand, but I did not budge, I just watched. She looked young, maybe a few years younger than me. After staring for a while, I decided to reveal myself from the trees and stalked over to the river. She lowered her bow and examined me. Her eyes were sparkling and reminded me of the sky before it went into night, where the colors began to dim; a dark ice with gold, shimmering in the middle. Her skin was a delectable light caramel cream that sparkled in the bright sky. Then she spoke. Her voice hit my ears like a hummingbird's song.
Most of us do not like showing our human form, because it makes it easier to distinguish who we are, but for some reason I wanted her to see me, for all I am. I shifted into human and kept looking at her. I did not know how to respond. As far as I knew, she looked pampered, and she was from the castle. My uncle told me about the kingdom a bit, about the brutality of it and the slavery. He told me that our people spoke that the Queen was a monster and her daughter no different, manipulative sorceress'. I could not imagine a kingdom with a monstrous royal family. So surely this girl could not be royalty if the stories of the kingdom are true. I could not imagine a lovely girl coming from such a brutal place. The tales had to be unreal, but I would never believe anything without seeing it for myself.
She said her name was Aliana, such a lovely name for a beautiful female. Aliana then asked an odd question "Asher? If you are a rogue, how are you not hostile?" Obviously to everyone in the kingdom, we were the monsters. I decided to respond with a smug comment "Well, you seemed oh, so terrifying; I didn't want to get on your bad side." I gave a sharp grin, peering my eyes brightly at her. She smiled delicately. "You must be over sixteen? You can already change into a werewolf." Her eyes gleamed, full of interest and curiosity about me. "Are you not?" I responded. "No. Tomorrow is my day of change." I suddenly wanted to know her werewolf form. What the color of her fur would be, how tall, how long, and lean, how she controlled herself. I wanted to be there to see her. "Well, happy Day of the New Wolf." She thanked me with a sugary smile and then she said something that I was sad to hear. "I have to go. I need to hunt and get back to the castle." She stood up and gave me an apologetic smile. "Maybe I'll see you again." I just nodded, gave a short grin, and switched back into feral, stocking off back into the coverage of the maple trees.
As I was on my way back to the village, I could not seem to get Aliana out of my head. Her face and body structure were built to complete perfection. She would be a beautiful woman when she gets older, and I wanted to see more of her. Rustling in the leaves diagonal to me distracted me from my thoughts. I bared my teeth and stalked slowly towards the sound; I spotted a big eagle on a low branch staring at something in the distance. It seemed as distracted as I was. I built strength in my hind legs and lunged myself at the bird, startled the eagle screeched and extended its wings; but it was too late. By the time its wings began to flap into a takeoff, my claws reached the eagle and I dug into its feathers. The eagle tried to fight; then my claws went too deep and silenced the birds struggling. It was so much more fun hunting in the feral form rather than as a human. Werewolves can attack at close range and feel the warm body of their victims.
I paced back to the village with the eagle dangling in my jaws. When I dropped the eagle outside of my uncle's den, I felt a weight suddenly hit my body and I felt startled and tumbled away. I was on my back as my uncle looked at me snarling as he shifted his form into human to speak, "What did I tell you about going by that river! You stink of that castle!" My uncle had told me many times that being anywhere near the kingdom's territory would be instant death for me. My parents told me they were going to the east to talk to the king and queen about a treaty along with a few others from our village. I was age eleven when they left to the castle. They never came back after that. My uncle was pacing in our den as I was rearranging all the leaves in my bed. My mind was swarming with everything that could have gone wrong. That is what broke everything between the kingdom and the rogues. Everyone in the village was banned from communication with anyone from the kingdom.
I never wanted anything to do with the kingdom after I lost my parents, I only wanted to avenge them and kill anyone from there. That was until I met Aliana by the river. I looked back at my uncle and glared, "You know you can't keep me away from there forever, I want to avenge my parents someday; and I will." My uncle sighed and released me from his grasp. "I know...I just don't want you to meet the same fate." He picked up the eagle and nodded a quick thanks to me before pacing off towards the medicine den where my aunt Tyline was. My uncle's fur was dimming, his dark black was fading into a darkened gray. My uncle was not that old to be graying yet, but he never showed any signs of weakness or sickness. I began to follow him again when I heard a short scream; alarmed I ran straight towards it.
It was Aiden…one of the younger wolves in my clan, he was harassing another female. That boy could not keep his hormones in check, I am just glad the ladies in our clan know how to keep him at bay. I laughed as I saw the female smack him across the snout, he went back to nip at her throat, so I jumped in front of him, "Why don't you wrestle with someone stronger than you to give you a bit of a challenge?" He bared his teeth at me and let out a menacing growl. He looked at something behind me and then walked away, but not before mentioning, "Fighting you is what I've always desired, but I think your uncle is afraid I would kill you." He gave a snort and walked away.
I turned around to see the lady behind me, it was Neera. "Thank you, Asher." She gave me a nudge on my cheek with her face, a sign of affection. I gave her a small smile and told her, "Next time, don't be afraid to want to kill him…clan member or not, he's a juvenile." She giggled and padded away.