13 Truth, Part 1

As I walked into our small living room, everything was in its correct spot, but everything was different. It was still the small room that it had been yesterday with beige wallpaper and little budded flowers. Everything else in the room—the couch, chairs, tables, lamps—were just the same as they were before. But, somehow, it all seemed different. Nothing had changed, but everything had.

I was surprised that the pack was already there, waiting in the small room, crammed into the little spot. Some were sitting on the floor, some on the furniture, and others were leaning against the walls, all wearing looks of concern.

"It's about time you got here," Raina mumbled under her breath.

"Can it, Raina," I said as everyone laughed.

Raina started to get up, but Micah held her back and she sat back down.

Austin smirked, but Micah hit him hard in the stomach with an elbow to shut him up. Austin cleared his throat.

Dad, Caleb Chavez as he was known to the rest of the pack, was the chief of the tribe. Everyone fell silent when he entered the room. He sat in his favorite chair as his long hair fell loosely over his shoulders. Concern was prominent on his face as he eyed every member of the pack. And I was beginning to see just how important he was to our tribe.

"Dad," I began, leaning on the wall beside Dakota. "We saw something tonight and Mark thinks you might know what it is."

"Who saw it?" Dad asked, looking around the room.

"I did," I said, looking him in the eye. "Actually, Dakota and me. Then the rest of the pack saw it, too."

Dad looked at me, his eyes filled with concern. "What did it look like?"

"It had red eyes and long primitive fangs. It jumped like a cat but looked like a wolf with hands like a human but covered in black fur." I shuttered at what was to come next in my story. "At first, it was crouched over a girl, but when I interrupted it, it stood upright on two legs. Then when Dakota knocked it down, it ran off into the forest on all four legs, running and stretching like a cat." I paused for a moment, letting out a deep breath. "It was the weirdest thing I ever saw."

Dad nodded, then looked around the room. "Did anyone see anything else?"

"Yeah," Austin added, unbelieving. "It was fast! When we chased it, that thing was so fast its feet almost didn't touch the ground. It ran like a cheetah or something." Austin shook his head, concerned. "There was no way we could keep up with it... even as fast as we are."

Dad nodded, concerned. "You're going to have to find out who it is."

"Who?" Mark asked, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Don't you mean what?"

Dad took a deep breath, then shook his head. "No, I mean 'who'."

"What in the world is that thing?" Mark asked. "I've never seen anything like it before either."

"It's a man," Dad replied, as a disbelieving rumble sounded around the room.

"There is no way that thing was a man!" Austin chimed in, echoing the sentiments of the pack.

"Believe me," Dad said, holding his hands up for everyone to quiet down. "It was and it is."

"How is that possible?" Lexie asked, sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees, pulling them to her chest, her long hair falling like a blanket over her shoulders.

Dad took a deep breath, then looked at me. "Jess, I've tried to protect you from all this, hoping that it wouldn't affect you, but I can see it was a mistake keeping everything from you."

"It's okay, Dad," I interjected, understanding why he didn't tell me.

"No, it's not okay," Dad began. "I'm going to have to start from the beginning."

"I was once a wolf, too," Dad began. "Many of you already know that." He paused, looking around the room. "While I was in my wolf form, I didn't age. I protected the tribe for many years as a wolf, but, Jessica, when I met your mother, I gave up my wolf to age with her."

"I went before the Great Spirit in a ceremony," Dad continued, "and asked him to take away his great gift. Although I was appreciative, I had met a woman that I wanted to grow old with and to spend the rest of my life with."

"What are you saying, Dad?" I interrupted.

"Ssshhh..." Dad held up his hands. "Let me finish."

I nodded and he continued, addressing the whole pack.

"Alone, I built a great bonfire high enough to reach the heavens, just as Chief Ute did years before. Then, I chanted the old songs, praying and dancing to the Great Spirit, asking for his help. Just when I thought the Great Spirit wouldn't answer, he appeared before me in the fire. At first, I thought that I was hallucinating, as I had been dancing and praying for three days continually. But He reassured me that I wasn't and told me not to be afraid.

"I told the Great Spirit that I was appreciative of his great gift but asked that he take it away so that I could live a normal life with the woman that I loved. Then, I lay prostrate before him, face down on the ground, awaiting his answer.

"He walked out of the fire, telling me, 'Caleb, you have defended the tribe well. It is time for the duty to fall to the next generation.' And with that, he stretched out his mighty hand and touched my head. Immediately, I fell into a deep sleep and when I awoke, I discovered that I no longer had my wolf and I began aging along with your mother."

"How old are you, Dad?" I asked, as the tribe listened intently.

"I'm over 500 years old."

I looked at him, surprised. "But, Dad, how can that be? You don't look at day over 40!" This went against everything that I had been told my whole life. I looked at him in stunned disbelief.

"I knew Chief Ute personally," Dad replied, looking directly into my eyes. "I was one of his warriors. His right-hand man, his second in command."

"There's no way!" I yelled, unable to control the shimmers going down my arms as the red haze began to form in my vision. I took deep breaths to calm myself. Dad waited until I was calm, then continued.

"Jessica," Dad said, looking directly in my eyes. "You know down deep that it's true. I knew Chief Ute and, Dakota," he paused, looking at him. "I knew Chief Ouray, your great grandfather many times over, as well. He was a good chief and saved us all from being killed. Some of the pack and I wanted to take down the white man, but Chief Ouray made a treaty with them instead, remembering the words of The Great Spirit, that we not abuse our power."

Dakota nodded reverently.

"But that's another story," Dad continued. "Anyway, I knew Chief Ute and lived for many years protecting the pack. You know that we originally asked The Great Spirit for protection against supernatural forces.

"Well, I have encountered many different types of supernatural creatures over the years," Dad said, pausing and looking in everyone's eyes. "One of them was the wolf-man."

"The what?" Raina asked in disbelief.

"The wolf-man," Mark repeated. "A true werewolf."

"That's correct," Dad said, nodding to Mark. "The wolf-man is a true werewolf, not a shifter like you, but a true monster."

"A werewolf?" I asked in stunned disbelief.

Dad nodded. "Yes. We also called them The Children of the Moon."

"But how can that be?" I asked, trying to make sense of it all. I had just found out that I turned into a wolf, now I was finding out about werewolves. It was all very confusing and a lot to absorb in such a short time.