I watched in horror as more people filed into the pews, solemn looks on their faces. The sheriff was holding a meeting at Jamie's church, and Jamie, Adam, and I all sat up in the balcony, watching the event play out. The drunk, like Aster predicted, went to the sheriff and claimed there were rabid wolves in the forest and that one had bit him. Obviously, no one actually bit him, so that was quickly debunked, but other people had reported seeing wolves in the woods which meant that the sheriff had to give the drunk (whose name was Kenneth Gray) some credibility.
I was practically falling asleep in my pew, when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I looked up. "Elaine?"
"Hey-" she whispered. "Aster told me what was going on, and Abby offered to watch the pups so that I could come see this." She slid into the seat next to me. I turned to Adam and Jamie, who were watching in stunned silence.
"Guys, this is one of my friends from the house, Elaine. She watches the kids I told you about," I added.
Jamie blinked. "Hi! What's your name again?"
Elaine smiled brightly. "My name is Elaine. I'm Red's friend. Right?" She punched me lightly.
I laughed. "Is Aster coming?" I asked earnestly.
Elaine shook her head. "He's still a little sore about the whole deal. He figured that the townspeople wouldn't really listen to him if he tried to defend the wolves, what with us being so secluded and everything. But he misses you-" She rolled her eyes. "I haven't heard the end of it since you left last night," she whispered with a wink.
I blushed and itched subconsciously at the bruises still on my skin. Most of them had healed, but the worst ones at the base of my neck and around my nipples were still stinging. "Tell him I missed him, too, when this is over."
"How do you think your speech will do?" she asked.
I grimaced. "I have no idea. Hopefully well." I couldn't stand up there with a straight face and tell the entire town why I thought the wolves should be allowed to live in the forest peacefully, so I had spent all night writing a speech and I sent it in to the sheriff around one or two in the morning. He was supposed to read it today, and I was crossing my fingers that it would at least do something. It was all my fault the wolves were in trouble, and I'd already seen the rednecks looking hungrily into the woods and mothers pulling their children away from the woods when they started wandering. I used to love being in the woods by myself, but now that I'd experienced it as a werewolf- everything just seemed so much more alive. I wanted everyone else to be able to see the forest the way Aster and I did.
The sheriff tapped a gavel he had brought on the alter of the church. I heard Jamie hiss through her teeth, which probably meant it was offensive, but she held her tongue. "Silence, everyone, silence." His face was solemn as he shuffled the stack of papers sitting in front of him. "We are here today to figure out the grave issue regarding the wild animals in the woods, the wolves, who have supposedly attacked a visitor since they've arrived in the forest. Does anyone have anything they want to say before we start reading reports?"
A blonde woman raised her hand. "I just want to say that I think we should give the wolves the benefit of the doubt. After all, they are still wild animals, and it was their forest before it was ours. Are we really going to kick them out because one drunk man claims they bit him? Which we found out they didn't, anyhow."
Murmurs swept through the crowd, some agreeing some arguing.
The sheriff nodded. "You make a good point, Mrs. Beerley, but this is a democracy and everyone reserves the right to voice their own concerns and opinions about this issue. Does anyone else wish to speak?"
A man stood up. "I have six kids, sheriff, and I do not want to bury my children in a closed casket because they got mauled by a wolf. I am not going to stand by a let dozens of these beasts roam the forest while there are innocent kids and innocent bystanders wandering around."
The sheriff nodded. I raised my hand. Jamie looked at me in shock, as if she couldn't believe I was offering to speak. The sheriff glanced up at me and gave me a small jerk of his head. I stood up. "I want to point out that no wolf has been seen anywhere near town, and the man was attacked because he went off the trail. I went to the spot he was attacked, and it was in a dense part of the forest where the wolves had an old burrow. The man disturbed the wolfs' kids, and they attacked him for it. It's also important to note that the wolf didn't bite or claw him, all they did was scare the booze right out of him." A handful of people chuckled at that.
The sheriff nodded approvingly, a small smile visible beneath his thick mustache. "Thank you, Red." He turned back to the crowd. "Alright everyone, we've got Kenneth's report to read and then we've got a speech from one of our very own that we are going to look at. Is everyone ready to begin?"
I sat back down, Elaine rubbing my back reassuringly. "You did great," she praised.
Jamie and Adam were still sitting there in stunned disbelief. "I didn't know you cared so much about the wolves," Jamie said.
Adam shrugged. "I guess it kind of makes sense. You spend all your time in the forest with those things, and with the people up at the house. I just never really realized you'd be so passionate about anything. I mean, you haven't even picked out a college yet."
I glared at him.
"What? It's true."
Elaine glanced at me. "I didn't know you were going into college."
I nodded. "I'm supposed to, when we graduate at the end of the year."
Elaine had a funny look on her face. "Oh..."
"Alright everyone, first up we have Kenneth Gray's report. He claims he was walking in the trail, heard a strange noise, and went to investigate. While he was trying to 'help' the wolf cubs he was attacked by a wolf with bright orange fur, and then the wolf attacking him was attacked by a larger, darker wolf and while they were fighting he managed to run away." The sheriff finished the report, his expression clearly displaying his disdain for the drunk. Elaine looked at me curiously. I forgot that she didn't know that Aster had stopped me from killing him. But then I remembered what had taken place after, and my bruises began tingling again. Neither Jamie nor Adam would let me hear the end of it if they found out.
"Aster stopped you?" whispered Elaine. Adam and Jamie couldn't hear a word she said, but to me it almost sounded like normal speaking volume. It was nice not to have to drop your voice as low as you did when around other werewolves. I didn't want to think about how many of them had heard the noises coming from Aster's quarters a few nights ago.
I nodded. "And he wasn't helping the wolf cubs. He was shaking Loki around like a dog toy," I hissed back. Elaine's eyes flashed with anger, but she clasped her hands in her lap and straightened, trying to look like a distinguished lady.
"Well that's Kenneth's report. Does anyone want to say anything for or against this?" Sheriff looked around, almost desperately, like he wanted someone to debunk the ridiculous report. Sheriff Woodland was a real big activist, and I knew he would protect these wolves as much as he could, but if the town decided they were a danger than he would have to outlaw them somehow. But that posed the question- who would I stay with if the wolves had to leave again? My pack, or my home?
A plump woman holding a sniffling toddler stood up. "I'm not stupid, I know that there are wild animals in these woods, but I also think that since Kenneth was disrupting the cubs that the wolf acted unjustly."
"There's no unjustly with wolves!" a man bellowed. "They're wild animals, they don't care about morals!"
Maybe normal wolves don't, but we do, I thought. I could tell Elaine was thinking the same thing.
"Then why didn't they kill Kenneth?" the woman retorted. "They could've easily torn him apart, but they let him off with a warning! Isn't that right, sheriff?"
The sheriff wasn't supposed to say anything, which is what he told the crowd, but you could tell just by looking at him that he whole-heartedly agreed with the woman's statement. "Alright. Now we have a speech written by a very distinguished gentlemen in our town who believes we not only should leave the wolves alone, but we should also protect them with laws and such so that this doesn't happen again. Silence, please." He cleared his throat. My heart thudded in my chest.
"It is not our forest. The forest has belonged to animals for hundreds, even thousands of years before we were even a thought. The animals have merely allowed us to enter their habitats, and we repay them by calling them monsters when they defend themselves and destroying their homes with machines and power tools. Animal attacks are common, but rarely fatal. They are warnings, not death sentences. Those of you sitting here today are mad because someone got attacked for entering the animals' home, possibly hurting or injuring their children, and now they are trying to make the wolf seem like a rabid creature that needs to be put down," the sheriff concluded the first paragraph. The whole room drew in a breath, but my throat felt tight. I was the rabid beast everyone kept talking about. Everything that happened today would be my fault. This speech had to work.
The sheriff adjusted his tie. "I want you to picture for a moment that you have a kid, and this kid is out playing at a park. You look away for just a second, and when you turn back around, you see a man grabbing your kids arm. You don't know who he is, where he came from, or what his intentions are- you just know that your kid is crying and you don't like the look of someone you don't know putting their hands on your children. So you march over there. Maybe you slap him, maybe you scream at him to let go, because if you don't, there's a chance that that man might take your child away- and you won't be able to find them again." He fell silent. Parents and adults alike were sharing glances, almost everyone nodding along as they followed the speech. "That is how most animals feel when you approach them or their family. They have no idea that you're not a threat, and they'd rather be safe than sorry. You wouldn't want your kid getting taken away, so neither do they."
"Wolves are pack animals, probably the most common creature you hear when you hear the term 'pack animals'. They roam together, eat together, hunt together, sleep together, they do everything together. Now wolves are smart creatures- and much more emotional than some people think. Studies have shown they are capable of identifying human emotion, and some wolves in captivity have even tried comforting their caretakers. But when they're pack, especially the younger wolves, are in danger they don't have time to sit there and figure out what the-" he coughed. "Fuck you're doing. They just know someone they care about is in trouble."
"They bring down deer together, so they'll bring down threats together. If you see a wolf, the best course of action is to watch it closely and just slowly back away until you're far enough so that you can't see it anymore. It can see you, it can smell you, it can hear you, but if it hasn't attacked yet then you're in the clear." The sheriff looked up, his dark gaze sweeping the church. Everyone was leaning forward in their seats, intently listening. Even the crying children had briefly fallen quiet. "There are designated trails, picnic areas, and restrooms in the woods. The wolves stay away from the beaten path because of lack of cover and lack of shelter, not to mention heavy human traffic. This means that the paths and large clearings are safe for people to occupy without having to worry about the wolves attacking them. If you go deep into the woods however, or get lost, do not approach or yell or do anything around any wolves that might grab their attention. Climb a tree, if you have to. Do not try to fight the wolf, and do not try to scare it off. Because if you're yelling and screaming like a predator might, that makes you a threat, and you need to be taken out."
The sheriff sucked in a big breath. "These are just a few reasons why its important to respect wolves and their natural habitats. A few ways to prevent these incidents is to post signs at trailheads warning people of the creatures inhabiting the forest should they choose to go off the beaten path, as well as a sign detailing what to do on how to avoid an attack from one of these creatures. No weapons, sprays, or anything like that should be needed. Wolves just want to be left alone, like me. I go walking in the woods every night, and though I have seen wolves, I've never approached them or been bothered by them. They're just scared of losing their friends and family, the same way you would be. That is all, thank you for listening."