"Human!"
A little girl with dirty-blonde hair wrapped her chubby arms around my waist when I stepped into the clearing. There were a couple machines left in the clearing, but Aster had told me that most of the construction had already been finished. They were working on the interior now.
I stared at the huge white mansion in awe, holding the little girl against my chest. "Woah..." I breathed. It was a three-floor white house, with arched windows and a huge veranda wrapping around the whole thing. I looked down at the child still attached to my body. "Hello?" I questioned, pushing her away slightly. I held her out at arm's length. Her eyes were a bright green, and her curls reached the middle of her back. Her skin was tan, like she spent every day out in the sun, and she looked to be around six or seven.
Aster walked up behind me. "Loki, hands to yourself," he scolded.
She pulled away, pouting. "But, Aster-"
Aster snapped his fingers, and I watched Loki cower. "I said hands to yourself. This is our new guest, you aren't to overwhelm him yet. I don't want you or the other ones touching him. At all. Do you hear me?" I didn't like how sharp Aster's tone was, it made my stomach twist uncomfortably. I felt like I was supposed to listen to him, even though it wasn't me he was speaking to.
Loki frowned. "But Suki and them are all really excited to see-"
Aster growled low in his throat, despite not being in his wolf form. Loki ducked her head, holding her tongue. I bent down and patted her head reassuringly. "Don't worry about it, I'll hang out with you some other time. And all the other pups."
Loki's eyes gleamed. "Really?"
Aster grabbed my wrist. "Human, I did not tell you to-"
"Red, my name's Red, by the way," I said. I couldn't believe I hadn't told him my name yet. I wasn't very good with small talk. The only people I'd talked to for years were Adam and Jamie. Speaking of my friends, I had called Jamie back after I saw I had twenty-three missed calls from her. She answered, screaming, and made Aster jump when she finally picked up. I told her I had a really bad stomach-ache and was puking my guts out. I ended the call quickly because I didn't like how curious Aster looked when he was watching me talk to them. Adam took the phone, said I had a tiny dick, and promptly hung up.
Aster arched an eyebrow. "I know. I heard your friend scream it."
I nodded. "Right." I looked back up at the mansion. Loki had already taken off, skipping across the clearing towards the front door. A woman opened the door and let her inside, ushering her past the big doors. "Who's that?" I asked, turning to Aster.
Aster gave a sharp shake of his head. "I asked for you to keep questions to a minimum," he said disdainfully.
I shrugged. "I can't help it. I'm kind of curious. Can you blame me?"
"I blame you for this splitting headache."
"Should've thought of that before you bit me. Come on beefcake, I want to see the inside of this mansion!" I barked.
Aster grimaced. "You're lucky I feel bad for biting you, otherwise you wouldn't be speaking to me in such a tone. It won't be long before you start behaving, I can tell you that," Aster added, somewhat menacingly as he stalked after Loki towards the house.
I watched his back for a few moments, then bounded up beside him. "You can't just hint at something and then not tell me," I whined. "I want to know- am I going to turn into a werewolf? Am I going to become as grumpy as you?"
Aster glanced at me over his shoulder. "I'm only grumpy because you went where you didn't belong, and now I'm paying the consequences."
"Well I'm about to turn into a werewolf I think I've been punished pretty accordingly. Why'd you bite me anyways?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
I huffed. It wasn't like I asked him how his parents died or anything. I had a right to know after all. All of the questions I was "bombarding" him with (his words, not mine) were about me and what was going to happen to me. Even though I'd been acting calm, I was terrified. Was I seriously a werewolf now? I'd seen Aster in his wolf form, big, scary, and aggressive. What if I became that and attacked someone the same way he attacked me? Aster seemed fairly put-together now, and though he had a rigid posture and a frustrated expression on his defined face he still upheld himself with pride. He had an important role here, I could tell that much. My stomach told me to listen to him, to jump when he said jump and to grovel when he said grovel. I wasn't like that. I was stubborn, and I'd argue until I dropped dead. So why did Aster make me feel like I was supposed to bend to his every whim?
Aster glanced at me. "You look troubled."
"I don't know." I rubbed my nose again. It felt like something was stuck up there. I could smell something kind of... meaty? Like raw meat, and it felt like I could smell the blood pumping through it. Why did it smell so good? I'd never liked the scent of raw meat before. I barely liked meat, I tried being a vegetarian when I saw thirteen but then I realized how good fast food burgers are. "What's that smell?" I asked Aster.
Aster shrugged. "There's like a million. Which one?"
"The bloody one," I said huffily.
Aster arched his eyebrow. "I can smell prey all over the place. Rabbits, squirrels, a couple deer. You can smell the blood in their bodies."
I frowned. "So they're not bleeding?"
Aster shook his head. "Trust me, you'll know when they're bleeding."
I crossed my arms and glared grouchily at Aster's retreating back as he kept walking towards the house. As I neared the veranda, I could smell other people. It was almost like walking into a Bath and Body Works, with all the different perfumes and lotions. The scents were all muddled together like some sort of concotion the middle school boys used to make at their lunch tables. Doritoes, peanut-butter, and a crap ton of carton milk. I didn't like it. It made my skin break out in goosebumps, like I could sense danger behind the big oak doors. I shifted my weight from foot to foot, stopping just at the bottom of the steps.
Aster grabbed the door handle, and turned around to look at me. "Are you coming?"
I shook my head, and backed up a few steps. I didn't trust anything I could smell. My brain was telling me that there were dangerous people behind that door. Were they even people? Or were they werewolves like Aster? What if they all attacked me like Aster did? I kept shuffling backwards, my eyes widened in fear. I didn't want to go any closer to the danger. Red flags were flashing at the edges of my vision.
Aster watched me closely, the way a cat might watch a mouse. "Red..."
I shook my head again, and felt my legs bending, prepared to take off. I hadn't been planning on fleeing, but now my brain was telling me that was the only choice. The thought of trying to fight Aster made my physically sick. My insides twisted at the thought of doing anything that hadn't been a direct order from him. I hated how helpless my body wanted to be for him, while my brain kept fighting.
Aster snapped his fingers, the same way he did with Loki. "Red, come here right now," he ordered. My stomach felt like it was about to be ripped in half. I wanted to listen to Aster, I wanted to cower beneath him and let him protect me. That was the part I didn't trust. The other half was telling me to run. I could feel something clawing at my skin, threatening to break out. Like that horror movie with the aliens that hatched in people's stomachs and then ripped through their chests. Aster stared at me warningly. "Red, don't you dare run off. You come here, right now. Don't listen to the Wolf."
I shifted from foot to foot. "I- I-"
Aster snapped again. "Now."
I crossed my arms and hunched my shoulders. When my foot touched the first step, a jolt of pain rushed through me. It felt like I was getting too close to somewhere I shouldn't be. Territory. This wasn't my territory. I shouldn't be here. Aster stepped back down and grabbed my arm. "Be a good boy and do as I say," Aster growled softly. Then his tone softened. "I know this is all new. You will be welcomed here as a guest of mine, you don't need to worry about that."
The pain in my gut subsided a little, but not by much. I grabbed Aster's arm. "I don't want to go inside," I whispered. "Are they going to bite me too?"
Guilt flashed across Aster's face. "No, I'll tear their throat out if they try," he promised. Not the most comforting thing I'd ever heard, but it did help the worm of anxiety in my stomach. Aster walked up to the door. "They'll look at you weirdly, okay? They're going to growl, and they're going to snap at you. Do not run. Stand your ground, and they will learn to accept you as my m- er, my guest."
I blinked slowly. "Are you sure?"
Aster nodded. "Most of these feelings will go away, as you get more used to your new body and your new... friend. The Wolf can't always be trusted, so I want you to do exactly what I say until you're more comfortable."
"What's the Wolf?"
"I'll tell you about it once we get inside, okay?" Aster said, trying to keep his voice reassuring. I could tell he knew more about what I was feeling than even I did, so I let him lead me up to the door and inside the mansion.