Chapter six

      “Russell! Stop!” I yelled over the loud thudding of Russell’s paws on the snow. “Russell! Please!” The snowing was coming down harder now, I couldn’t tell where I was because the snow was making a curtain around us. It was blocking my view of the surrounding area, but I could tell we were in the hills because of how thin the air was here. Russell came to a halt under a tree, I climbed off his back and put my arms around myself. “I forgot my jacket in the classroom at school.” I shivered while looking around, trying to see anything that could tell me about our location. Russell just stared at me, I huffed. “What is going on? What are you exactly?” I asked him but he didn’t answer he only stared at me, not blinking. “Russell? Are you ever going to change back or is this a permanent thing?” He shook his head and I screamed in frustration. “I don’t understand this at all! Who were they? What are you?” 

“I believe I can answer that.” I turned at the sound of the familiar voice. Russell followed my gaze and started to growl low in his throat. Standing in front of us was Mr. Blackwell, my mom’s coworker from the clinic. He still had the feather in his hair but he was wearing a black jacket and jeans with black lace up boots. He looked at Russell, “Calm your self pup.” Russell’s eyes became slits, showing he didn’t very much like being called a pup. 

“Mr. Blackwell? What are you doing here?” He looked at me as if in confusion. 

“You really don’t know?” I shook my head. “Well you might as well come with me.” He went behind the tree and the thing that replaced him was straight out of my dream. Standing in front of me was a much bigger black wolf with amber eyes. 

“YOU! You were the one that was in my house! But how are you this big!?” The wolf shook its head at me and just walked over to me. Trying to tell me to get on his back, Russell looked over at Mr. Blackwell and stared at him. The looks they were giving each other told me that they were having a silent conversation with each other. Before long Mr. Blackwell walked away, I suppose that meant that I was to get onto Russell’s back instead. Climbing onto Russell’s back with a huff, I sighed. Putting face into his fur as he followed Mr. Blackwell through the blizzard as everything was swallowed up around us. 

~~~~~~~~

While still on Russell’s back I picked my head up to see we arrived at a house hidden deep in the woods, a red ford truck in the driveway, with a run down shed hidden behind a bonfire. I watched Mr. Blackwell disappear into the shed and return dressed in different clothes from before. He had a red shirt and blue jeans on with hiking boots. “Russell once Wisteria is off your back go into the shed and change, some of my father’s old clothes might fit you.” Russell didn’t move an inch at his order, he shook his head. “That is an order from your alpha!” I flinched at the power in his voice but Russell didn’t move at all, he was never good with authority figures. I climbed off of Russell’s back and put my hand on his side. 

“It’s ok, i’ll be fine. Just go.” Russell looked at me one last time and started to make his way to the shed, the snow crunching underneath his feet. The snow had stopped falling but not before it covered everything in a white blanket as if the world seemed to be asleep. The sun was higher in the sky which told me it was early afternoon, no birds were chirping and it was to silent. Until Mr. Blackwell’s voice broke the silence. 

“Come, I’ll make us some tea,” He motioned to me to follow him into his house, I hesitated, worried. “It’s alright. I work with your mother remember?” He turned his back to me and made his way to the house, I started to follow. At closer inspection I could tell that it was a wood cabin, the roof was covered in vines and weeds it looked like. From afar you would think it was abandoned until you saw the truck in the drive. He waited for me on his porch, I walked up beside him, feeling the boards give underneath me. He opened the door and a wave of heat hit my face, along with the familiar scent of pine needles. He waved me inside, I stepped over the threshold and gasped. Before me as a quiet little house filled with pictures from Native American folklore. He had a deer head mounted above his fireplace, a candle burned on the coffee table. He closed the door behind him and started to walk to the kitchen. “Why don’t you sit at the table and we can talk.” I waited till I saw him pull out a kettle from one of the cabinets and made my way to the table. 

Looking at it you could tell it was made from dark oak and hand carved. Pulling out a chair I noticed that it had cushions built in. Sitting down I looked up and saw a chandelier made out of antlers. “Amazing isn’t it?” I snapped my head to look at Mr. Blackwell. “My father made it when I was ten. He hunted and killed the deer by himself. He was like me, like Russell.” 

“And like me?” I asked, cautious. 

“Yes, You are a waya Wisteria. You just haven’t been able to unlock that power on your own. Your birthmark,” he walked closer and reached out his hand toward me, I got up and put the chair between us. He lowered his hand. “My apologies Wisteria. I forget, you’re with that beta.” His hand clenched into a fist at his side. “That birthmark shows who you are. Those born with it are meant to be wayas. Werewolves as humans would call it, but we aren’t like what the legends say. We only take on the forms of true wolves, every aspect of our appearance after the change is a wolf. However one thing from the legends is true, should a human be scratched by a waya that human will become a waya by the next full moon.” 

“So what your saying is, that if a person is scratched by a waya they to become a waya?” I asked him, confused. 

“Yes, but those born from two werewolf parents are born with the birthmark. Sometimes even a child born from one werewolf parent and one human parent will not be a werewolf at all. You however were born from two werewolf parents which is why you bare the mark of the wolf.” He said just as the kettle started to whistle on the stove. “Sit, I won’t try and touch you again.” I sat down as soon as he was out of arm's length, then the door opened and Russell came in. He was wearing a black hoodie with faded jeans and cowboy boots, he didn’t seem to happy to see me in Mr. Blackwell’s home without him. He came over to me after shutting the door and put his hand on my shoulder. 

“Are you alright?” He asked me, I smiled. 

“I’m fine, just confused is all.” Russell tightened his jaw and I knew that wasn’t good. 

“What did he say?” Before I could answer Mr. Blackwell returned with the kettle in hand and three cups with teabags already in them. 

“I was telling her about what she is, simple as that.” 

“YOU TOLD HER!?” Russell yelled, putting himself between me and Mr. Blackwell. 

“I had to, she simply has to know who she is, I tried to earlier but someone decided to take her phone and not let her answer me.” I gasped and stood up. 

“THAT WAS YOU!?” I said through gritted teeth. Mr. Blackwell put the cups on the table and poured water into them as he said. 

“Yes, that was me. I got approval to text you.” 

“Approval? FROM WHO!?” I asked, furious. 

“Who else? Your own mother. Sorry your adoptive mother. You see, there is much that you don’t know about Clementine.” He said, sitting down with a smile. “If you’d like, I could tell you all about your past, about  Clementine,” He pushed a blue mug over to my seat. “Perhaps even your real parents?” My eyes grew wide at those words, ‘My real parents?’ I sank into my seat and put my hands on the warm mug. With Russell still standing between us, I told Mr. Blackwell. 

“Tell me everything.”