Wolves among men

by penelope sweet

  “So they all went looking for Malik, not really knowing who or what he was at the time,” his voice got a little quieter as he continued his story. “They walked into a slaughterhouse, only Grant and like five others got out of there when about thirty of them went in.”

  “Jesus,” I exclaimed as he nodded at me.

  “I know. So anyway Grant goes off with the rest of the survivors and they moved around from place to place for a while until the treaty was made with Malik. After that Grant settled down here and since then he’s just been collecting wolves so to speak. They show up from all over and he takes them in as though they’re family.”

  “Then you just become family.” He nodded and bent down to pick up his cup, groaning as he realized it was empty. “He and Sam have a lot in common then.” He looked over at me slightly confused as he tossed his cup in the garbage can behind him. “The saving people and taking people in thing.” He nodded.

  “Oh she used to be part of the pack, I was gonna tell you about that,” he began.

  “What are we talking about now?” Sam asked almost as if on cue. She walked over to us happily and threw her arm around my waist. I smiled and blushed slightly as she pulled me tight and leaned against me.

  “Just talking about you.” I smiled down at her.

  “I really hope you’re not getting into it with this guy.” She nodded toward Mack.

  “What’s wrong with him?” I asked quickly. She shook her head and shrugged.

  “Nothing, great guy.” She looked toward him, a sly expression crossing her face. “Never shuts up.”

  “Oh now that’s not fair.” He smiled.

  “Fair or not it’s true.” She shrugged before turning her attention back to me. “Ethan, can we go somewhere for a moment, I need to talk to you.” She smiled. Mack groaned in protest and leaned against his tree once again.

  “Come on, Sam, we were just getting to know each other,” he grumbled as she pulled herself away from me.

  “Just for a minute, Mack, and I’ll have him right back to you,” he grumbled and shooed us away as Sam grabbed my arm and led me out of the courtyard and back down the short stretch of hallway toward her room.

  I grew nervous as she closed the door behind me and invited me deeper into the confines of her bedroom. Old books cluttered her long dark wooden dresser, piles of clothes littered the floor and as I followed her in, I couldn’t help but smile. For the first time since we had met she wasn’t just the woman who made me, who guided me and lectured me but in that moment I saw her as a friend, an ordinary girl thrown into an extraordinary situation, something I could more than relate to.

  She sat down on the edge of her bed and began tying her hair up in a ponytail as she smiled up at me. “You can sit, Ethan. I’m not gonna bite,” she spoke sweetly. I couldn’t help but chuckle as I moved closer to her.

  “I don’t know.” I smirked. “Considering what happened the first time we met that seems kind of like an empty promise.” She smiled and rolled her eyes, letting out a soft laugh as I sat on the bed next to her.

  “You would bring that up,” her voice was thick with sarcasm.

  “I didn’t mean anything-”

  “No its okay.” She turned to me and offered me a warm smile. “I just wanted to know how you’re holding up.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked quickly, not sure what it was she really wanted to know. She shrugged lightly as her eyes locked with mine.

  “It can’t be easy, what you’re going through.”

  “Do I have any choice?” I answered her sincerely.

  “No I guess not,” she spoke quietly. “Look, Ethan.” She looked up at me, remorse filling her eyes. “I’m sorry, about all of this.”

  “Why are you apologizing? It wasn’t your-”

  “Yes it was, Ethan.” I was taken aback by her sharp interruption. “It was,” she looked into my eyes and repeated herself as if I had missed the point. “I spoke to Grant and believe me when I say I got an earful about what I did to you and he was right.”

  “Sam, don’t do this.”

  “No, Ethan, let me finish.” I sat quietly and waited as she sucked in a sharp breath and closed her eyes. “What I did to you was wrong,” she began, struggling with each word as it came out. “You asked me to save you so I did but I never should have left you on your own like that.” She took a deep breath and held her head in her hands. “I should have gone back for you, I should have done something but I was afraid and I abandoned you and I’m sorry,” her voice was quivering, bordering on tears as she spoke.

  “Sam, it’s okay you don’t have to be upset about it. Shit happens, no harm no foul.”

  “That’s bullshit,” she spoke quickly, looking up at me. I could see the anger, the remorse somewhere deep behind her eyes. “The treaty is broken, thousands will die. Your sister is God knows where with God knows who and it’s my fault,” her words became quick, desperate as she sat up and shook her head. “I made a mistake, Ethan, a mistake that not only screwed you but screwed all of us.”

  “Sam, relax we can do this. We’ll get the numbers behind us, we’ll get support.” She shook her head and smiled slightly.

  “It’s cute that you have this we can do anything if we all just try attitude but no offense, Ethan, you don’t know what we’re up against.”

  “No I don’t. But that doesn’t mean we’re shit out of luck and that doesn’t mean there’s no sense in trying.” She looked up at me slowly as I spoke, “Yeah you messed up. It would have been nice to have someone there to walk me through life as a new species, to maybe have someone explain the treaty and Malik and all this crap before I went and found out the hard way.” She lowered her gaze and bit her lip gently. “It would have been nice to get to know you and the rest of them under different circumstances and it would have been nice to not have been stabbed in the alley that night but you know what, Sam? Shit happens as I said. There’s nothing we can do about it and sitting here crying over a stupid mistake isn’t going to change anything.”

  She looked up at me once again, tears welling up behind her eyes as she listened.

  “You saved my life more than once and to me that count’s more than any of the dumb shit you may have done so thank you.” She smiled lightly as she looked down and nodded.

  “You can be real passionate when you want to be you know that.” I chuckled lightly and shrugged.

  “I don’t know about that.” I smiled as she looked over at me. “I just don’t think you should be so hard on yourself, everyone makes mistakes.”

  We sat in silence for a long moment before the sound of Grant calling his family to dinner came rushing through the window behind us. I offered her my hand and helped her to her feet.

  “Hungry?” I asked with a smile. She nodded lightly and took my hand, leading me out of the room and down the narrow hallway.

  “Come on, man, put the book down and come outside.”

  “I’m perfectly fine here, thank you,” James muttered without looking up. Matt groaned as he turned toward us.

  “Sam, could you do something about this?”

  “Like what?” She smiled as she let go of my hand and walked toward them.

  “He won’t come outside.”

  “I don’t like crowds.”

  “You should come outside with us.” She smiled down at him. James looked up from his book for a moment and in that moment it seemed as if he was under some sort of spell, his face relaxed and a smile crossed his lips as he closed the book on his lap.

  “I don’t really belong out there.”

  “Neither do I,” I added from the doorway. “But I’m going anyway.” James looked to me and back to Sam before standing with a loud sigh and dropping his book onto the chair beneath him.

  “I suppose I should at least get some food.”

  “There we go.” Matt smiled as he threw his arm around the kid and led him outside, holding the door open for Sam and I as we followed.

  I stopped Sa
m at the door and pulled her into a hug, after everything we talked about it felt only right and as she squeezed back gently under my embrace I felt her body relax and a wave of relief washed over me.

  “Are we going or what?” Matt smiled from the doorway as I looked over her shoulder at him. I pulled away from Sam and smiled down at her quickly before following them back into the courtyard and taking advantage of the buffet that waited to greet us.

  Chapter Eighteen

  We piled our plates without care or concern and my mouth watered with each new dish that caught my eye. Burgers piled high on paper plates, sausages and ribs crammed next to mouthwatering plates of chicken and some kind of fish. Sandwiches and salads of all kinds, all the things I grew to love over the years and things I had yet to discover laid out before me in a welcoming and delicious buffet.

  With my plate stuffed as high as it would go, I followed Sam and Logan to an empty white table and took my seat on the other side of her. If it weren’t for the ingrained instinct to be a more civilized person I would have been tempted to forgo the use of a fork and simply shove my face into my place but my better instincts got a hold of me and instead I turned to watch the many smiling faces around me as they filled their plates and took their seats.

  Children looked over the tables hungrily, pointing to what they wanted as their mothers filled their plates happily and I wondered with a smile if this is how life unfolded for them each and every day a celebration of family and friends, a celebration of life, new life and for some second chances.

  My thoughts were broken as Mack sat down next to me, his eyes fixed on the mountainous plate in front of him. “Looks good doesn’t it?” He smiled as he grabbed his fork and began to pick at the feast he had chosen for himself. I smiled and nodded as I grabbed a burger and began to tear into it like a man on the verge of death. I could hear Sam chuckle as she watched me finish it in four bites taking no time to rest as I grabbed a second one and gave it the same treatment.

  “Hungry?” Logan asked with a smile as he gingerly picked at his own plate.

  “Dude, you have no idea,” my sentence muffled and distorted, followed quickly by the sound of laughter around me. Matt took his seat next to Sam and shortly after came James who seemed more interested in his book rather than the meager amounts of food placed in front of him. Logan turned to him and scoffed.

  “Is that all you gonna eat, man?” he asked as James looked up from his book, confusion covered his face as he looked down at his plate then to Logan.

  “What?” He questioned lightly.

  “Nothing,” Logan shook his head as he grabbed one of his three burgers and slapped it down on James’ plate. “You’re a skinny little shit as it is, eat something will you.” He chuckled as James rolled his eyes and went back to his preferred hobby. I had only known him for a short time but Logan was right, James was a tiny guy and never without something to read.

  “Don’t mind him,” Sam cooed as she threw her arm around James and pulled him into a quick one armed hug. “We love you just as you are.” James blushed slightly and marked his place as she released him and turned her attention back to her plate. He set the book down on the table next to him and began to eat his fill, slowly and carefully as if he was studying every bite.

  “Yeah, man, skinny or not you’re still one hell of a fighter.” Matt smiled before glaring slightly at Logan. “So, Ethan,” He nodded at me. I looked up at him questioningly, still managing to load forkfuls of food into my mouth as I waited for him to speak. “What did you and Sam talk about in there?” He nodded toward the building behind us. A condescending tone poured from his lips and for a moment I wasn’t sure what to say. Thankfully Sam took over and I went happily back to my meal.

  “Since when is that any of your business?” She smiled.

  “It’s not, I’m just curious.” He shrugged, biting off at least half of his burger in one motion as he looked over at her.

  “Okay, well if you’re going to be nosy, I was just wondering how he was that’s all.” She smiled as his posture began to relax.

  “That’s it?” he sounded shocked.

  “Yes that’s it, Matt.” She looked over at him and smiled lightly. “Why do you care?”

  “I don’t.” He shrugged. “Just asking is all.” Sam rolled her eyes and went back to her meal. We sat in silence and enjoyed the time we shared in the company of our new friends as they gathered around us and one by one took their places at the long stretch of tables set out before them. It was nice to see so many people smiling, to see others like me and to know that at least for this moment it wasn’t me against the world anymore. I had answers, I had hope and in this particular moment in time I was right where I wanted and needed to be.

  Grant sat down next to me and folded his arms on the table.

  “You’re not eating?” I asked him as I turned to meet his smiling face. He shook his head slightly.

  “No, I had enough while I was helping to cook everything,” he spoke warmly as I pushed my empty plate to the side and looked at him intently. “Actually I was wondering if I could have a word with you whenever you’re ready.” I nodded hesitantly.

  “What is it with everyone wanting to talk to me today?” I chuckled as I stood from the table.

  “Been popular today have you?” He smiled.

  “More or less.” I smirked as I stood and followed Grant toward the main building. He held the door open and as I stepped inside a rush of cool air swept past me, chilling me as the door closed loudly behind us.

  “So what’s this all about?” I asked curiously as I stood under the hum of the bright florescent lights. Grant’s face lit up and he walked around me quickly. As he moved back into view he held out pair of overstuffed black binders. I eyed them curiously, not sure of what it was or if I truly wanted it but Grant’s insistence got the better of me and I took them from his hands. I dropped them on a small round table next to us and began flipping through the charts and newspaper clippings with a surprising amount of enthusiasm.

  “What is all this?”

  “That is basically what we know about Malik,” he spoke dryly. “You were asking and I for one think that you could be a great help to us.” I looked up from the pages, my eyebrow rose as I questioned him.

  “How do you figure?”

  “Well,” He smiled. “we need all the people we can get honestly,” he explained as I closed the binder and tucked it under my arm. “If Malik’s going to start a war we have to be prepared and I was hoping that maybe we could count on having your help.”

  “Of course,” I answered quickly.

  “Are you sure?” he asked surprised.

  “Well yeah.” He nodded. “It’s not like going to war is on my list of things to do before I die but I started this...”

  “That wasn’t your fault, Ethan.”

  “I know that,” I explained. I thought back to the conversation I had with Sam and sighed. “But it wasn’t Sam’s either, I can’t stick you guys with this and run for the hills.” He nodded as his eyes locked with mine.

  “You do realize that this isn’t going to be easy.” I nodded.

  “I also know that it might kill me to finish what I started but hell,” I chuckled. “What have I got to lose?” You live and you learn, a saying that everyone knows but it applied to me now more than ever. In this case however it was more aptly worded you live, you learn, you screw over an entire race of people and you do everything you can to make it right.