by K. R. Smith
The only time that I really talked to him was the night he babysat me when I was 13 years old. Grant kept me entertained by playing cards as he taught me Poker and Black Jack. He brought a couple of cans of soda as a special treat and he let me stay up until midnight. I remember thinking that night how he was a pretty cool guy.
“Did you brush your teeth?” He quizzed as he stood in my bedroom doorway when he put me to bed.
“Yes.” I answered, pulling my covers up. “I thought you were a Werewolf.”
“I am a Werewolf.”
“Can’t you smell the toothpaste?” I asked. “Dad says he knows when I haven’t brushed my teeth because he doesn’t smell the toothpaste.”
“Yeah, I can smell the toothpaste.” Grant chuckled.
“Then why did you ask?”
“Hey, give me a break as this is my first babysitting job. All I know is that adults ask kids that question when they put them to bed.” He said lightly.
“Oh, OK.” I yawned.
“If you want me, I’ll be downstairs.” He switched off my light as he turned to go.
“Grant?”
“Yeah?” he looked back.
“How old are you?”
“I’m 23 years old.”
“When did you turn into a Werewolf?”
“When I was 10 years old, after my father died.” He said.
“Oh…” I immediately felt sorry for him, “…Uncle Ian’s a Werewolf too, isn’t he?”
“Yep.”
“How come Uncle Ian is much older than you?”
Grant laughed at my questions. “Because my parents had him 10 years before me with a couple of girls thrown in between.”
“Are you the youngest in your family?”
“Yep.”
“Is everyone in your family married?”
“Yep.”
“Why aren’t you married?”
He laughed again as he scratched his head. “Because I haven’t met the right one yet, I guess.”
“How will you know if she’s the right one?”
“I dunno.” he mused. “Why is Derik your best friend?”
“Because he is.” I shrugged.
“I think it’s something similar when I meet the right one.” He shrugged.
“Oh OK… g’night.” I rolled over onto my side.
“Sweet dreams.” He shut my bedroom door behind him.
Grant only babysat me that once and his visits remained sporadic and always in the company of Uncle Ian.
“Hi B.” He would grin when he bumped into me at the general store or at family or tribal functions.
“Hi Grant.” I smiled back, still thinking that he was one of the coolest adults around because he gave me two cans of soda and taught me Poker and Black Jack.
That would be it as we wouldn’t say anything else to each other. I was usually with Derik or Rachel or Mandy and he was with Uncle Ian or somebody else. At tribal functions in the meeting hall when there was a bit of dancing, I noticed he never seemed to run out of dance partners. When I used the ladies bathroom on one occasion, I overheard a couple of older girls talking about him.
“Grant’s certainly got that Lokoti Werewolf pheromone thing going for him.” Shelly tittered.
“I feel like I’m overheating every time he comes near!” Flora giggled back.
I was 14 years old when I eavesdropped whilst washing my hands. At the time I had no idea what ‘pheromones’ were, or how Flora could possibly be ‘overheating’. I just shrugged and put it down to weird romantic behavior that I didn’t see the point in.
“What are pheromones?” I asked my friends when I came back out.
“I don’t know.” Derik shrugged.
“Where did you hear that word?” Mandy asked curiously.
“Shelly and Flora were talking about Grant and his pheromones.” I told them.
“I think it’s something to do with sex.” Rachel said.
As soon as she said the ‘s’ word, Mandy and I screwed up our faces in distaste. “Eeew!” we cried out at the same time.
“Jinx!” Derik laughed at us. Then he and Rachel watched as we did the jinx finger wrestle which I won as I always did.
Now I knew why I was stronger and faster than Rachel and Mandy, because I was on my way to becoming a Werewolf. It was why I could see better in the dark than Derik. It was why I suddenly started attracting more attention from the opposite sex, when my Lokoti Werewolf pheromones kicked in. They were the prelude for my upcoming change.
I became an anomaly. I became the first female Lokoti Werewolf. I became the fifteenth member of the pack, after Uncle Jack’s death. When you included Declan, the pack was sixteen members big but he wasn’t a Lokoti Werewolf, he was adopted by the Lokoti Werewolves. Declan was trained by them as he hunted with them before he patrolled our lands alongside of them.
I wonder if one day I’ll start patrolling like the other male Werewolves? I wondered what I would do if I came across strangers on our territory? The very thought of it actually made me shiver!
My eyes closed as I thought on how since my change, the smell of human flesh smelled as appealing as a roast dinner. Except the meat was extremely rare and hold the vegetables, so really it was just raw meat off the bone. My mouth watered just thinking about this, which also disturbed me.
I didn’t want to eat any of the human tribal members, at least that was something. But the urge I felt that first night I changed; the compulsion, the agonizing desire that drove me to run as fast as I could, off tribal lands and towards town to munch on town folk. I remember the smell of human flesh on the wind, wafting towards me like the smell of a banquet to a starving person.
I remember feeling scared when the pack surrounded me, trying to cut me off from reaching that delicious smell. I also remembered the elation I felt when I escaped from them. Then I remember Declan in his huge, hulking, hairless Werewolf body, catching up to me on the border. I remembered fighting him, with the bloodlust burning in my veins, driving me onwards to even attempt to fight my way past a European Werewolf. My heart still raced as I recalled making out with him after he easily won. Then Declan knocked me unconscious and I remembered waking up on my bathroom floor because the bathroom was the only room in the house that my family could lock me in until I changed back.
“Bianca, you were running right for Alma.” Dad said gravely. “You were hunting human. You would have attacked the town folk, if Declan hadn’t of caught up to you.”
I recalled the look of concern on Dad’s face as well as the look of horror on Mum’s. Have I really become a disappointment to them? Is that why they’re marrying me off? Is that why they don’t want me anymore?
Just then I jumped from the sound of footsteps behind! I turned my head sharply, to see Grant easily leap up the steep rocks. He casually came and sat beside, to also look out at the view.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He greeted. Nervously I looked away, back over the forest, as I felt shy for the first time in his company. Grant said seriously, “I thought we should talk.”
“I don’t want to talk.” I said petulantly.
“Yes you do.” He said evenly. “I’m sure you have lots of questions.”
“Only one; how much do my parents hate me to be doing this?” my eyes welled with tears.
“Thanks a lot!” Grant burst out laughing. “I’ll try not to take offence.” I didn’t say anything else, so he spoke again. “I was a bit surprised when the pack and the Elders first spoke to me about the idea. But I can see their logic.”
“There’s logic?” I asked bitterly.
“You’re the first female Lokoti Werewolf. Because you’re also a Circulator, you’re faster than any member of the pack. You need to be trained and if you took a mate, it will help settle your bloodlust as you would be driven to hunt with your mate. He would guide you towards other quarry than the forbidden fruit.”
“I don’t see how marrying me off to somebody is going to stop me
craving human flesh.” My head dropped to stare on the fungus-stained surface of the rock.
“It will help.”
“But you’re not married so how would you know?”
“If I was married, then we wouldn’t be engaged.” He tried to joke, but I didn’t laugh. “I know this is so because of the experience of the pack and from a millennia of knowledge down our bloodline.”
“But I’m the first female Lokoti Werewolf in history, so a millennia of knowledge doesn’t seem helpful.” I looked out at the view once more.
“You have the same bloodlust that a male Lokoti Werewolf has, so we know it to be true.” He answered patiently.
We sat quietly for a couple of minutes, the both of us looking out at the forest underneath.
Grant spoke again, “Look B, I can understand how you’re nervous about this…it’s taken you by surprise, that’s all. When Lokoti Werewolves mate, it goes beyond simple marriage that you’ve read about in your books or seen in your movies. We would bond together in a way that we would become attuned to each other’s thoughts and feelings. When we take a mate, it’s a rewarding experience which is why it’s held with reverence and it’s taken very seriously among our people.”
“But I’m not the one.” I ducked my head.
“What was that?”
“I’m not the one.”
He paused for a moment, before his eyes widened in recognition. “You remember that conversation?”
“It’s a bit hard to forget! That night you babysat me was the only time that we ever talked.”
“We’ve talked plenty of times.”
“No we haven’t. We’ve said ‘hallo’ plenty of times, but the night you babysat me five years ago was the only time that we talked.” I said as I stared at my shoes.
“I remember that night…I taught you a couple of card games which you picked it up pretty quickly and won a few hands too.” He gave a playful nudge.
“You brought over soda and let me stay up until midnight.” A smile escaped.
“So how did I go for my first babysitting job?” He asked in good humor.
“Not bad.” I shrugged. “Ten out of ten.”
“Cool.” He sat back as he leant on his hands. “After I looked after you, my older sisters and brother all roped me into looking after their kids now and then too. I think the fact that you managed to live through the experience spoke well of my child care skills. Mind you, they’re not so impressed that all their kids are card sharks now and can even fleece half the adults in the tribe.”
That made me laugh and I almost relaxed in his company, which I guessed it was what Grant was trying to do.
“What made you think of our conversation on why I wasn’t married?” He asked as I shrugged back. “Because our marriage will be arranged?” he guessed before I nodded. Grant moved closer, which made me feel awkward. “Did you know that in our tribe’s history there have been other arranged marriages?
I shook my head to show that no, I didn’t know that. I briefly looked back his way to show that I was listening, before my eyes skipped away once again.
“There has never been a case where an arranged marriage in our tribe has turned out badly.” He started to rub my back, which the gesture surprised me. “And I doubt that we would be the first.”
“But I’m our tribe’s first female Werewolf.” I said in a small voice as I fidgeted with my shoes.
“That just adds to exoticness of our situation. And B?” Next, he used his forefinger to turn my face towards him. “You’re not being married to me as a punishment. I see myself as lucky to be marrying you. I know that we’ll be happy together and in a way, I feel like I’ve won a prize in a competition I didn’t even know I had entered.”
Oh no! Now I felt really rotten, as I tearfully turned away. I should tell him that I was in no way like that, instead I was like a booby prize!
“B?” He looked on, puzzled.
“Grant…” I began.
“Yes?”
“Grant I’m – I’m – I’m…”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not a prize!” my face burned. “I’m not a virgin!”
“OK.” He raised his eyebrows but he didn’t remove his hand from my back. “Er, would it be helpful for you to know that neither am I?”
I looked his way in surprise, “I thought we weren’t supposed to have sex unless it’s with the one who is meant to become our mate?”
“That’s what our Elders would prefer, sure.” He shrugged. “But I guess you’ve come to realize yourself that certain things happen by their own accord.”
“How did you manage to have sex without mating yourself to somebody?” I asked bluntly.
Grant cracked up laughing again. “You’ve still got a curious mind.” I quickly looked away, embarrassed. “No, it’s cool.” He cleared his throat. “Um well, male Werewolves can hold themselves back.”
“Oh.” I thought on this in befuddlement.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what was it like for you?” He queried.
“What?!” I looked on him in alarm as I had no idea how to answer that! He leaned in to sniff me. I leaned away shyly. “What are you doing?”
“Phew! You don’t smell like you’ve mated with anybody.” He said in relief.
“Huh?” I wondered what the hell he was going on about?
“If you were mated to somebody, I would have smelled him on you.” Grant said plainly. “If I had smelled him on you, it would have been a little embarrassing to return to our families and say that you already had a mate.”
“Oh… !” My eyes widened in horror at the idea of everybody finding out about Declan.
“Since I can’t smell him on you, it means that the last time you were with this person was a while ago. If you had mated with this person, his smell on you would be strong because you would see him frequently. If you were mated to this person, you wouldn’t be able to go for long periods of being separated from him.”
“OK…” My eyebrows rose as my brain digested this piece of information.
This would explain how Gran and Grandfather, Nana and Grandpa and even Mum and Dad behaved as if they were joined at the hip. I had always thought that Werewolf couples were the soppiest in the tribe, which was in direct contrast to the Werewolf’s dangerous bloodlust. Does this mean that this could one day be me too?
“Smell me.” He suddenly offered.
“Excuse me?”
“Smell me.” Grant said simply.
“Why?”
“Just smell me!” He laughed at my hesitation. I leaned over closer and inhaled. He looked expectant, “well?”
“Well what?”
“What do you smell?”
“Um, I don’t know…”
“Did you smell perfume or human female scent or anything like that?”
“No.”
“Then you know I haven’t got a mate either.” He stated. “Or you would be able to smell her on me.”
“Oh, OK.” I raised my eyebrows, impressed at learning something new about myself. “Can humans do this?”
“Some can, but it’s generally just Werewolves because of our keen sense of smell.”
“Cool.” I smiled.
“See?” Grant grinned. “It’s not so bad being a Werewolf, is it?”
“Um no, I guess not.”
“There are many benefits in being who you are,” he rested his hand on the back of my neck, “and when you take a mate? You’ll find out many more things that make you special and what you have with your mate is unique.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
22nd September 2084
This morning after eating a huge, hot breakfast that Dad cooked up; I helped Mum with the washing up. He was finally leaving the house since my change.
“I’m going to help repair the Lightfoot’s roof.” He announced as he put his wallet and his keys in his pocket.
“You’re not playing ‘jailor’ today,
Dad?” I teased as I grabbed the tea towel to do the drying.
“Nope.” He smiled to show that he wasn’t offended. “Besides in another week, that will be Grant’s job.”
Then to show that he was joking, he tweaked my nose before he placed a kiss on his wife’s cheek.
“I’ll be home around 5 PM.” He told her.
“Don’t fall off the roof.” She said coolly as she didn’t look up from her task.
Dad paused on his way out when he heard that and he shot off a hurt look towards Mum but she didn’t see.
I felt awkward as I realized that she was still upset over the idea of my arranged marriage, which put her in direct disagreement with Dad. I also came to the realization that he had cooked up the huge hot breakfast of bacon, eggs, grilled tomato, mushrooms, hash browns and toast this morning; as a nice gesture to try to bring back some peace in our household.
He didn’t say anything else as he looked from Mum to me and then back to her. He turned and left the house without another word. I heard the sound of his truck start up and I remained quiet as I listened to him reverse out of the driveway.
From remaining quiet, I began to hear Mum mutter angrily as she washed up our plates, cups and cutlery so fast that her hands were a blur.
“What is this, the 21st Century or the 1st Century?” She fumed. “Where women are property or cattle to be owned? Where women can’t decide on their future? Where women can’t even decide who they’re gonna marry or when they’re gonna marry?!”
She showed little regard as she dumped the crockery into the draining rack so hard that I thought that our plates might crack! The angrier Mum got, the faster she whizzed through the washing up almost moving at the speed of light with her ability as a Circulator. I struggled to keep up and I was barely a quarter of the way through the drying when the dish rack strained under the entire wash load. She drained the dirty dishwater out of the sink, before she grabbed the sponge and the multipurpose spray. As I continued to dry, she wiped down the stove top and the kitchen benches.
