I walked slowly towards home. Nothing made any sense any more since Sam left me for Emily. Mom and Dad know something, but they're keeping it from me. It's something to do with how all the elders seem to defer to Sam. They barely notice me these days. They only had eyes for Seth. Dad's always watching him out of the corner of his eye, and Mom's always feeling his forehead and asking him if he felt hot. A tear leaked out of the corner of my eye. It's not fair. I've been putting on a brave face for a year now. Agreeing to be a bridesmaid, helping take care of Emily after the bear attacked her, what more can they ask of me?
The more I thought about it, the more irritated I became. I have a right to be angry, I thought, but this feels really strange. I feel like my skin's too tight. It's not my moon time, but it feels kind of like PMS. I just feel like screaming. I wish somebody would look at me and really see me. Why can't they see my heartbreak? I have no one to talk to. Sam was all I ever needed and now I've lost him and my best friend at the same time.
"Leah, why don't you quit moping around all the time? You're a real buzzkill."
My head snapped up and I snarled at my stupid kid brother. "Drop dead!"
"I'm not the one walking around like a dying swan. Or should I say buzzard! Why don't you drop dead?"
I felt my body vibrating with rage. I would kill him. How dare he? Seth growled at me and suddenly he was impossibly large. I leaped for his throat. Leaped for his throat? What's happening to me? Our bodies collided in mid-air and we fell to the ground with our jaws locked around each other. I was dimly aware of my mother screaming near by. "Harry. Help me!"
My father's voice called out weakly, "Leah, Seth - you must control yourselves. REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!"
Who am I? I'm Leah Clearwater and I have a mouth full of fur! I released it and fell back. The other wolf also backed up and looked chagrined.
"Sorry, I guess I lost control."
Wait a minute, wolves can't talk, then I became aware of other familiar voices murmuring in my head.
I heard a sob, and my mother's voice cried, "Harry!". I looked toward the porch and saw my father leaning against the rail holding his chest. He smelled wrong, weak.
"Dad" I cried out, but it came out as a yelp. What's happening to me? I started towards the porch, but my mother held up her hand. "Don't come too close. You're not stable right now." I stopped and looked towards Seth. We stood motionless and watched as our mother gently lowered our father to a lying position. She looked back at us and said, "I'm going to call an ambulance. Don't let anyone see you in this shape."
She ran in the house, and Seth and I bounded up the steps to our father. We laid down on either side of him to keep him warm. Seth was whimpering, and I realized with a shock, so was I. My father laid a hand on each of us and stroked our fur. "Guess I should have listened to your mom about those green vegetables. Now, I don't want you two to worry about me. Sam will be back soon and he'll explain everything to you. Just stay calm until he gets here."
A siren wailed in the distance. "Go on into the woods now. Don't let anyone see you, except Sam or one of the other Protectors." Seth and I loped into the woods as our mother returned to the porch. She put my father's head in her lap and said, "I called Billy and Emily. Charlie is going to meet us at the hospital." He smiled weakly at her, "That's my girl." He looked over at the woods, but we had blended into the trees and he couldn't see us.
"Sue, Seth is almost old enough to phase, but Leah never should have. I'm afraid that something bad is coming. Something real bad. Tell the council." Mom shushed him, "Don't worry about that. The tribe will always have it's Protectors. We'll be ok. Rest now."
The ambulance arrived and took my parents away. I followed it unseen until it got to the main roads. Seth ran quietly beside me. When I could no longer see it, I laid down and put my paws over my head. What was going to happen to my dad?
I know how hard it is to fix a broken heart.