David's Story: A Surrenderverse Sideshot
Chapter 2: Becoming the Wolf
The ride from Seattle to La Push was silent. None of us knew what to say. I was still in that half world between shock and normalcy. Dad had to concentrate on driving, and Mama, well, Mama seemed kind of nervous, but it was hard to tell with all the grief running through us.
We stayed with Uncle Harry's family. Under different circumstances it might have been a happy reunion, as it was, it was awkward. Aunt Sue was nice enough, but Leah and Seth avoided me like the plague, which confused me. I expected some amount of awkward adjustment, but not the outright avoidance and exclusion. It was like they had a secret they were determined to keep me out of. If I had known then what I know now, I would have fled back to the Bayou and damn the funeral and the events afterward.
The funeral was uneventful as far as funerals go, having never been to one, I had no real reference point, but there wasn't any screaming over the coffin or anything. Afterward came a meal and then, when the sun went down came the bonfire and the sing for Uncle Harry. When the sing ended and the firelight began to die, Billy Black took the stage and so began the telling of the legends and the histories of my mother's people. I knew in my head they were my people as well, but my heart still told me different. I had grown up away from the life and traditions of the Quileute's, I had never learned to be proud of the blood that flowed through my veins alongside my Anglo fathers; never known the heritage born of my red skin and towering stature, never truly understood some of my mother's ways, and to my shame, had never thought to ask.
As I sat with the family I had never known, letting Billy's voice hypnotize me with the stories of a people I had never fully embraced as my own, something stirred within me. An ache in my chest, a rising rage and hatred, I guess you could say, at myself for not bothering to try and understand, at Leah and Seth and everyone else who had excluded me for not being as 'Quileute' as they were, even at Mama for not taking the time to explain, to tell me her stories, to make me proud of where I had come from. It must have shown on my face because as I was sorting through what was happening in my mind, I felt a hand clasp my shoulder. I turned to see Jacob, his eyes glowing gold in the dim firelight and so full of understanding.
"There will be time later to figure it out after, there is still more to come. Stop thinking and listen to Dad, let everything flow. I'll explain it soon." Jacob whispered to me.
I nodded and reached up to clasp my hand over his, silently begging him to stay with me. For some reason he calmed the chaos in my soul, made me feel safe. Jacob sat next to me as Billy began the next story. He told of the coming of the Cold Ones, the sacrifice of Third Wife, and the ascension of the wolves. As Billy talked, beneath the rage, the hatred and the shame, something awoke within me, burning through my veins like acid. I could feel it rolling and stretching under the surface of my skin, howling in response to the ancient crimes that had created it. I could feel Jacob and someone else pulling me away from the circle, away from the comforting and constant glow of the embers of the fire. Then I felt the darkness and the forest surround me and Jacob holding me, whispering to me, encouraging me.
"Let go, David. Let him come. Don't be afraid, it happened to all of us. Don't fight the wolf within." Jacob's voice came, and there, in the dark with the Pack all around and Jacob whispering in my ear, I screamed. All the rage and pain, shame and loss melted from me as my flesh and bone melted into the form of the wolf that had awoken in me.
I was fully aware, my mind merging fully with that of the wolf, and he and I let everything go and howled out our joy at the newfound freedom and the beauty of the night experienced through brand new senses. The smells were sharper, the trees and other wolves, once just darker shadows inside the already dark forest, now standing out in sharp relief.
A brindle wolf approached me and I bristled, he came closer, I growled. He was not my Alpha; I did not have to bow down to him. The brindle backed off and a black wolf took his place. I challenged this wolfs authority as well, but he did not back off. He looked at me calmly, then reached out one huge paw and swatted me on the nose, which pissed me right off. I lunged at him, how dare he swat me like that?
The big black wolf raised his eyebrows at me, and then very calmly swatted me again, harder this time, hard enough to lay me out. I lay there dazed and the black wolf walked over to me. He slowly lowered his head, clamped his bone-crushing jaws over my jugular and shook me. As he shook me, I could hear laughter filtering into my thoughts. I went limp pondering this new development.
"What…" I thought.
"Nice of you to join the conversation David. Can I let you go now?" The voice, tinged with amusement was familiar to me.
"Jacob?" I asked.
"That's Alpha to you, Puppy." That voice was familiar too.
"Shut it, Leah." Jacob said, releasing me.
I scrambled backward as well as I could in this new form.
"Jacob, I don't understand. What is happening to me?" I said, panicking now.
"This is your birth-right. Not everyone is chosen by the wolves. We thought they would have passed you over because of your mixed blood, but it seems we now have a new bloodline to add to the Pack. You and all of us here are werewolves. Every Quileute is born with the potential to change, but as you can see, few of us do, mostly males. I am Alpha, and now, you belong to us." Jacob said.
"What? NO! I don't want this! I want to go home!" I shouted.
"This is your home now." Jacob said, phasing back to his human form.
"No! I have people waiting for me, Lex and Lyla; we were supposed to get married when I got home." I was openly crying now, having phased back into my human form, unconsciously.
"First, you must learn to control the wolf, and then you can worry about your lovers. We will help you as best we can," Jacob said, pulling me close so that I was now sobbing on his shoulder, "You are not alone, David. You will never be alone now. You have a sister and nine brothers, including me. You have your parents and the whole tribe with you, and eventually, if you so choose, you will have your lovers again. But in the meantime, let us help you. Stay with us and learn about your heritage, your birthright and all the things you and your wolf can accomplish together. All I ask is that you respect my authority and that if you disagree with me, talk to me privately. Can you do that?"
I nodded against Jacob's superheated shoulder.
"Yes, Alpha." I said quietly, sniffing one last time.