Chapter 5

The Girl Raised By Wolves

Well school started back, almost everything has changed. A lot of teachers left, there are very few students, and it's all very strange. Well I hope you enjoyed, thank you so much for reading. Please read and review.

Emi found herself in a small cage, inside a large room. The room was tiled as well as the ceiling; it all looked like an aircraft hangar. Emi looked around franticly, her mind reeling, her heart pounding. She backed herself up against the bars and sat down curling into a ball. The door in front of swooshed open and she shot to her feet shaking slightly. A woman stepped into the gigantic room. She had long black hair and purple tattoos trickling down from the right side of her forehead, disappearing under her shirt. She wore a long black dress that trailed behind her, gracefully.

"Lady Erin." One of the guards beside her said with a deep bow. She is a noble. Emi thought her stomach twisting, remembering what nobles did with wolves. Erin walked up to the cage walking slowly around it examining Emi as if she were a foreign specimen. Emi cringed circling to keep facing her, her throat to dry to speak. Erin stopped beside the man again. "How is it my lady? Is everything alright?" without a sign Erin reached out and slapped the soldier across the cheek.

"Idiots, you've brought me a child!" Erin screamed the man backing up bowing as he muttered his apologies. Erin turned away from Emi uncaring. Emiko gathered her courage.

I am not a pup anymore, I am not. Emi swallowed hard before calling out in her trembling voice.

"I am not a child, I am a wolf." Erin slowly turned to face her taking slow steps toward her as a wicked grin spread across her face, causing Emi to shrink back against the bars of her jail.

"What did you say?" she asked the smile reaching ear to ear now. Emi gulped.

"I said, I am a wolf," Emi said attempting to steady her voice. Erin muttered something under her breath, sounding both relieved and shocked. She studied Emi with brand new vigor as if for the first time. Before turning and wordlessly heading towards the door, the soldier following close behind.

"Mam, Shall we dispose of the girl?" the soldier asked nervously. Emi began calling out, demanding she was a wolf, but they both ignored her.

"Heaven's no, I have very special, plans for her." Emi cringed at the words, staring at them from behind. Erin turned around to face her one more time. "And sorry sweetheart but you are not a wolf; you are a human just like me." And with that she turned and walked out of the room, the door swishing shut behind her.

What does she mean human? Emi wondered as she slumped to the ground crossing her arms. I am a wolf right? I mean I know I am different from uncle Kiba and the others, but I am a wolf…right? Emi thought for a moment, trying to find anything in her past that might indicate otherwise. If I am human then that certainly would explain why my claws and fangs aren't as strong…but that's because I am just late at developing…Emiko…smiling child….but they just picked it because Toboe liked the name…Why I can't stomach raw meat…but that's just because I am a pup…I am their pup right? I'm the pup in the pack…at least that's what I thought… Emi pondered for a while, and overtime the fact she was human became more and more believable. Why they always gave her that sympathetic look, and slow down for her, and never let her hunt…it wasn't because they were worried about her, it was because she was human.

Emi hugged herself tighter, suddenly feeling very cold. She waited there for a while, no one came for her, in fact nothing happened at all, no one came to see her, nothing moved. All that she felt, all that she heard, was her own breathing, the beating of her own heartbeat. Everything was deadly quite. When the silence was finally broken it was by the swishing of the door. Emi looked up to see a man holding a tray of food, unlike what she was used to, this food was cooked, and looked as if it was delicious, steak, potatoes, vegetables, and a glass of some strange colored liquid that she soon recognized as apple juice. The guard slid it between the bars as Emi stared at it bewildered. She stood their impatiently watching her tapping his foot. Emi glanced up at him before reaching down and picking it up taking a large rude bight of the steak. Her eyes immediately lit up and she began to eat it franticly, some sort of sauce on it gave it a strange taste she never experienced but somehow she liked it. The man watched her carefully as she quickly scarfed down all of the steamed vegetables, mashed potatoes and steak. Finally she grabbed the glass and poured the sweet apple juice down her throat, finishing it in three swift gulps. The man smiled as he picked it up and swiftly fled the room leaving Emi alone for all of 2 minutes before Erin came in her gown sweeping in behind her. She watched Emi for a moment while she stared up at her fearfully.

"Did you like it?" Erin asked, Emi was suddenly no longer sure if she did the right thing eating the food. "That was human food, a lot better than the raw meat you are used to. Wolves wouldn't have enjoyed it." Emi did her best to make a passive face but was still terrified. Erin stepped closer and for the first time, Emi noticed she was carrying a book. Erin grabbed a nearby chair and dragged it over sitting down beside Emi. The book looked old and worn with a leather cover. Emi watched carefully as Erin pulled out the book and looked at her. "What is your name?"

"Emiko," Emi replied after a moment's hesitation.

"Well Emiko, do you know why you are still here?" Emi shook her head shyly. "Well it's because of this book. Do you recognize this book?" Emi shook her head.

"No," she replied her voice small and weak.

"This," Erin said running her hand across the leather binding, "Is the book of the moon. It tells all about the wolves, before they were supposedly extinct and after, it even talks about Paradise, how to find it, how to unlock it…even how to create your own." Emi couldn't stop herself from staring curiously and hungrily at the book. If what Erin said was true, then the information in that book would help the pack find paradise a lot easier. But the idea of creating paradise seemed amazing, yet terrifying. To have that kind of power would be exhilarating. Erin gave her a satisfied glance before continuing.

"Of course I am not interested in making paradise, what is the point, nothing is ever as good as the original." She flipped a page open to her book mark and began to read. "As the number of wolves decrease paradise grows distant, almost nonexistent. I am positive that one day after the wolves are gone paradise will close, and like a box and a lock, we will need a key, or keys. After years of research I firmly believe I am close to discovering the answer. Cheza the flower maiden will be the first key, along with the white wolf, however, Cheza is fragile, and may die before the epic is over. Finding or creating another flower girl from scratch would be pointless as the uniqueness will be done and the wolves adapted. When the few wolves do finally return, after Cheza's death, they will find another, one destined to be the new flower maiden. Only the girl raised by wolves can become the key to paradise." Erin closed the book and Emi caught a glimpse of blueprints as it shut, but all she could do was sit there in shock. "Do you see Emiko? You are not a wolf, but you are very special, so you can relax, I have no reason to kill you. You see Emi, I am quite positive now; you are the girl raised by wolves."

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