Silver's Secret
The lithe boy sat down in the gardens and grinned. He'd been out there for hours now and never came in for food or water. Clay looked out the east window at the boys back where he sat one a blanket, his legs crossed, meditating. The blond werewolf was mentally calculating when the teen would want food, much less try to get him going again.
But, no... Silver had promised Elena that he would not attempt to get the over-protective wolf agitated again. So far, he'd been keeping his word. Something that took Clayton by surprise since the younger seemed so mischievous in the beginning. The blond man sighed.
His eyes narrowed suddenly at the spot where the teen was still sitting. Did he imagine that slight tip of the other's head? The blue-streaked red hair was easily distinguishable as Silver repositioned his head. Nope, not my imagination. Clayton thought as he picked up a pen from the side table. Watching Silver more closely now, he dropped the pen to the wood floor.
Silver's head tipped toward the window again.
Clayton cursed loudly. "Jeremy, that kid ain't a normal sorcerer!"
Silver laughed slightly at the older man's reaction to his heightened senses. He'd heard the sigh, visualizing the blond standing in the window watching him. Then the pen, a test he was sure. When he moved his head towards the window, he'd heard Clayton's yell for the other two adults.
He rose to his feet slowly and removed his shirt just as the three werewolves rounded the corner. The long buried secret he and Quartz had kept hidden for years was about to be revealed to the very people who'd sooner kill a mutt than help them.
"Hello," he said, keeping his voice light and carefree. "I was hoping that it would not come to this, but I can see I was wrong to hide this from you all. Being Pack, I'm not really sure you'll want to help me after this."
"What are you, Silver?" Jeremy asked. There was a note of apprehension in the older mans voice. "Why didn't we notice sooner?"
"I'm good at keeping secrets. So is my sister."
"He's a God-damned muttཀ" Clayton hissed through clenched teeth. "A mutt in our haven, on our territoryཀ"
"Clayton, please," Silver whispered gently, pleadingly. "I am what I said I was- a sorcerer. Yet, there is something else that goes with my powers now. Something that happened to me and Quartz four years ago, when we were thirteen."
Jeremy placed a hand on the dark red lines that ran jaggedly down Silver's back. Left shoulder down to right hip- claw marks. The Asian's fingers deftly traced the crescent moon mark on the boy's upper arm. "You were bitten."
Silver nodded once. "My sister was, too. There was no one around to help us, no one to teach us."
"How did she survive?" Elena asked softly. "You must have taken into consideration that we would have killed you, but the question is still how did we not see this earlier?"
"Cover spell- advanced, of course." The teen offered a small wan smile. "It's a glamour."
Jeremy, still inspecting the long-healed scars, snorted a laugh. "If that's the case then the wolf in you is completely at ease with the sorcerer powers that you have. What about your sister?"
The phone rang then. Elena went to answer it, leaving the teen alone with one curious werewolf and another that was itching to rip his head off. When she returned, there was no smile on her face.
"That was Lucas." She said matter-of-factly. "They just finished meeting with Silver's family and agreed to take the case. But, that said, there is one other thing Silver either didn't know or hid from us well."
"What? Is it my sister?"
"No, the twin-spell is no longer in effect."
Silver's knees buckled, he fell on all fours to the emerald grass. He shook violently with the sobs that wracked his thin frame. "Then how? What is going on? If the spell isn't working anymore, how can I still feel my sister? I don't understandཀ"
Elena looked to Jeremy who nodded once in agreement. "Maybe your magic's more connected than anyone thought." Jeremy offered. He held out his hand to the teen who took the invitation without hesitation. "Let's get you inside and fed."
"Change," Silver gasped suddenly. His hands went to stop his face-forward fall to the ground, his heart rate sped up. Blood pulsed behind his ears loudly as the world became a swirl of hues and colors. Bones popped and snapped as he tried to remain relaxed and calm. Red fur sprouted as hair receded, his face changed into that of a wolf.
"Holy fuck." A new voice said as two other werewolves stepped onto the veranda. "Is that the kid?"
"Yeah, that's Silver Shield." The teen wolf tipped his head to the side and barked a laugh. The two new scents on the air were familiar. Likely because they've been here before. He thought. He padded over to Elena, rubbing against her leg gently before jumping up on Clayton. The younger of the two newcomers laughed.
"He's playful." The older stated. Clayton pushed the blue-streaked red wolf down to the ground.
"You want a fight, do you?" The blond asked menacingly.
Silver's dark blue eyes widened in shock. Let's see... One paw shifted forward, the other lifted an inch from the ground. ... and lower haunches slightly with my head down.
"He's letting you know you're superior to him. He's bowing down to his elders." The shorter of the two new wolves was surprised. Silver didn't move as Jeremy knelt down and ran his fingers through the teen wolf's fur.
"Silver, you can understand us?" The wolf nodded. "Good. This is Antonio and his son Nick, they're friends and Pack members." Another nod. Jeremy tipped the muzzle up to his face level to look the wolf in the eyes. Silver's gaze dropped to the man's wrist.
"He knows things he never told us. Like how not to give up his secrets to anyone too quickly." Clayton said. He was calm now after witnessing the transformation. "What set him off?"
"Worry over his sister would be my guess."
Silver licked Jeremy's hand so suddenly that the Alpha never had time to move. "Antonio is right?"
Silver barked once. Please, Goddess, please let them accept me. He trotted over to the newer wolves, head down in a show of submission, but eyes raised expectantly at their faces. Nick knelt down and immediately scratched behind Silver's ears. The wolf raised his head and sighed thankfully at the gesture. Antonio placed his hand in front of the teens muzzle. Silver nudged it gently with his wet nose.
"He's the tamest mutt I've ever seen." Antonio said, he looked to Jeremy. "Has he done or said anything to require being 'put down' as Clayton would put it?"
"No, nothing." The Alpha replied. "But that's the confusing part. He's claimed this happened four years ago to both him and his twin sister. They're sorcerer bred, so she's a witch."
"He-he," Nick looked into Silver's dark eyes and laughed. "So I guess you're a socer-wolf?"
Silver couldn't help it, he jumped on the older wolf and knocked him over. A laughing bark escaped his throat as Nick grabbed him in a headlock.
"A sorcer-wolf and a were-witch!" Nick howled in laughter as Silver's tongue reached his face. "Hey, Clay, he's got the puppy act down pretty good. Jeremy?"
"Nick."
"Can we adopt him?" Nick turned his face to his alpha and grinned. "I'll look out for him."
"That remains to be seen. After all, there's a third female wolf out there somewhere, and she's in need of rescue."
Silver rushed Jeremy, stopping short and tearing around the older wolf in circles. A few short, sharp barks sounded from the younger werewolf. He couldn't believe it. They found out his secret and still wanted to help him find his beloved sibling. He went to the front door and pawed at it carefully. Nick opened the door, letting him into the house. The others followed as he led them up to the room he'd been sleeping in. Silver gripped the leather strap of his back pack in his jaws and pulled it over to the Pack.
He set it down onto the floor as he sat down, waiting. Frustrated, he whisper-barked twice so that he didn't wake the twins who were sleeping just down the hall. Jeremy got the hint and bent to open the bag. The blue-streaked muzzle dove into the pack to retrieve a small black book.
Two more barks.
"You want us to read this?" The wolf shook his head, a small agitated growl escaped his muzzle. Jeremy opened the book for him. Nick burst into fits of laughter as the teen used his muzzle to turn the pages to the right one. He stopped suddenly and raised his left paw. "Left page?"
The wolf nodded.
"What number?" Elena asked.
Three short, low barks.
"The third one down?" Silver nodded. "I'm surprised you can communicate like this." Antonio stared in disbelief, before turning to Elena and speaking.
"He's tame, smart, and can use magic- that could be a potentially dangerous mixture, Jeremy." The older Sorrentino said with an air of caution to his voice.
"He said his father never told him of the supernatural world, yet he admitted that this happened four years ago." Clayton said darkly.
"Probably meant that he didn't know of the sorcerer part of this world. He could have guessed about the werewolves after he got bit." Silver circled, chasing his tail once before sitting back down. "I'm right?" Nick asked, bewildered. Silver rolled his eyes. He dipped his muzzle into the bag again and dragged out a pair of shorts.
He laid on the floor and closed his eyes, relaxing his mind and body before letting go of his wolfish nature. Slowly, nearly painlessly in effort, he returned to his human form. He tugged on the shorts and looked over his shoulder at the waiting group.
"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to start a debate or anything. I was hurting over my sister."
"That's fine, Silver." Jeremy said gently. "Your transformations are remarkably well done. You said you were never taught?"
"Nope, me and Q. D. taught ourselves. Took a lot of practice, but after a while we figured out that if we just relaxed and let it happen it was easier on us." Silver reached out to grab Nick's hand in a firm shake. "Pleasure to meet you both, but I'm not sure my family would like my being adopted by a Pack let alone me and my sister being wolves."
"They don't know? How did you hide it all these years?"
"Family functions have a lot of people that attend. That's usually once or twice a week, so Quartz and I can slip away unnoticed. One at a time usually- that way one of us can cover for the other."
"Nice plan." Nick commented. "So you have communication techniques? That's cool."
"They were my sister's idea. She wanted to see if there was anything we couldn't do in our wolf forms. Other than that, we've been playing it safe around the family and other people so we never get caught."
Jeremy smiled. "It looks like you need to confess to your father then. Someone just pulled into the drive."
"Black Mitsubishi? That's either my uncle Sterling or my cousins Blaze and Garnet. They're my uncle Jet's kids."
"Twins? Blond hair; one got red streaks, the others got green?"
"That's them." Jeremy sighed and took the teen. "What? Most of the twins in our family are all male. Quartz was an exception to that unwritten rule."
"So she's the only female twin and a female werewolf?"
"Uh, is the word duh too subtle for you Nick?"
"Okཀ I really, really want to keep him and make him Pack." Nick said excitedly. Clayton turned questioning eyes to the teen.
"Q. D.?"
"Quartz Diamond." Silver stated without a second thought. "The only one's that call her that, though, are our cousins and myself." He tipped his head and snarled.
"NO! Not that loud!" Elena gasped as she realized he was picking up on the emotions from his two cousins outside. "Excuse me, please, while I go beat the shit out of Blaze before he wakes the kids."
Twin heads turned as the front door opened and closed quietly behind them. Standing not ten feet away, was Silver. His dark eyes seemed to glow in the fading light of the day as the sun set behind the Bear Valley mountain range. His body language voiced his thoughts with his clenched fists and labored breathing.
"Don't. Freak. Out." Garnet took an instinctive step backwards, but his brother's wide-eyed stare only enraged the red head more. "Back the fuck off, Blaze."
"JB, do it man, he's pissed off as it is."
"They did something to him, I know it! Just look at his shredded clothes, Dude." Blaze argued back. "Fuckin' werewolves anyway, got no-"
Blaze was silenced as Silver's fist connected with the other teens face. It was a light punch, not enough to do real damage, but hard enough to let Blaze know he'd crossed the line.
From behind the haze of his temper, Silver heard Clayton howl with laughter. Silver backed into a crouch as his cousin got to his feet. Blaze chanted a spell- a simple binding- but the words didn't have time to take effect as Silver reflected it back on the unsuspecting blond with a mirror spell before sending the green-streaked blond into a tree with a knock-back spell.
Silver could hear Elena telling him that it was enough, but the red hazed anger didn't fade right away. For the second time that day, Silver burst out of his clothes and went wolf. Instead of being playful this time, he bolted from the house and into the forest to burn out his anger more productively.
"Holy shit..." Garnet turned to look at the Pack, wonder in his bright blue eyes. "Was he like that before he got here?"
"No, he's been rather tame and mild-mannered." Jeremy replied. Astonishment lit his dark, almost black eyes. "Did you know about the werewolf part?"
"Not really. That they weren't normal was a given, but no one even suspected there was something more to it. I guessed, but I could never be sure."
"Fuckin little God-damned pain in the fucking ass!" Blaze rose to his feet, rubbing at the point where Silver's fist had connected. "No wonder he's been so God-damned strong these past four years, he's a wolf in sorcerers clothes."
"Blaze, I fear that there might be just a little more to it than that." Garnet stated as he faced his twin brother. "Quartz has been just as strong, but she's faster and more subtle when it come to fighting- Silver's more straight forward. I think that maybe we've been dealing with two werewolves of our own the past few years and never knew it until now."
"Man, that sucks balls." Blaze said earning his remark a few raised eyebrows from the Pack. "Uh, hi there." He laughed nervously. "I guess you're the reason he went into defensive mode?"
Clayton leaned forward. His glare made what Silver did look like child's play. He growled: "No, but my two kids are upstairs asleep for the night and he didn't want them woken up."
"Oops. Guess I pushed a teensy bit much on the werewolf remarks, huh?"
"You think?" The Southern accent was thick with tension.
A low whimper cut through the trees in the direction Silver had taken off in. Jeremy looked at Nick.
"Why don't you go get his bag for him?" Nick nodded once and headed inside. The Alpha walked slowly to the middle of the yard and called to the teen. "Silver, just come out and face me. You won't be touched, I promise."
"Hey, Silver," Blaze called. His greeting was met with a low growl. "Wait! I just wanted to apologize to you, man!"
"Blaze, just back up and let him be. He seems to trust the Pack, so let him do this on his terms." Garnet, Elena realized was the rational twin. The thinker, the planner that thought things through thoroughly before acting. He was in charge.
"You're the heir to your father's place, aren't you, Garnet?" Elena asked quietly.
"Yes. And as you can tell, my brother is a sadistically twisted, yet very useful person."
"Useful in getting people pissed off and getting his ass kicked." Clayton grunted in agreement to Nick's statement. "So, Garnet, do you think that their father would mind having werewolves as kids?"
"Hard to say, really. Uncle Jasper has limits of how much of the twins' secrets he can handle. I'm quite sure, though, that they won't be disowned or harmed because of it. I'll step in to exercise my hierarchy powers over the family should that ever arise."
"They won't be." Blaze agreed. "Dad would never let that happen."
"Even so," Jeremy said calmly. "Since you have so much power over the family hierarchy, would you willingly let them join a pack? This one, preferably."
"If that's what they both agreed to, sure. But both of them have to agree for the decision to be made on a... undisputable level. If only one agrees, then the other would be subject to lengthy questioning on why."
"I see." Jeremy looked at the wolf asleep next to him. "I wonder what he would say to joining."
From the porch, a minor disagreement between the two younger Pack members ensued. "Pay up, Clay, I win."
"Fuck you, Nick. The kid got to agree first, and Jer didn't say yes just yet."
Nick spat on the ground. "Asshole."