In the dining room, Sammy's mouth silently sculpted out the words as he made his way through the book on animal husbandry, occasionally pausing to look something up in the dictionary. The late afternoon sun shone through the windows, providing good reading light but also beckoning him to go outside for a run. But he refused to go out until he made it through the chapter. He was trying his hardest, but he had five years of schoolwork to catch up on, which sometimes got discouraging. This book wasn't part of Night Sky's curriculum, but if Sammy couldn't be a master hunter, then at the very least maybe he could pull his weight around the ranch. Thus far, the alphas had entrusted him with small, odd jobs that anyone could do, but he was going to have to contribute more around here eventually.

A shadow slid over him. It wasn't hard to notice, being cast right over the open pages that had his full attention. He looked up at the backlit silhouette of a very frightening man. As his eyes adjusted, he found himself under Hatchet's scrutiny. It was like the abyss staring back.

"Odysseus tells me you're an eager learner."

Sammy's mouth went dry. Even though Hatchet had helped save his life, he knew that hadn't been the old man's intention. It was Sarah they had been looking for, and Sammy hadn't even been a consolation prize. Thus far, he had managed to avoid any one-on-one encounter with the grizzled old soldier, and Hatchet had always had better things to focus his attention on than Sammy. Until now.

Sammy mustered a nod.

"Well, he asked me to take over your P.E.. Come with me."

"P.E.?" Sammy asked, but he obediently shut the books and stood up. Odysseus had asked this? Did that mean that he cared about Sammy's development? Or was he simply handing him off?

"Physical Education. I'm tired of watching you skulk around here. You're still thinking like a victim, so I'm going to teach you how to take care of yourself." Hatchet led him out the back door, into the back yard where he had laid out several brand-new foam mats laid out in a large square.

"And how are we gonna do that, sir?"

"None of that 'sir' crap. I got enough of that in the army. We're packmates. You call me Hatchet when we're here and Robert when we're out in public, cub." The old man shed his shirt, revealing a chest as pitted with scars as his face. "But never, ever call me Bob."

"Yes s- Hatchet."

"And to answer your question, we're going to start by teaching you how to defend yourself. We'll alternate days between combat and weight-lifting, put some muscles on those scrawny bones of yours. As time goes on, I'll teach you different combat techniques for your human and werewolf forms. Both have their advantages." He paused. "You do know never to transform in the middle of a fight, don't you? You stick to whatever form you're in."

Yet another thing he was ignorant about. Sammy's face heated. "Uh, no sire. Why not?"

"Because your skull's at its most fragile while it's reshaping itself. Any blow to the head could cause serious brain trauma, if not kill you outright. I've seen it happen."

Of that, Sammy had no doubt.

"Now, bare your claws."

"My claws...?" Sammy looked down at his still-human hands.

Hatchet sighed. It was not a pleasant sound. "That's how we said 'go werewolf' in my day, lad."

"Oh." Sammy cringed. Hatchet no doubt thought he was an idiot. Gah, he should have known what the old man meant. "Okay," he added.

He dropped down onto the ground beside the mats and removed his boots and socks, setting them down beside him. His T-shirt he bunched up and put on top of the boots. He then shut his eyes and rolled his head back, taking three deep breaths before he willed the change, pushing his body into the process even though now he really did not want to. When it was done, he stood up on shaky legs, noting that Hatchet had also changed.

"Take a minute to get steady on your feet," he said. "Now look, this is gonna get painful at times, but I know you can handle it. Soon as you're ready, step onto the mats, and stand like I'm standing…"

***
You can read Werewolf's Humanity for the rest of the story!

Another amazing illustration by Jerome Jacinto.