#augustofwhump

The boy jumped up as well and squared up next to his friend. As they faced off, Maddy took in the strangers’ thin faces and loose clothes. Her heart softened and she relaxed her stance.

“You guys are starving.”

“We don’t need pity from a tame,” the girl snarled.

“Don’t call me that!” Maddy lunged forward and shoved the girl. She was light and nearly toppled over again. “You’re on my territory and I’m giving you mercy, not pity, by not running you off.”

The girl scoffed. “You’re outnumbered and haven’t fought a day in your life. We’re the ones showing you mercy.”

“Fight me then,” Maddy shrugged. “Or are you saving your strength?” The girl snarled again but didn’t attack, proving Maddy’s point.

“What do you want, then?” the boy asked, speaking up for the first time. “Are you just going to let us go?”

“Yeah,” Maddy nodded. “Unless you want my help? I could bring you food. Oh, and I’m Maddy, by the way.” She held out her hand, but the wild wolfbloods just stared and she realized they didn’t know what the gesture meant. “Right, this is called a handshake.” She took the boy’s hand and shook it to demonstrate. “It’s how humans introduce themselves.”

“I’m Rhydian,” the boy said.

“Jana,” the girl said, shaking Maddy’s hand without further prompting. “Food would be great, if you really mean it. But what’s in this for you?”

“Friends of my own kind?” Maddy suggested hopefully.

---

Maddy’s parents were waiting for her when she got home, her mother pacing the living room while her father sat at the kitchen table trying to reassure her.

“Where were you?” Emma asked sharply when she walked in.

“Out. Running.” Maddy shook out her shoulders. “I’ve got so much extra energy.” Her parents exchanged a look. “What?”

“We were worried about you, is all,” Emma said. “You should really let us know when you’re going somewhere.”

Maddy bristled. “I’m not a prisoner.”

“No, of course not.” Emma crossed the room and wrapped her arms around her daughter. “But I thought something else might have happened to you. Just talk to us, ok?”

“Ok,” Maddy agreed, hugging her mother back and feeling a little guilty about her new secret.

---

Rhydian insisted that Maddy seemed genuine. Jana wanted to trust her, too, but she knew they needed to be cautious around anyone who wasn’t pack, so she made sure they got to the meeting point early. She found a spot behind a fallen tree where they could wait. If Maddy arrived with her pack, or worse humans, they’d at least have a head start on their escape before they were seen.

To Jana’s relief, Maddy arrived alone, right when she said she would. She didn’t comment on it when Jana and Rhydian jumped out of their hiding spot to join her, only slid the bag off her shoulder and pulled out, as promised, a clear box of meat. Jana grabbed the box and had the lid off before she’d even finished saying “thank you”, but she dropped it and recoiled when smells unlike what she was used to reached her nose.

“It smells weird. Are you trying to poison us?”

“No!” Maddy took a piece of meat and popped in her mouth to show it was safe. “It’s not poisoned, just cooked.” Jana tilted her head in confusion. “Um, it’s been heated up a lot,” Maddy explained. “Humans do that because they can’t eat it raw. Makes it last longer too. And it caught on with us when electric stoves were invented.”

“What are electric stoves?” Rhydian asked. He tentatively took a piece of the cooked meat and Jana followed suit, not willing to be outdone in bravery. The meat was dry and didn’t taste of blood, but it had another flavor she couldn’t describe and it wasn’t terrible. Reassured that the meat was good, Jana and Rhydian ate quickly, almost desperately, and finished the box while Maddy talked.

“They’re like a big box that makes heat without fire. People use them to cook food, not just meat but other stuff too like bread.”

“What’s bread?”

Maddy shook her head. “Sorry, I’ve got no idea how to explain that one. But it’s good, trust me.”

“And the light without fire?” Jana asked. “Is that also…” she trailed off, unsure of the correct word.

“Electricity,” Maddy finished for her. “Yeah. Lights and stoves are different, but they both run with electricity.” Jana nodded, thinking back to the lights she and Rhydian had seen weeks earlier and wondering exactly how electricity worked.

“Maybe the human world isn’t so bad,” she mused. “It actually sounds kind of interesting.”

Maddy shrugged. “I guess,” she agreed reluctantly, a look of sadness in her eyes. “But I think your way sounds better. Free to be yourselves without humans breathing down your neck.”

“Come running with us,” Rhydian offered. “Tonight, as wolves. You can be free, too, even if it’s just a little while.”

Maddy sighed. “I’d love to, but I haven’t transformed yet.”

“When you do, then,” Jana promised. “And maybe you can come back before then too?”