Once at a significant distance from the orphanage, I slow to a halt, six kilometres from home, in order to let the girl stretch her legs.

We walk in silence for a few moments, when suddenly the girl stops dead.

I turn to her, cocking my head.

"A-are you really going to eat me?" She asks timidly, twirling her fingers in her pale-blond hair nervously.

I simply shake my head, my vocal cords burning after so much human speech, and continue along without her.

"Hey!" She shouts. I stop, turning to face her. "You can't just leave!" She bemoans, then covers her mouth with a hand, looking shocked and appalled with herself. "Sorry, I didn't mean to shout, " She says sincerely, lowering her hand.

A pang of sadness hits me. How in the world such an innocent little girl found herself in the middle of an illegal sale of labour was beyond me.

I sigh, looking her in the eyes. "Dear, I'm not going anywhere far. Follow along if you wish. Or not." I say, (regardless of my burning vocal cords) and turn away, continuing on my path.

The girl huffs. "Wait up!" She shouts, racing to keep pace with me.

I reluctantly slow, allowing the young girl to catch up. Once she does, she grabs a fist full of my neck fur, much in the way that children would take their parent's hand.

I frown, but allow the behaviour from the child, keeping my head lower to the ground than I normally would. After all, it was dark, and her eyes were unaccustomed to the darkness of the forest.

The air was chilly, though not nearly cold enough for me to worry about the girl getting hypothermia. Still, not very comfortable, what with her lack of fur.

We walk in silence for a while, the only sound being the crickets, along with the occasional hoot from an owl.

As we walk, the girl slowly walks closer and closer to me, eyes flitting about, shivering.

I slow to a halt, looking down at her. "Scared?" I inquire, voice low so as to not attract attention from potential night-time hunters.

She nods, slowly, eyes wide, as though expecting me to be cross with her.

I nod. "No need. I'm the biggest thing in these woods, after all," I say calmly. When this doesn't seem to calm the girl, I begin lowering myself to lie down on my belly. "But the dark is still frightening regardless of your company, so I'll walk us the rest of the way,"

She swallows, fingers still tangled in my mane. "Okay..." she murmurs, sitting on my back and latching more firmly onto my fur.

I stand and continue on my way to camp.

As we walk, I contemplate my plan from here onwards, wondering what to do with the young girl.

For now, I'll simply take her back to camp, and figure it out from there.

Breaking the tree line, I prepare to cross the river, the dawn light beginning to bleed into the dark sky.

"What's your name, little one?" I ask, wading into the shallow water, ignoring the bite of its temperature.

The girl startles slightly at my sudden inquiry, fingers tightening their grip on my fur. "A-Alice..." she stammers. "And what's your name, Mr. Wolf?" she asks, leaning her body onto my neck.

I hum, pulling myself up the bank, frigid water streaming off my coat. "I don't have a name," I tell her, returning to the safety of the trees once more.

That was true, in a way, I had abandoned my name along with my identity when I became what I am. Besides, I don't want the girl to tell other humans of my name. That could end up being awkward.

"How come?" Alice asks, tone laced with confusion.

"It's a long story, dear, one that there isn't time to tell at the moment," I say, trotting along the path to camp.

"Will you tell it to me one day, Mr. Wolf?" Alice asks, voice hopeful.

"Oh, perhaps... I don't know, dear," I say, slowing my trot to a walk. She wouldn't be here long, a human child has no place among wolves.

"Can you promise me that you will?" She tries, propping her chin on my head.

"I'm afraid not, little one," I say solemnly.

"Why not?" She asks, not disappointed, simply curious.

"I cannot promise anything, for I may not be able to fulfill it,"

"I see," the girl says, voice full of comprehension.

I sigh in relief, happy that I wouldn't have to explain the impermanence of our situation to the girl.

I walk into the clearing, aiming straight for my den.

"Darra," A voice growls from behind me.

I tense, turning to see an irate Flare, glaring at me with a fire that only he could pull off.

"Can we discuss this in a moment?" I ask in our natural tongue.

He growls, baring his teeth. I take that as a yes.

I lower my front half, and Alice takes that as her cue to dismount, quickly hiding from the angry wolf behind my mass.

"Alice dear, could you go sit inside that cave there?" I calmly ask, indicating at my den. "I'll be right there," I say.

She peers around me at Flare, unmoving. "Is he mad at you?" She asks.

"Yes, dear, he is," I say in response, looking down at the young girl. No use lying to her, I suppose. I never understood why adults did that, anyway.

Alice looks right back up at me, sky blue eyes filled with fear, not for herself, but for me. I will never understand children, I realize as the girl I'd effectively kidnaped worries for me.

"Is it because of me?" She asks timidly, guilt bleeding into her features.

"I believe so, Alice," I say, glancing over to Flare, who impatiently snapped his jaws at me. I turn back to the girl. "Don't worry, my dear, I'll clear it up. Do you trust me?"

She hesitates, then nods.

"Alright then. Now, go on, wait for me," I encourage, nodding to my den.

She fidgets, unmoving, then reluctantly scampers off to my den, glancing back worriedly before disappearing into the earth.

I turn back to my Beta, tail held straight in defiance. "At least allow me to explain before you rip me apart," I say, approaching him cautiously but with determination.

"Yes, Darra, please do explain why you thought it was a good idea to bring a human child into our territory," Flare snarls, ears and tail held erect in an aggressive stance.

"I intersected a sale between an employee of the building where that girl I told you about lives, and a wealthy couple," I say calmly.

"And where in this sale did a child come into play, Darra?" Flare asked, still angry, but calming down some once he learned I had some form of reasoning.

"She was the one being sold," I say regretfully, ears pulling back.

And, just like that, all the anger drained out of Flare in a flash, leavening a shell-shocked wolf in its place.

"She was the what now?" He asked intelligently, tail falling limp.

I sigh. "She was the one being sold," I repeat, straightening up to my full height. "Do you see now why I felt obligated to intervene?"

The morning breeze pulls at our fur, rustles the leaves. Bird song can be heard all around us, and the pink-yellow-red of dawn bleeds into the slate grey sky.

Flare takes a deep breath, looking sky-wards. "I do," he murmurs, emerald green eyes locking with my chocolate brown. "My apologies, Alpha," he says, bowing his head.

I shake my head. "You have nothing to apologize for, Flare. I should have taken her somewhere else," I say, working my jaw and shifting my weight between my paws. "We can't care for a human child,"

Flare nods slowly. "No, we can't care for a human child..." he agrees, giving me a significant look.

I glare at him. "No, Flare, we can't," I stress. "Which is exactly why I'm taking her to a human settlement the moment the sun sets,"

He nods. "Whatever you think is best, Reaper," Flare says. " I only want to help,"

I relax. "I know,"

I turn to my den, where a pale-blond head can just barely be seen poking up from the earth.

"Go on," Flare prompts. I glance back at him. "I'll get the other two caught up,"

"You are a blessing, my friend," I say.

Flare smirks, though I can tell that his heart's not really in It. "I'm well aware,"

I smile, moving to my den.

The head ducks away as I approach. I snort, rolling my eyes. "Alice, dear, you can come out now,"

The girl slowly pulls herself up, looking up at me with those large blue eyes. "Is he still mad at you?" She asks innocently, cocking her head.

"No, we cleared it up," I tell her, smiling. "Now come along, let's see if I can't find you something to eat," I say, turning and trotting away.

"Wait up, Mr. Wolf!"