The wolf took a deep breath, smelling something strange. She then took another deep breath, her keen nose was having difficulty understanding what she was smelling. It was so strange yet so familiar. She knew that scent she realized! It was the smell of home. Suddenly she was wide awake, cocking her head to the side as she stared at her surroundings. She was in a big room resembling a normal household. A couch, a dinner table with wooden chairs, an old fashion clock ticking in the corner and flowers decorating the windowsill. She smelled fresh made bread and from somewhere she heard a man’s voice talking to a woman. Suddenly she saw something moving in the corner of her eyes and she moved quickly, although every movement still hurt like she was being tormented. She saw a young boy reading something and he hadn’t noticed her yet, even though she woke up rather loudly. She thought about what she would do now. She was in a strange home with people she didn’t know. Should she try to run and live in the wild or be caught or shot down trying? She could stay, they didn’t hurt her yet. They even helped her. But then she realized, they probably just did it because the cruel man paid for it! Without thinking she stood up but yelped softly as a painful shudder went through her body. The boy looked up and when he saw that she was awake, he stood up and walked to the other room without much emotion. After a few minutes, a man and a woman came into the room, the boy following them, but he was sent away to his room by the seemingly nervous woman. The man walked slowly towards her with his arms spread out, like he was trying to show her he had nothing in his hands. The wolf’s ears were in her neck, her tail hung between her legs and her lips were curled up, showing her long sharp teeth. She started to growl when the man came within two meters of the couch she lay on. The woman was nervously walking behind the man, it looked like she was trying to steer him away from the growling wolf, which the wolf didn’t mind at all. And when her growling got even louder, the woman made a strange worried high pitched cry and said to the man: ‘ For the love of god Lestat! You see it’s ill-tempered, what would you expect with him as its master?!’ ‘Don’t worry so much sweetheart’, said the man who apparently was called Lestat, ‘I know how she was treated and I know this is self-defense. Look at it, it’s just a cub.’ ‘But still’, the woman whined, ‘At least call a friend to help you before it attacks you! I can get Peter, he wouldn’t mind helping you out, he owes you one remember?’ ‘No need to worry about me, I don’t need any help. I know what I’m doing,’ Lestat said patiently for he knew her fear was based on lack of proper education on this matter. ‘I’ll be completely fine, you should go help Wade with his homework or something. Calm down a bit.’ She complained for a little while before she realized it was a hopeless case. The woman walked away after giving the wolf a scared yet furious look. Lestat’s attention focused on the wolf again as he started to talk in a warm, soft voice. He explained who he was and why his wife was scared. Though it was interesting to hear and to know where she was, she kept growling at him with bared teeth. Lestat wasn’t really impressed by her bluff but she kept growling until he said something very interesting. Her ears flew upright while at the same time she covered her teeth. ‘By the way, you don’t have to fear your master anymore, he’s dead. And that means that you’re now under our protection.’ He smiled. ‘I see you finally stopped growling at me, I’ll take that as a sign of good will.’ He slowly walked to her, stopping half a meter from her, almost in biting range if she made an effort. She stood up, with a lot of effort, and bared her teeth again. ‘Or not’, Lestat said as his smile faded away. ‘You know I’m just trying to help you. We can’t let you loose in the wild, you’re way too young for that. You need a mother. And, if you’re so violent like this, it would be too dangerous to keep you here. And there is no other option than those two. So please listen to me. I know your smart or else you wouldn’t respond to me like you just did. And you know what? I think you can change into a human.’ His voice was warm and soft and she felt an illogical feeling of trust towards him. He paused for a second before he started to talk again. ‘And do you know how I know that? I can change into a wolf too. So you can trust me, I only want to help you. I’ve known that man and he deserved to die, just a shame I couldn’t do it myself.’ He drifted away in some memory while he clenched his hands. After a few seconds his hands relaxed, his face became smooth and he sighed. ‘Well in any case, he’s gone now and I don’t think anyone will mourn about it.’ He stepped forward, folding his arms so he wouldn’t touch her and he could protect his face and throat if necessary. She stepped back, only to find herself pinned between the couch, which stood against a wall and the approaching man. Her growling turned louder as the man stretched his hands, which he held with palms up, and when his hand was just a few centimeters away from her, she launched herself forward and grabbed hold of his arm with her razor sharp teeth. He stepped back but he didn’t move his hand. Instead of fighting back like she had expected, he knelt down on one knee in front of her, making him even more vulnerable since she could grab his throat. With his free hand he started to stroke her nose and face gently. He said soft and warmly: ‘Come on little cub, I know you’re scared and all, but don’t you know the saying don’t bite the hand which will feed you? Though you're biting my arm so it doesn’t really apply to this situation, but you know what I mean’, he said smiling. She didn’t bite with all her might, she found it unfair towards him, because he was so nice and he had such a nice trusting appearance. So eventually, after a minute or so, she released his arm and tried to back away from his hand. She felt uncomfortable being pet like that. Lestat smiled as he stood up, walking to the other couch. He sat down and then he tapped next to him: ‘Please come sit next to me, I don’t want to hurt you and I know you don’t want to hurt me. So…please?’ She didn’t understand why the man would want to be with her so much but eventually she stood up and slowly walked to the couch he was sitting on. She jumped on top of it, sitting in the corner. She still had her ears in her neck and her tail between her legs, not trusting him fully yet. He stretched his hand out to her again, letting it hover before her so she could smell it. She did smell it and she noticed an animal-like scent on him, more or less the same scent as her own. He’s like me, she thought to herself. She hesitated. If he is like me there will be others, maybe I can belong to a family she thought. But the main feeling she had was relief. Relief that she wasn’t alone anymore, that there was someone like her and maybe understand her and all the changes she had been going through. But still she had doubt. He could have bad intentions. But she was tired of fighting, tired of not being able to trust anyone, tired of living in pain and fear. She stood up, carefully jumping off the couch while the man stared in confusion. ‘Where are you going little one?’ He asked her. She walked outside the room and started to walk up the staircase leading to the bedrooms, limping a bit. His voice was warm but it had a bit harder tone as he stood up to walk beside her. ‘Don’t go up please, I don’t think my wife will appreciate it if you would walk into the room of our son.’ She made a soft squeaking sound and licked his hand once, trying to explain she hadn’t had any bad intentions. He sighed ‘ Fine, but walk slowly please if you don’t mind.’ Like that was such a problem she thought to herself as she limped onwards. They arrived at the second floor and she walked to the room where she smelt the scent of Lestat and the woman the strongest. Before she reached the room however, a door on the left opened and the little boy she had seen earlier stuck his head out of the door. Lestat quickly stepped between her and the boy. The wolf rolled her eyes mentally, hadn’t she made it clear already that she meant no harm? She lay down on the floor, hoping she could go on with what she wanted to do. After a few seconds her patience was gone and she stood up, even slower than normal, for their piece of mind. She walked to the room of Lestat and the woman, making sure it looked like she wasn’t going to attack them. Lestat and the woman who had been in the room of her son followed the wolf after they told the kid to stay in his room until they said otherwise. The woman was demanding what was happening, she looked worried from her husband to the wolf. When they entered the room, the woman noticed the wound on Lestat’s arm. It wasn’t a severe wound but she didn’t even like the sight of a few specks of blood on him. ‘I knew it was bad, young or not, it is a danger! Why do you let it wander around the house where your son lives?! It should be chained down and muffled!’ She was screaming at Lestat, her cheeks red and a determined, angered look in her eyes. She walked to one side of the room, took the decorating spear from the wall before pointing the spear towards the wolf. And before Lestat could stop her or before the wolf could move away so she would be out of reach, the woman pushed the spear towards the wolf. Maybe it would not kill her, for the spear’s end was pointed towards the human, but it would still hurt a lot and she didn’t want to wait for that. So the wolf jumped on top of the bed, left of the woman, and before the woman really had time to respond, the wolf moved herself under the blanket. But she didn’t do that to hide herself. As soon as the wolf was underneath the blanket a soft light appeared and the wolf suddenly changed into a young girl. The woman, who still had the spear in her hand, was too baffled to react as the young girl walked forward while pulling the spear out of the woman’s hand. The young girl pointed it towards the older woman’s throat so she could have a taste of her own medicine. Immediately Lestat pulled his wife away, stepping in front of her and he gripped the end of the spear with one hand. ‘Put the spear down now. I don’t want to hurt you, but you leave me no choice like this.’ His voice was demanding. Akascha growled at him, not really impressive because she was in her human form and humans couldn’t produce the growl of a wolf. ‘If she goes, I will lay the spear down.’ The words came a bit rough because she was tuned to wolfish. Without looking away from the young girl, he asked: ‘Please leave the room Shaniya. I’m going to be fine and it is best if you leave, I will be in more danger if you’re here because I have to protect you too.’ The woman named Shaniya walked away furious and you could hear her calling their son and telling him they would go to their aunt for a while. After a few tense minutes they finally heard the noise of a front door slamming shut. ‘She’s gone now, so please lay that down.’ His voice was a bit calmer now. She slowly laid the spear on the ground when Lestat hesitantly let it go and she rolled it away under the bed with her foot. His stance changed from a tense and guard position to a more relaxed one though his attention never wavered. He closed the door, walked to the bed and sat on it with a small thud, not far from the young girl. He looked at her and again patted next to him on the bed. ‘It’s easier to talk if I can talk to you face to face.’ She walked wearily to the bed and sat on the pillows, as far away from him as possible. She didn’t want to be too close to him. She didn’t really trust him very well and especially not after she had pointed a spear to someone he loved. ‘Much better.’ He said smiling friendly. ‘Well, you know my name is Lestat, but what is your human name?’ She sighed, her jaw clenched and relaxed almost immediately and she said with a very soft and womanly voice ‘Akascha is my human name.’ ‘Well, that’s a lovely name’, he said friendly, ‘and what is your wolf’s name? I know it is not common to ask, but maybe I can take you to your clan, if you tell their name too.’ Her eyes had a deep sorrowful look in them as she said with an empty voice ‘I have no wolf name.’ Lestat blinked in surprise and hesitated for a moment. ‘But that’s not possible, I know you’re young, but a person guides you to your clan where you’re name is given by an older male clan mate. It’s impossible you…’ ‘I was on the way to my clan,’ she said, interrupting him harshly with pain in her eyes and voice, her hands turned into fists, ‘but we were attacked and she was killed trying to protect me.’ Tears rolled down her face before she could hold them in. She wiped them away quickly, but there were too many to hold in so she stopped trying. ‘Normally the mother guides you to your clan...Was that the same with you?’ He asked it carefully, not wanting to upset her any further, but too curious to stop asking. She nodded and yelped softly at some memory. She lost her mother because of a fault Akascha made herself, she had no one to share her thoughts with and no one to guide her to her clan and family. Lestat moved towards her, his arms stretched half open. And then she didn’t feel like a strong young wolf, she didn’t feel strong and tough. It seemed as years of sorrow pressed down on her shoulders and she was collapsing underneath it. Her mother dead, she was beaten and even worse; she was all alone. She moved into his arms, made herself as small as possible and she let go of her tears and her fears which she had held in for the last couple of weeks.