Irony is the Shackles of Youth

Gene is not even a part of any of the packs.


His father was the one that had taken him aside and explained about the packs. The town's boundaries were made up of huge farmland tracts. Bordering the tracts were forests and streams. These were guarded to four large werewolf packs and a dozen smaller family units. In return for guarding the town, the werewolves were treated like normal people instead of feared and hated.

That didn't mean they didn't have to be vigilant. Werewolves had their own laws, their own customs, but even they needed help. It was the duty of every villager to watch for rogues and ferals. Rogues especially. Rogue were werewolves looked just like normal werewolves when the moon was full except they'd lost their humanity. They could still think like a human. They just didn't care if they killed them.

Ferals, like Earl Holden's boy, at least looked different. When the full moon hit they didn't change completely into wolves. Instead they turned into half-wolf, half-human creatures with no humanity in them. They weren't evil. They just weren't human. All they had were their lupine instincts to go on.

Gene always remembered what his father had told him. So on the first day of school, he'd spent the entire time watching Jesse Holden right up until he'd punched him in the nose. Which had just gone to prove that his father was right. Ferals needed to be watched to make sure they didn't cause problems.

And really, that's when his troubles began.