“Uh oh, Elaine, look who it is!” a boy loudly chants.

Daine looks up from her lunch. It’s a new day, and she’s sitting at a table in the village’s park. Shadow has joined her for today’s meal. He’s sitting across from her, his back turned from the voice that was just heard. Daine looks over his shoulder and sees two other children at a table not far from theirs.

She recognizes them, for how could she not? These two kids had a bit of a reputation in the pack. They were troublemakers, and were always up to something. It was the lycan twins, Kane and Elaine. The two are sitting next to each other at their table, smirking in Daine’s direction.

“Ewwwuh!” Elaine grimaces smugly, noticing that they’ve caught Daine’s attention. “Isn’t that the one-eyed lycan kid?”

“Sure is,” Kane scoffs. “You better be careful, Elaine.”

“Why’s that, Kane?”

“Don’t you think that kid’s gonna wanna have a normal eye, like us?”

Elaine gasps. “Wait, you don’t mean?”

“That’s right!” Kane says, raising his hands in a clawlike motion. “If you’re not careful, they’re gonna steal your eye!”

“NOOOOO!” Elaine dramatically yells. “NOT MY EYE!” The twins burst into laughter.

Daine doesn’t say a word. She just stares sadly at the twins as they continue to laugh at her. She’s used to this mockery, especially from these two. But Shadow is seething. A rage is filling his thoughts, and he bolts up from the table.

“HEY!” he shouts, approaching the twins. “MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!”

The two children stop laughing. They look up at Shadow, confused. “Huh?” Elaine says. “Who are you?”

Kane squints at Shadow for a moment. He realizes who he is, and starts smirking again. “Ohhhh,” he mutters. “Elaine, it’s him!”

“Who?”

“The kid who can’t transform!”

Shadow growls and clenches his fists. Their mockery was now directed at him. He glares angrily as the twins continue their dramatics.

“What’s his problem?” Elaine snorts. “He’s older than us, isn’t he? Why can’t he transform? Is he stupid?”

“I don’t think it’s that,” Kane says. “I think he’s infected!”

“WHAT!?” Elaine gasps. “Infected!?

“That’s right! He can’t transform because he’s sick. You better be careful, Elaine!” Kane dramatically raises his arms above Elaine once again. “He’s contagious! If you get infected, you won’t be able to transform either!”

“NOOOOOOO!” Elaine screams, the twins bursting into laughter yet again.

“YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH!” Shadow screeches. He takes an aggressive step towards Kane, causing him to flinch. The boy wasn’t expecting Shadow to fight back. There’s a slight, but noticeable expression of fear in his eyes.

“HEY!” Elaine leaps from her table. “LEAVE HIM ALONE!”

“YOU LEAVE US ALONE, YOU BITCH!”

With these words, Elaine takes her true form and charges at Shadow. She pushes him to the ground, snapping at him with her sharp fangs. It’s all Shadow can do to hold her back. He fights back the best he can, thrashing about and hitting the wolf with his elbows and knees.

“Elaine, wait!” Kane says, getting up from his table. He looks scared, watching the two flail on the ground.

“SHADOW!” Daine yells, getting up as well. She starts approaching the clashing pair. The two are fighting so aggressively, someone is definitely going to get seriously hurt. But Daine doesn’t know what to do. She feels so small and helpless.

Daine and Kane could do no more than stare as they watch the fight. It didn’t take long, however, for another person to get involved. Suddenly, the tussling children found themselves pulled apart. Shadow is being held by the collar of his shirt, while Elaine is held by the scruff of her neck. The boy in between them smiles, his eyes happily closed. He holds them apart with little effort.

It’s Isaac.

Upon seeing him, Elaine returns to her human form. The process of transforming shakes her from Isaac’s grip, and she falls to the ground. Despite the circumstances, she looks delighted.

“Hi, Isaac!” she says, jumping up and down. “It’s nice to see you! How are you doing today-”

“LEAVE.”

Elaine is taken aback. Isaac has opened his eyes, glaring down at her. There’s still a smile plastered on his face, but his eyes are filled with a terrifying anger. Shaken by this reaction, it takes all of Elaine’s willpower to hold back tears. She takes her wolf form once more, and quickly flees. Kane shouts after her, following in her retreat.

Isaac lets Shadow go, and he falls to the ground. He’s breathing heavily, still running high on adrenaline from his fight. Daine quickly runs up to him and hugs his arm. He gasps when he notices her, awkwardly avoiding eye contact. Isaac looks down at them. He’s still smiling, but his eyes reveal disappointment and concern.

“You shouldn’t be getting into fights,” he says.

Shadow huffs. “They started it…” he mumbles.

Isaac crouches down next to the shaken children. “Are you two okay?”

Shadow continues to look away. His pride has been damaged. He struggled to fight back against that girl, and he felt weak. Daine looks up at her brother. “Those two were being bullies,” she says. “Shadow was just defending me, that’s all.”

“Is that so?” Isaac tries to make eye contact with Shadow, who is still attempting to avoid his gaze. “That was very nice of you.”

“It’s whatever…” Shadow quietly mutters.

“I like your spirit, but getting into trouble is a bad idea. I’d hate to see you get banished.” Isaac pats Shadow on his shoulder. “If anyone causes you trouble again, you come and get me, alright?”

“Alright...”

Daine hugs Shadow’s arm tighter. “Thanks for standing up for me, Shadow,” she says. “You were very brave.”

“...yeah, of course,” he responds. He won’t look towards his two friends, but a soft smile has found itself on his face.