Children of the Wolf Read online

  Inside the bus, the kids broke into a riot of cheers.

  “Yea, wolves!” they yelled, clapping their hands. “Way to go!”

  “Get those ugly monsters, wolves! Sic ’em!”

  They whistled and laughed and hooted for joy but the wolves paid no attention whatsoever.

  My legs suddenly felt wobbly with relief. I moved across the roof to jump down and go to Wolfmother. But then I hesitated. Real wolves did not like werewolves. Wolfmother had brought the pack to help the children but that did not mean she wanted to see me—not when I was a monster like the others.

  I searched the crowd of wolves, looking for her. But as I showed my face several of the wolves began to growl, their neck fur rising threateningly.

  Then one of the wolves shot out of the pack. With a tremendous spring, he leaped into the air and landed beside me on top of the bus.

  The wolf growled ferociously, showing his teeth and I began to shiver. It was Sharpfang. My brother. His eyes looked into mine and they were as cold as February ice.

  I wanted to tell him who I was but of course I couldn’t. As a monster I couldn’t make wolfspeak any more than I could humanspeak. Then I had a horrible thought. Maybe Sharpfang already knew who I was. Maybe it didn’t matter to him anymore.

  Sharpfang growled again and tensed himself to spring at my throat. I couldn’t move a muscle.

  Chapter 47

  I closed my eyes and scrunched them tight.

  Waiting seemed to take forever. Then something big landed softly beside me and I heard the click of wolf claws on the metal of the bus roof.

  Startled, I opened my eyes. Wolfmother stood beside me, bristling at Sharpfang. She barked sharply and my wolfbrother dropped out of his attack stance. But he wasn’t happy about it. He glared at me and backed up without taking his eyes off mine.

  Wolfmother came close and made a small sound in her throat. She looked into my eyes and I saw sadness there. She knew who I really was!

  I was so happy to see her and I’d missed her so much. Without thinking I reached out to touch her. Sharpfang growled a warning but Wolfmother ignored him and took another step toward me. She shivered as my claws brushed her fur but didn’t move away.

  I settled my hand on her back. My heart bubbled over with love. But I could feel her trembling under my monstrous paw. She knew I wouldn’t hurt her but it was against all her instincts to let a monster like me touch her.

  Something seemed to break in my chest and flood my insides with warm liquid. I felt the muscles of my hideous face tighten and stretch. What was happening to me?

  Liquid fogged my keen eyes and splashed down my hairy cheeks. I was crying! Great monster tears rolled down my face. Wolfmother raised her head and licked the tears from my cheeks.

  I’d never be a wolf and maybe I’d never be a real boy. But I was human enough to cry.

  Sharpfang barked softly. The moon was setting and there was a hint of dawn light in the sky.

  I watched the wolves until the last tail disappeared silently into the swamp. Then I slipped off the roof of the bus and, slinking under the windows so none of the kids would see me, I went back to Mr. Clawson’s car where, somehow, despite everything that had happened, I fell deeply asleep.

  Chapter 48

  I couldn’t have slept long. When I woke the sun was just beginning to rise over the trees. Birds sang in the woods once again and my terrible hunger was gone.

  I was a boy again. A boy with no clothes!

  I jumped up. My clothes were in the woods where they’d fallen from me when I changed into a werewolf. Well, I couldn’t go back and get them, that was for sure.

  Luckily Mr. Clawson kept an extra set of clothes in his trunk—probably for emergencies just like this one. His pants were miles too big but I tied his shirt around me like a loin cloth, just like I used to do with animal skins when I was a wolf-boy.

  The bus was still closed up tight, except for the smashed windshield. I walked over to it and knocked on the door.

  It opened instantly. “Gruff!” Paul pulled me in and slapped me five. “We thought you were okay locked in Mr. Clawson’s car, but there was no way to check. You sure were right about those monsters. How did you know?”

  I shrugged, then Kim ran up and hugged me and I didn’t have to answer. “It’s so good to see you,” said Kim. “We were so scared. But you’re all scratched and bloody! And what happened to your clothes?”

  My heart sank. I didn’t want to lie. But I couldn’t tell the truth.

  “Wow, those horrible things must have got you after all,” said Paul, going pale. “Was that when you howled for the wolves? When those things pulled you out of the car and ripped off your clothes?”

  I nodded, unable to speak. But I noticed Big Rick giving me the fish eye. He was suspicious.

  “We must go,” I said, trying to change the subject. My throat felt raw and my tongue seemed even more awkward than usual. “Come. It’s a long way. We must be out of woods by dark. Not safe after dark.”

  “How do we know it’s safe now?” demanded Big Rick, frowning. “How do we know you won’t lead us right to those—things—whatever they are?”

  “Gruff tried to warn us,” Kim said, going right up to Rick. “We were the ones who wouldn’t listen. He knew about the werewolves from living in the swamp with the wolves, right Gruff?”

  I nodded. “Yes,” I said, grateful I didn’t have to try and explain it myself. “Come. We must leave here.”

  “But what if they get us while we’re in the woods?” cried a girl I didn’t know.

  “Daylight safe,” I told her. “Night is dangerous.”

  “Our parents are never going to believe any of this,” muttered another kid.

  “They’re going to be really worried by now,” said someone else. “We better get going like Gruff says.”

  “But what about Mr. Clawson and Mr. Grunter?” said another. “They never came back.”

  “They both werewolves,” I said.

  The kids stared. But none of them seemed all that surprised. After that they followed me out of the bus although I could tell some of them were still afraid to leave.

  “The wolves were so beautiful,” said Kim in a wondering voice as we started down the path toward the road. “That was your old family, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes,” I said, my voice thick.

  “They rescued us because you called them, didn’t they?”

  I nodded.

  Kim bit her lip and looked at me sympathetically. “And they left you behind,” she said. “You must be sad.”

  “A little,” I said, fighting back tears. “But glad, too, to be with you and Paul.”

  And that was true. My heart ached thinking I might never see my wolf family again but I was so happy that I’d helped save my human friends. Even though I was a monster.

  But I was one other thing, in addition to being happy and sad.

  I was scared. Because that night the moon would rise. And I knew absolutely without any doubt that terror would come again.

  Ripper’s words rang in my head like an echo of doom. “We’ll get you,” he’d promised. “I’ll get you!”

  And I knew he’d be back, as soon as the moon rose.

  Turn the page to continue reading from the Werewolf Chronicles

  Chapter 1

  I am a monster.

  For the three nights of the full moon I crouch in the foul swamp outside the peaceful town of Fox Hollow. Seeking the darkness. But there is no escape from the full moon. It turns me into a monster. A hideous, howling beast with thick fur, sharp claws, and dripping fangs.

  Each night as the moon rises I am transformed into a werewolf. I prowl through the swamp on all fours, my nostrils filled with the scent of terrified creatures.

  It is me they fear.

  By day I am a human boy, an ordinary twelve-year-old who goes to school. But for the three nights of the full moon I become a horrible night creature who hungers for blood.

&
nbsp; Werewolves bite and kill, that is their nature. But I keep resisting the evil inside me. I have to fight it because—

  CRASH! A deer bursts out of the thicket, catches a glimpse of me, and flees in panic. Every fiber of my being yearns to chase that terrified deer. My muscles tense—and then I clamp my powerful jaws shut and force the hunger down, swallowing hard.

  Yes, I have to fight the monster in me. If I kill just once, I will be a werewolf forever and the people of Fox Hollow will be overrun by the pack of evil creatures who stalk the shadows of night, eyes gleaming like red fire. Werewolves who crave human flesh, especially the blood of children.

  I will never be one of them! Never!

  The people of Fox Hollow don’t know my secret.

  Oh, they know that I was raised by wolves—real, magnificent wolves, not the foul creatures of the night.

  But if they knew the real truth—that I’d become a werewolf—my new human friends would drive me away, back into the swamp where Wolfmother had found me abandoned as a baby. It was she who raised me with her own cubs, and taught me the ways of the forest. It was she who had tried to protect me from the evil werewolves, and failed.

  I could no longer be a wolf. More than anything I want to be human. But whenever the moon waxes full, the wereing begins, and I am a monster again.

  I throw back my head and howl in loneliness.

  “AAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.”

  My mournful cry echoes through the swamp, terrifying the other creatures of the forest. Squirrels cower in the tree branches. Owls screech in panic.

  Suddenly a bright light catches my eye. Unlike the silvery cool light of the moon, this light is a golden warmth. The light seems to call, beckoning me to come closer.

  I shouldn’t go. It is too dangerous—for myself and for the humans of Fox Hollow. But the light fills me with longing.

  I run toward the light, unable to resist.

  Chapter 2

  The wind ruffled my fur as I ran toward the glowing light. My strong lungs filled with sweet, woodsy air. I cleared mossy bogs in a graceful bound and sailed over fallen trees and half-rotten logs. The night was clear as day to my keen eyes and my body sang with the power of the werewolf.

  At moments like this I forgot I was a monster. I felt beautiful and wild and free.

  Then I reached the edge of the swamp where the trees stopped and the new town of Fox Hollow began. The light glowed softly, drawing me in. But this was as close as I dared to go.

  Flicking my tail, I hid among the trees, looking longingly into the light. It was the light from Paul Parker’s bedroom. The Parkers were my new human family. They had taken me into their home the day the hunters carried me out of the swamp, away from my wolf family.

  These good humans thought I was in my room right now, sleeping. After supper I’d told everybody I didn’t feel well and was going to bed early. Mrs. Parker looked concerned. But she thought it was due to the terrifying adventures we’d all had on our school field trip the first night of the full moon.

  I hated lying to my new family, but I had no choice.

  Paul’s window was open to the night air and music from his boom box drifted out to me. I crept closer and watched him squirm and jump around in his chair as he played a computer game. Just like Paul! He was my age and already he was like a brother to me.

  As I watched from the darkness, Paul’s bedroom door opened and his sister Kim entered. Kim was a year younger. She was pretty good at taking care of herself but I felt protective toward her, just like I had toward the wolf cubs.

  There was something about her—I couldn’t help it. Maybe it was because the other werewolves, the awful night creatures, seemed to take a special interest in Kim.

  I watched Kim and Paul laughing together and wished they could be out here with me. I wished we could all romp together in the woods. Then I shuddered. They’d have to be werewolves to be with me now. That was a fate I wouldn’t wish on anybody.

  Still, my body tingled with energy. I felt so strong and beautiful I wanted Kim to see how magnificent I was. Surely Kim would see the beauty in me.

  My heart thumped with anticipation as Kim started moving slowly toward the window, her eyes sparkling with laughter. I remembered how she made jokes while she taught me to read and speak the human tongue. She never taunted me or made me feel stupid like some of the other kids did.

  As she came closer to the window I stepped out of the trees, into a bright patch of moonlight. I could feel how the moon gleamed on my coat and how it made my eyes shine. Any second Kim would see me.

  I took a deep breath to swell my great chest.

  “Aaaargh!”

  What I smelled at that moment brought me to my senses. I leaped back into the shelter of the trees and crouched, sniffing.

  The foul stench burned my sensitive nose. It was a monster I smelled—a hideous, revolting werewolf.

  And it was lurking in the trees, watching Kim and Paul!

  Chapter 3

  Anger boiled up inside me as I crept soundlessly to where the werewolf was hiding. The monster’s revolting odor was growing stronger with every careful step. Why was it spying on my friends?

  Most likely it wanted to infect them with a bite, turning them into foul creatures like itself. Or maybe it hungered for their young blood.

  Not if I got to it first! My claws itched to sink into the monster’s leathery back. Why was it here alone? Were the other werewolves planning something horrible? Maybe this one had been sent to make sure I stayed out of their way.

  Baring my fangs, I was determined to get answers to all my questions. I crept closer. I could see the werewolf hiding behind a tree and staring up at the lighted window, its evil eyes glowing brilliant red. Strings of slobber dripped from its jaws and burned like acid when they hit the ground. The monster was staring so intently at my friends it wasn’t aware of me.

  I knew I would only get one chance. The full-blooded werewolves were bigger and stronger than me. And I suspected they were more powerful in other ways, too—magical ways I knew nothing about. If I didn’t knock the monster down the first time, it would get me for sure.

  I took a deep breath and leaped.

  WHAM!

  I landed on nothing but hard ground and dead leaves. The monster had been too quick for me. It was gone.

  Disgusted with myself I started to brush the leaves and dirt off my paws. But some bits of it were stuck. I’d landed on something sticky. I brought my paw up to my face and sniffed.

  Blood! My ears shot up and the hair along my back stood on end. I dropped to the ground and sniffed carefully all around. I found a few more drops, still sticky, as if the werewolf had bitten something not too long ago.

  My blood ran cold. Was I too late? Had the werewolves already taken over Fox Hollow? Had they been busy in town while I was roaming the woods?

  Tomorrow, I’d know the truth. Exhausted, I crept behind a tree and slept.

  Buy The Wereing Now!

  About the Authors

  Rodman Philbrick grew up on the coast of New Hampshire and has been writing since the age of sixteen. For a number of years he published mystery and suspense fiction for adults. Brothers & Sinners won the Shamus Award in 1994, and two of his other detective novels were nominees. In 1993 his debut young adult novel, Freak the Mighty, won numerous honors, and in 1998 was made into the feature film The Mighty, starring Sharon Stone and James Gandolfini. Freak the Mighty has become a standard reading selection in thousands of classrooms worldwide, and there are more than three million copies in print. In 2010 Philbrick won a Newbery Honor for The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg.

  Lynn Harnett, who was married to Rodman Philbrick, passed away in 2012. She was a talented journalist, editor, and book reviewer, and she had a real knack for concocting scary stories that make the reader want to laugh, shriek with fear, and then turn the page to find out what happens next.

  All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce
this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 1996 by Rodman Philbrick and Lynn Harnett

  Cover design by Connie Gabbert

  ISBN: 978-1-4976-8539-0

  This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

  345 Hudson Street

  New York, NY 10014

  www.openroadmedia.com

  THE WEREWOLF CHRONICLES

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