I just want to be me

    "Letter for you Steve. General T again," Sam said as she sorted through a small stack of bills and letters. Quite honestly Sam had no idea how General Thompson kept finding their current addresses.
    "Just through it out," Steve said while defrosting a raw steak in the microwave.
    "Looks official though. Let me open it," Sam said as she tore open the envelope. "Let's see here... Ah, Bla, bla, bla, Steve you've been invited to join as a minor officer again. Bla, bla, bla, he doesn't want to take no for an answer again, well sorry there general Steve's not going anywhere for you. Hmm... He also mentions how much of a soldier and a friend Dad was."
    Steve's hair stood on end. "Don't mention Dad please!"
    "I'm sorry, I forgot. It's a bad memory for me too."
    "Get rid of the letter. I'm not joining the millitary," Steve growled as he took the stake out of the microwave and sat down with it.
    "It's one of those nights again isn't it?" Sam asked as steve began to devour the raw beef.
    "Yeah, I really feel the wolf in me today," Steve said. "It's just hard sometimes, I mean, I'm always me, but I just feel like a wolf, all the time. I've just got to change tonight."
    "Don't worry. You'll be fine," Sam said. Sam had always been protective of her brother, to the point of becoming the strong fighter she was. Funny how she often felt tempted to write back to the general, but she would never leave Steve. After all their father should have picked her to continue his military legacy, not Steve. Now she felt it was her duty to help her brother with his lycanthropy.
    "Won't you be helping me when I change? I don't like to transform alone."
    "Not tonight, I need to work another job."
    "Why? We're doing fine right now. I... It hurts just a bit, you know."
    "I've got to do this job," Sam said, "then I'll come right back and we can have a fun night, just me, you and a board game, sound good?"
    "Haven't you brought in enough bounties for the police?" Steve asked. "I think tonight will be a rough one. What if..."
    "Steve, you've always been in complete control of yourself, most of the time you tell me it doesn't hurt that bad. I'm just going to take care of this one last job, then maybe I'll quiet down and intern at that lab again. Okay?"
    "Okay, it's just that, you usually help me through the transformation."
    Sam checked her watch, and grabbed her coat and began to descend the stares to the basement with her room. "Just got to get ready and go okay." Sam said, "I'll be back tonight. She came back up a few minutes later with her large black trunk and headed out the door. "I'm taking the truck, remember, don't let anyone see you as a werewolf! See you in a little bit!"
    "Bye," was all steve could say. He hated when his sister left on a job. She always came back cut up and bruised, gone sometimes for days at a time, but she insisted it was to take care of him. Steve began to defrost another steak when he felt the urge to shift come on again. This time he let it take hold. The only thing that really hurts is when his bones reshape. That's when it twinges. He let his face push out into a mussel and his feet reshape into paws, clenching his teeth as he grew a tail. He hardly ever noticed as fur spread over his body, or when his hands changed, but he could always smell when his nose kicked in to high gear. The scent of the meat was almost unbearable. Steve sat down and dug in wondering what his sister would be up to.

***

    Sam ducked into the trees and over the bushes. It's funny how often werewolves come to the dog park after hours. She pulled her night vision goggles out of her pocket. If her dad did anything for her it was to leave her with a lot of nice gear when he died. She looked around and found a suitable tree she could climb. Up she went and with the higher vantage point she had a better view of the park. Once at the top and pulling out her goggles again she looked around the park.
    A half smile crept on her face as she swiped the horizon with the goggles. "Here we go." A group of wendigos were harassing a young werewolf. Still holding the smirk she pulled her sniper gun out of her bag. As she scoped out the head of the first wendigo her smile faded. She never could put her heart into it when it came down to the moment. She pulled the trigger, swivled, bang, bang, bang, nothing but a lone werewolf cowering paws over his head. She jumped down from the tree and began walking toward the werewolf, who was still cowering as if expecting more bullets. She pulled out silver cuffs.


***

    "What the! You'd better reconsider, there's not much out there for an army brat who won't fight, the echo of Steve's father ranted, pacing around Steve,
    "Dad, I'm different now, I don't want to fight, I can't. I might..."
    "Might what?" Steve's father yelled. Huh, what?" he pushed Steve to the ground. "You're going to be eighteen in a week and I want you signed up, on base, and in training by of your oh so happy day's morning. I don't care if I have to forge your bloody signature." Steve's hair stood on end and he growled.
    "Dad, leave him alone, you don't know what you're doing!" Sam yelled her voice echoing in Steve's mind.
    "You stay out of this you worthless girl!" he spat menacingly, kicking at her.
    "Dad leave her alone!" Steve yelled.
    "Both of you shut up and listen, You Steve are going to join the army next week on your eighteenth birthday, end of story, and you, you worthless girl are going to stay out of it." their father yelled, pushing Steve back to the ground again. Steve began to growl again, crouching low and wolf like.
    "Dad leave him alone!" Sam cried. Their father back handed her and Steve snapped. He lunged for the throat, transforming mid air, fangs and claws taking shape and digging into their target.

***

     Steve awoke in a cold sweat, or as much of a cold sweat as a furry anthro wolf in pajamas can have. His heart was racing, and the memory of his father's body and his sister's horrified face were still burned in his mind. It was self defense, he often repeated to himself before bed or sometimes it was to save Sam, and now found himself repeating the same lies over and over, again and again in his mind. Haunted, he could have done such a thing when instinct took control.
     He closed his eyes sitting up in his bed and began to breath focusing on clearing his head. After a few minutes he felt his heart slow to normal, and his breathing stabilize. Then he heard it. A faint doggish whine, from somewhere else in the house, or maybe just outside. Steve limbed out of bed and placed his paws on the floor quietly. He left his room and proceeded down the hall to the kitchen and looked out the window. He could hear a few dogs barking, could even smell a few of them near by, but none of them were whining. As he heard the noise again he drew his head back in the window and concluded it came from inside the house. Already decided to investigate he followed his ears downstairs. He looked around to their storage, small movie room, and then he heard the whine come distinctly from a location he promised not to enter.
    Steve had always tried to respect his sister's space, especially when she didn't want him in her basement room when she was patching herself back up after a job, or training for the next time she went out. He always thought that his father wanted the wrong child to join the military. The doglike whining continued, and steve could smell something alive down there. Funny, it usually smelt completely horrible. Cautiously he opened the door.
    "Hello?" Steve said quietly. The whining grew more intense and was obviously in this room. Steve flicked the light switch. There were several training dummies, one impaled with a sward, a map of the woods, with a "x" and "o" marked all over it like a tick tac toe board, shelfs of journals and a skull that looked canine, and a table with a first aid kit and an alarming amount of blood which smelt like Sam's. In the back was a large cage with a bound werewolf in it. All it could do was whine because of the tight mussel placed around it's mouth.
    "Oh my goodness," Steve yelled running to the cage, but when he tried to reach through the bars his hands were burned. "AAAAARG," he snarled out of pain. The cage was lined in silver. "Stupid silver, Sam said she got rid of all of it. Hold on." Steve looked around, and looking at the sward he smiled. He pulled it out of the dummy, careful not to touch the blade.
     "This'll hurt!" he said, reaching through the bars and cutting the rope that bound the young werewolf's hands. The werewolf winced as the silver blade rubbed against his flesh as the ropes were cut. Immediately he removed his mussel and began working on the ropes tying his feet.
    "Thanks! I didn't think anyone would come to save me. Did my dad send you?"
    "No, I live here," Steve said confused.
    "Please tell me you're a prisoner too," the werewolf said.
    "No, this is suppose to be my sister's... Sam, what are you doing?"
    The other werewolf cocked his head, "Sam, no my name is Thomas. Oh, woof, you're the brother of the werewolf hunter!"
    "What! What do you mean?" Steve said looking shocked, he glanced around and spotted the skull on the shelves, it looked mostly wolf and partially human, it was a werewolf skull. "Sam, what have you done."
    "At first we were glad that she was here, she was hunting the rabid werecreatures, sort of cleaning up a big problem we've been having actually, but then she started coming after us too. Dad rarely lets me out of the house anymore."
    Steve just stared at the ground for a while, he couldn't believe it! It was almost like Sam was hunting him. "I'll get you out, and I'll have a little chat with my sister. She won't bother you again."
    "I won't?" Sam said, walking into the room. Thomas cowered in the cage.
    "Sam let him go right now!" Steve said.
    "No, I need a werewolf like him to find a cure. The eviler ones are just too different."
    "Not like this, you don't have to pull a kid from his home to run tests on!" Steve yelled.
    "Don't you want things to go back to how the were, before you were bitten?" Sam asked. "You're not supposed to be a werewolf Steve.
    "I'd rather be a werewolf then let you do this," Steve said softly, "Let the boy go."
    "I won't give up the one chance I have of finding a viable cure!"
    "Well maybe I don't want to be cured! Have you ever asked me? I don't want to be cured! At least, not like this."
    "Steve," Sam began to say.
    "No, Sam, not like this. I'm okay with who I am, don't do this."
    "I don't want you to be a monster Steve," Sam said quietly.
    "I'm not a monster Sam, I'm just me. Let it go."
    "Steve. I'm sorry," Sam said. She walked over to the cage, and unlocked it. "Go home. Leave! GO!" she yelled.
    Thomas ran out on all fours and ran for the door yelling, "Thanks!" bolted up the stares and was gone.
    "I'm so sorry Steve," Sam said as a tear ran down her cheek. Sam had been the strong one all her life, and she only would cry for another's pain.
    Steve hugged her as she cried into his furry shoulder. "It's okay, I'm alright with who I am, I just want you to be okay with it too."