Rogue Wolf

"Nic, where are you? Come out right now." Mrs. Liu shouted and the 'heavens' shook, marching around the house and not knowing Nicole had sneaked into her father's study.

As Mrs. Liu marched past the study room, Nicole's ear was glued to the door, trying to pick up her mother's movement. As soon as she concluded that her mother was way past the study, she turned around.

"Dad, she's gone. We are free for about twenty minutes before she comes marching back." Nicole said with a girly giggle.

"Come sit with me, girl." Mr. Liu said with a small laugh, eager to answer any questions his daughter might have.

"Also, as soon as we are done here, you should go see your mum. She might have something for you to do. I know you would want to go to sleep after this." Mr. Liu added with a wink making Nicole pout cutely.

With a pout, she walked sluggishly toward the couch where Mr. Liu was seated. Despite her sluggish stance, one could see the eagerness and excitement dancing in her eyes.

"So dad, when is the next hunt?" She asked with shining eyes, as soon as she plopped down on the couch, snuggling closer to her father.

"The next Werewolf hunt is in two months. You will be inducted as soon as you're twenty next month." Mr. Liu answered smoothly, placing his large palm on her hair.

"Also, I'm glad that you're looking forward to the hunt and also joining our hunters' guild. Even though your mum and I like to work secludedly from the guild, you will still be part of the hunters' guild." Mr. Liu said with a smile, showing how proud he was.

"I wish I could be twenty tomorrow," Nicole said sulkily while supporting her jaw with her palm. "Dad, I have been wondering how your hunt started. Did you have an encounter with a werewolf?"

"Did any wolf hurt someone you love? Pardon my curiosity, but your enthusiasm about the hunts make me curious." Nicole couldn't help but ask those questions.

Though she was looking forward to the next Werewolf hunt, she still doesn't have a tangible reason to kill them off.

She only has the adrenaline rush for it since it's what her parents love doing. Moreso, they are extremely good at what they do.

Mr. Liu on the other hand scrunched up his face at his daughter's question. "What are you driving at, girl? He asked slowly, not really expecting an answer because he knew what she meant.

"Of course, I wouldn't want to end their race if I had not encountered their cruelty. If you want to have a valid reason why you should join us, I'd rather give you a 'million reasons'."

However, Nicole was a bit embarrassed that her father figured out her thought process. "Dad, I'm not implying that you all are bad, but then I just need something to hold onto." She said, her head bowed, with slightly red cheeks.

"No qualms, I understand you. Now sit back and enjoy." Mr. Liu said with a mysterious look on his face, making Nicole feel spooked. She didn't think she would enjoy whatever he wanted to say.

"I wish I would enjoy your story," Nicole said while shutting her eyes, tightly, like she was making a wish.

"Before we moved here, we used to live in a mansion, with almost ten servants at our beck and call." Mr. Liu started.

However, Nicole was a bit surprised that they used to have servants compared to the life they lived now. "Wow, what was it like to have people at your beck and call? Huh?" She couldn't help but ask, interrupting her father.

Mr. Liu, however, wasn't fazed that he was interrupted. He didn't like one-sided talks anyway. "Uhm, I would say it was a thrilling experience. So, back to the story. It was a quiet night, a few days after we left the hospital. Also, your mum just made me a father at that time."

His words made a knowing smile creep into Nicole's face, knowing she was just given birth to at that time.

"Your mum had to stay isolated from people in the house. Suddenly, we heard a loud howl, from the grounds of the mansion. At first, we thought it was a stray dog, but then stray dogs were watched out for in our vicinity."

"Then the howl would be from a wolf. Dogs don't howl, but then no one knew at that time that Werewolves existed." Nicole reasoned with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Sure, it was a surprise for me to see one also. Even after confirming that it wasn't a dog, we still didn't think a wolf could turn into a human."

"With our servants scattered around in fear, your mum was upstairs, in our bedroom, you in the baby room, the rabid animal was able to break in through the window of the second floor." Mr. Liu continued to narrate.

"The windows must not have been so high then." Nicole reasoned, thinking an animal shouldn't be able to jump so high. However, she saw her father's contrasting gaze, then she realized she thought wrong.

"Well, it was a whole new experience for us, seeing a wolf that could jump so high. No one knew what it wanted, and no one knew why it was at our mansion."

"Every servant was armed with a knife, even a fork, spatulas, and pots. Thinking back, it was laughable how we thought we would be able to defeat a raging wolf, with those."

"We tried all we could, but the wolf fought and bit through, injuring and killing most of the servants who tried to defend themselves and the house."

With a gasp of disbelief, she asked, "How were you able to defend yourself though?

"I was able to defend myself to an extent until I managed to get through to the phone to call for help. That was one time I regretted that I didn't have a gun with silver bullets."

"The wolf wreaked havoc everywhere, and had succeeded in killing so many, but it was still not satisfied.

After all that happened, the wolf didn't stop there.." Mr. Liu declared.