Chapter 11: Remember

The simple, comfortable fabric of her night clothes. The welcome roughness of the flooring and the weaving consisting of their bedding. The walls that surrounded them. Shreya willed her surroundings into her memory, burning their images so she could recall them later when she'd need them. Pravaah hadn't come home yet, likely too busy making arrangements with the Elders as to the details of her punishment.

"You missed out on Loupe freakin' out," Shanti spoke to her in the darkness. Lying on their sides, they faced one another in their shared sleeping corner. "He was rantin' and ravin' about the full moon happening tomorrow night."

"What did he want?" Shreya leaned up on her arm. Loupe was a subject she didn't want to miss out on.

Shanti pounded her fist in her palm. "He demanded we tie him up so he wouldn't sneak off and return to his real people when he changes. He really said that! Eyes poppin' outta his head. A lake's worth of sweat pouring down his face. Loupe was that scared of what'd happen when he changed back in the morning."

"If they were his real people, he wouldn't have anything to be afraid of," Shreya said, amused. "They'd leave him alone. So much for real people."

"They're the ones that would be afraid. We're wolves, remember? We're something to fear," Shanti said. "And he's an idiot. There's no such thing as were-humans, and if there were, he wouldn't be one."

"Why's that?"

"Because he's got human fever. Miracles don't happen to people who want to mingle with humans that much. They just don't. Hanging out with humans too much makes you cursed."

"You know that's a myth." Human contact hadn't 'cursed' Loupe. His own twisting thinking had done that.

"Name any good things that have happened because of humans and wolves intermingling." When her sister didn't say anything, Shanti took that as a victory. "Thought so! Loupe's so obsessed with them that he thinks he's one of them. It's disgusting. I don't get it." Shanti shuddered. "Their ears are on the sides of their heads. That's gross!"

"It's not gross on all of them." While Shreya preferred not to see their ears, she didn't mind them. "Some of them make it work."

"Like that girl who stole Papa's gourd?" Laughter played at the edge of her words. "How'd that go? How'da bear get jumbled all up in that?"

Shreya avoided the baiting question, the first one that was sure to set Shanti off on a teasing gigglefest if Shreya went anywhere near it. "I saved her from the bear. She had some friends with her and they needed my help." She kept the details close to her chest. Shanti didn't need to know that Ellie kept animals in her company. What had she called her dog? Something ridiculous like  a companion. What the pig was to Ellie, Shreya wasn't sure, but calling them both her friends was the easiest explanation.

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"You should've let the bear get 'em. Imagine the haul you would've gotten." Shanti grinned. "That's a lotta meat."

"No. The bear was more than enough," Shreya said. Her stomach turned at the thought.

"You've always been a bleeding heart when it comes to these things."

"That's not why. Letting her die would've defeated the purpose in talking to her," Shreya deflected. "She's my information."

"Oh, yeah? What information did you get?"

Shreya drew out a square in the air. "Humans use traps that look like this. They dig out a hole, cover it with a tarp, and when an animal steps on it, they fall right in. There's spikes at the bottom so once they're trapped in the hole, they bleed out and can't fight back."

Shanti gasped. It was exaggerated, but there was some genuine shock in there. "Only they'd come up with something that... Ugh, I don't even have a word for it." She slapped the floor. "Good work, sis."

Shreya had to admit that there was something clever about that idea. Traps would make it easier for them to get food. The problem was that something like that went against their culture. The underhandedness was too disrespectful.

Shanti reached over and squeezed her hand. Her voice got heavier. "Hey, if you get scared tomorrow—"

"I'll be okay." Shreya wiggled her fingers free.

"I'm being serious for once!" Shanti tried again, "if you get scared, just think of me. It worked when we were pups. It'll work now, too."

"You think highly of yourself, don't you?" Shreya teased.

"Yep. Just wait and see. When you need a little mental boost, think Shanti. I'll be thinking of you, too, and keeping you safe."

They wouldn't let her bring along any clay dolls to her punishment. The Elders didn't allow any helpful objects, not even spiritual ones. Shreya would have to call on her sister's qualities to give her strength. Her humor. Her steadfastness.

Shreya drifted off to sleep some time after that. She woke up at the sound of Pravaah and a few other wolves entering the room. They were members of the hunting party, strong and broad-shouldered.

It was time to go. Shreya glanced over at Shanti one last time. She'd turned in her sleep, her back to her and her face turned away.

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