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language unto themselves.
This one almost seemed to say he didn't want to brag but he'd
talk if I pressed. I waited and he finally continued.
    "It
was tough. They didn't do some of the extreme stuff they'd
gone through because it had just been designed to test loyalty.
They'd satisfied themselves that I wasn't some kind of
psychotic killer, so they mostly just passed on information and
skills. How to evade pursuit, use pistols, knives, unarmed combat,
surveillance, tailing, that kind of thing."
    I
once again felt a bit like I'd just stepped into a James Bond
movie.
    "So
why did you think you needed all of that training? I mean the other
wolves didn't need it, right?"
    "What
makes you think that the other wolves don't get similar
training?"
    That
one stumped me for a minute. I had to think for a minute or two about
what I knew and which pieces had pointed me in the direction of
believing Ash wasn't typical.
    "Well,
if that had been the case then I would have expected you would have
had the training before you left, or at least had been able to get in
with the right kind of people quickly once you did leave."
    "Not
bad. You're right, most wolves don't get any of that kind
of training."
    "So,
if most wolves don't, why did you?"
    Ash
shifted lanes to pass someone and then took a deep breath.
    "I'm
maybe the weakest wolf currently alive. I'm faster and stronger
than most regular humans, but I'm practically a child next to
even a regular wolf, let alone a hybrid."
    "A…hybrid?"
    "Yeah.
Most wolves just have two shapes. Human and wolf. The strongest, most
powerful ones have a third shape, a kind of big wolf-man."
    "So
you're not the strongest and fastest…I'm not
following why that matters so much, but I can tell that it's
somehow important."
    Ash's
knuckles went white on the steering wheel. For a minute I thought
maybe he wasn't going to answer me.
    "Being
a shape shifter is more than just being able to change shapes. We get
urges, almost compulsions that are hard not to act on. Some of us
actually believe that we have a separate…being inside of us.
They call it their beast and struggle not to be as savage as real
animals."
    I
put my hand on his arm. It was a silly gesture, but it was the only
thing I could think of to do and it seemed to calm him down.
    "Inside
of a pack everything is about who's strongest. The weakest
members of the pack have to cater to the whims of the strongest. You
either bend to what they want or you're beaten, or worse."
    "So
you left."
    "Yes.
I won't be anyone's slave, but I knew that I wasn't
strong enough to stand up to the alphas in my pack. If I hadn't
gotten out when I did they would have killed me. You either break or
die."
    "What
about your parents? Surely they could have done something to help
protect you."
    Ash
shook his head. "Once upon a time my family was powerful. Not
just money, they were some of the most dangerous hybrids around. Our
pack held a huge chunk of the southern border. We were part of the
key forces that were responsible for stopping southern scum like
Anton in the last war."
    I
hadn't realized how much my questions were going to cost Ash to
answer, but I knew that leaving the rest of the story untold would be
wrong. I cared about what had happened to bring him to where he was
now and it was important that he understand how much I cared.
    "What
happened?"
    "Peace
happened. For centuries the northern wolves and the southern cats
were locked at each other's throats. The cats are usually
individually stronger, but the wolves have always been better at
working together."
    Things
were starting to make sense to me. Anton had shaken off bullets,
stabbings, you name it, and come after us with hardly a pause. Ash
had healed quickly and I knew he was fast, but even with a gun he
seemed outclassed when he went up against Anton.
    "We
lived for centuries with the barbarians always just outside the
gates, but mostly it would be a minor cat lord who tested our mettle.
Finally a single