"Are you... Yeti?"
There's always a pause before humans say my name for the first time. As if they're trying to figure out if I'm in on the joke: am I aware that I'm a large Wolf?
The answer to that is: yes, I'm very aware. It's how I can be a competent soldier. Now don't get me wrong, it's not my obligation to protect others because I'm big, and there's no one forcing me to shrink. I just felt like the best way to orient my improvement plan was to play around the question: "If I can easily break stuff... how easily can I not break what I don't want to break?"
Wolves love physical challenges. We are encouraged since pups to train, never give up when we want something. And that makes us unstoppable when it's something we like.
The most useful skill I could think of--for myself--was to be able to calibrate my touch. When in a small room it's near to impossible for me to be agile, fast, or non-destructive: I get a tingling on my back, then it's on my boots, and when I look down... I realize it's that wall lamp I was trying to keep away from, broken. Because of me. I need to limit this to be valuable to the pack.
So yes, I'm aware of my size. All other Wolves are also aware: we treat physical differences very seriously. To an army, size and agility of its members are important, they impact how you plan a mission, what personnel you call. My size is part of any conversation about me.
It always begins with my name.
"How do we make Yeti valuable to us?" is the question on every Wolf's mind, ever since I decided to be a soldier.
In our world, you need to be good at something, the best you can be, so we let you choose who you want to be. It's funny to me that my place in our army ended up having little to do with my volume. They do use me to my fullest impact, though.
So I'm guarding Oasis, our Werewolf joint, where we party while humans watch or pay money to participate.
Sometimes said humans get too enthusiastic and they need visuals, you know, to bring it down a notch? My frame next to the only human entrance is our warning: this is who you're going to be naked with.
Oasis is surrounded by a huge, square parking lot they keep flooding with their flashy cars. There's usually a lot of activity -- legal or not -- out there, humans feel safer than inside Wolf Territory because we don't step outside our borders. The only issues they have to worry about out there are the ones they cause each other: jealousy rages, vandalism, drugs, fights, car thefts, DUIs. Rape and murder.
I have no business guarding that parking lot so I leave humans to their dealing and prostitution. I'm not even breaking up their fights. They have their laws, one of them should call the police if they feel it's necessary.
When they do get past my immobile, uninviting face--still convinced Oasis is the place where they need to be despite them being afraid of it--I still need to make sure they're thinking things through. I just don't like trouble: if they go inside it's our job to protect them. If they're dumb enough, it's a full time job.
Babysitting humans takes a lot of our resources, it's why I'm out here trying to keep the whining to a minimum, making sure it doesn't cover the moans. Do I think someone can see the inside of our club without getting themselves hurt? If so, the rest of the Wolf Soldiers can vouch to be responsible further. I take my job very seriously: I'd never allow in a human I wouldn't be able (or willing) to protect.
I nod to the small woman in front of me. She doesn't seem from around here, her eyes follow others, currently focused on a leashed girl parading on all fours. We both watch her until she disappears inside a trunk.
Curious, but not very brave, I assess my silent partner. She's Bambi.
It's important that I evaluate any potential new client's intentions correctly, I might help them turn around. And if not, maybe I can suggest some of our lower impact rooms, first. Our showers--humans love those--our dance floor. The soldier rooms.
I knew Bambi had never seen the inside of Oasis. Even if I ignored how she was dressed, the main issue was that she was clothed at all. Only new humans cover breasts.
"Are you a legal adult?" I asked her, it was a slow night and she wasn't going in, but not leaving, either. I always ask people who look young that, even if they don't necessarily look underage. The ID is a human barrier -- we Wolves know each other -- but I haven't quite figured out how to properly check for fakes. My eyes are old, the night doesn't help me focus on that shiny irrelevant plastic. We have a machine at the parking barrier that automatically validates them, it's supposed to be working but I always double-check. No minors inside Oasis, ever. Humans and Wolves agree on this one.
"Yes, yes," the girl assured me. I believed her, she wasn't in a hurry to go in. She stared at a trio of naked girls getting in the backseat of a SUV instead of trying to convince me of anything. Working up the nerve to ask me something, so I left her alone. Humans always struck up conversations with me when they're insecure about going in, as if I cared.
Unfortunately for her resolve, Echo'd also decided to join us that evening. He jumped out, dragging a bound woman out of the backseat, from where Rex and Rover also popped out. Silver's truck was huge, still they made it look like a clown car. I'm mostly concerned that the woman seems out of it, and I know Echo, affectionately nicknamed The Worst Wolf -- I'd argue, rather generously. We're going easy on him cause he got issues but he's just gonna blow up in our faces, I can see it. I'll bring it to Alpha again, I know also Xavier warned him. Silver stays in his car, probably to rearrange his sanctuary. He had these guys on his backseat, he now needs to hose down everything.
Echo carried his woman to me, his duct tape work flawless as usual: a perfect black circle that kept her legs together, a perfectly tight eight of rope around her hands. The only other thing she has on is a fishnet of sorts. I knew I needed to check on her, it was Echo's first year out of Wolf Territory and we didn't need his brand of crazy escalating until it got Oasis shut down.
The Valentine's Day ad-hoc pack tries to enter without acknowledging me, I stretch my arm out in front of Rover's grinning mug. They all stop.
I ask Echo, "Wake her up."
He's not really surprised, he has his excuses ready, which only worries me further.
"Come on, Yeti Bear! She's a cop, we're fine. She knows what she's doing."
He's signaling that he's no longer under Wolf laws and it's between him and the humans. I don't care.
"Alpha said there's a journalist sniffing around," I placidly inform him. Reminded of the warning, I search for Bambi. I find her further by the wall, she'd smartly moved to avoid the group. Wide-eyed but completely silent, her only movement is to breathe. Not sure if she'd ever be able to successfully hold an interview, so I decide she's not the journalist Alpha was talking about.
