My Wolf Boy

"The sin of pride may be a small or a great thing in someone's life, and hurt vanity a passing pinprick, or a self-destroying or ever murderous obsession."

Iris Murdoch

Chapter 3: Bete Noire

The picture flickered once, twice, disrupting the clear image. In a few seconds, the screen wavered for a while before returning back to normal. Everybody in the crowded room released the breath they held in for so long when the figure turned away from the bed.

"Jesus, it's like a piece of steak in a piranha's tank." One worker said before wiping off a drop of sweat from his face. Even the air conditioner didn't help the tension in the air.

"It seems like she's only safe when asleep." Another commented. "As if she were a child."

A woman frowned at the two. "Honestly, don't you think this is enough? She's suffering in there. She's not an animal, she's human. We need to help her. I don't know what the hell is wrong with Dr. Baker." She shook her head and exited the room. Before she completely left, she sneered at the doctor's back.

Dr. Baker ignored the incompetent woman as he watched in the surveillance room. Aurora finally succumbed to her sleep. Orion did nothing but walk around from the room. The doctor frowned, watching as the wolf man did nothing but walk around the room in a bee line. There was no direction, no sense of pattern in it. Losing interest, he turned to his two assistants. "Keep watching the camera. When something interesting comes up, call me." He turned heel, exited the room and walked down the corridors in search for his office.

As he patiently and slowly walked through the clean hallway, he thought of Orion.

How was it that a silent, unresponsive person who has been in the asylum for four months suddenly erupts with such ferocity? Ever since Dr. Walker accepted him, there had been no reaction of any sorts. There was nothing. It couldn't have been something to do with Aurora. He exploded a minute before she walked through the entrance.

It did not make sense.

There was no taunting from the other patients. There was no annoying, distracting sound that could've irritated him. There was nothing. Inside the cafeteria, the patients were eating, enjoying their food when in the midst of it, Orion roared.

Dr. Baker paused in his walk for a moment. Maybe the captivity has driven him deeper into insanity. Maybe, just maybe being held in walls against his will made him erupt in such fierceness. Dr. Baker nodded slowly before entering his office.

The smell of leather calmed his ongoing ideas and theories in his mind, allowing him to relax for a bit before starting. He went to the left side of his desk and pulled open a drawer from the filing cabinet to grab a thin, anorexic-looking folder. Placing the fold on his desk, he swirled the leather chair around and sat on it. He opened the folder and took out a picture and two documents.

The picture was of Orion. The day he had been admitted to the asylum, he (like many other patients) had to undergo a process that grabbed as much identity as they could from him. His picture was taken just like the others to provide a visual to the outside world if he were to escape; or transfer to another place if his case was to be difficult.

His name was with him. When the guards stripped him, the word 'Orion' was tattooed in the inside of his left wrist. The words were small, easily able to be unseen by others. With no identity, they used 'Orion' as a label for him.

Taking his blood was a bit more difficult than imagined. When a nurse pricked him with a needle, immediately Orion wrestled with the bands that were tightly wrapped around his wrists, arms, body, forehead and legs. The nurse was able to quickly take his blood and run out of the small room. When he was taken into his own room, the nurses saw that the bonds that held him down were heavily damaged. But nothing was as disturbing as the boundary of the bed that had been gripped so tightly that the metal bent under pressure.

For four months, Orion did nothing. Absolutely nothing. He refused to walk around, attempt to communicate and eat. The drugs they used rarely worked on him. If anything, it just made him blink lethargically. Dr. Walker made it an order to never go past the limit when drugging him. They would never know if it would overdose on him. After all, a person from the asylum was different from one of society.

Dr. Baker sighed, placing the documents on the table before leaning back in his chair. "Orion, the Wolf Man." He said lazily. The press had yet to write about him once Dr. Baker was able to solve this tough puzzle.

Washington Baker wanted fame. There had been numerous researches on humans raised by animals, and he was as sure as hell that Orion had been raised by wolves. There was no doubt.

Orion's personality and his attitude were those of a wolf. He curled his lip when someone came too close. His dark, dark eyes watched everyone around him with the intent to destroy if bothered or even harmed. His muscles tensed, stiffened when the opportunity to escape was shown. And when Aurora came in contact with him, he fully went into his wolf mode.

What was it that Aurora had that made him want to take her under his wing?

Dr. Baker thought of this thoroughly until he had a headache. She was a woman. Perhaps her scent, her pheromones, her smell made him react more harshly, more vigorously to her than any other. He frowned, looking out the window as his brows pinched. A haze of concern washed over his brain.

His two assistants entered the room.

"Dr. Baker," A woman, Alana, said before approaching the table. "I think," She looked at her partner, Bryan, who nodded at her. "We think that humanizing Orion can be possible, thoroughly possible."

He turned away from the window, frowning at his assistants before asking, "Why do you think so?"

"Though he acts like an animal, Orion still has a touch of human sense." Bryan said. "When the subject was upset, obviously frustrated with Orion's lack of communication and understanding, Orion petted her hair-"

"Animals comfort each other in the same fashion." Dr. Baker interrupted, groaning before leaning back in his chair; his weary bones cracked. "There can't be a sense of humanity just with that action that animals are also able to do. Monkeys, cats, dogs, you name it."

"It shows that he cares." Alana protested.

"It's not enough." He merely sighed and his shoulders slump, all excitement gone. Dr. Baker wondered why the hell he took in assistants.

"How about the fact that he combed her hair? Orion used his fingers to somewhat comfort her when she started falling asleep." Bryan's eyebrows lifted and his hands were in the air. "He petted her but his fingers combed through her hair."

"And animals groom each other, like I said." Dr. Baker stated in a bored voice. "Is there anything else? Because, honestly, both of your observations on Orion are drastically horrid."

Bryan frowned, turning to Alana who shook her head. "It could've been because he was cold." She said.

"What?" Dr. Baker stared at them.

"Orion," Bryan started, moving his hands in the air as he struggled to explain. "Okay, when Aurora went to sleep, Orion walked around. After you left, Alana and I kept watching and saw Orion put back the elastic bottoms that he took off, which made Aurora go into a frenzy. Alana," Bryan gave her a pointed look before continuing. "She believes that Orion got cold and decided to just put it on. I think that he put it on to give Aurora some kind of reassurance even though she's sleeping. Because if he was cold, he would've also grabbed and put on the t-shirt, too, not just the pants."

"We can't even say he put on those pants because he wanted to soothe her." Alana debated.

"No." Dr. Baker said, a slow smile spread through his face. "He can be humane." He whispered to himself.

"No?" Alana repeated in confusion.

Dr. Baker smiled and stood from his leather chair. He walked to the window and stared out at the green grass. His hands were clasped behind his back. "He can do it. I can do it." He whispered the last part quietly. Quickly he walked back to his desk and booted up his computer. In an instant, he brought up the security window, disabled every one until he saw Aurora's sleeping form. It was true. Orion was wearing pants.

He laughed and nodded. "This is great!" He said to his fellow assistants with a smile on his face. "Humanizing him will be great."

"But how can you even think-" Alana started.

"He can't feel the heat or cold, he can withstand it. And Orion's alpha male in this case. In his so called pack, there's only him and Aurora. Because he caused distress to Aurora, he covered his nudity." Dr. Baker laughed, clapping his hands. "Don't you see? Alpha males don't take orders from their pack mates. They give orders."

Alana's eyes widened in recognition. "Then he does have…he can be human."

"Yes! Yes!" Dr. Baker chuckled; the excitement filled him once more. "He can!"

Bryan nodded with ecstatic, bringing up his clipboard to write on. "The only way we can actually attempt to humanize him is when Aurora is around. Just think about it. In just two days, he gave us a much more response than he had done in the last four months."

Alana agreed. "We can use Aurora throughout the whole process. She's the only one who, like Bryan said, made him respond heavily in just two days. Imagine what more we can do with her presence."

"That will not happen." Dr. Walker entered the room, causing the two assistants to freeze when they saw a dark look over his face. "My daughter is out of the question." He quietly closed the door behind him, the click of the lock echoed in the room.

"Dr. Walker," Dr. Baker greeted, taking a step towards him.

"No." Dr. Walker said. His brown hair disheveled from worry and concern for his youngest child. His brown eyes were tired, bloodshot from hours of inner conflictions. "I cannot let you continue this, Washington."

Dr. Baker smiled thinly at him before turning to the other two. "Alana, Bryan, leave." Quickly, they disappeared. "Now, Riley-"

"No, Washington, this is enough. I want my daughter." Dr. Walker sighed wearily before depositing himself on a chair in front of Dr. Baker's desk. His bones ached, muscles screamed in soreness from the staying up late at night, greatly concern for the well-being of his daughter.

"Riley, I ask of you to give me the end of the week. I'll then allow Aurora to come back." Dr. Baker said, walking around the desk and sat on the edge so that he was close to Dr. Walker, his friend for many years. "Just one week, Riley. That's all I ask of you."

"No, Washington, not at the end of the week. I want her now." Dr. Walker said in a hard tone voice as he stood from the chair. He paced around the room, glaring at Dr. Baker. "She's my daughter, Washington!"

Dr. Baker kindly and patiently waited as Washington continued to rant about his daughter and family. Dr. Baker, who had no family, did not know about the great worry Dr. Walker had for his daughter. Sure, he had his mother and father, but other than that he had nothing; nothing but this case that could lead to great fame. Once Dr. Walker finished and was panting, Dr. Baker started to talk, "Think of it, Riley. If we can solve this mystery I—we'd be famous. Imagine it! The Boy Raised by Wolves Finally Humanized! His puzzle can be solved! All the other children who were raised by animals were all hoaxes, Riley! They were all fake, Riley! But we have the real thing! We have a wolf man! He's a feral child!"

"He could be mentally disabled for all we know! Look, I don't care-"

He ignored Dr. Walker and raised his hands in vigor excitement. "Imagine it! The other kids who were raised by animals either died, was a fraud or were put in the asylum. Imagine if we can put Orion in the city and he can live there as well as talk in our language! We already vaccinated him with updated shots. If we can humanize him…imagine the possibility to delve in the mind of both human and animal! He can tell us all we need!"

"Not with my daughter, Washington." Dr. Walker had a permanent frown on his face, a small diamond line etched right between his brows. He then sighed heavily and looked at Dr. Baker with a sense of pity in there. "I know you, Washington. I know that you've been in your father's shadow ever since you've graduated with your degree, but that doesn't give you any reason to do this. You can get out from your father's shadow, Washington, but not like this-"

Dr. Baker interrupted him, determined to have Aurora for this case. And he took a different, harder approach. After all, he didn't graduate with a degree for no reason. "Aren't you angry at Claire, Riley?"

Immediately, a dark and hard look fell upon Dr. Walker's face. "That's irrelevant!" He hissed angrily.

"But Aurora just looks like her. Like a split-copy of Claire." Dr. Baker walked up to Dr. Walker. "She ran away from you, Riley. She ran away from you and the family, her daughter and sons."

Dr. Walker pulled back his fist and punched his dear friend in the face. Dr. Baker's cry of pain did not falter the anger that roiled through him. "She's my daughter! She's not my wife, she's my daughter! And she will not suffer because of Claire's choice, Washington."

The fallen doctor picked himself from the ground, groaning as he lightly touched his aching jaw. Damn, he didn't know Dr. Walter had it in him. Dr. Baker looked up at him, slowly picking himself up. "Riley," A begging tone should do the trick. "Understand that we can both be famous. An actual case of a feral child. Understand!" A small hurtful face did the trick. Dr. Walter was now rubbing the back of his neck, indecision on his face.

He sighed softly, rubbing his neck as he looked at Dr. Baker. "No," He answered. "No, not like this, not like this."

Immediately, Dr. Baker's sneered, impatient with his friend's reluctance to fame. "You have no choice."

"No choice, my ass, Washington!" Dr. Walter yelled, walking towards Dr. Baker till he was right in front of his face. "I don't' have to listen to you! She's my daughter! She's human-"

"As is Orion! And you accepted him, Riley! Did you not want to him, hn?" Dr. Baker slowly walked around Dr. Walker, narrowing his eyes as his voice turned to steel. "Didn't you, Riley, for a minute, believe he is curable? What are you doing now, Riley? You're walking away, something you promised never to do since one of your patients went severely delusional and committed suicide."

Dr. Walker began to breathe fast, unwanted memories flowing through him. "That's not fair." He said weakly, his barriers breaking down. "You're putting old ghosts against me." He barely whispered.

"You failed, Riley." Dr. Baker stood before him, his hands clasped behind his back as he observed Dr. Walker. A smile tugged on his lips but he refused to let his inner enjoyment show. "Are you going to fail again, Riley?" He asked slowly and quietly as if he were talking to a child.

There was a heavy silence in the room.

And then Dr. Walker exploded. "One day!" He roared, his fists clenching rhythmically as he angrily stabbed on finger at Dr. Baker's chest, causing him to stagger back. "Just one day! I permit one day, Washington. God, I don't know why I'm even doing this. But just one day! Not at the end of the week, Washington. I want her tomorrow, tomorrow." With those words, Dr. Walker turned heel and walked towards the door.

Amazing how old ghosts and failure were a greater pain than a daughter in suffrage.

"Imagine the possibilities!" Dr. Baker yelled before Dr. Walker left, feeling a bit of pity for the man. But nonetheless, this was his assignment, his dream and his goal. Now he can get out of his dratted father's shadow and become greater than he. And no matter what, Dr. Baker was going to do anything in his power to lengthen the time between Aurora and Orion.

Dr. Baker scoffed at the stupidity of his old friend. Riley needed to realize that this was a history in the making. He needed to make himself strong and cold when it came to family, and use them when fame was a whistle away. A headache pounded Washington's head, making him shake his head (foolishly) lightly before making way to his desk.

He sat down on his comfortable rolling leather chair, turning to the side and opened the drawer of his mahogany desk.

An orange bottle rolled along with the moment of the roughly opened drawer, grasped by Dr. Baker before opened and taken in double the dosage necessary. It was placed back as soon as the multiple pills made way down his dry throat without the aid of water.

Dr. Baker cleared his throat, placing his hand upon the middle of his chest for a moment, stilling as he felt an odd pain twinge inside of his ribcage. After the oddity has passed, he merely shrugged and leaned forward to study the security footage.

When the screen flickered, Dr. Baker's eyes narrowed in confusion.

This time, the image of Orion standing before the window darkened. The blackness hummed like an evil spirit. Though it was shown on the screen of the small window on his computer, Dr. Baker can literally feel around himself. It came to a point where he unconsciously leaned away from the screen.

Suddenly, it happened.

The diseased heart within his chest almost died from shock. This was the second time that has happened from something his brain couldn't comprehend. The fuzzy image of Orion stretched. It expanded across the four corners of the panel, flickering almost like hair swaying in the depths of water.

All the meanwhile Dr. Baker tried to comprehend the idiosyncrasy of this, it suddenly sucked in a small ball and came back to the image of Orion standing before window.

But this time, one of his arms was shaped like a wolf's: hair, shape and claws.

And in a split second, it was gone.

EDITED: JAN. 24. I added an extra scene towards the end with Dr. Baker and himself, and the monitor :3

A/N: ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT D: For those Interior Monologue fans, I'm so sorry T^T But this update is important because it's going to be filled with information for this story, the rest and my busy schedule. D: This chapter wasn't as long as the rest but there's confliction and dialogue :D

As for Aurora, she is weak. My other characters are bold, strong and hard-headed (except for Feathers but she has an excuse! XD) but this time I want to experiment on a weak person. I want to write a character that doesn't have the strength to lift a speck of dust with one finger. Molly is stubborn and strong, but Aurora will be spineless and malleable. At least, she'll be easy to control until a turning point in her life (: And that my dears, is the excitable part of the story :D I already have it planned out!~ :D

I finally decided whether or not to continue it with Atropa Belladonna or not! Which gives you and me good news and bad news.

Good news: The story is going to branch off of Atropa Belladonna, so you'll see new and old characters (:

Bad news: Since this story is going to branch off of Molly and Wulf's, this means I'm going to be updating this story RARELY. I really want to finish Atropa Belladonna before continuing onwards with this one. Another bad news is that Ophelia and Ryder's story will be on hold until My Wolf Boy is finished. ):

Alright here's the announcement:

I updated this story rather than Interior Monologue because it was semi-complete. Interior Monologue's next update is nowhere complete. And I have an announcement to announce (duh) and most of my readers favorited/alerted this story. So, it'll be quicker to get to you guys.

Sadly, I won't be able to update within a three months period. I have finals to study for, things to pack, books to engross myself with (I'm forced to). And for the summer I'm going to the middle of nowhere T^T which means one thing: there's no internet there. And there's only one place that doesn't have internet: my aunt's house. I'm going to AZ for three weeks and then NE for eight weeks. I'll be home by the end of the third month. This was my mother's idea to be some camping crap that I can concentrate on my studies (sigh). And I'm not allowed to take my laptop ): But I'll still have paper to write on (:

I'll be back soon and hopefully, I can sneak off and find a computer somewhere in the woods :D

NEXT UPDATE: INTERIOR MONOLOGUE(Four chapters this time since I didn't hold it. Scouts honor!)

Thank you my reviewers! (:

momica Marial79 CoryD Teasauna Difficult Choices Dances-With-Pens JBrooke ShaniA120 xxNaturallyWickedxx A . Cookie . For . A . Kiss . midnight84118 jennaifur Mo- The Reviewer CK90 Dark-Passion67 Sternklarnact fuwafuwafuwari XxgraceygirlxX sooner or later its over lastkissb8 HoPELeSS . RoMaNTiiC under the milky way Midnight113 HeartsOfDiamonds TwilightStarss Unresponsive Its . Not . Me . Its . You . StaNdUPtomE SassyGrl charliej artificial destiny redambrosia ThePureAndSimpleTruth Letyne MaxMcDowell KIx0x

Toby – BWAHAHAHAHAH XDDDD Your comments are hilarious!

SETI – AWW, I'm glad you're enjoying it so far (:

okashay09 – Haha, we all get lazy once in a while (: LOOOOOOL XDDDD It's been taking over Atropa Belladonna for others, too (: You're not the only one. Oh, no, I'm going to continue writing Atropa Belladonna, so have no worries :D BWAHAHAH XDDD: "it holds a lot of suspense and im withering with glee on the floor with my right hand on the mouse scrolling down line by line trying to anticipate whats going to happen and when i read this story i cant help but fold my left hand over my mouth while my mouth is closed creating a muffeled scream." Oh, man, that just made my day (: Oh, you'll just have to wait for that one (; You'll know sooner or later :D

McDonald's Lover – LOOOOOLL! I love your penname :D

E – Oh, I'll still be continuing Atropa Belladonna (: Have no fears! :D

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