The Dehumanization of Ethan Brown

Ethan was working on his paperwork from the latest bust. They had closed five crack houses the previous week. Ethan didn’t tell the other men in Narcotics that he could smell out cocaine; they just admired his skill collecting evidence. A social worker arrived at his desk. “Det. Brown, I need to ask you a few questions.”

“What is this about?”

“Do you know Sara Maria Lopez?” the social worker asked.

“Yes, she lives in my house,” Det. Brown said.

“Can we speak privately?” she said. “I’m Carolita Rodriguez.”

“I have nothing to hide,” he said.

“Sara Maria won’t tell us the name of the father of her child.”

“Why are asking me?”

“Do you know of any boys that hang out with her?”

“I’m not going to answer any questions about my tenants. Please, talk to her parents if you are concerned about the girl’s well-being.” He wasn’t about to tell this busybody that he was the baby’s father.

“There have been a reports that her father has touched her inappropriately.”

“I don’t work for family services. I can direct you to the right department.” Brown yawned and returned to his mountain of paperwork.

The woman continued to question Brown about the adolescent girl, but Brown didn’t look up from his paperwork or said a word to her. The woman shook her head as she left his desk.

Ethan went to the kennels leaving his uniform in the Volvo. Juan was watering the dogs with Tony. “A social worker fucking bothered me at the police station. She thinks you’re the father of Ria’s baby.”

“The woman is sick. I would never touch my children,” Juan said, as he filled the bowls with expensive dog food.

“Did she visit you after she visited me?” Ethan asked.

“She did. I told her that it wasn’t her fucking business who the baby’s father was and that my daughter had quit school this morning, she was seventeen and wasn’t required to go to school legally anymore.” Juan put down the hose and swept the floor of the kennel with large push broom. “I told her that date of my daughter’s birthday and she seemed happy that Ria would be eighteen in less than a month.”

“I remember all the crap my mother went through because I quit fucking school before my sixteenth birthday. I came here less than a month later without Bonnie,” Ethan said.

“This has always been your home.” Juan leaned the broom against the fence. “Son, sweep out the last kennel.”

“Yes, Dad,” Tony said, taking the broom.

“I’m sorry that the fucking state can’t stay out of our fucking affairs.” Juan stroked Ethan’s face. “How was your day otherwise?”

“Good. I caught up on my paperwork.” Ethan wrapped his arms around Juan and gave him a brief kiss.

“You have on too much clothes.” Juan licked Ethan’s neck. “You taste so good.”

“Ria is going to have my baby in a few days.” Ethan breathed into Juan’s mouth taking both Juan’s hands in his.

“Touching me has nothing to do with her.” Juan had removed his shirt. “Do what feels good.” Juan put Ethan’s hand on his chest.

“We can’t screw in public,” Ethan said.

“No one can see over the fucking fence.” Juan pointed to the opaque fence then wrapped his arms around Ethan and kissed him deeply. “You kiss so well.”

“Don’t you care that the fucking state thinks you committed incest?”

“You’re the baby’s father. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Ethan put the hose away. “Juan, I shouldn’t have come here.”

“I like your body.” Juan unbuttoned Ethan’s shirt, and licked his chest. “Don’t you like mine?”

“You know that I do. This is wrong.” Ethan put Juan’s hands in his.

“You’re thinking like human morality applies to us. Does this hurt Camilla or Ria?” Juan undid Ethan’s belt buckle as they kissed. Juan moved his hand over Ethan’s body. “You’re so hard.” Juan fondles Ethan’s ass with one hand and his sex with the other. Juan kissed Ethan’s naked back as he pressed his cock against Ethan’s rump.

Ethan closed his eyes as he felt Juan get hard against him. “Don’t do this. No means no.”

“Relax and admit you enjoy this as much as I do.” Juan bit on Ethan’s neck gently as his hand wrapped around Ethan’s waist. “You smell so fucking good.”

Ethan braced himself against the kennel’s concrete block walls as his clothes slipped off him. Ethan didn’t know if he was consenting as Juan fucked him. He cried, as he felt powerless holding his arms out to keep himself from hitting the wall with every thrust. As Juan’s hand cupped his sex, his body betrayed him. Ethan allowed himself to relax the associated muscles; there was no fighting what was happening to him.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Ethan put on his clothes after he washed the semen off his belly and cleaned the blood and semen from his backside. He didn’t look at Juan as he walked from the kennel back to the house. He felt like he had been raped on his own property. He wondered if one of the other males in the house witnessed it would they think that Ethan wanted it and he was responsible for the abuse. His ass hurt as he helped the children finish their schooling.

Ria kissed Ethan’s cheek. “My father spends too much time with the Huskies.”

“They’re his livelihood. The school accused him of incest.” Ethan listened to the baby inside her and lightly stroked her extended belly.

“You hear him.”

“He sounds wonderful.”

“He could be a she,” Ria said. “I quit fucking school. I’m going to help Mom teach the little ones. Margaret and Mom need more time to feed all these mouths. I’ll be eighteen in three weeks. I need to act like an adult.”

“I thought Jake and Margaret were stealing food from dumpsters,” Ethan said. “Our refrigerators and freezers are always overflowing with food. I don’t know why I bother to go out to hunt.”

“Because it’s instinct. Marla and Robin want to raise rabbits. Mom says it’s our job to keep the younger children out of them,” Ria said. “There are eight children in the house that need to be kept busy. One Sega donated by Robin\'s dad isn’t going to keep them all entertained.”

“I’ll help you girls build cages,” Ethan said. “Ria, you can teach them chemistry. There are many things you can do with household chemicals.”

“Dad seems so distracted lately,” Ria said.

“The sc acc accused him of a very bad thing. Give him some time. Webe mbe married this summer after you turn eighteen and everyone will know that I’m your baby’s father.” Ethan kissed her belly.

“I don’t want a big wedding,” Ria complained. Jake’s oldest child was a girl and she married into another pack and his son and his bride left the pack to form their own soon after the wedding and never wrote or called. Ria would have the firhildhild of this generation and that was also cato cto celebrate.

“You’re the alpha’s oldest child. Juan hasn’t had an excuse to invite other packs into his territory since my father’s death. He needs this show of generosity and cooperation. Our packs numbers are growing rapidly and he needs to show the other packs that we aren’t a threat.”

“Emilio is talking about selling his chicken coops and forming his own fucking pack in Albany,” Ria said. Emilio had been talking about getting his pack since Ethan had rejoined the pack when he was fifteen. “There are many small packs in the mountains and towns near the Canadian border. They stay out of the fucking politics of the larger city packs. We could join one of those.”

“Why are we so small?” Robin, Jake’s daughter, asked.

“We were slaughtered when Al was pack leader,” Camilla explained, as they joined Margaret in the kitchen.

Margaret pulled several large potpies out of the oven. “The labels say that each one should feed 5 people. Tanufanufacturer never saw my husband eat. Camilla, put four more in the oven. Ethan, two industrial size ovens were a great idea.”

Camilla told the how she hid and the war between three packs over breeding with humans started. All werewolves that married outside the pack were to be killed with their mates and children. Camilla’s mother and father were killed at that time as well as her younger brother and sister. Doris had taken Camilla and her children to the mountains after Camilla’s pack had perished. “Dorothea, Juan’s oldest sister, found me hiding inside an rotten tree truck. I didn’t know my family and the rest of my pack were gone. Doris took me and her children to the mountains while her husband and the other males fought in my family’s honor.”

“What happened to them?” Marla asked although she heard the story before.

“They all perished. The only other family in our pack to live was out of town at the time. Jake and Tobias came home to nothing; Ryan was too young too understand. Jacob, Sr. doesn’t do much with the pack now. He feels like he should have died with the others,” Camilla sobbed. “Our pack had forty-five adult members before the slaughter. Afterwards, there were three adult male left and seven adult females and thirteen children. Doris raised us with the help of another widow. She went to school and learned to work with humans. She wasn’t going to get a handout.”

When Al ted ted Ethan back, he insisted that Ethan keep a low profile and not marry for his own safety. “No wonder, Dad didn’t want anyone to know I was pack,” Ethan said.

Robin was aghast when she heard the number that had died in the conflict and how many packs were decimated. Packs as far as west as Colorado had vanished completely.

“Papa must be nervous about the other packs visiting,” Ria said. “I’ll bring him food. He would rather go hungry than eat the gourmet dog food that he buys the Huskies.”

“I’ll go with you,” Ethan said, filling a basket with the produce that he brought from the mark down cart. He filled a shopping cart with overripe fruit and vegetables feeling guilty about buying rotten food when he was so careful about spoilage while living with Leslie. Ethan felt proud of himself as he brought four bags of groceries for less than twenty dollars. “I can’t bring myself to eat garbage.”

“You have been living with humans too long.” Ria opened the backdoor. “Let’s cheer up my father. I’m sure he’s worried about our wedding.”

Ethan walked slowly. He felt uncomfortable facing her father after he had violated him. Here he was a police officer and he didn’t feel safe in his own backyard. Juan owned him body and soul and he was powerless to tell Juan no.

Ria offered her father some potpie. Margaret had collected around twenty of them from the grocery garbage. They were mashed and opened so they couldn’t be s Mar Margaret knew the right time of day to find food in the dumpsters without having to dig too deeply. Usually she brought home several cases discolored meat poulpoultry. “Dad, what happened when mother’s family was killed?”

“I was fourteen,” Juan said. “Ethan and Bonnie lived with us. The packs felt that we were polluting our population with human blood. The Albany pack had grown very large through breeding with humans and many of the older packs resented them. They slaughtered them during a pack meeting. Only a few children and elderly members were spared. Camilla was hidden in tree stump. My mother took us to the mountains protect her and Bonnie fled with Ethan. The rest of the pack stayed to fight with our fallen comrades. That is why there are only five males in this generation.” Juan corrected himself. “Six. Ryan just turned nineteen and he has a two-year-old cub of his own. In the mountains, Camilla and I married and you were conceived.”

As Ria listened to the story, Ethan ate the vegetables from the basket. He couldn’t bring himself to eat food that he knew came from a dumpster. It didn’t matter that he knew that he couldn’t get food poisoning. The idea made him feel ill. He felt like his humanity was slipping from him. Juan’s tale of revenge made him feel weak. Ethan enjoyed the flavor of the overripe tomatoes. The grocery had dozens of ears of corn in the discount cart and he would rather eat food that he paid for than food found in dumpsters.

Juan grabbed an ear of corn. “Ethan, you’re adult member of the pack, now. Al was wrong to hide our fucking history from you and treat you like an fucking adolescent.”

“You treat me better.” Ethan looked at his lap as he ate. His bottom was still seeping from the damage Juan had inflicted earlier in the day.

“I respect your opinion. I’m worried about having members of several packs in our mist. We haven’t decided where to have the party.” Juan took another cob leaving the cob on the ground. He would toss it into the compost pile later.

“We shouldn’t hat att at the house,” Ria said. “We could have it in a park after dark.”

“Beyond city limits,” Juan said. “There’s a camp grounds that rents cabins to hunters. We could raise enough money to rent four or five cabins for the night.”

“As long as they’re isolated from the rest of the camp site,” Ria said. “The fucking hunters might shoot at a large pack of wol”
”

“We could have everyone stay human near the cabins,” Juan said. “If a few lack the control, they can stay back. Ethan, I heard that you have control now.”

“I haven’t tried to change back consciously. I returned while I was sleeping,” Ethan said.

“You’ll have control by the wedding.” Juan ate the potpie with his hands. “You have much to learn about pack politics.”

“I know our lives don’t matter,” Ethan said.

“They matter to me,” Juan said. “Ethan, you and Ria are very important to me. I’ll protect my pack at all costs and cancel the party if I feel that I’ll put you in danger.”

“Having it off our lands puts us in danger,” Ria said. “We should have it at the park we patrol.”

“It’s too close to human population. Two hundred wolves would bring human attention. I’ll visit with the Buffalo pack next weekend. I would like you two to come with me,” Juan said. “Wyatt’s pack was close to a hundred members. They can provide us with protection.”

“Can we trust him?” Ria asked. “He watched the Albany pack be slaughtered while most of our members gave their lives.”

“That’s why we\'re visiting,” Juan said. “Ethan, you’ll need to gain control over the next three days.”

“I’ll try. Ria shouldn’t travel. She’s close to delivering,” Ethan said.

“Daughter?” Juan asked.

“I’ll be fine. The baby can be born on the road if necessary,” Ria said. “We need to have peace with the neighboring packs. Since the slaughter, there has been an uncomfortable silence.”

“You shouldn’t put your expectant daughter at risk,” Ethan said. “I’ll go without her. Tony should go. He’s your next in line.”

“Ethan, I want you to be my heir,” Juan said.

“I’m only seven years younger than you. Tony’s your son. Juan, trust the boy,” Ethan said.

“Dad, talk to Ethan. I’m going back to the fucking house.” Ria picked up the empty foil pan and dropped it in the non-food waste can.

“Alphas tend not to be long lived. Tony isn’t fucking mature enough to handle the pack if something should happen to me.” Juan took more vegetables from the basket.

“Ask Jake or Emilio to do it. Tell him that you want him as your second in command. I don’t want the job.” Ethan looked at his bare feet.

“Jake is my second in change. He doesn’t want the job with his new business opening soon. Emilio and I don’t talk. He’s angry that I married Camilla. He thinks I ruined our family’s blood,” Juan said.

“I don’t want the fucking job. Ryan can do it; he’s full-blooded. If they think you polluted the fucking line, what are they going to think about me?” Ethan said.

“I’ll insist that Ryan or Emilio takes it. Jake was second under Al. He deserves to be able to work a full-time job. See why I need a larger pack.”

“Juan, I know that it hard with only six adult male members. I can’t be your second in command. Please, don’t ask me again.”

“I still want you to advice me.” Juan put his hand through Ethan’s hair and nuzzled him. Juan pressed his head against Ethan’s cheek then nibbled on Ethan’s neck hard enough that Ethan bled slightly. Juan licked the blood pooling on Ethan’s neck before pulling away.

“I won’t be your fucking toy.” Ethan picked up the empty basket and returned to the house. He touched the cut on his neck feeling it clot.

Ria noticed the nick on Ethan’s neck. “My father marked you sec second time today.”

“He’s afraid that we’ll be slaughtered again.”

“We were bigger then,” Ria said. “We can hope since we have only five nuclear families that we aren’t worth their fucking time.”

“Four. We’re part of your father’s family,” Ethan said touching the nick on his neck.

“Until our marriage, you’ll be seen as an adolescent.”

“It doesn’t work that way. I’ll always been seen as an adolescent until I’m an old man. He doesn’t want Jake to travel with him as his second and I can’t do it. They’ll know from my odor that I’m half.”

“Ryan will have to do it,” Ria said.

“I don’t envy your father at this moment. All our lives are in the balance,” Ethan said. “He should have let me remain celibate.”

“You’re as strong as anyone full-blooded,” Ria said. “I’ve seen you hunt. No one else has your fucking skill. Don’t blame yourself.”

“I have skill not strength.”

“It isn’t how much force you use, it is how it’s applied.”

“Your father wants me there to pick my brain. I can’t go.”

“He’s using you.”

“He’s trying to save all our lives. Ria, don’t judge him too harshly.” Ethan sat a cushion on the floor trying not to let Ria see that it hurt to sit down. He knew that he was mending several tears in his rectum from that afternoon.


“I didn’t want to ask you, but it’s not like didn’t smell fucking blood.”

“When I transform, the bruising goes away; I’ve never consented.”

“I’m not blaming you. My father is afraid and he’s taking it out on you.”

“He’s afraid of me. I have Al\'s money in the fucking bank. He needs to put me in my fucking place.” Many werewolves felt money was the curse of human society and shunned it. Ethan felt odd about having as much money as he did in the bank, but he had nothing to spend it on. He made a good salary as a detective and paid more than his share of the bills around the house and as it was Juan and Jake were nervous about Ethan\'s financial contributions.

“You could leave this,\" Ria said.

“I can’t. I’m up to my eyeballs in it. We’ll get married and try to be cordial to our guests. I’ll advice your father and hope that Ryan goes with him to Buffalo to beg for protection. I wish I could talk eslieslie about this but this is a pack problem.” Juan asked for his advice when he should have been consulting his second, Jake.

Jake couldn\'t believe that Ethan was trying for his position in the pack, and as it was Jake barely tolerated Ethan\'s presence. Jake didn\'t appear to like that Ethan enjoyed cuddling with his little brother Ryan although Ryan himself seemed to enjoy the affection.

Ryan was a whole other matter. Ethan loved looking at the fair-haired young male. He was short and more wiry than Jake, but he loved to cuddle with Ethan when Ria was too busy to be bothered. Ethan dreamed about kissing him but he didn\'t want Ryan running from him because he crossed an imaginary line; the hugging was enough at this time. Why ruin something innocent with carnal desires and give Jake another reason to hate him?

“She\'s a good friend.\" Ria stroked Ethan\'s beard.

“The best.” Ethan kissed Ria’s forehead. “I’m sorry that I told you that I would never love you.”

“You were angry that I was taking you from your woman.” Ria planted kisses along Ethan neck.

“She couldn’t accept me. Ria, I hated what I am. How could she accept it when I couldn’t? I don’t want to admit that I have the stomach of a scavenger. I wanted to think of myself as a man when every night I grow a fur coat.” Ethan put a finger through Ria\'s hair.

Ria stroked his face. “Honey, we’ll get through this.”

“Right now. You need to focus on having a healthy baby.”

“I’m going to sleep with my mother and the babies.”

“See you in the morning.” Ethan kissed her briefly. Ethan looked around but Ryan was gone. He worked at night and preferred to walk to the convenience store where he was employed.