Chapter 1

It started after one battle actually decimated a wolf village. A clan of sheep had pulled a raid in retaliation for a

brutal attack on their nursery leaving many lambs dead and mothers without their babies. Anger boiled and the

Elder Ram authorized an attack on the nearest wolf village. But he gave one rule. No nursing mothers or cubs

could be killed once the village started fighting back. It went without saying that none could kill an unarmed or

surrendered citizen. It was almost midnight when the raid took place and a lot of the wolves fled. But the more

stubborn ones stood their ground not willing to be run out their home by sheep of all things. Yet these sheep

were different from most and had a mastery of weapons and wisdom not known to most clans. During the

battle weapons were wielded, fights raged and blood spilt. At the end the wolves fled and the sheep were

victorious.

Yet there was a damper on the victory when it was discovered that someone had broken the elder's rule. The

responsible soldier explained he was defending himself and had no idea that the raging female had a cub. But

rules were rules and he had to stand before Elder Ram and accept punishment for his transgression. The Elder's

rules were law and there was no excuse to disobey them unless he say that for the rule breaker there was no

other way. The soldier hoped he would be one of those spared.

"You have broken a very simple rule," Elder ram bleated, "a mother protecting her cub is not an enemy and

with our own losses you have made us into hypocrites and liars. You must be punished harshly."

"I am so very sorry Elder Ram. Please give me a chance to show my remorse. I can't be exiled."

"Because you have family?" Elder Ram countered, "so did that wolf cub before you murdered his mother. How

can I pardon you when I issued punishment for the wolves?"

"There must be a punishment within our walls that you can give me," the soldier pleaded.

Elder ram thought about it. The soldier seemed genuinely remorseful at the very least. "I think I have an

alternative but you have to agree to it now without knowing what it is. Just know it excludes exile, Bark."

"Then I will do it," Bark agreed immediately, "my relatives, family and myself thank you for your mercy."

"You might be less grateful upon hearing your punishment," Elder ram stated, "Bark of the Yuu family I sentence

you to raising this cub as your own. With time you might truly learn what you took that night."

Bark was dumbfounded. He had no idea how he was supposed to raise a wolf cub. But the word of the Elder

ram was law and he knew he had to accept his sentence. At least he was not placed in exile.

Bark decided to work hard at raising the wolf cub. His wife Berry accepted their new duty and from early on

decided to disguise the cub with bits of their own wool to make him look somewhat like a lamb. Select grown

sheep and rams knew the truth but kept quiet as ordered by the Elder ram. The wolf cub was named Sharpe

and the story was that he was a deformed lamb found after a wolf attack. He mixed in with the lambs and was

accepted as one of them despite his strangeness. Since the Elder ram did not dispute the story it was accepted

as truth and Sharpe became just another member of the clan.

But there were complications in raising a wolf cub as a lamb. There was the issue of making Sharpe live on a

vegetable diet like they did. The cub was often malnourished and tired easily. As Bark and Berry started having

lambs of their own both started having more concerns about the cub. If he ever developed the instinct of a wolf

or a taste for lamb then their entire family would be in danger. One day when Bark witnessed Sharpe biting at

himself he knew his adopted cub had come at an impasse. It was either find an alternative way to feed him or

kill Sharpe without anyone in his clan discovering the truth. Getting exiled now was not an option with a family

to bring up. Leaving Berry before seemed heartbreaking but now there were innocent lambs in the picture who

needed them. Sharpe was not excluded by any means but the fact was that the cub was not really one of them

and if it were him or Bark's biological lambs there would not be need for too long of a decision making process.

Also there was Sharpe's random acts of aggression. While the lambs enjoyed grazing and resting Sharpe was

often restless and sometimes even chased other lambs which upset both the one being chased and their

parents. Panicked bleating could be heard whenever the cub was placed with a group. There was no telling

when he could go off and being a wolf made Sharpe incredibly fast. Plus some of the sounds he made didn't

sound very sheep like and even worried the grown ups. More and more Sharpe was excluded from play time

and made to do alternate activities. The disguised wolf cub quickly became an outcast among his peers and was

coming to the realization about how different he really was.

Bark finally came up with an idea to help Sharpe assimilate better. He deduced that a lot of the cub's aggression

came from being so hungry all time. More and more Sharpe was throwing up or quickly passing all the

vegetables he was being fed. Also Bark was realizing that killing Sharpe was a lot harder than he thought it

would be. More than once he had taken the cub to a lonely spot but did not have the heart to do the deed. So

instead he decided to do something that was considered sacrilege but saw that as a better alternative. Bark

started going to the graveyard and digging up dead sheep. Then he would take out innards and place the body

back. Bit by bit he started mixing that into Sharpe's food and would only give that combination to the cub when

they were alone. He would tell Share that it was a special concoction to help make the cub feel better. That it

was a secret mixture that was rare and only a few in the clan knew about it. Telling the cub that made Sharpe

less likely to tell anyone else and risk losing the one thing that helped lessen the aggression and sickness that

plagued the cub in the past. As time went on Sharpe became more docile and got included in playtime again.

The other lambs however were still wary of the strange looking lamb cub and avoided him despite the parents

feeling reassured and Sharpe looked and behaved much healthier and acceptable. The wolf cub ended up still

being an outcast among his peers and his friends became his family and a few grown ups within the clan.

Sharpe grew into a awkward but lively teen wolf cub. As he got older questions plagued him that his parents

were very vague about. Why did he not look like other lambs? How come he could never leave their home

without wearing the wool disguise which was getting harder and harder to wear in the hot climate that was

most of the year where the clan resided? During winter it was not so bad but he still felt strange since he knew

unlike his peers the wool he wore was not his. Sometimes when alone he would slip off his disguise and look

closely at himself. He had a long lanky body covered in brown hair instead of wool, he also had a long snout,

claws on his feet that his mother cut down low every month now and worst of all rows of sharp teeth his father

had ordered him never to show anyone. This made smiling impossible for the disguised wolf cub and made

others view him as even stranger whenever photos were taken. Just another factor that made him an outsider

than the wolf attack that resulted in his strangeness.

Sheep and rams were not allowed to see what wolves looked like until adulthood. This was seen as a way to

keep away fear. Also only grown ups were allowed to go beyond the clan borders at anytime. Anyone who broke

the rules was severely punished so very few tried. Sharpe however had found a way to slip past a few times and

had never got caught even once. He was not sure why but he knew the smell of the guards and could hear their

footsteps from far away. This enabled him to time their movements in order to sneak out and back in at the

perfect time. Ensuring that his parents and clan never found out his secret goings on. Despite what he had been

told the wolf always suspected that there was more to the way that he looked. The deformity story just did not

make sense. Nothing about his body seemed messed up in anyway other than the fact he looked completely

different from his siblings and the rest of the clan. Maybe a curse had been put on him and no one had the

heart to tell him. Whether or not that was true the only way to find out was to get answers and he there was no

way of getting that from within the clan. There were strict rules about not questioning the status quo and he

didn't want to start any trouble for himself or his family by angering their neighbors or worse the Elder ram

himself.