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It was a cold day when Taha Aki left his tribe. He had to get away, to wither away like the grass and the plants would soon. He abdicated his position and left his now-oldest son to run the tribe, as was the way. Without his spirit-wife, he had lost his drive. His purpose. And with two more wolf warriors in the form of his youngest two sons, he would not need to protect the tribe any longer.
He wandered for days. Weeks. Possibly months. Walking the woods as a lone wolf, tall yet humble, impressive yet quiet. He watched as other animals shirked away from him, aware of his different scent that he was not like the rest. He could talk to them, as he held as much of the spirit of the proud wolf as he did mortal man, but none approached. All except one. No matter where he went, the ravens would always watch him. Their dark eyes stared unblinking wherever he went. They refused to move when he approached, choosing instead to send out a loud cry that could pierce the sky if possible. Taha Aki didn’t think much of this. In his love with being a great spirit warrior attached to the wolf, he had forgotten the other tales. The powerful T'ist'ilal, the persistent Q’waeti’, the terrifying Dask'iya and the sly Bayaq. Dask'iya and Q’waeti’ have no easier names. The other two, T'ist'ilal and Bayaq, are known more commonly today as the Thunderbird and the Raven. And one of these, Raven, had been watching his tribe for years. While Q’waeti’ had turned their people into men, Raven had always held an interest in the going ons of the tribe. Or in this instance, the life of the former chief.
Taha Aki normally did not rest when ravens were present. He did not like the feeling of being watched, and such creatures always gave him such a feeling. But one day, he felt especially tired and had to rest, no matter what surrounded him. He was too exhausted to see the ravens that had surrounded him in the nearby trees and how all of them seemed to watch a singular raven, larger than the rest. This raven flew down to Taha Aki when as he laid down and bowed lowly.
“Great former chief of the Quileute tribe!” he said.
“How do you know I was such a leader?” Taha Aki demanded. “All you can see is my wolf form.”
“I hear from the wolves, who hear from the deer, who hear from the other birds. Everyone talks about legendary Quileutes and their transformative abilities,” the raven said. Had Taha Aki spoken to other animals in his journeys, he would perhaps know this was not the case. But he had been so drowned in his own grief that he assumed it must be true.
“Is that so? Then you also know of my failings and how I was unable to protect the one I truly loved above the rest,” Taha Aki said.
“Such is why I wanted to speak with you,” the raven said. “I can reunite you with your spirit wife, the one you love above the rest. I ask simply for a favor. I wish to transform as your people do, though from animal to human.”
“You are no spirit warrior! Such a thing cannot be taught,” Taha Aki scoffed.
“I do not need to be taught. If I take the skill away from you, it would work just as well. Also for me to reunite you with your spirit wife, you must be able to die like a mortal man anyway,” the raven said.
Taha Aki did not think twice at the reminder of returning to his spirit wife. What could this paltry raven with graying feathers even do with such a skill anyway? “Very well, raven. Relieve me of my burden and take my ability. I have no use for it anyway.”
The raven nodded and before Taha Aki’s very eyes, transformed into a great beast, killing Taha Aki in a fell swoop and stealing his skill. But, much like Taha Aki said, he could not use it, though it mattered not to the raven as he could transform to a multitude of other creatures and cared not for the ability to become human. He simply wished to hoard the knowledge for whenever it would become important.
The years flew by and the raven returned to watching the tribe. For many years, no one shifted into any animals. Their lives returned as normal. The raven watched lives come and go without pause until finally he saw a large mortal man angrily turn into a wolf and maim a woman’s face. He could only watch as the others in the tribe allowed the woman to continue seeing the man in a romantic relationship. This was not the same tribe he remembered from the last time he spoke with them! The raven set out to right these wrongs and sought out the wolf’s previous partner. She was not a werewolf like him, but he could sense greatness within her. She stood proud even when others would bow, her eyes were sharp and intelligent. She had a horrible temper but would never turn it on a person. Unlike with the man who he saw turn, he could see a respect for life around her. Leah, her name was. The only one to carry all of the great wolf warriors’ blood in her, yet she would not transform because she was a woman. The raven could feel as much.
One night, he appeared to her in a dream as an old man masquerading his face with a large beak-like mask decorated in dark feathers. Around his waist were more feathers, though they were gray around the edges. He bowed lowly before her, the beak of the mask just barely touching the ground.
“Greetings, Miss Leah!” he said pleasantly. “I bring peace and good tidings to you.”
The woman, Leah, eyed him with clear suspicion. “This is a dream,” she said.
“Indeed it is, for I can only take this form in dreams. You may call me Raven. I’m sure you’ve heard of me in many a tale!”
“No I haven’t,” she said cautiously. “Our tribe is said to be protected by wolves. Not ravens.”
Raven crossed his arms. “A pity! They haven’t kept the old stories around. Ah, no matter. I have a gift! I like to give gifts to those I like. I gave your people light and fire! And now I shall gift you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and I’m sure it comes with some sort of price,” she said.
“Well of course. And such a price I’ll determine when such a time comes. I’m a lazy bird.” He shrugged and smiled. “However, because I like you, I can and will warn you it will be a hard journey with this gift. You will lose many things. Even I don’t know everything you’ll lose. But it is an important gift to your tribe and one they will need in the future against your foes. Do you accept, Leah Clearwater of the Quileutes?”
She paused and Raven could see the fire burning in her eyes. No matter her answer, he was glad to see such passion burning bright where it seemed to be quelled within the tribe.
“I’ll do it,” she answered. “What’s this gift?”
And so Raven gave her the skill Taha Aki taught him long ago. Before his eyes, she shifted from a human to a small gray wolf with the same passionate expression.
“Perfect. I shall meet you again in say a decade?” he said.
She nodded, bowing in thanks in thanks as he disappeared. Leah awoke the next day, and he watched as she woke in a regular human form. It was not until some time later she finally awoke as a wolf. Raven watched the entire time. He wanted to see her grow up successfully and overcome her challenges, but knew he should not step in at any time, else he may rouse the suspicion of the tribe elders and spirits. Picking a woman for such a gift was already unheard of.
And she faced many challenges. Her father died that night. Her allies, the ones she should be able to call her friends, abandoned her in their inability to listen. (Many other ravens and crows brought coins and keychains that once belonged to these allies to Raven, and he never stopped them from doing so.) Her temper initially worsened and the whole of her life turned upside down. He tried to visit her in her dreams to chat, though it would frequently be a challenge. Another Alpha appeared, this one just as disrespectful of others as the last, who shacked all the work of being and Alpha without the power over to Leah. However, Raven noticed something unusual: both Alphas, as well many other wolves, had taken an imprint.
Back in the days of the original wolf warriors, only the chief had done such a thing. And despite the many who did it here, and the distinct personalities each had, it seemed to Raven only a male could imprint and despite the many men who imprinted, they all behaved exactly like Taha Aki. Why was it they behaved like the old wolf warrior with his spirit wife? Surely there should be a difference! As the threats disappeared, each wolf that imprinted lost their personality, their passion, themselves into their imprint. There were two of them, Leah and another wolf named Embry, who never imprinted. They learned to control themselves. They would better themselves in ways the imprinted wolves did not. They chose to learn and explore. They asked questions. Even their combat grew in ways the imprinted wolves could not, as many of them would stop shifting to age with them. Raven observed with glee as Leah learned to use her small size as a boon by using cunning and trickery. He had chosen well.
The two of them, minds unclouded by basal animal needs, returned many traditions to their tribe. For the first time in years he watched as the two wolf warriors showed reverence to T'ist'ilal, to Q’waeti’, and even to Bayaq. He would visit her in her meditation. Sometimes as the wise raven with a guiding eye, sometimes as an old friend coming to visit again, or sometimes even himself as a lone brown wolf. She never asked him to leave, instead enjoying the pleasant company of a familiar voice with a strange serenity to her. He learned things there he couldn’t by watching: one of the Alphas had left in all but in name to live with his half-vampire imprint and the other had given up being a wolf altogether to live with his imprint. Despite how much they initially despised it, the couple wolves that still shifted were largely listening to her. She was a competent Beta, she was making good money with an Associate’s degree in engineering, she had commanded respect and most importantly, she was happy.
All too fast, the decade ended. And so as she and the remaining wolves were gathered around a fire in human form, an old man wearing a feathered covered beak with a large staff approached them. He bowed lowly before them. “Greetings, Quileutes!” he said amiably.
A group of four humans around him shifted into snarling wolves, each one a different size and color. However, Leah stayed as she was.
“Steady. Don’t attack him,” she warned them. He grinned.
“Ahh, now there’s a sight I like to see! Couldn’t have done this a decade ago, I assure you,” he laughed.
“Who are you?”
“Don’t recognize me?” he asked. With a shake of his head, he quickly shifted into a raven, then a brown wolf, then back to the man. Her eyes widened and she nodded knowingly, yet the other wolves seemed unconvinced.
“You may call me Raven,” he announced. “I’m sure you’ve heard of me as Bayaq.”
Now the mutterings began. Why would such spirit come to them, of all people, in such a time of distress? “Why do you come at such a time, Bayaq?” asked the old man in a wheelchair.
“Ten years ago, I made an agreement. Not often I make one of those. Time before that was so long I hardly remember the time, back with Taha Aki. Surely you know of such a man,” he said.
The man nodded. “Indeed. But why appear now, when we have to discuss who will be chief?”
“Well good! Our nightly plans coincide,” Raven said pleasantly. “Shall I go first?”
More mutterings passed around the crowd. Finally another voice, from an older woman with spark in her eyes similar to Leah, spoke up and said, “Very well, Bayaq. Make your peace then leave us.”
“If you insist. Leah, I’m sure you remember our first encounter?”
Leah nodded. “I thought it was a dumb dream,” she said.
He sighed heavily. “Ah, such is what happens when your legends are forgotten! So, how do you feel? Do you want your gift back?”
She stared at him in silence. A couple of the wolves growled, and she automatically put a hand to silence them. “At the start, I despised it. Worst decision I felt I made. Your gift brought me nothing but pain. For some reason, I can’t have kids yet all the men still can grow sperm. You have a great talent for screwing shit up, Raven.”
Raven frowned. “Yeah, didn’t understand that caveat either,” he admitted.
“But I’ve matured. I’m doing well for myself and learned more than I think I ever could. So thank you, Raven.” She nodded her head and with a smirk she added, “You know, I was scared at first that you’d tear my life away because I couldn’t pay you with a firstborn. Don’t think I care now.”
He looked to the old man in the wheelchair. “And what say you? What is your tribe’s business?”
The old man gulped before speaking. “Our last Alpha, Jacob, has decided to abandon his post. We received word a few days ago. We have no alphas, and no one else to lead the tribe.”
Raven shrugged. “Isn’t it obvious? Ask Leah.”
“What? No! I can’t lead!” she exclaimed.
Raven laughed. “You already are! I’ve watched you keep two packs intact and alive without brutally killing each other. And that’s not to mention all the work your former Alpha put on you by making you a beta.”
The old man looked sympathetically at Leah. “He did such a thing?” he asked.
Leah was about to answer, but Raven continued, “You’ve learned how to take advantage of your strengths, how to keep yourself under control and the fallouts of your gift. You’ve done more for either pack, if not the tribe, than either Alpha ever could.”
“And what of her inability to imprint?” another old man asked.
“Ha! Imprinting brought nothing but trouble. Have you looked at your Alphas? At these wolves that imprinted? They are not wolves. They’re spineless and all behave exactly like your original wolf warrior in the last stages of life.” Raven spat on the ground. “But you will never have such an issue. Good qualities for a leader, I’d say.”
The murmurings continued. They were clearly uncomfortable making such a decision around the spirit that favored her.
“And so what of my price? You said I’d have one all those years ago,” she finally asked above the murmur.
“Ah yes!” Raven said. He approached Leah, the wolves watching him all the way and offered his hand.
“I’m not marrying you. You’re a spirit,” she said.
“What? No! Leah, your price is to take my hand in friendship and trust,” he said.
She did it without a thought. “I accept, Raven.”
He grinned at her, eyes shining with excitement, and then suddenly disappeared. The whole scene was the talk of the tribe for days, even managing to reach Jacob and his wife - though the two scoffed at the idea. After a few weeks, Leah was eventually named Alpha to the new tribe and chief to the Quileutes without much discussion. Sure enough, she was a fine chief and never had children. Yet, as changing into a wolf froze ones aging, she didn’t have to.
The wolf pack, despite their low numbers, never failed on the hunt. It was said ravens would fly with them and aid in battle, alerting the wolves to the number of vampires. The vampires, be they nomads or Volturi, tried to find the birds and kill them when they heard its terrible call, yet it always failed. The most they ever would ever find was a singular gray feather lying in an open field before their final moments were silenced with the wolf pack’s teeth.