#Chapter 28: Distasteful Celebrations

Marcus drums his fingers on his knee, resisting the urge to also tap his foot. My god, he's not in the mood for this tonight. He doesn't know why his mother insists on hosting so many of these society fundraisers in their private ballroom; in fact, it seems insensitive to do so right now, given his father's poor health. This one is for some charity or another – Marcus believes it's for underprivileged werewolf youths in northern Scotland. Wolves went extinct in that country in the 1800s, if Marcus recalls correctly, and the werewolf population there was greatly affected. It's difficult, even today, for werewolves to exist in countries where the common wolf population has declined or been eradicated altogether. Werewolf families who don't have the luxury of hiding behind the protection and secrecy of wealth have long depended on natural wolf populations to shield them from the notice of humans. When the wolves go, so do the protections. And out come the guns and the pitchforks.