Mal, a bit surprised by her wiggling, gripped her hip tightly enough to hold her still. The beast in his head was pacing around curiously. He shook his head and sat up straighter. "Sorry, I can't let you go. You were warned not to enter the woods, weren't you? And you don't even have permission from my Alpha or your mayor to be here. So you belong to us now." He realized from her expression that he probably wasn't making any sense, so he expanded.

He never thought he'd have reason to use the speech all wolves on night watch were taught. He couldn't remember most of it, so he just barreled into the story head-first. "A long time ago, there were humans and there were wolves. No one can remember exactly how it happened, but somehow, some of the humans gained the ability to become wolves. Werewolves." He met her gaze. "Most of the legends you've heard aren't true. We aren't grotesque, and we don't change at the full moon. The urge to be a wolf is stronger at that time, though. Honestly, we might be a bit more dangerous than traditional werewolves."

He reached up and tapped the side of his head thoughtfully. "Each wolf has a second conscience, I guess. A wild half up in their heads that's very strong-willed and very persuasive. I'm very good at controlling my beast, but some others are not. You're lucky that I'm the one who found you. As it was, I almost couldn't calm the beast in my head after you wriggled around like that." He waggled his eyebrows, making it very clear what he meant.

"Fast forward. Now, it's two hundred years ago. This town was just getting started. But our pack has been here longer than any human can trace back. Back then, we were trying to learn to live peacefully, but werewolves are a very cautious and, sometimes brutal, race of people. We didn't want humans anywhere near us. Some of the pack killed human children to warn them away. The humans started hunting us. After quite a bit of bloodshed, the leader of the humans and our Alpha made a pact. Any human who enters this forest without permission belongs to the pack. Any wolf who leaves the forest and enters the town without permission may never go back to the pack." He leveled his gaze on her. "You entered the woods without permission, and now you must stay here."