Hear Their Thoughts, Be Their Terror [COMPLETED][UNEDITED]

Chapter 15

I growled when I saw the boys nipping at each other behind my back. You guys are such kindergarteners! I screamed to them. They both whined and crouched down, rubbing their ears with their paws. I snorted and kept going. Soon after, Jake appeared on my left side and Dylan on my right. I attempted to ignore both, but their thoughts were extremely irritating. Will you just shut up? I snapped.

Jake snorted. Nixie, I can't stop thinking. Tune me out if you want. His thoughts continued.

Dylan said nothing to me directly, but his thoughts got no better either. I whined and nudged Jake with my snout. I don't want to block you out, I said quietly. His thoughts flared immediately, and he nudged me right back. Meanwhile, Dylan's thoughts were a bit jealous, and I glared at him.

We trotted on throughout the day, drinking from streams and hunting plentiful elk. Wyoming was a beautiful state, with quite a large pack within. I met the Alpha, and he let us through after I told him my who my father was. Their pack, which, according to the Alpha's mind, had twenty-seven wolves, stared at us as we passed through their base camp. I stood with my head held high, being an Alpha's daughter. Jake and Dylan stood normally, not being from Alpha blood.

I was bigger than normal wolves, being of Alpha heritage. But Jake, being almost six feet tall in human, was the same size as me in wolf, even though in human I was much shorter than him. Dylan was a little taller than me in human, but in wolf he couldn't compare in size. His snout reached below my chin when standing straight, and at eye level I could see his ears.

We continued on through Wyoming, following every scent trail we found. None happened to be the Great Wolf. We even asked the elders about him, and they had said that one elder had recently visited the Wolf. So we had tracked down that elder, and he had said Ghana, but that had been five years ago, and the Great Wolf moved every year.

So I had scribbled out Wyoming and we had entered Montana. Jake had reminded Dylan that he had to leave once we were done with this state, and Dylan hadn't said anything. I knew he was thinking of ways to persuade us to continue. I hadn't said anything to him, and hadn't told Jake what he was planning.

Montana was also a pretty state. It had plains- which were pretty but extremely exposing- and mountains, which we tried to stay in the most. We met only a small pack of seven that were extremely wary and had but one elder, who said that the story was a myth. So we had hightailed it to the edge, near North Dakota.

Now we were all sitting, in human, on the border. "Here is where we part," Jake said, crossing his arms and standing.

"Well, my friend, I think we won't be parting here. I believe I'll stay with you until Texas," Dylan responded defiantly, crossing his arms and standing, too.

"What makes you think so?" Jake asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Only that you'll find Nixie agrees." He shrugged.

Jake looked down at me with a look that hurt my insides. I stood and grabbed his hand, and he looked away. "I didn't say that. He just assumes I'll agree." Jake looked back and me and smiled.

"I do not assume, I know," Dylan said defiantly, crossing his arms. I huffed and glared at him, hand still linked with Jake's.

"Why do you think you know everything?" Jake asked, exasperated. I resisted the urge to laugh.

"Because I do. Now, if you'll allow me to explain . . ."

"Give it your best shot," Jake sneered.

"My brother, he has a power similar to Nixie's."

I blinked, shocked. "He can read minds?"

He shifted and looked down. "Er, no. Not read minds, exactly. But, sometimes, thoughts come into his head at random. Mine more often than anyone," he grumbled.

I look to Jake. "Strange . . ." I mused. Then I looked back to Dylan. "Why didn't I read this?"

He stood a bit straighter. "Because I've learned how to block information from my brother, so I can block it from you, too."

I coughed, still a bit shocked. "Well, er, okay. It feels strange now, knowing I really don't know everything about you."

He grinned. "Exactly my point. You're gonna want me to stay so you can figure out who I really am." Suddenly, as if opening a barrier, I heard thoughts about Dylan's brother, named Kyle.

I groaned. Jake made a deeply throated growling sound. Dylan just grinned and ruffled his beige-colored hair. Jake finally sighed and hauled me to my feet, and I was surprised to realize I had sat down sometime. "Nixie," he sighed. "A word?"

I nodded feebly and let him tow me across the border to Montana and stand, holding both of my hands and standing straight in front of me, stooped down and attempting to catch my eyes, which were faced down. I kicked at a stone.

"Jake, you know I hate not to know what he's actually like. You know I hate to be in the dark."

"I expect you would, you never have been before, what with all those secrets going into your mind." He lifted my chin up and I was forced to look into his soft brown eyes. "Come on, Nixie. We really don't need him to come, do we?"

I sighed and shook my head a tiny bit. "We don't need him to come, no. But I hate that he can keep a secret from me." I scowled and attempted to wrench my chin from Jake's hand. It didn't budge.

"I know, and I'm sorry. But we need to keep moving, right now. And he doesn't need to come along." Jake rolled his eyes. "You and I both know he's just trying to play at your weak spots to come."

I shrugged and nodded. "I guess I could've figured that out without his mind. But, Jake, it's going to bug me for a long time."

He looked triumphant, and his thoughts suddenly revealed what he was about to do. And he was about to do it just to get on Dylan's nerves. "Mmm, that's okay though," he whispered, leaning a bit closer. Dylan's thoughts were blazing with jealousy and annoyance, and I knew he was watching. It irked me that he would keep his brother's talent from me. So I closed the gap between us, having to reach onto my toes.

It only lasted a second, and then I pulled away and started tromping back to Dylan's scowling face. "Here is where we part," I said, as Jake had. Dylan groaned. "Unless," I added, his face perking, "you open up your mind to every single secret you have. I really do hate to be kept in the dark."

Jake grabbed my arm. I looked at him, and he shook his head, glancing at Dylan. "Nixie . . ."

Dylan pursed his lips, arms still crossed. "Fine," he said simply. All of a sudden, thoughts on all sorts of topics rushed into my head. My eyes widened, and I felt weak and lightheaded, yet more information still poured into my brain

It only took a few seconds after that for me to pass out.