Clear Lake

Chapter Six

After training, I start to walk home, thinking about everything Reggie and I talked about, as well as our sparring. It's about two miles to get from the training center to my building. The farther I get from the center of the compound, the more run down the area gets. I feel too restless to shower and get into bed, so I decide to let my wolf out for a run. Instead of feeling more joy from my wolf, I feel her agree at the necessity of it. I NEED a run, after today. Runs help me to sit back in my wolf's mind and process my own issues. It releases tension for both of us.

I set off behind my janky apartment building. It's actually crazy that the Alpha allows this building to still be inhabited, it's in such a state of disrepair. The gray concrete building houses four studio apartments, but only two are inhabited - one being mine on the second floor.

I guess you have to be pretty desperate to live here, I think, shrugging a shoulder as I look up at my building. One of the half broken shutters immediately falls to the ground in perfect timing, at my thoughts. I'm a simple girl, though. I can't remember a lot, before my parents were killed, but since then I've always lived without. I can appreciate nice things, but I just don't need them.

I strip and leave my clothes near the edge of the forest. Nudity is a fact of life for all werewolf shifters. We try to be respectful of each other's privacy - especially between men and women - but sometimes, it's unavoidable. It's also not realistic to shred through your clothes every time you shift. I begin to change into my wolf. When the moon goddess gives us our wolves at age 10, the first few shifts are pretty painful and confusing. Now, shifting into my wolf feels like I'm deeply stretching, after being cramped in a tiny box. My entire coat is a rich brown color, with absolutely no markings - boring to some, but just makes me think of tempered chocolate. And who doesn't like chocolate?

Shaking out my fur, I find my usual running path. My wolf and I love this path. It isn't well worn, because I'm the only one who uses it and it has lots of challenging obstacles to jump over and around. It also ends at a beautiful waterfall that feeds a small pond. It's the perfect place to rest and refresh, and private for if I want to shift back to my human form. I've never scented anyone else on my trail or at the waterfall. My secret oasis. During the day, there are usually small animals nearby that I can hunt, if I'm hungry. It's nighttime, though, so most animals are away or on high alert, trying to keep safe from apex predators like me.

Heck yeah, we are. My wolf basks in that fact.

I'm enjoying letting my wolf take over, as I just watch the sights we pass by. Fallen trees. Overgrown weeds and bushes. A million glowing eyes. They don't scare me, like they would a normal human.

We scare them.

"YEAH, WE DO!"

I love when we do this. If there's one thing my wolf knows how to do, it's how to make me feel strong. There were so many times in my life where I felt weak and out of control. Others mistreated and abused me. I never want to feel weak again. I was the one trying to keep myself safe from predators.

Not anymore. We are strong and no one can...

My wolf stops dead in her tracks. A strong gust of wind has blown a scent to us and we're both frozen. I've never smelled this scent before, but it's both achingly familiar and totally new to me. We take another sniff as the wind still blows and my mind goes back to the smells I experienced when I took my first steps into The Sweet Tooth, but there's also an outdoorsy edge mixed with it that makes it perfectly irresistible.

MATE!!

I've never felt the emotions that are currently coming from my wolf - ever. She feels frantic, almost desperate. She takes off toward the direction the wind was blowing from. Her desperation morphs into determination. Then, joy. Finally, into possessiveness.

My own mind is absolutely blank with shock. My mate?! My wolf possesses all of me right now, because I currently don't have any wits to pull myself in any direction - physically or mentally.

She finds the actual scent trail. It's mixed with other scents. Three others. The trail seems to be just hours old. She's flying at a speed I'm sure we've never gone before. She follows it for two miles, until we reach the pack border, where the scents just disappear. She sniffs the ground feverishly and spots large tire tracks.

Gone.

My heart feels like it just got dropped from 1000 feet and into an ice bath. I know that this is more of my wolf's feelings instead of mine, but I feel it just the same.

I can't think of anything to say. I don't know if I want a mate. Having a mate now would ruin all of my plans. I know I'm happy now, so what if my mate is someone horrible, like Kale? What if I have to leave all of this for someone who just isn't worth it?

The despair my wolf is feeling pulls me out of my thoughts.

I will always protect you. We won't let anyone hurt us. Give us this chance.

My mind races.

More than Reggie. More than Kristy. Even more than Iris. I love and trust my wolf. We're bonded. She will always protect us. She's wise. I could never deny her this choice. The one thing she's always wanted.

Through the despair, bursts her thankfulness at my thoughts. She was truly considering my feelings. I let my trust and love for her flow through us.

She turns and begins to head down the other direction of their scent trail, while I try to figure out what to do. Based on the fact that they were parked at our border, we both think that they must be part of another pack. Major bummer. Thankfully, his scent didn't have the wild musk of a rogue. Maybe figuring out where they went in the other direction will help us figure out what or who they were looking for. Maybe they know someone in our pack? I recognize where we are and my wolf stutters to a stop. We're nearing the pack house. We take a few steps and notice that the trail without my mate goes toward the training gym.

Oh crap.

My wolf and I's thoughts are exactly the same. He's from a rival pack? A pack scouting our land? Oh crap oh crap oh crap.

This doesn't mean his pack is wanting to attack.

"Uh. I think it means exactly that!"

Don't jump to the worst conclusion. We just have to keep our eyes and ears open. And our nose on alert. We have to find him.

"We will." I tell her, unsure of how I'll feel when we do.