Gaze (✔)

Chapter Twenty-Four: Ring of Fire

As morning came and went, Clara's sense of unease didn't fade, despite having Wyatt at her side once again. The clearing in which they'd camped was infested with wolves when she returned from a quick run to the car – okay, maybe not infested, but it was four more than the zero she would have preferred. Their leader, or whatever he was, Jebediah, was in his human form, thankfully clothed from the waist down and speaking to Wyatt with a terse expression. His eyes darted to hers as she arrived, her hands just inches from the pistol she had stored securely in her belt, just concealed by the loose material of her jacket.

Jebediah gave a smile, a little strained, as she approached the pair. "Clara." He greeted her. "Good morning. How's the wilderness treating you?"

"Fine. What's going on?" she asked, her eyes flitting somewhat nervously around the three wolves that stalked back and forth at the edge of the treeline.

"Oh, nothing to worry about, just thought we'd check in on our guests, you know." Jebediah said. Clara looked to Wyatt for confirmation, but his features were unreadable – perhaps a little tense.

"Thanks." She replied.

There was an awkward silence that stretched a few moments before Jebediah filled it with his large, easy smile, stepping away with a pointed look at Wyatt. "Well, we'd better be off. Nice to talk to you, feel free to visit us down at the creek any time."

He turned and started for the trees where his companions waited, and after a few steps he was shifting into a wolf. Clara hadn't seen the transformation many times, and each time it astounded her, the way his body bent and shuddered as it snapped into a new shape in one graceful movement that she almost missed, it was so fast. On four feet, he padded lazily into the shade of the trees and out of sight, casting a last look back at them that Clara couldn't comprehend – could wolves even show emotion in that form?

"That was about Henry – that imbecile with the shotgun." Wyatt told her, answering her unspoken question as he stared at the space that Jebediah no longer inhabited. "He's worried that he might end up actually shooting some wolves out here."

"I doubt it." Clara snorted. "And anyway, we've got his gun."

This didn't seem to alleviate Wyatt's concern, but the subject was dropped nonetheless.

"Hey have you noticed the wolves acting a little...strange, around me?" she asked him quietly, noting the way that their leader seemed to only address Wyatt unless she couldn't be avoided. It was like she was some sort of intruder that had offended the wolves with her mere presence.

He looked at her with surprise. "No – did something happen?"

"No," she shook her head. "It's just – I don't know how to explain it."

Wyatt sighed. "These wolves haven't really lived with a human before." He said with a reassuring smile. "They're probably just a little new to the whole socialising thing."

"Maybe..."

"Look, I know it's not great here, but it's just for a few more days, okay?" he took her hands. "Then we'll go to Montreal, and before you know it this whole mess with Duncan will be over."  She winced a little at that. When she'd proposed the idea of going to a human city...she hadn't really ever thought of eventually leaving it. Pack life, as she'd come to learn, wasn't really for her – she would always be an outsider. But maybe it wasn't fair of her to want Wyatt to abandon it all for her. He was the leader of a pack, for Christ's sake. That couldn't have been easy to leave.

Their days passed painfully slowly, without occupation or interest other than trips to the town, calls back home, and endless exploration of the forest – because really, what did they have better to do? Wyatt visited the creek a few times, without her, to her insistence, and returned each time with a smile and bare feet. She knew he'd been in wolf form, and the thought made her feel even more isolated. It wasn't fair that they had to be different.