Rejected Mate's Ascension

Chapter 6. My Buddy, My Mate (Harold)

In March, most of the hikers start the Pacific Crest Trail from its Mexican terminus and make their way toward the Canadian end, to dodge the heat of the Sierra and pass through Oregon and Washington during the warmer months. Julia and I set out of Grauberg and hit the tourist track with the winter still in the air, which allowed us to stay on the human trail as werewolves.

"We're covering more ground than I expected." I turned to Julia, unexpected excitement coursing through my veins. It was wonderful to shift for a walk through the woods, rather than for war. I hadn't done it in such a long time... "We will be at the ranch well before April is out."

Julia grunted. "Slow and steady, Harold. If you keep dashing, we'll have to camp for a day or more before the week is out, because you'd collapse."

"My wise mate." Her werewolf form was compact, with sturdy legs perfect for covering distances in any terrain. "Not all of us have your lucky build."

Werewolf maws are not expressive, but Julia didn't have to roll her eyes for me to know her thoughts on the matter: my body had nothing to do with it, my character did. I was a show-off who didn't know how to pace myself properly.

She wasn't wrong, but she didn't get all of it either. Whenever my claws hit the dirt, I had to run. The wind ruffling my fur, the sound of my footfalls in my ears, the pounding of my heart, the hum in my every muscle—fast movement was irresistible. If I was going it alone, I'd run until I couldn't any more, then black out for a day, yes. Then I'd rinse and repeat. It would be my time with no regrets, and as little thoughts as possible.

But I wasn't going it alone. I forced my legs to shorten their stride.

"Okay, you win. Let's keep an eye out for a place to camp." Even though there was plenty of light left, particularly for a werewolf. But a suitable spot on a flat, dry ground meant a decent sleep, dreamless if I was lucky, and no disturbance to the landscape. In March, it wouldn't be easy to find.

"Way, way off the trail," Julia commanded. "Five hundred feet or more. I don't want a repeat of that one time when the idiot tourists chased you into the bush waving an open bag of jerky to get a selfie with a 'black bear'."

"Jules!" Laughter burst out of me. I hadn't felt this carefree since the day Julia was referring to, when I snuck upon a group of camping humans in my werewolf form and roared with all my might. In my defense, we were young, and the humans grabbed our favorite party spot near Grauberg. "Come on, it was a cool prank. Everyone nearly died laughing."

"The Lupine Council of North America wouldn't have had, if they heard."

"Plus, you handed them the piece of your mind so well, they all smartened up."

I could have sworn Julia blushed under her russet fur and jerked her head in denial. "Harold, damn it...stop it."

"No, no, credit is where credit is due." From our friends, Julia alone had enough wits left to shift into the human and intercept my pursuers before they got hopelessly lost. Then she read them the riot act. "If it wasn't for you, the scent of jerky would have clung to me in my nightmares. When you told them that your only regret would be that a bear could be destroyed if he ripped them a new one...magnificent!"

"How would you even know," she muttered.

"Because I watched the entire scene from a tree." I should have doubled back to the rest of our friends, but when I saw Julia bursting out of the woods, her eyes aglow with righteous indignation, I just...I stayed.

Everyone called her shy even before other she-wolves went into heat one by one and squabbled over the mates with the intensity of youth. Oh, the drama, the intrigue of it...it seemed so petty when I looked back on it. Anyway, sitting in that tree, I scoffed at the whispers about Julia. Those who said they didn't understand how she got a Beta Mark from the Goddess should have seen how humans twice her age hang their heads in her dominant presence.