Forbidden

Chapter 18

18

My paws sunk into the lush grass and fallen leaves that scattered the forest floor.

Everything was so clear.

How I’d survived using my dull human sight was beyond me.

It felt so good to be out on a run again as a wolf.

My body had been depraved of its Shift for far too long now and was basking in the sheer magic of it. I sensed that I wouldn’t be Shifting any time soon. I couldn’t remember the last time it felt this good to be a wolf.

Albeit the slight chill of an impending winter still touched the balmy afternoon air, it felt so nice to have the sun warming my hide and the soft breeze ruffle the smooth strands.

I sensed everything that was occurring in the forest around me. From the gentle kiss of leaves brushing each other as the wind weaved through them, to the whistle of that same breeze in my pricked ears and the buzzing of a horde of bumblebees, the chatter of squirrels, the twitter of sparrows and the hum of hummingbirds as they went around the forest, sucking the nectar from the flowers.

The smell of summer plants was eminent and created a heady perfume that filled the balmy atmosphere. It was a perfect reminder to why I loved this kind of weather.

Warm, golden sun caressed the foliage and fauna, peeked through the cracks in the pattern of green leaves in the canopy above my head, igniting everything in a warm golden halo that stuck out to me like a sore thumb.

Everything was so beautiful.

I had missed this.

I had missed the feeling of some kind of balance as I walked through the forest. As if I had some sort of greater meaning in the whole scheme of things. I felt so at home here because truthfully, this was my home. No matter the problems that plagued my human life, out here, as a wolf, it didn’t matter. Nothing could stop me.

This was real.

I was real, and I felt right.

My coat bristled in the afternoon sunshine, warming my soul with that warm, golden sunlight that seemed to come from all corners of the forest. It bounced from tree to tree, from flower to leaf, igniting hues in things that seemed so heavenly in this light. When it finally settled on me, it blazed my snowy honey fur into something more mellow and buttery. I fell back onto my haunches, and took the bearings of the clearing in which I sat.

I’d missed being a wolf more than I’d originally thought.

And she’d missed me too.

I closed my eyes and made a low whine in the back of my throat.

It seemed like I had been there a while when I heard encroaching footfalls. Just soft enough to tickle a flower, but they startled my out of order ears.

Immediately, I was on the defensive, my tail going deadly stiff instead of swishing at my rear like usual, and my body rigid and my teeth slightly bared. Then I caught the smell of something else. Something very familiar.

I relaxed.

A few moments later, a snowy white wolf poked her head out of the trees, her eyes locking with mine. Behind her a honey brown wolf, and then a few males and females. Dominance and revulsion rolled over the white wolf in droves, but it was not enough to faze me.

Being a member of my Pack, she acknowledged me with a bark and rocked back on her haunches a few feet away from me, bringing her nose into the air, as if she was better than me. The honey wolf stopped beside her and the rest of the Pack fanned out behind them.