Chase the Moon (On Hold)

Six

The sun was high in the sky when I stepped out for my patrol shift. I shared the task with Caleb and Jesse today, and they weren't far behind me as I trudged towards the outer edge of the pack.

Caleb fell into step beside me and I could hear Jesse bumbling around in one of the nearby cabins. He was pretty young, just recently came into his wolf, but Theta Benjamin already had him on patrol duty.

"Bye, Mom," he called as he opened the door and scanned the area for us. He spotted us in no time, hopping down the steps to walk beside us.

He'd turned sixteen a few months ago. That's when a werewolf was supposed to get their wolf, but because I'd been bitten, not born, mine came around the age of eleven.

I shuddered at the memory and forced my mind to other things.

Caleb was in his late thirties, making him the oldest of us three. I'd known him since the day I stumbled into this pack. He was one of the patrollers that had first found me, a small, dirty, terrified little boy wandering through the woods. He saved me from a dreadful fate, and for that, I held a deep respect for him.

The three of us made our way to the western border. There was a soft breeze today, which was good for carrying in scents. We would split up and cover the area once we hit the forest.

"How's Adria?" I asked Caleb after a few silent moments of walking. Adria was Caleb's mate, and the mere mention of her brought a smile to his lips.

"As beautiful as the day I met her," he replied. I rolled my eyes a little at his romanticism.

Jesse leaned forward to look past me with a smile, "Even more so I bet, with the pup on the way, and all."

Caleb grinned wider, "Aye. We're hoping for a girl this time around."

"Have any names picked out yet?" I prodded with a mischievous glint in my eye.

Caleb rubbed the scruff on his chin in thought, "We were thinking Ariana for a girl and Maxon for a boy."

"I like that," Jesse said with a smile, "Congratulations."

Caleb nodded proudly in return.

We came to a halt at the edge of the woods.

"I'll take due west," I announced, "Caleb, you take the north west and Jesse, south west. Theta Benjamin wants us to circle on towards the north. We meet back here in two hours, if all goes as planned," I said all this mainly for Jesse's sake. The poor kid barely knew how to shift yet, and he already had to go on patrol.

With a nod, Caleb stripped and turned into his wolf, bones snapping and crackling like Rice Crispies as they popped into their sockets.

Jesse and I, on the other hand, elected to stay in human form for this round. I guess neither of us were very confident in our wolves at the moment.

Jesse and I made eye contact before heading off to the edge of pack territory.

The leaves crunched underfoot as I waded through knee high ferns and saplings. Nearby birds whistled their happy tunes and squirrels scurried through the trees. The forest was alive, and with it, so were my senses.

A short while into my shift, I noticed that the sky was gradually darkening as a large mass of clouds rolled in. Now, the day was becoming overcast, and I didn't doubt that it'd be raining sometime in the next few hours.

I ran my fingers through my hair as I walked farther into the woods.

Honestly, I hated patrol duty. There wasn't much to do but wander around aimlessly hoping to catch a scent. The Yellow Moon pack was at peace for the time being, so it wasn't like patrol was out here waiting for anything specific.

Of course, there was always the threat of rogues and werewolf hunters, but they tended to keep to themselves unless they had a particular reason to harm a pack.

I drew to a stop as I reached the western border. Beyond this point was neutral territory. If you went far enough, you'd eventually hit the Silver Shadow pack, but neither pack had claim to this area between them, and consequently, it's where rogues thrived.

I turned towards the north, and continued my sweep of the area. I inhaled deeply, picking up the scents of damp earth and the forest. It always smelled so fresh and clean, hundreds of different smells twisting together in an altogether earthly symphony. I could smell the moisture in the air, the fresh break of a sapling, and the hint of a rotting log in the distance.

Then I smelled something else. Something foul coming from the south west.

It was a mixture of death, rot, and garbage.

Rogues.

'I need backup to the south west,' I said through the pack mind link.

I was already on my way there when a single thought drove me to run faster.

Jesse was patrolling in the south west. By himself.

I muttered a few choice words under my breath as I broke into a full out sprint, leaping over fallen trees and divots in the terrain as I went. I really hoped that boy had the common sense to hide instead of fight. There's no way he could take on a pack of rogues by himself. Then again, my chances weren't so great either.

'Status?' I asked as the scent grew stronger.

'We've got several parties on their way. What is it?' One of the enforcers asked.

'Rogues,' I said simply.