Fangs and Fur

Chapter 7 - Scott

The morning of November 1st, hundreds of miles away from Kirstie and Mitch...but closer than before:

Scott's paws slapped into the earth, jolting every sore muscle in his wolf form. Still, he pressed himself onward, forcing his legs to move faster.

The pack had been running for hours. As soon as the human's machines had appeared on the edge of their forest, Alex had given the order to run. They had run the entire rest of that day and through the night, stopping only twice to hunt. Even though their stamina as werewolves was far greater than that of humans, Scott could feel the ache in his body.

But it had to be nearing dawn. As they ran through a fresh forest, dodging around trees, Scott looked up and saw the sky was lightening. How much further were they going to run? Every bone in his body ached for him to stop.

Up ahead, Alex finally howled for the pack to stop. Still in his wolf form, Scott gratefully slowed to a trot and joined the other forty or so werewolves near their leader.

Alex stepped forward, wolf fur blowing in the slight wind. The chief was slightly larger than the rest of the wolves, except Scott. This was a fact Scott greatly prided himself on. As the last werewolves gathered together, Alex started to speak. "We will camp here for the night. Now, whose turn is it for daywatch?"

Scott looked around at the other werewolves, who ducked their heads. Only Avi remained with his head up, because he had just served daywatch and there was no chance of him getting picked twice in an row.

Growling to himself, Scott stepped forward. "I'll do it," he sighed. Internally, he felt as if a weight was pressing down on him. He'd had less sleep than all the other werewolves, with his weird nightmare about the vampire, and he was incredibly tired.

Alex nodded at Scott. "Thanks, Hoying. Everyone else, rest up. We will continue our run at nightfall." With these words, the chief wandered a ways off through the trees, flanked by his guards. The rest of the wolves spread out and curled up in the pine needles carpeting the ground.

Scott, simmering angrily, shook his head. Avi came up to him, sympathy in his eyes. "Sorry, man. I don't know why nobody else could have volunteered."

"It's okay," said Scott, sitting down stiffly on his haunches and mentally preparing himself for the long day. "I can do it." Avi shot him another sympathetic glance before trotting away and curling up against a tree trunk.

After a few minutes, complete quiet settled over the forest. Scott sniffed, chilled by the early November cold. He fixed his gaze on the sky and watched as it turned pink. And then the sun rose. As soon as its rays landed on Scott, he transformed from wolf to human. Turning, he watched as the rest of the pack, sleeping, also transformed. It was weird to witness.

Hours passed, the sun climbing into the sky and then beginning its descent. The day seemed to take forever to pass, but finally it was an hour or so from sunset. Scott was reclining against a tree, half-asleep and battling the desire to doze off, when his supernatural hearing picked up a noise.

Instantly awake, Scott stayed as still as possible, trying to pinpoint the noise before he gave away his position. But the longer he listened, the less threatening the noise sounded. It was just someone walking across the forest floor. Probably Avi or one of the other pack members.

"Hello, Scott Hoying."

Well that wasn't Avi. Scott turned around, just to make sure his ears hadn't deceived him.

They hadn't. The person standing before Scott was none other than Alex, the pack chief.

Scott instantly bowed his head in respect. "Why are you awake?" he wondered.

"I couldn't sleep," the chief responded, sitting against a tree not far from Scott.

Scott raised his eyebrows. He doubted anyone could have trouble sleeping after a day and a half of running. He could hardly stay awake himself as it was. But hey, maybe Alex had more energy than the rest of them. Worried about saying something that may offend the chief, Scott turned away and looked out through the forest. Hopefully Alex wouldn't try to continue the conversation.

"I wanted to thank you for yesterday," Alex said.

Darn it! Scott thought. He was too tired for small talk. What was the chief doing talking with him anyway? And without his bodyguards. Or maybe they were lurking in the trees somewhere. "What is there to thank me for?" he asked, casually looking around for the bodyguards. No sign of them. Stranger and stranger.

"Without your help, the pack might have been discovered by the humans tearing down the forest," Alex said. "We - no, I - am forever indebted to you."

Scott shrugged. "It was mostly Avi. He's the one who had daywatch." In fact, Scott remembered complaining about leaving, yet somehow Alex thought he was some savior. Plus, he did not like the way the chief was looking at him.

A horrible thought occurred to Scott. Was Alex...flirting with him?

Thankfully, he was saved from that gross thought by some actual danger. A lone wolf, a real one, approached from a hundred or so meters away through the trees.

"I'll just deal with that," said Scott, pointing, and stood up. He strode through the trees towards the wild animal, enjoying the feel of only two feet. His friend Avi loved living out his nights in wolf form, but for Scott, human form was far preferable.

As he approached the wolf, Scott started to run, growling through his teeth. The wolf whimpered and pivoted, running away. Scott started to grin and slow down.

And then the unthinkable happened.

Something snapped around Scott's ankle and he went down, foot erupting in pain.

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Sorry this update was so late! I'll update again this weekend.