Beautiful Things

Chapter 4-Joy

THE BLACK WOLF PADDED forward cautiously, making sure he was downwind from the cabin he saw the girl at. She is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, the wolf thought, wishing he could leave the serenity of the forest and go to her. All of his senses exploded when he saw her, his whole being wanting him towards her, but he knew he'd have to wait. He'd have to be in his human form when she saw him, otherwise she'd be deathly afraid of the wolf he was.

♡

I yawned, and unceremoniously rolled over onto the floor face first. Grumbling, I sat up, and rubbed my face angrily. I crawled over to where Brian had passed out, and poked him in the ribs.

"Aaugh," he mumbled, "What is it, Bailey?"

"Get up," I hissed back to him.

"But why~" Brian began, enunciating on the 'y' a little too much, and I could tell his brain wasn't quite working yet. So I hit him on the top of his head.

"We have to get ready. Today's our hunting day!"

"What?" Brian threw a flashlight at me, and I ducked it easily. "Not yet! I'm still tired."

"We have to go now, or else we won't have an early start," I groaned, slightly disappointed in my brothers lack of enthusiasm.

"Dad used to say that the early riser-"

"Brings home the venison. I know, Bay." Brian pushed himself up, blinking the sleep away from his eyes. "Now I understand how Mom feels on Christmas. You're such a kid."

"Am not," I said sarcastically, throwing the flashlight back at him again, watching as it hit him off the side of his head and fell to the wood floor beside him. He scowled at me.

"How many times are you going to assault my head today, exactly?"

"Oh," I began, sauntering to my bag full of clothes, "that was just a sample."

"Joy," I heard him mumble before I opened the bathroom door and shut it again behind me. After I got decked out in my camo, I returned back into the main room of the cabin to find Brian also dressed for the day.

"Ready!" I said, and ran out front to the truck, hopping right in. Brian labored behind me, dragging along both of our guns. I grinned in superiority, remembering how he lost a bet we made, so his side of the bargain was that he'd be my personal pack-mule this whole summer. Brian threw the guns into the back and closed the latch, soon coming back to the drivers seat.

"Buckle up," he raised his eyebrows at me, and I did. "The trip to the hunting spot will take about an hour, so get ready."

"Sure, sure," I said, clicking my phone on and texting Livvy to make sure she didn't stain my dress. She informed that she, in fact, did not, then gave me a detailed account of her date. After I was done with that, I messaged Xavier, telling him that I couldn't talk until after my hunting trip and that I was extremely excited. He texted back a thumbs up and a smiley face, to which I replied with a picture of Brian grinning and of the woods out my window.