I ran swiftly through the woods toward the town. I hadn't been in a town in so long. We usually stuck to rural places in order to avoid humans. Over the years we learned the hard way that it was better to keep our distance.
I reached the first line of townhouses and took the surroundings in. It was a cute town, small, but big enough that you wouldn't know every one of your neighbor's names. I wondered around the streets looking into the shop windows, not paying attention to where I was going. I was looking into some antique shop when I heard a crash and some laughing in the alley next to it. I began walking toward the opening of the alley, but a smell reached my nose before I turned the corner. Wolf. I tensed up, breathing in the scent. I shouldn't run into them before Jared talked to them, but I couldn't help myself. I hadn't seen other wolves in awhile. After moving around so much, you kind feel isolated from the rest of the world. I peered around the corner to see five guys hanging at the end of the alley. Two of whom were wrestling while the other three laughed and watched. Good, nothing dangerous. Wolves usually fight each other for fun, like when you see puppies wrestling with each other. I watched the fight progress, as the two guys got into it, their wolf selves threatening to take over. That's the problem with being a werewolf; you always have to keep your emotions in check. Anything to crazy and poof-you find yourself covered in fur and on all fours. The three other guys were probably around Caleb's age, maybe older. The one closest to me had black hair with brown, chestnut eyes. He was sitting next to a guy with light brown, almost dirty blond hair with hazel eyes. The last one, leaning up against one of the brick walls had darkish brown hair, with blue eyes. The one leaning against the wall wasn't even watching the fight, he was looking at nothing in particular, but suddenly something caught his attention.
"Hey do you guys smell that?" The guy asked. I tensed up, hoping it wasn't me. Wolves have a good sense of smell, and we can usually always smell each other. I guess its supposed to help us find each other if a pack ever gets split up, but right now this survival instinct isn't really helping me much.
"No, what is it?" The guy with black hair said, looking around. I turned away and began to walk away. I couldn't run, or they'd know something was up. I had put some distance between me and the alley, and started to head back to camp. I let out a sigh when I reached the edge of the town. That was close; Jared would have killed me if I had run into the wolves.
Unfortunately, I had counted my blessings too early. One of the guys walked out from the shadows of an empty building and smirked at me. Under the streetlamp I could see it was the guy who had been leaning on the wall. I took a shaky breath and pretended not to see him. Who knows? Maybe he wasn't looking at me. His hand snaked around my arm and twisted me to him. Ok so no such luck. But who can blame me for hoping that some other stupid idiot was walking alone at four in the morning.
"Well what do we have here?" he smirked, looking me up and down. I looked around, trying to see where his friends were.
He noticed me looking and chuckled, "No worries sweetheart, they're not here."
Now I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. At least now if things get bad it's just a one on one fight.
I tried to regain my composure, "I-I was j-just leaving. I-I need to g-go." Yeah that whole regain my composure thing? Fail. I can't even manage to choke out one sentence without stuttering. I tried to pull away, but his grip tightened. Stupid strong werewolf.
He shifted closer to me, bringing his face close to my neck. He breathed in and whispered, "Come on, you can stay a little while."
I shivered as I felt his warm, peppermint breath on my neck. No, pull it together Cora! Snap out of it! I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. "N-No I should go, I already missed curfew and my dad's gonna be pissed if I'm even more late" I lied. "Could you please let go now."
"I don't think a few more minutes would kill you," he breathed, running his free hand up my arm. "And no I don't think I really wanna let go." His hand left a slight burning sensation up my arm. I tried to clear my head, trying to ignore the tingling in my arm. Shit! Snap out of it Cora! Keep your head on.
I twisted around to face him, looking up at him since he was about a head higher. His eyes gleamed with cockiness as he looked down at me, though I highly doubt he was focusing on my face. With that I head butted him with enough force that he let go and took a few step back in shock. That gave me enough time to bolt outta there like a bat from hell. Once I had gotten far enough I shifted into my wolf form, enabling me to run faster than my human legs could have ever dreamed. I took a long way to the camp, making sure no one was tailing me. I didn't want to lead him the camp. By the time I had gotten back it was almost sunrise.
I jumped back into my spot next to Ava, careful not to wake her. And curled up into a ball, pretending I had been there the whole night. My mind wandered off to the guy back in town. I closed my eyes, thinking of how good he felt against my skin.
