Protected

Attack

"What?" I asked, suspicious.

When Lucas smirks and says something like, I have an idea, It can't be good.

"Come on," he said, pushing his chair back. We all followed him, and Zay shoved a sausage into his mouth before following behind the rest of us.

He went out into the backyard, and it smelled of pine wood.

"Okay," Lucas said, turning to face us, "When I turn, Maya, get on my back."

"What?" I said.

He laughed, "Get on my back. You'll fit between my shoulder blades. I'll show you how to run," he said. Zay and Josh nodded, Riley looked excited.

"Riley can get on my back," Farkle said. Riley nodded.

"Okay, then," Lucas said, and he stripped down to his underwear.

He did the trademark muscle-clench, and he ripped into the big green-eyed wolf. I heard Zay, Josh, and Farkle do the same behind me. I turned to see Zay and Josh in wolf form, since I had never seen them like that before.

Josh was a dark-brown wolf with brown eyes, and Zay was a big black-haired wolf with his tongue lolled to the side and his mouth open in a wolf grin.

I giggled and climbed onto Lucas's back. He was right, I fit perfectly between his shoulder blades. I wound my hands into his fur. It was surprisingly comfortable. I turned to see Riley climbing onto Farkle's back.

"Ready..." I said, "Set... GO!"

And they all took off.

It was like flying! We whirred through the trees so fast they were a blur, but I could tell Lucas had no problem weaving through them, even as fast as he was going. I could hear Riley laughing behind me, and Zay barked. Surprisingly, I knew it was Zay because his bark sounded strangely like his voice. Josh yipped in reply. 

But, just then, there was a blur in the trees. All of a sudden, I was thrown off of Lucas's back. Riley cried out, and I jumped up as fast as I could. 

"Riley?" I called. I couldn't see anything through the dust in the air and the dense overgrowth. I heard no reply.

All of a sudden, a wolf emerged from the trees in front of me. I was relieved, but then I realized it wasn't one of the wolves I knew. It wasn't Zay, or Josh, or Lucas. But I recognized its eyes. They were eyes I had seen before. Eyes that were an inch away from my face as their owner shoved me up against a wall of lockers.

Mason.

He growled, and I backed up against a tree. Two other wolves emerged on either side of him. His two friends from when he attacked me.

Lucas said Mason and him had a history. This was what he meant.

Mason advanced on me, and his friends followed him, growling and snapping. As Mason tensed up to spring, he was thrown into the trees to my left by Josh. Lucas leapt on Mason from within the trees, and Zay emerged from the trees behind them. Farkle came up behind me and gently set Riley next to me. Josh and Farkle faced off with Mason's friends, while Zay slunk off to the side, probably to sneak-attack them from the back.

Lucas and Mason came rolling in front of us, fighting fang and claw. They were moving in a blur, so I couldn't tell who was winning. Riley whimpered and backed behind a tree. Farkle sank his teeth into one of the wolf's legs, and the wolf hollered shrilly and sprinted away in the opposite direction, dragging its leg behind it with its tail between its legs.

Just then, Zay leaped from the trees onto the other wolf's back, dragging him away as he whimpered and growled. Seconds later, Zay reemerged from the trees, and I knew he had scared the other wolf off. Lucas and Mason separated, Mason had bloody claw marks covering his body. He growled halfheartedly at Lucas, then limped away into the trees.

I looked at Lucas and gasped.

"Lucas! No!" I cried, running to him. 

He had collapsed to the ground.