Small Town Love

Chapter 1

Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.

Charles Dickens

They were truly having far too much fun trying to find the chewing toys that his father had hid all around the forest.

Normally they did it for the younger members of the pack, for the primary school-aged kids, so that they would have their first experiences with tracking the scents of other werewolves.

Didn't mean that High School Students couldn't have fun with it as well. (At least Luke liked to tell himself that.)

Again Luke sniffed at the tree, trying to figure out the differing scents. He could easily pick out his father's but as he went south he realised that it got weaker.

Had his father doubled back towards the beach?

Apparently yes.

Luke fell into a jog, all four paws hitting the ground near silently. It was already getting darker around them earlier. Christmas would be coming in just a few months and the summer was officially over. In a few weeks, even they wouldn't try to swim in the ocean anymore. It would be too cold for them.

Werewolves tended to run a few degrees hotter than normal humans. Not much, but enough that they could actually go swimming in the ocean in Fairbury while most humans only did it on a bet or on one the few hot days of a year that they had.

He could hear Ollie trying to break up one of the brawls that had broken out between the cubs back in the forest and then jumped up the rocky shore so that he could go back into his backyard.

The scent of his father, warm and heavy still was there, not a surprise as he lived there. Luke could smell an older trace though and that was the one that he followed until he saw a bright blue plastic bone stick out between two of the rocks.

He picked it up with his mouth and then jumped back down to the beach again.

Breaking out in a run, he entered the forest again, jumping over the small river that cut through it.

*Did you find one?* his twin wanted to know and he turned towards Grace. While he was deep black, not a single white fleck anywhere, his sister was a deep russet brown, with black tinged ears and paws. She was thinner and a bit smaller as him as well, as it was normal for females werewolves.

*I did.* He gave back mentally and then let the bone fall to the forest ground. *Did Oliver break up the squabble?*

*If you want to call it like that,* Grace answered, sounding amused and he watched as a group of the younger wolves came running towards them.

Oliver also came trotting along, deep brown, darker than Grace was.

*It's like herding kittens,* he commented to Luke and Luke couldn't help but laugh.

*It's like herding wolf cubs,* Luke deadpanned, resulting in a shove from his best friend. Luke shoved right back, careful to keep it friendly ribbing and not actually put all his strength behind it. By now he was easily 5 inches bigger than Ollie and Luke knew that if he put all his strength behind it, he could seriously injure even other wolves.

Ollie just gave a high whine and then hid behind his mate, Grace rolling her eyes, well used to their antics by now.

It had been clear that Ollie and Grace were mates since Luke could think, but it had really changed over the last few years when puberty had set in.