Moon of Claiming

Chapter Four: Accalia

        The rain was falling steadily the next day; no thunder, no lightning. Just rain. I picked my way down from the rock pile carefully, being sure to try and avoid any slippery rocks. I sneezed softly as rain splattered on my nose. I looked up at the sky wearily, feeling like rainy days were best when I was in human form. In my feral form, my fur weighed me down as I walked. I shook my head, sending small water droplets flying in every direction. I blinked and kept hiking down the rock pile. When I reached the bottom, I skidded a bit in the mud, whining as I landed on my stomach. I stood up quickly, shaking out my fur to try and get some of the mud off of me. Unfortunately, I had no such luck. I grimaced, resisting the urge to start grooming the mud out of my fur; I knew that the mud would’ve tasted awful in my mouth.

          I looked up as I heard a slight chuckling sound. I inwardly groaned when I saw the snow-white pelt of Niall. I sighed and got down on the ground, rolling so that I was belly-up; a sign of submission to my Alpha. He walked up in that confident, cocky swagger that all of his Inner Council seemed to have. I grumbled under my breath, waiting impatiently to get back up so the rain could wash the mud and leaves from my back. Niall came up and leaned down, sniffing me cautiously for a moment before grunting and gesturing for me to get up. I flipped myself upright quickly, glaring at Niall openly as he stared right back. I felt an insistent pressure pushing at my mind, trying to get inside. I growled for an instant, but opened up my mind, knowing that it would do me no good trying to keep my mind closed off.

          It isn’t safe to be in the forest alone,he began in my head, his voice short.

          I can take care of myself, I snapped back, my lips peeling back to expose sharp teeth. His eyes narrowed and he took a step closer so that we were almost nose to nose.

          Stand down, Accalia, he ordered in my head. This is a fight that you won’t win.

          I growled long and low but eventually backed away, my tail tucked between my legs. Niall seemed relieved that I’d backed off because he started talking to me once again.

          Think you can stand my company for a while?

          I shrugged, my ears going flat against my head. Depends on why I need to stay with you.

          His mouth parted into a wolfy grin. I’m going to patrol up towards Comet Falls.

          I tilted my head. Thought Alphas never did patrols.

          Niall’s grin suddenly became more of a bearing of teeth. You coming or not?

          I decided not to reply to that, merely following him as he stalked across the forest floor, mud and grime caked on his white fur. I kept my mind purposefully blank as we walked, knowing that he could easily see my thoughts as easily as one would watch a slideshow. In all honesty, I was just thankful that the telepathy shared by our pack only happened when we were in feral form. In our Were forms, we could talk as easily as we could in our human forms. I huffed a sigh and clawed up a tree root that was embedded deep in the ground, but still big enough to be taller than me. I stumbled a bit when I got to the other side and I felt a pinprick of disappointment that I quickly dismissed; I should not, could not, allow myself to feel disappointed if the Alpha did not come back to help one of his weakest pack mates. My tail dragged across the ground as unwanted sadness seeped into my heart.

          We said nothing as we trekked to the falls, the water-soaked ground squishing beneath our paws. I looked up as the sound of pounding water got louder. My paws itched, wanting to run to our destination. I knew I should’ve asked before I went running but I just couldn’t. My breath came out in soft pants as I surged forward, streaking past Niall without much fuss; only a low whimper escaped him before he thundered after me. I grinned wickedly, loving the feel of the chase that shot through me as I sped up, out pacing him by at least three hundred feet. Leaves were stirred up behind me as I raced across well-trodden ground, feeling generations of werewolves running with me.