Way of the Pack

Dream

River

My phone rang and I jolted out of sleep, trying to grasp onto the dream that was drifting away from me. The ringing cut out and then started up again. I grumbled reaching out and yanked it off the pile of notebooks that were next to my bed.

"What?" I closed my eyes and tried to recall the dream again.

There had been dark hair, soft skin, there'd been..

"River! Are you awake?" Joy's laughing tone bubbled into my ear.

I forced my eyes open and blinked, pissed at myself for answering the phone and not writing the dream down while I had the chance.

"Yeah, I'm awake," I cleared my throat and sat up, running my hand across my face.

"I woke you up, didn't I?" Joy teased and I found myself smiling in spite of my foul mood.

"Yeah, you did. What time is it?" I asked, swinging my legs out of bed and grabbing my jeans with one hand.

"It's nearly eleven. Get your ass outside in ten minutes. We can't be late for this, Walker will have our throats."

Joy hung up and I pulled my jeans on and yanked a grey t-shirt over my head. I hadn't meant to sleep in but sometimes when I'm out running, I forget time and just focus on the air, the smells, the feeling of mud underneath my paws. Joy jokes that she's going to make me a special backpack to wear that I can keep my phone in for when I phase. She had burst out laughing when I'd told her to eat dirt. 

I mean, come on, when was the last time you saw a fucking wolf running wearing a backpack?

I quickly headed to the bathroom, brushing my teeth and assessing the grazes on the side of my face. I'd met a coyote last night and we'd sparred, he definitely had ended up worse than me. I shoved my boots on, grabbed my leather jacket and shouted goodbye to an empty house. I don't know why I still did that, habit I guess, Dad hadn't been home for months.

Joy was waiting outside, leaning against her black Mustang that she'd inherited from her grandfather. Driving with Joy was always an adventure, you never knew whether you were actually going to make it to your destination or end up a beach in another town. She always got distracted.

As always, looking at her made me falter in my movements. She was sat on the hood of the car wearing ripped jeans tucked into unlaced black boots and an old band shirt pulled into a knot at her hip. Her black hair was yanked up into a messy bun, her black rimmed glasses balanced precariously on top of the mass of hair. She smiled at me and I returned it, taking in her white teeth, her full lips..

I stomped down the steps and headed towards her. She pushed herself off of the hood and handed me a paper bag before climbing into the car.

"Made you breakfast, you can eat it on the way. Now, hustle," she ordered through the open window. I moved around the back of the car and climbed into the passenger's seat. Her scent, vanilla and cocoa bean, filled the car and I breathed in deeply. 

Knowing that I shouldn't.

"You get into a fight last night?" She shouted over the roar of the engine as she pulled away from my house.

I shrugged, taking a large bite out of the bacon sandwich she'd made, "Just a coyote."

She shot me a disapproving glare before sliding her glasses down onto her face. It was a sore point for Joy that she needed to wear glasses, she was the only wolf in our pack that didn't have perfect vision. She blames it on having a human mother but I think she hates that it makes her stand out even more than her blood already does.

We sped towards Walker's home, making small talk or rather, Joy talked and I listened. It had always been this way. I remember meeting her when she joined the pack at age thirteen and Walker had chosen me to show her the way even though I was only two weeks older than her. We'd spent the next seven years as best friends, understanding each other in a way that wasn't quite wolf and wasn't quite human. 

"You're being quiet, River. More than normal," she said, breaking into my thoughts.

I shrugged again, "Just thinking."

Joy huffed, "Come on, Riv. Give me more than that, I brought you breakfast for crying out loud!"

I laughed, "I was thinking about the first time we met. When Walker introduced you to the pack."

Joy grimaced, wrinkling her nose in distaste, "God, I hated that day. I still can't get over how smelly a room of wolves can be."

I grinned, "It was your first time phasing, of course it was going to be strong. I bet you don't think that now, do you?"

Joy shot me a mischievous glance, "No, now it's just you who smells."

I gasped in mock-horror, clutching my chest in despair, "I don't smell!"

"After a night running and a coyote fight, you don't smell good, Riv. You don't smell good."

I threw the paper bag at her, she caught it in one hand without looking and launched it into the backseat. Joy stuck her tongue out at me and unwanted thoughts of kissing her pushed their way into my head. I growled quietly.

Joy frowned, misinterpreting my grumpiness, "I know you hate these meetings, Riv but he's our leader. You know the laws."

I sighed and sank lower into the seat, "Yeah, I know."

The laws. The fucking laws that mean I have to do what is ordered, follow the pack and never fall for someone who isn't my mate.

The problem was, I already had.