Just a Wolf

Evan

Was I just dreaming it, or did Dom actually run into the room half dressed and wearing a fez in the middle of the night? When I wander down into the kitchen to see if I can find any breakfast, I see that apparently it was no dream. Dom and Amelia are already here, poking around in the cupboards, and sure enough there’s a red fez on his head.

Yep.

At least he’s wearing a shirt.

They’re both in jeans, and he has a sweatshirt on, but she has a big puffy red and green and white holiday sweater. Ha! I’d never say it, but it is hideous! Somehow it makes her look even cuter, though. Dom is so lucky. Sigh.

She looks over at me. “Merry Christmas!” she says.

“Yeah, you too,” I say, walking over to the coffee counter. Ooh, they must have already turned it on, it looks like the coffee is ready.

“Here,” Amelia says, handing me a mug. “I’m gonna toast some bagels, want one?”

“Sure, thanks.”

Pretty soon most of the other River Moon folks that we were hanging with last night have wandered into the kitchen as well, and we’re all having coffee and bagels and cereal. I really enjoy this group of people so much. I like my friends in Dark Woods just fine, but I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so much friendliness so fast. I seriously like it here. Or maybe it was just the surfing that hooked me.

“I need to get going,” Rick says, “my folks are picking me up in a minute. Have a nice Christmas, guys.”

“We need to go too,” Amelia says, “I told my parents we’d be there by nine.”

Dom nods, but his eyes get big. Ha! He’s nervous to meet her parents! As if this is something other than a little fling. Our pack will be leaving after the mating ceremony, they’ll have to say good-bye then anyway. Who knows, though, I suppose they could try to have a long-distance relationship, if they’re serious about it. And if our alliance works out, there’ll be a lot more back and forth, so they might see each other again. I certainly will want to come back west, after yesterday I am never going to want to let much time go by without a beach trip. I can still almost feel the waves under my feet, even now.

We quickly help tidy up the kitchen, then the three of us walk back to the River Moon garage. The SUV that Dom drove out here is the only Dark Woods car left parked here. Well, and the crappy old rogues’ car. I wonder what we’re going to do with that?

Amelia considerately climbs into the back seat, saying that my legs are a lot longer than hers, so I ride in the front with Dom. She is leaning up from the back, though, pointing out the turns, to get us to her folks’ house. They live in Arcata, near a university there. This area is really pretty, so I enjoy the scenery as we go.

We pull up in front of the house, in a cute suburban neighborhood, and Dom takes a deep breath before he gets out of the car. Amelia is smiling big as she leads us up to the front door, and before we get there it opens and her family comes out to meet us on the lawn. They are all wearing ugly holiday sweaters, this must be their funny family tradition.

“Amelia!” shrieks a little kid, a boy who looks like he’s about ten. He comes running over and grabs her in for a big hug, and she looks super happy to see him. Her parents are behind him, and she is being tugged off balance by her brother refusing to let go of her as we go up to be introduced.

“Mom, Dad,” Amelia says, “this is Dominic and Evan from Dark Woods pack. They’re out here visiting. We have a lot of news to tell you!” Then she turns to me and Dom and says, “These are my parents, Brooke and Jesse. This hooligan is my brother Christopher. And my sister Rachel must be inside. Gaming online, probably.”

Jesse shakes both of our hands. Her mother smiles, and I can see where Amelia gets her looks. I can smell that she’s a wolf, but maybe not her dad? Interesting. Mixed couples aren’t super common, but they’re not unheard of either. “Come in!” Brooke says to us, “Merry Christmas! I’m glad you’ve come for a visit.”

We are offered seats in the living room, near the Christmas tree and the remains of what appears to have been an earlier present opening frenzy. Amelia’s family seems nice, and soon they are engaged in a conversation with her about the events of this last week. She’s explaining to them all about the pending alliance, and their Alpha finding his Luna from our pack, and the search for the rogues’ hideout. Dom and I are mostly silent, except when we are asked direct questions, which I try to answer politely. I know more about the alliance, of course, since I’m the Beta’s assistant.

Eventually a teenager comes out of the back, and Amelia introduces her as her little sister Rachel. I don’t think she was planning to hang around with us, but as soon as she sees me and Dom her eyes light up a little and she immediately comes to sit near us. She spends some time giggling and making eyes at me. I’ve seen this kind of thing before, with my own sisters, a young girl getting a speedy crush on somebody she doesn’t even know, and in my case somebody entirely inappropriate. I must be ten years older than this cute little jailbait.

Amelia tries once or twice to shoo her away, but without success. I’m starting to wonder if I should have come. I had planned to spend the day alone before she invited me here. What I’d really like to be doing is taking a hike, actually, wandering around through the forests that are scattered around this area.

Amelia’s dad gives me an opening. “So, what do you like to do in your spare time, fellows?”

Dom grins over at me. “Evan is a primo surfer,” he says, and I have to laugh at him.

“They took us surfing for the first time yesterday, and it was really fun. But what I really like to do is hike. Any good trails around here?”

“Oh yes,” Jesse says, “the Arcata Community Forest is just a few blocks from here. An absolutely gorgeous redwood forest, different from anything you’d have back near Dark Woods. Lots of trails, most of them very easy. It’s a wonderful hike.”

“That sounds so good. Um, Amelia, would it be too rude of me to just take off and go hiking? I can make my way back to River Moon by myself later.” Dom’s eyes widen, like he is thinking how could I abandon him to deal with Amelia’s parents by himself. What a sissy! They seem perfectly nice. This family doesn’t appear to be inclined to bust out in drama at any second like mine, but I still really would rather have a nice solitary hike than hang out with anyone’s family on Christmas. Dom can deal with it.

“Of course not,” Amelia says. “I don’t blame you, the forest is one of the prettiest ones you’ll ever see.”

I get directions from her dad, her sister stares at me as though wishing I would invite her to join me for a romantic walk. Ha! As if. I am able to escape as gracefully as possible, with lots of thanks and goodbyes and best wishes.

Ahhhh. I deal with people through work all the time, and it isn’t like I am any kind of raging introvert or anything, but sometimes it is so nice to just get the chance to be by myself. I walk the few blocks over to the trailhead, and enter the forest, feeling the sense of being engulfed by the canopy of trees, the silent mulchy scent, the quiet rustling of the branches high overhead.

Redwood trees are amazing, and this forest is magical. Their soft reddish bark, their giant trunks with enormous circumferences, towering into the sky, the moss-covered logs and ferns covering the forest floor, everything blanketed by gently decaying pine needles. I feel my heart just filling up with the peace and wonder of this fantastic place. There is nobody around, I don’t think most folks are considering hiking on Christmas morning, so I have the place to myself. I start following along one of the managed trails, cross a little bridge over a trickling stream, and decide to leave the trail to explore on my own for a bit. I know I technically shouldn’t, the trails are maintained for a reason, but I can’t resist getting into the more wild part of the forest. This place feels like magic resides here, like the gods might walk among these trees, or like elves might suddenly burst out into a mysterious and melancholy song. I want to go deeper in.

I am reveling in the feeling of being one with my magnificent surroundings, when suddenly I am jolted out of my reverie. By a scent. A very unwelcome scent. I spent hours a couple of days ago running all over the hills east of here looking for the rogues, following scents like this one, and here it is. There is a rogue somewhere in this forest.

I don’t shift, I don’t want to have to carry my clothes since I didn’t bring a bag with me. But I can smell it all right with my human nose. The scent leads me further in through the trees, until I am getting away from the redwoods, and finding myself in a denser forest of more common trees, pine and fir and oak, and the undergrowth is much denser. There are no trails here, and I am pushing my way through shrubs, clambering over fallen trunks, following the scent as it grows stronger.

I am realizing some things about the scent. There is only one scent, not several like we had been following the other day. And it is only a human scent. This rogue has not shifted into their wolf form. I wonder what is going on here. A rogue wolf, solitary, remaining human? Out here in the middle of nowhere? We must be several miles away from town by now. What is the scam here? What is the play?

I also realize that I recognize the scent. I am sure that this is one of the rogues that ambushed us the other day. I’m starting to wonder if I should go back and get Dom for backup, or maybe just wait until tomorrow when the rest of Dark Woods returns, to report this and let the leaders decide what to do.

But suddenly, as I move around a little hillside of bare granite, I see somebody dart out from behind some rocks and go running down the hillside. It’s a female, long dark hair, dressed only in shorts and a crop top. I had not seen the decoy female who got Beta Nolan to pull over initially, she was long gone by the time the rest of us arrived, but I’ll bet this is her. And she is running away from me as though her life depends on it.

Maybe it does.

I give chase, and am able to catch up to her pretty quickly. My legs are a lot longer than this female’s. I wonder why she doesn’t just shift into her wolf form? She’d stand a much better chance of escaping, female wolves are very fast runners, and I wouldn’t necessarily be able to catch her.

But in just a few minutes I have gotten close enough to reach out and grab her, my hand closing around the first thing that I can reach, a big handful of her long hair blowing out behind her as she runs.

Her head jerks back as I get my hand in her hair, and her legs fly out in front of her, and she slams down to the ground onto her back. Her eyes are huge, nothing but panic in them as she gasps for air, the wind having been knocked out of her.

I quickly kneel down, not letting go of my fistful of hair, prepared to fight to subdue her. I am going to get answers. What are the rogues doing? What are their plans? Where is their base?

She doesn’t fight, though. As soon as she catches her breath, she lifts her hands into the air, still lying on her back, and looking me straight in the eyes, she very deliberately exposes her throat to me, tilting her head back all the way to the ground behind her.

She is submitting.