Mountainside

I stepped out into the cool air and locked the back door behind me, once again tugging to make sure it was tightly closed. Sage was bubbling over, fighting to come forward. I resisted, first scanning to make sure the coast was clear. I ducked behind a stone wall and took off my clothes, shuddering in the cool breeze. As werewolves we were all too used to nudity, but I still tried to cover myself as I scurried to tuck my clothes in my bag, hanging it from my bike handlebars. It was one thing to catch a glimpse of someone in the woods, post patrol and slipping something on. It was another to see them in the buff behind the library in the middle of town on a Monday night. 

By now Sage was all but busing the door, begging me to let her come forward and shift. I have in, convinced there were no passerby’s catching the show. 

My wolf was a deep russet red, with flecks of gold running through my haunches. Generally a wolf’s coat matches their human body in some way. My wolf took after my flaming hair, and if the sun caught me just right it looked like I was on fire. I stretched out my limbs, enjoying the feeling of the late summer wind on my fur. I let Sage take the lead, bounding through the back roads of town and up into the mountains to the West. 

The thick brush of town blurred by as Sage jutted through the trees, the cool earth beneath our paws. Our senses were heightened once shifted and I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, lapping up the scents of pine and mountain air. I couldn’t deny how happy it made me to whip through the trees, bounding over the land I had called home for so long. Before too long the sky opened up and a light rain pattered own, sprinkling the brush with a light dusting of fresh rain. That had to be my favourite smell in the world; fresh rain on damp earth. I breathed in deeply, drinking in the small and allowing it to lull me to contentment. I stepped back and allowed my mind to wander and my wolf take control, content in the confines of my thoughts as Sage leapt up the rugged surface of our territory. 

At 18 once a wolf is matured they’re able to find their mate, their goddess given partner meant to complete you and come with you on your life journey. I wondered if I even had one. No one in town was a likely match - in fact the only unmated male I could even imagine was the skinny boy that worked at the butcher’s shop. I knew my made had to be out there. Everyone has a mate. But… my path would lead me back here. I was meant to be here, to be working in the archives with Mains and tucking away books with my mother. I was supposed to spend my days in the warm sun by the docks in the summer and by a crackling fire in my cabin in the winter. 

Surely that meant my Goddess given mate would be here too? 

My daydreaming was cut short as Sage abruptly stopped running as we got closer to the Northern mountain range. A strange smell wafted through the air, like firewood and burnt ash. Gingerly we jogged higher, clawing for a vantage point on higher ground, following the scent. From one of the peaks, as the trees cleared we could see a plume of smoke rising towards the sky coming from the North, still a far ways out. 

“That has to be at least thirty miles out, probably more,” Sage noted through our mind link. 

“Probably just some travellers stopping for the night.” I responded, scanning the horizon for more signs of trouble. I saw nothing, and Sage and I, though weary, decided not to pay any mind to what we had seen. It wa some excitement for the week, it’s not every day that come across a new sight on our usual patrol. Nevertheless, our muscles had started to feel the effects of a long day out and a hard run and we agreed to head back towards the Western range and head back down the mountainside to start our bike ride home. If I was lucky it would be late enough that Mom would be completely out and I could sneak in undetected.  There was no way she wouldn’t smell the dampness on my hair and get suspicious. Sage shook off my worry wordlessly, and kept bounding across the now muddy terrain, trying to avoid the slick cliff sides.

Maybe it was because I was on high alert already, or maybe it was just fate but both Sage and I heart the snap of brush first and stopped dead in our tracks, only a mile out from the clearing we’d come upon town at. The wind shifted and the scent of an unfamiliar wolf filled my nostrils. 

My haunches stood on end, Sage growling quietly as we stalked in the direction of the smell above. 

“We should run.” Sage said, stiffening as the scent grew stronger. I recognized two distinct smells in the air but couldn’t pinpoint where they were coming from. Whatever it was, it was moving fast and the light rain was washing away the tracks, making it impossible to follow. I focused on identifying the scent, hoping context clues would help me identify the source. One scent was thick, spicy. It smelled like roasted herbs, but with an underlying acidity to it. I couldn’t quite place it though it was dripping in familiarity. The other scent was the opposite, light and airy against its heavy counterpart. The scent was lovely, and much stronger. I almost forgot the urgency as I relished in the scent of fresh cut grass, cotton and old leather filling my nose. I might have gotten lost in it if Sage hadn’t let out a rumbling warning and snapped her head suddenly in the direction of the scents. She was completely on edge and ready to flee the unsuspecting danger. 

“We can’t abandon the pack. Besides, it doesn’t smell like a rogue. Maybe it’s just a drifter.” I countered, pushing forward. Tentatively I urged Sage to climb back up the mountainside, and as we came up into a small meadow a dark figure emerged from the shadows, flanked by a smaller, yet equally terrifying form. 

I shuddered, shrinking back for a moment before squaring my shoulders to fight. It occurred to me that I’d never met a werewolf outside of my own pack that wasn’t a new mate and I was slick with fear. The gravitas of what stood before me was foreign, but not unknown. I was all that stood between these strangers and my home. Determined to defend my pack as well as I could, I let out a warning growl, letting Sage’s rage and my clear headedness work in unison to tell our unwanted guests to back off. I was hoping it would work- I didn’t know anything about fighting. I stomped my front paws against the grass below me as the two unfamiliar wolves stalked forward.

 As they exited the brush and into the moonlight soaked clearing I was able to better make out their features. The one in front was large, a larger wolf than I had ever seen. He was a deep chestnut colour, lighter along his haunches. His eyes were a hard grey, glistening in the light. Though I could see his brow furrowed he was not growling in my direction, his teeth were not bared. He seemed calm and collected as he slowly stalked towards me. His compatriot, however, seemed the opposite. A gunmetal grey, this wolf was huge. Thicker in the shoulders though not as tall, with a thick silver line running through his face and down clear to his tail. He was weathered, I could see a chip taken out of his ear and his fur looked more scruffy. They were a mere five feet away now and I was able to pinpoint their scents now. The wolf before me smelled like gasoline beneath the earthy spice, unusual and unsettling. He caught me staring and sent a warning of his own. His growl was low, rumbling, and he looked like he was ready to pounce. I shrunk back and yelped as he flashed his teeth at me in the darkness, bracing for impact. The brown wolf snapped his head and looked at the other, silently commanding him to step back. He did, though his hard, black eyes never left my own. 

It was then that the large brown wolf before me bowed. I stared back in awe, Sage and I both in quiet wonder as we stared at the stranger before us. He looked up briefly and as I met his eyes I understood the need to bow back. Suddenly my mind link was met with a brusque voice. 

“It’s about time you bow for your Alpha!” 

I stared, confused, before realizing the voice had come from the grey wolf. 

“I- I don’t understand. I am from the Ember Pack. We have t had an Alpha for quite some time and…”

I was cut off by the brown wolf, who huffed in the night. 

“Please excuse my Beta, Jonas is not used to small talk. My name is Alpha Rhodes Stay, and I’m here to take my place as Alpha of the Ember Pack.”