The Forest

Devon

We round a corner and finally feel a change in the air. 

“Hold,” I tell my warriors in our pack mind-link, and that’s all they need to hear to stop dead in their tracks in formation behind me. 

Instantly, they all pick up on it as well–the distinctive scent of a wolf shifter. We know it’s Stephen, but we aren’t sure whether he’s alone. The forest is filled with traces of scent, the essence of all the creatures nearby. 

We take our time sorting it out, discussing in the pack mind whether any other scents seem unfamiliar to us. We’re always on guard for vampires, whose scents, strangely, aren’t very distinctive from ordinary humans. I suppose it’s because they once were human and have been changed, while wolf shifters, our kind, are born as we are.

It’s strange to live among humans, not only because they don’t know about us but because we are so different, yet so similar, if that made any sense. I suppose that at one point in our history, humans somewhere encountered wolf shifters. Libraries are full of terrifying books about werewolf lore, and whenever there are human campers out in the forest during a full moon, they always tell plenty of those stories. 

Not one of these stories is true. We don’t shift during full moons or tear people to shreds–well, unless they threaten us. 

But like everything else you hear in fairy tales and stories like that, there is a little bit of truth far in the background, and the rest is all embellishment. We look like humans, and we shift into wolves. Because of that, I suppose it’s true that we have some magic-like powers, so I can see where the fear has come from, at least with those humans who must have seen one of us shift way back when. 

But maybe they should worry more about keeping themselves from turning into vampires. 

None of the scents in the air seem troublesome, so I give the order to move forward, but slowly. My nerves stand on edge. I’ve rarely been in this area of the forest before, which is far away from the creek where we’d originally lost Stephen’s scent, deep into the thick underbrush where it doesn’t even make sense for a wolf to hang out. 

I startle at the crackling of leaves and twigs up ahead, and Stephen’s scent grows even stronger. I know we’ve found him. Now we just have to worry who, or what, is with him. 

Turning the corner, there he is, just lying down in a bed of pine needles staring up at the starry sky above. 

Relief washes over me, but also… anger. I shift to approach him, throwing on sweatpants from the backpack one of my warriors has carried. “Stephen?”

“I win!” he exclaims. 

The rest of the warriors shift behind me, and like me, they are pretty pissed off.

“What the hell are you talking about?” I demand.

“I win,” Stephen repeats. “This is way past twenty-four hours. I knew you guys would find me, but if I could stay hidden for at least a day, then I would win!”

I growl a little, even in my human form, fighting internally not to kill the kid right now. 

He raises a brow, his eyes wide. “You guys aren’t mad, are you?” he asks.

“You stupid jerk!” Kelly yells from behind me. “This isn’t a game, you idiot! We’re all struggling to survive as a pack here and you’re out here doing… I don’t even know what you’re doing. What the hell were you thinking?!”

As the Alpha, I probably should have been the one to say all that, but I just let her lay into him because I can’t think of a better way to put it myself. 

And it does the trick because he looks dejected. “I’m sorry,” he says quietly.

“You’ll be sorrier when your parents get a hold of you,” I tell him. “Let’s get out of here. They’re worried sick.”

I send him ahead with our warriors flanking him, and Kelly and a few others lag behind. 

“I want to throw him in a jail cell and let him rot,” she tells me. 

I shake my head. “He’s just a kid doing stupid things,” I reply. “I will handle him when we get back.”

“A kid,” she repeats. “He’s only a handful of years younger than any of us. He’s seriously been just laying out here in the forest while we all look for him, thinking he’s been kidnapped and killed by the enemies who destroyed our entire pack?”

I glare at her. “We’re not destroyed,” I say firmly. 

“I didn’t mean that.” She frowns. “I know you’re here leading us, and I’m thankful for you. I just meant what we used to be–”

“Even just a handful of years makes a difference in perspective,” I say. “These kids don’t remember how it used to be.” 

I’m doing my best to channel my father. He always taught me to look at both perspectives before judging people, even though it’s hard to do in this case. My heart is still beating faster than it should, partly because Kelly keeps pushing the issue, but mostly from trying to get over that picture in my mind of a pale white Stephen lying on the ground with all his blood sucked out. 

I’ve seen that too many times in this lifetime. 

“I guess so,” she replies quietly.

I know she doesn’t mean it, but it always strikes a nerve when someone talks about us being just a shadow of what we used to be. “Let’s just get out of here.” 

We all shift and run back through the forest in our wolf forms, toward our adopted home.

***

“I’m gonna kill the little brat!” 

And that’s the nicest thing Mandy says when I got back to the base. I just let her vent, knowing she was actually stuck with the harder task of dealing with humans–the redhead. 

Ugh, my inner wolf shivers and howls whenever I think of her. I need to keep that under control. She’s just a human, even if she’s gorgeous and smells so incredible. It’s stupid to even waste my time thinking about her.

“Are you even here, Devon?!” 

At the sound of my name, I snap out of it and look up at Mandy, who’s pacing the room and shouting expletives—a few I’ve never even heard before—about poor Stephen. Yeah, he’s a stupid kid, and I’m just as pissed at him as the rest of us for what he’s done, but I feel sorry for him now that the whole pack hates him. 

“I hear you, Mandy, and I’ll deal with him,” I tell her. 

“Oh, good Goddess. You’re thinking about her again,” she says.

“Who?”

“You know good and well who,” she snaps. “But I’ll tell you, I am actually impressed with her. And her name is Emma, by the way, just so you know.”

Emma–now I have a name to go with my thoughts, which is worse because I have to stop this. Emma. It’s a beautiful name, one I could just sort of moan out….

“She’s got quite a head on her shoulders, and she really seems to care about people,” Mandy continues. “She kept everyone calm while the sheriff organized a search party. I mean, I kind of don’t blame you. She’s cute. She’s smart. And sexy, too. I wonder if she’s into she-wolfs?”

Stinging heat burns in my mind. I can feel my eyes turn to silver and my wolf start to come out.

Mandy just laughs at me. “You’re hilarious,” she says. “I’m just kidding, you big lug. I’m not taking your woman.” 

I feel my eyes turning back to my human color, and I feel my cheeks flush. “She’s not my woman,” I insist. 

“M’hmm,” she hums. “Yes, Alpha Devon, I’m totally believing that. You almost bit my head off, and all I did was joke at you about her. You’ve got it bad.”

“I don’t,” I protest. “I don’t even know the woman. And I don’t have time to pass notes in class like a schoolboy. Tonight, we got lucky, but this whole thing with Stephen could have gone another way.”

Mandy’s face turns serious. “You’re right,” she says, nodding. 

My deflection worked. “Thank you for handling the town tonight,” I tell her. “I have a couple of ideas to work out. We’ll let Stephen’s parents deal with him tonight, and tomorrow I’ll bring him in for a talk.”

“You’re welcome,” she says. “But you really should get some sleep.”

I shake my head. “I’ve got work to do,” I insist, turning on my heels to head off to my tech room. 

My job now is to focus my mind where I can do the most good for my pack.