He Came From The Wild

Chapter Eighteen | She's My Home.

It was the scent of other shifters that had Braydon regretting his decision to give into his curiosity and staying by Carolina’s car, he was reluctant to follow her further. The house, if it could be called that, looked out of place in the city Braydon knew so far. It wouldn’t blend in with the suburbs that Miranda’s parents lived in either and his eyes scanned over the mansion cautiously. It was all concrete, modern design void of any welcoming traits except for a few hedges that had been cut to precision in box shapes.

They had only been in the car for under half an hour and this region was clearly more upmarket than Braydon felt comfortable in. The gates closed from the lower section of the drive making him feel trapped. Before he could work himself into a panic, Carolina went to his side and gently took his hand.

“Come on, you’ll be fine!” She tried to assure him, only Braydon wasn’t having any of it.

“I should go.” Braydon stuttered.

Before Carolina could say anything else, the arrival of two smaller wolves had Braydon stepping forward to meet them, rather than climbing into the car. He wasn’t going to let himself be ambushed and knew his own wolf was double their size. It wasn’t much of a competition.

“Calm down, they’re just kids!” Carolina quickly went in front of Braydon, trying to block his gaze from where he was giving the duo a death glare. “Hey, look at me!”

Forcing his head down to look at her, Braydon didn’t relax and his greeting had the other two on edge. They kept low, cautious and pressed against each other as they were already willing to submit.

“They’re sixteen and only shifted a barely three months ago!”  She told him, trying to keep calm rather than go on the defence and make things worse.

Braydon looked back over to find one of them had a shifted and sure enough, the teen looked much younger than a shifting age. He was skinny, with a large mess of auburn hair that stuck out in every which direction – much like his wolf that looked just as unkempt. The red and white wolf beside him whined before the blurry mirage appeared to reveal a boy of identical appearance; twins.

“Boys, this is Braydon. Braydon, this is Jude and Jake.” Carolina introduced and neither boy dared to look at Braydon as they mumbled hello. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone else!”

Carolina practically dragged Braydon past the twins who didn’t dare to move as they went by. It wasn’t long before they had shifted again, and curiously followed at a safe distance. The anxiety of the newcomer set the house on edge and walking into the grand entrance, Braydon needed a moment to appreciate the size and glamour of it all.

“Care, is that you?” A young female voice sounded from the passage beside the stair case and seconds later a girl who Braydon could tell hadn’t shifted yet, came running into view. She slid in her socks on the tiles as she saw Braydon, her young face showing nothing but fear and from the top of the stairs three other wolves stared down at them cautiously.

“Hey Amber, slow down there sweet heart!” Carolina left Braydon to steady the girl. Turning back to him, she smiled. “This is Braydon.”

Braydon still said nothing, staring back at Amber as bewildered as she was at him. Movement from the trio had him turning his attention their way and one by one they spread out forming a triangle as they approached. The grey wolf at the point didn’t show the same fear as the others, he was a little bigger too and when he lowered his head it wasn’t in submission, rather in place ready to strike. His ears went flat as his tail began to curl, the bulk of his body growing as he puffed out his chest.

Instantly Braydon growled.

“Oliver, back down!” Carolina demanded, the wolf glancing her way before its lips wobbled with the promise of a snarl. “Now.”