Gusty Emotions on Wet Roads

Ch. 5 - 1st Run-in

The crickets were chirping, and the fireflies were lazily flying among the foliage. Their lights softly flickering on and off, adding to the majestic feel of the forest. The wind felt wonderful against her thick fur as she weaved through the trees. The early September air was cooling in the moonlight, and the soft breeze was just enough to keep her cool but not cold as her fur dried. It felt so good after her harsh cry by the creek.

It was always a joy for her to run through the woods at night. Her now almost weekly perimeter rounds to reinforce the scent border of their land helped her calm her anxiety. It wasn't exactly needed for the pack, but it made her feel as if the pack was more secure. Anything she could do for her pack made her feel as if it would get better, as if she was doing all that she could to help. So, she gladly ran the perimeter whenever her anxiety got too high, welcoming the relief her aching muscles and drowsiness gave her the next day.

And, it provided a time for her to be alone. Time for her feel what is the result of that dick. Doing so in the den would result in pack-wide distress – something she couldn't allow to happen (again). Her pack was already dealing with too much. Her adding on her emotional distress from her horrid break-up was not something they needed (again).

A sneeze rocked her, and she faltered in her stride as her father's stench overwhelmed her sensitive nose with another small gust of wind. She shook her head, trying to move her father's dirty shirt away from her nose. It was bad enough she had to hold it with her mouth during these runs; she didn't want to be smothered by the scent of her father's dirty laundry the whole time too.

But that was usually a lot to ask.

Evelyn paused in her run to rub her father's dirty shirt against one of the trees on their pack's border to enforce the pack's scent marking. Letting the shirt rest against the roots of the tree, she chuffed to try to clear her nose. She could only stand her father's dirty laundry right at her nose for so long. This was the only downside to the runs.

A few moments of discomfort for several days of relief was worth it, though.

Evelyn trotted around the area with her nose to the ground, sniffing the scents in the area. She had to check the strength of the scent markers. On her side of the border, her father's scent was strong and properly reinforced to ward off rogues and other packs. Good. Her pack's border should be safe along the south end.

Now, she only had the northern and western borders to complete. This was where the run got tricky. It was where her pack's border ran along that of the Redwood pack's. As the Redwood pack's territory was a lot larger than that of Mountain Peak's and they were wealthier than any of the surrounding packs, Redwood patrolled more frequently (more frequently meaning there were patrols running their borders at thirty-minute intervals).

This made her runs difficult. She had to hide out from the patrols of other packs, which was especially hard with the frequent patrols of the Redwood pack. Evelyn had to make sure that the truth of what was going on within her pack was kept under wraps, and the Mountain Peak's Luna-elect getting caught running the border would surely create a suspicion that would jeopardize the confidentiality of their situation.

Picking up the shirt again, Evelyn turned to continue her run. While weaving through the trees, she tossed up her father's shirt before snagging the small end in her snout. She did not need her father's strong scent clogging her nose on this portion of the run. Thank goddess she was tall enough in furs to not trip over it and fall on her face either.

She would have to maneuver herself along the border to always be down wind. The wind was blowing into her territory for western portion of the border. Thank the goddess. It was her best bet for avoiding their patrols and keeping her pack's plight a secret.