Freed Wolf

40 Follow Your Gut

Jace POV
😱 IKR?!?!?

I watch as Jess leaves with Mack for training. It's hard to believe that she's the same woman from the market; my elf could barely stand to be around us and is now our Luna.

A pang of longing hits me as my mind fills with happier memories; summer BBQ'S, swimming at the lake and easy movie nights. They all share a lot of laughter, something that's in short supply nowadays.

I may have been the one to bring her into our world but what an impact she has made! I've never seen Chris so happy, though there were quite a few bumps in the road to get here. She has a way with people, she even won Sara over, or maybe it was vice versa? I'm just glad those two have it worked out.

The only other person than Chris to be more affected by her is Ethan. That kid was here for years and might as well have been feral but she tamed him. I'd never seen that kid smile until Jess started coming around, hell I don't think he said more than a dozen words before then. Now? Full out conversations and he's become one of the pack.

Something about how she acted at breakfast leaves me uneasy though. She said it wasn't a dream or anything specific, but that woman's gut is nothing to be ignored.

'Anything off in reports?' I link Chris. 

'So far everything is quiet, why?' He links back.

'It's nothing, just Jess got me thinking,' I trail off. 

'About? Should I worry?' He links back with an edge of concern.

'Nah, it's probably nothing, but I think I'm gonna go check patrols,' I reply.

'Never a bad idea, grab Jude,' Chris says.

'Sure.'

'Hey boy scout, meet me out back, I want to check patrols,' I chirp, linking Jude as I head out the back door.

'I'm already there,' he links back with a laugh.

"Lucky guess," Nex grumbles as he hands Jude a twenty dollar bill. Jude just laughs and tucks it away.

"Really?" I grumble raising a brow.

"I knew you'd catch up... eventually," Jude replies with a crooked grin. "Just needed a little direction from the boss," he presses on with a laugh.

"What are you, brothers?" Nex groans, rolling his eyes.

"He wishes," I say with a smirk. "You coming too, man?"

"Yeah, ought to scare the crap out of everyone with a check up from two Betas and a Gamma," he says with a dark laugh. 

We strip and shift. After years of shifting it's second nature now; I'm as comfortable in my blonde fur as I am as a human.

'Nex needs to be back in two hours for training,' Jude links as we take off down a path.

Nex's large charcoal wolf leads the way, followed by me and Jude’s silver grey wolf takes up the rear.

'Guess we better pick up the pace then,' I say with a laugh.

I bark and speed up, using my powerful paws to propel me faster, signaling for Nex to pick up the pace. He snorts and kicks up some leaves in my face as he takes off.

Cheeky fucker!

Lengthening my strides, I push along faster as I set off to catch him. Running wild through the forest has always brought me so much peace, but today it's time for a bit of fun.