Nothing Stays Buried (Lunar River Series)

3.In Hiding

IRIS

Tonight is finally the full moon. I have spent the last few days trying to wrap my head around the fact I found my mate. It is both the most exhilarating and scariest feeling. I know there isn't any bad intention and for a brief moment, everything seemed brighter and full of roses, truly wonderful. Then all those memories came flooding back. My mate's gentle fingers turned into Rick's disgusting whiskey smell and groping hands. The way he man handled me and being tied up all exposed brought vile to my throat. All of it, rushed through me and Kristofer, the innocent man that he is, no longer felt warm and inviting. It made my stomach churn and the guilt inside me that I am projecting this onto my mate, made my skin crawl.

I pop in my ear buds and put on some music to wait for the full moon. I need to calm down and let my feelings pass. Letting everything that happened to me roll over like a wave finding it's current is all I can do to not break down. 

I told Luna Cassius that I am not going to wait with everyone else for the moon rise. Seeing naked bodies and eyes wandering my way is too much to handle at the moment. Instead I am going to wait in my room and then join everyone once I shift. I don't want to feel vulnerable again. Luna understood and gave me my space but my stupid brother badgered me until Cassius convinced him to leave me be. Goddess bless my brother-in-law.

Looking up, my eyes follow the shadows of the ceiling from the setting sun. The stain glass on my window twinkles and a prism of colors overtakes my walls. The gleeful colors opposite to what I feel. It's why I added the stain glass to my window. It is the only thing that can fix the darkness inside me and remind me of the person I can be. The person I used to be. I flip over on my stomach and look out the window just in time to see the sun finish setting and the colors leave my room.

I pop out the ear buds and put them away. Guess it's almost time. My wolf growls in excitement. She feels the time approaching. I undress and snuggle under my blanket. My mind drifts to my mate again. The hurt in his face when I ran away fills my heart. Some of his sadness is washing over me even now as I lay here. I would be lying if I said I wasn't affected by it. I'm just not ready. I don't want intimacy right now. I don't want another man to touch me like that, at least not right away.

My eyes close as a feeling grabs hold of me. The air is changing. I stand up and open my window taking a breath of fresh air, waiting for the moon to take over. Light shines on to my skin and I begin my shift. My light brown fur emerges as I land on all fours. My wolf form, Nora, emerges.

Nora

I nudge the partially closed door with my snout and run through the house. My weight thumped loudly against the wooden floor boards. Atlas is going to kill me in the morning when he sees the scratches on the floor. I make my way outside and group with the others.

I howl and join Atlas' wolf, Leo. It great to be this free. To give my human Iris the chance to sit back and breathe for a bit. We wait for the rest of the pack to finish shifting before we begin our run. It feels amazing running along the river side. I follow the flowing water and howl in delight. The grass tickles my paws with its gentle blades. It's liberating. The sound of the rushing water in my ears, the smell of the pine trees through my snout and the crisp night air floods my senses. Cassius' wolf, Wolfie and I, start playing around racing each other until I trip and he begins jumping around laughing through the mind link.

They can both be such clowns.

Rolling in the dirt, I take a deep breath. The control I feel, the clarity in my mind, everything that it is to be a wolf comes alive. I love my human but nothing compares to have my soul taking shape and experiencing the world around me. [I promise to take you on runs more], Iris whispers in my mind. [Thank you, you always treat me so well], I thank her and she really does.

She doesn't have to and yet she includes me in all her decisions. She never forgets that I am a part of her and when she takes me on runs, she always gives me full control. Unlike my other reincarnations that only ever used me to fight or didn't use me at all, Iris makes me feel very much alive. I've never told her that I can remember every life I've lived but this one is definitely the best. Which is why I hurt for her deeply. I know Iris needs this. She needs time away from questioning eyes. Time to herself to hide and lick her wounds. 

Wolfie stops jumping around and gets into a fighting stance. 

"Luna Wolfie what's going on?"

"Something is wrong, I can sense people approaching. Maybe hunters." Wolfie speeds off to Leo. "Go home and hide, take as many with you".

"Okay."

I take off, mind-linking as many wolves as possible. It has only been an hour into our run and we can't freely shift back. Thankfully I had left the door open. Most of the wolves respond to my call and run inside the house. We reach the closed basement door and with my paw I push aside the rug in front of it. With all my weight I pounce onto one of the planks and it gives way. Atlas has a counter measure for times like these.

He made sure to put in a secret way to open a separate hatch in the wall next to the basement door. The hatch opens and we all go down the slide leading into the basement. One by one the wolves slide down and I count making sure everyone arrived. All that was left was my brother, Luna and our Beta Mavis. Through three small windows near the ceiling of the basement, enough moon light filters into the room keeping our shifted bodies in a comfortable state. Once Wolfie, Leo, and Ivar slide down, I push one of the bricks in the wall next to the light switch and the hatch upstairs closes.

Iris stirs inside me. As much as she doesn't want to admit it she is worried about Kristofer. Pain then surges my body. [Iris, I think Kristofer is hurt] She doesn't respond but I can hear silent whimpers. She is crying. I have no way of helping her or comforting her.

"Wolfie, Kristofer is injured." I link with him. Wolfie shoots a look at me and nods. He lowers his head as if trying to link with someone, most likely Kristofer. It amazes me how he is able to communicate with everyone. Ever since he became the Shaman wolf, Shoneah, he can freely link with any wolf no matter where they are from. While the rest of us would need to blood link with anyone outside of our pack.

"I can't reach him" Wolfie then lowers his head again. What if he is dead? What if my one chance to have my wolf mate was taken from me by hunters?

One by one we all begin to shift back into our human form including Wolfie and Leo.

"I got through to Mavis, he said Kristofer is injured and unconscious. We need to go check on him once it's safe". Cassius comes up to me and pets my fur. Everyone is shifted and already leaving the basement except for me. Iris doesn't want me to move. I whimper and place my head down onto my paws. Iris doesn't want to shift back. She is scared. So scared and would rather hide in plain sight.

"Let me know when it is safe, I'll go in Iris' place." I reply to Cassius through the link and he nods without further questioning.

"What's wrong with her?" Atlas kisses Cassius on the cheek.

"She is going through something. Iris needs to figure it out on her own. She'll talk when she's ready." Cassius leads Atlas back upstairs leaving me in the dark basement floor alone with my crying human.

...................................

Hello my lovelies,

So we finally get to meet Iris' wolf, Nora. We also get a bit of an explanation as to why Iris ran away and her mental struggle.

How long do you think she will stay hiding?

How cool was that trap door? I can just picture a bunch of massive sized wolves going down a slide. Makes me giggle.

Please vote and comment your thoughts.

XOXO,

Lizzy