A Howling in the Hills (Prev. Adjusting) (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 7 - Tracking

The wolf's odor was steadily getting stronger, and soon I knew I was on their tail. I slowed down and began to sneak up behind him, eager to catch my prey. I heard leaves rustling in front of me and I stalked through the underbrush.

Unfortunately, I had forgotten the number one rule of hunting: remember that your prey can sometimes end up as your predator. Before I could spot the rogue, he had seen me. I was abruptly tackled from the front and ended up rolling into a clearing with an unknown dark gray wolf. 

I quickly jumped up and growled at the mysterious wolf. He seemed skittish and frightened, nervously glancing from side to side to find an escape from me. He was tiny, drowning in the additional wolf pelt with fresh wounds on his sides. He had to be new to the rogue life, no more than a month out of his pack.

But, if he was so wet behind the ears, how had he already figured out the pelt trick? And why was he out of his pack?

No one goes rogue unless they have a good reason, are kicked out of their packs, or are crazy. 

What was this pup's story?

Apparently, my brooding had frightened the pup even more, and he suddenly launched himself at me in an attempt to weaken me before running away. I quickly dodged his attack and hurled myself on top of him, closing my jaw around his throat and growling loudly. He whimpered and pressed his neck into my jaw more, showing his submission. 

I let go of him and watched as he stood up to make sure he wouldn't bolt before howling loudly into the midnight sky.

A moment later, the other five men waked into the clearing as naked as the day they were born. I whimpered and Alex handed me my clothes. I took them gently in my jaw so as not to rip them and ran out of the clearing. When I was human and dressed, I left the covering of the trees to join my new pack members.

I was shocked at the sight. Brian had an unknown boy pinned against the ground. The boy's sandy blond hair was muddy and snarled, his blue eyes wide with fear. He was struggling against Brian helplessly while the others were just standing around watching. 

The young boy couldn't be any older than thirteen.

"Why are you here?" Brian growled at the pup. 

Tears began to cascade down the child's face. "Please, let me go!" he begged.

"Stop!" I yelled as I sprinted over to Brian and the boy. "Let him go!"

"Why should I?" Brian snarled, not turning away from the kid's frightened face. 

"He's only a pup," I pleaded. "We don't know his story, and he can't be of any harm to us!"

I turned and instead faced the Alpha. 

"Please, Alpha John. We can still question him, but he's only a pup."

Alpha John stared at me for a moment, trying to figure something out. Eventually, he turned to Brian and ordered him to release the child. Brian snarled before shooting up and glaring at the kid. The kid shot up and took a few steps back from Brian.

"Don't move," I said gently. "We won't hurt you."

The pup turned his frightened gaze to me. I slowly walked towards him with my hands in the air, showing I meant no harm.

"My name is Adrian," I told him, speaking as one would to an injured animal. "I used to be a rogue. What's yours?" 

The pup bit his lip before whispering, "I'm Jude."

I gave him a small smile. "Hello Jude. We don't want to hurt you, but you have to comply with what we say. Can you do that for us, Jude?" 

He hesitated before nodding to me and my smile grew wider. 

"That's great, Jude. Just follow me and I'll lead us back to our pack house." 

His eyes grew wide in fear and he took another step back. 

"Don't worry," I told him, knowing exactly what his fears were. "The house will be empty. The other men behind me are going to go back to the house and clear it of all the pack members. Can you handle that?" 

He nodded again to me and took a step closer. 

"That's good, Jude. Just come here. I won't hurt you," I murmured softy as he came closer. 

I slowly dropped one of my hands and reached out my other, offering it to the pup. Once he was close enough, he cautiously accepted my hand with his own. I turned around with his hand in mine to find that the other wolves had already left back for the pack house. We began to walk together when I saw that the poor boys was shivering, having no clothes to shield him from the icy winds.

I stopped him before taking off the sweatshirt I was wearing and offering it to him. Jude gave me a shy smile and pulled it over his head, wearing it like a dress. 

"Thank you," he whispered with a ducked head. 

"No problem," I replied before taking his hand again and leading him back to the house.