Pack

Chapter Nine

I took in a deep breath and stared up at the setting sun. As the brilliant shades of reds, oranges and pinks faded against the cobalt sky, a cool breeze kissed my cheeks. Closing my eyes, I inhaled again. The wind blowing through the trees gave off a strange aroma. The two elements swirled together mixing into a scent that reminded me of rain and fire. I opened my eyes and looked around at the trees in wonder. As strange as it seemed, I could smell the change in seasons coming. Spring would end, and summer would arrive soon.

Jonathan had ordered Scout to stay next to me at all times during the hunt, and Scout seemed to be taking that command literally. His arms wrapped around me as we stood, waiting, just inside the tree line surrounding the cabin.

Excited anticipation had my stomach doing back-flips. I couldn't wait to see the pack change forms. Part of my brain still refused to accept that I stood in the presence of actual werewolves. I had to witness the transformation to fully believe it.

"We'll run along behind the pack so we don't startle their prey. They run pretty fast. So I hope you're in good shape." Scout eyed my foot. "How's your ankle feeling?"

"Scout, I cannot wait to run through these woods. I don't care how fast they run, I'll keep up, sore ankle or not."

His eyes focused over my shoulder. "Good, because here they come now."

I turned away from the woods to watch as one-by-one the guys filed out of the cabin. Jonathan and the triplets wore only underwear and Dean, Colt and Cal walked out completely naked.

I couldn't speak for all werewolves, but I had to admit, this pack definitely found themselves genetically blessed in the muscle, height and strength department. Even Jonathan looked strong and athletic. Since I'd met him, I'd never seen him lift a finger, let alone exercise, and yet, he looked like he performed Iron Mans on a regular basis. Jonathan nodded to the others. They all stripped off their underwear before dropping down to the ground on their hands and knees.

My eyes danced around, unable to take them all in at once, but I didn't want to miss a thing, so I kept my eyes focused on Jonathan. A popping noise started, followed by what sounded like cracking bones. Jonathan started panting as the sound of simultaneous snapping bones echoed through the air. His nails grew longer, and his hands shifted into claws. His hair grew lighter, turning into a white-gray color as fur began to sprout up all over his skin. I watched in wonder as his bones shifted right before my eyes. Fur continued to spread, growing longer. His back bowed in the middle as a tail emerged. His face elongated into a snout. His ears narrowed, and lifted. Raising his head, he howled, exposing huge white fangs.

Déjà vu. I'd seen this wolf before in the woods of Pennsylvania. Jonathan, in his wolf form had stopped me on my path when I'd walked home from Carly's house.

I searched through the trees for the others, and spotted Dean's red and white wolf immediately, standing off to the right of Scout and me. To the left of us sat three wolves, their fur all varying shades of brown and white with each wolf having a different patterning to their colors. Two identical black wolves, resembling the wolf that had acted as my guard outside the cave, stood beside their alpha.

I shifted my gaze to Jonathan. We watched each other for a few moments, reminding me again of staring into his golden eyes in Pennsylvania. My excitement for the run started to fizzle as feelings of anger sullied it. Part of me hated him. I wondered if I would ever forgive him. Or if I even wanted to.

He let out a low yelp, before sprinting off through the trees. The other wolves followed suit, running after him.

"Come on," Scout said, pulling me along behind him. He led me through the trees jogging at an easy pace. I followed behind, impressed by his gracefulness as he easily created a path for us leaping over uprooted trees and snagging vines. I used to exercise regularly and working in construction always kept me fit, so I had no problem keeping up with him. It made me question whether my endurance had more to do with the wolf in me, then the hours I'd spent at the gym.