Julia's Pack.

Chapter 14 - Pack and Oliver sends ...a jaguar cub?

Julia curled up, warm, the smell of Levi all around her. Bad dreams. Really fucking bad dreams. About him having to leave, the boat going, and then the boat leaving. She didn't want to wake up somehow. Just was aware that she'd just had some pretty awful dreams.

She yawned, stretching, a foot peeking out the other end of the warm cocoon Julia had made herself on the bed. It was pretty cool outside now.

No, not a foot. She curled up, peering at herself, a paw. She'd somehow changed during sleep. This wasn't entirely new, exactly, if she accidentally fell asleep with the skin nearby. Julia prodded at her foot, puzzled, and scratched an itchy spot behind her ear at the same time.

She inhaled Levi's rich scent and whined softly with some part of her very aware that while it was here- it was old. Almost a day old. Julia shut her eyes and curled up tighter underneath the covers, in her mate's scent, aware now that the dream wasn't a dream at all.

As a human, she could pretend that didn't frighten her, but like this she couldn't hide from it. She couldn't hide from the fact that she was alone right now. Mates missing. Puppies not close by. The urge to go for her Pack got stronger and stronger.

She ended up jumping off the daybed, her pack-mother's transparent form close by, and wandered closer to the Pack Hall. It was just after sun rise, the grass and ground soaking wet, the wind and rain barely getting through Julia's thick fur.

Movement made her head twitch sideways. She stared, seeing several wolves, and they stared back. Pack. Fighters.

Patrols.

'Just keep walking. Your land.' She heard, or rather, felt the pack-mother's amusement.

Julia kept wandering around the Pack Hall, ignoring them, but they trailed after her. It was a little like they were drawn along with her.

'Not drawn. Protecting'.

Oh. That made sense. She listened to them, ears quivering as they took in the soft paw sounds on muddy ground, and her nose twitched as she smelt something else. Food.

Okay, living food, and it made Julia hungry. She dashed forward, suddenly, inhaling sharply. Where? What? Was it edible?

Mice. She pounced, much like a puppy, and heard a soft snort from behind. It was hard to catch a mouse though. One mouse, quickly killed, and it didn't really do much for a hungry tummy. Julia's ears pricked up as she caught sight of another giant mouse.

Then she had to shake her head. No. Not a giant mouse. A otter. An otter staring at her, a fish in its paws, clutching the fish to its chest almost possessively. Julia sat back on her haunches, inhaling a long deep draw of the otter's scent, and that yummy fish prey, staring at it. Not the grown one. It was the young otter.

Then the otter dashed past her with the fish, ducking the fighter wolves as they lunged, and Julia spun around to snap at them. 'No. Not the young. Silly fighters can't attack young.'

The funny thing about communicating like this was that it wasn't English. Not exactly. It was more emotion, image, smell, and other things. They knew she was hungry, they probably sensed it, probably heard her stomach twist and groan as the prey just teased it a little. Knew that she'd eyed the fish and imaged chewing on that too.

'Alpha gets first meal.' One of them yawned, scratching lazily, not that fussed apparently.

'Alpha got first meal. Alpha got mouse.'

Another snort from one of the three fighters. There was a nudge from one of them, and she followed them through the undergrowth as they tried to show her something. She heard and smelt other wolves now. Lots of wolves. Pack.