Run, Run, Run, As Fast As You Can

Little one

Arsen was the first to come out, tongue hanging out of his mouth and a massive wolf grin on display to tell me that it wasn't Armarose that I was looking at. Next was Armarose, his excitement for the run only showing in his hazel eyes. Eros followed just behind Armarose, his proud wolf standing tall as he walked over to me with purpose. 

"Who would you rather go with?" I asked Snapdragon, who was hovering just above my shoulder.

"Arsen," she answered, "he's more fun."

"You mean stupid, right?"I asked when I saw the smug look on Arsen's face. 

"Stupid is a bad word. He's not..." 

"Alright," I said interrupting what ever defense Snapdragon had prepared for him, "let's get going."

I walked over to Eros and climbed on his back, working my fingers into the soft fur around his neck and squeezing my legs into his sides to make sure I staid on. 

"Eros and I will take point. Follow us, and try not to crash," I said as Eros turned toward the woods in front of us. 

His muscles bunched in anticipation, preparing to sprint to stay ahead of the wolves who weren't carrying weight. 

As he took off I flattened myself against his back, trying to make myself small so that I didn't cause too much air drag. 

Looking to the side I could see Armarose, dodging trees as if it were his job, not play time. If I didn't know better I would think that Armarose wasn't having any fun, but I did know better and I could just barely see the joy in his focused expression. Letting me know that he was enjoying the challenge of keeping up with another wolf. 

To the other side I could see Arsen playing Russian-roulette with some of the trees. running toward them until he had to dodge or hit them. His tongue was still lolling out of his mouth, giving me the impression that this was more of a game than anything else. 

I smiled as I looked ahead again. My boys were enjoying this as much as I was. Looking forward I could see a massive log rushing up to meet Eros and I. Eros started to run just a little bit faster, his muscles bunching slightly more than usual just before he jumped. A smile took over my features for the few seconds that we were air born. I could feel myself become weightless for the fraction of a second as we fell. 

Freedom. This is what freedom felt like. It was knowing that we could just run if we wanted to and nobody would be tracking us down when we did. It was the feeling of air rushing past my face, stinging slightly with the cold. It was watching trees flash by in a blur of white and brown. It was looking down and seeing sprays of white getting kicked up. It was feeling like I am flying as we go over the bigger logs. It was the feeling of warmth that filled my soul despite the snow that covered the ground. 

Time didn't seem to matter anymore, the whole day could slip by and it wouldn't matter to me at all. 

That being said, I didn't know how much time had passed before Eros slid to a stop and started to sniff the air. The boys came to a stop beside us and copied the action.

I looked around confused. There was nothing special about this part of the forest, there was no reason for my boys to have stopped here. In an attempt to discover what my boys were doing I slid off Eros's back and started to look around. 

Eros tugged on my sleeve and brought my attention to a paw print in the snow. 

"Is it a were?"

He nodded his head once. 

"Wolf?"

Again he nodded. 

I looked at Armarose and Arsen, "Do you guys recognize the scent?"