Hunted. A Pack Novel

Chapter Two: Seth

My paws tore through the wet dirt, claws turning over the soft ground in my wake as the pack followed behind me while I followed our alpha. Pain still tugged on my side but changing was letting it heal faster and the run was calming both myself and my wolf down. Our alpha came to a halt in a fork between two trees, head snapping to the left and sniffing the air while we piled up behind him since this had been a pleasure run the wolves hadn't been expecting the sudden stop.

My own muzzle lifted into the air sniffing the air for anything out of the ordinary and catching the foreign scent on the wind to the north. The musty scent filled my senses before my lips pulled back snarling. Coyote. For them to be back in our territory so soon after the shooting meant that it hadn't just been some young member trying to prove something to his pack leader; this meant that they were actively encroaching on our territory.

The alpha threw his head back and howled, signalling to the pack to follow and took off after the scent. We let out our own answering howls, the call bouncing off the tress and filling the night before taking off after him. Dodging fallen trees and broken branches the pack tore through the forest after Dan following the coyotes trail until we reached the forests edge. Dan sat on his haunches staring in the direction that the coyote had taken with the pack behind him. 

His head turned, eyes flashing a two of the wolves behind me before there was a shimmer and wave of heat in the air around the two wolves. Like a heat mirage on a summer day the air around the wolves shimmered before they started to change shape, bones cracking and popping back into place as two naked men occupied the space where the wolves had been.

"We'll follow the trail for as far as we can go but by the looks of it the coyote cut through town before he left. We'll see if he made any significant stops on the way out and meet you back at the clubhouse," Chris told Dan who dipped his head in approval.

Dan gave a short sharp bark then turned and ran off back the way that we had come. And with that I knew that you run was over and that we would have business to deal with when we changed back. It wasn't like I didn't agree with Dan but since I had seen Violet the other night my wolf had been on edge and need the freedom that running in the woods granted him. My wolf whined inside my head but I promised him that we would go out again soon and with that I turned and sprinted back to the clubhouse to change back and find out what our next move would be.

Changing back into a human when your wolf didn't want to could be a bit of a battle if they really wanted to dig their claws in but I had enough control of my wolf self to make the change behind the clubhouse building, by the tree that I had stashed my clothes behind. Not that me walking into the clubhouse naked to get some clothes would have been a problem, wolves have a tendency to have no problem with nakedness since our clothes didn't shift with us but you could never tell if a non- informed human could be around. Running the garage so close to the clubhouse had its advantages and its disadvantages but I wasn't going to be the guy that let the wolf out of the bag to a human.

 Making my way into the clubhouse I spotted Dan heading into the council room but the rest of the place seemed pretty quiet. There weren't any clingers hanging around tonight since the we had been out of 'club business' but a few of the old ladies were going about their business in here. Rita saw me walk in and tossed the papers she had been going over onto the low table before walking over to me.

She stood on her toes and gave me a quick hard kiss on the cheek. "Hey baby, did you enjoy your run? Your dad muttered something about a scent then took off into council."

Rita had been married to Dan long enough to know when to just let him be if something was bothering him. "Just a coyote mom, probably just a stray checking on us after the other night but its putting the pack on edge that they might be trying to gain some territory," I wrapped her in a one arm hug.

She snorted and tugged on the edge of my shirt pulling it up to look at where my wound had been but it was just a pink mark now after I had changed. "Yeah well I ever get my hands on the one that did that to you I'll be taking a chunk out of his hide," She poked the spot. "Looks like it healed well, she was good for something then."

I squeezed her shoulder before letting her go not really in the mood for this conversation. "Mom can we not do this right now. Violet came and helped when she didn't need to, you should be grateful that she did."

"I can't help it if I don't like the girl that broke my baby's heart," She said.

I stopped her before she could go on another rant about how Violet could have moved back to town when she turned eighteen and didn't. "It wasn't her choice to leave when she did and things change over time. It doesn't matter anyway cause I'm sure she's not interested in seeing my mangy ass anytime soon since I didn't know she was back in town. Can we just drop it please?" I ran my hand thorough my hair and started towards the council room as the others – now shifted back to human- came in through the door. 

Rita slowly went back over to her chair and I knew that she would bring up this conversation again but hopefully at a time that I was better ready to have it once I calmed my wolf down. I took my place at the table on the left of our alpha while the pack filed in and took their own respective seats. The last one in shut the door behind them before Dan started.

"We need to find out what's going on with the Coyotes, whether the shooting and the intruder into our territory are just young ones trying to make a name for themselves or the start of a territory war over Blacksprings. While I'm hoping it's the former, we might have to start planning for the latter since we haven't had a fight over our territory for about twenty years now. Pack keeps Blacksprinngs and the surrounding area while the Coyotes keep to their own territory."

That was true, the last time that we had dealt with a war over territory had been when I was still in elementary school and I remembered that all of us kids had a couple of days off of school while the pack dealt with the threat. We'd spent the time at the clubhouse with Rita and some of the other old ladies doing homework but goofing off mostly. Violet had convinced us to play extreme hide and seek throughout the club but it was only because she could always find the best hiding places and wanted to show off.

"I could reach out to some of my witch contacts, see if they've heard of anything brewing?" Caddin offered.

Dan raised his hand waving the offer off. "We need to keep this in house for now, I don't want it spreading that we might be having trouble keeping our territory. If we get any more of them turning up we will have to reach out to others then for information but we need to try and track some down by ourselves."

My wolf nudged me inside my head, bothered by the Coyote's coming into town but it was something else too. The both of us were worried about Violet now that she was in Blacksprings and had been in close contact with our blood. To any shifter she would smell strongly of the pack and that could make her a potential target if they thought that she could be used against us. I'd have to go visit her and see if she was staying in town or just passing through fixing up her aunt's affairs before moving on again. 

If she was just passing through well then it wouldn't put a target on her back because she would be moving on and out of our territory but if she had moved back to stay, then I would need to find some way to protect her until our scent wore off. 

All of this would mean needing to see her, talk to her but my wolf and I would have to suck it up and be ok with doing that even if she slammed the door in my face. When did life become so complicated?

A/N: If you liked this chapter please remember to comment and vote!