Sidney
Running. Faster. They were right behind me, I could hear them gaining. They had gotten too close, I hadn't meant to cross the line. I ran faster and faster but this was their land, they knew it better than me. I could smell them, and hear them snarling at my heels. I was exhausted my ribs were still sore from healing and these bozos chasing me weren't helping, I knew I had to do something. I smelled the water and ran for it as fast as I could, the fresh speed gained me a bit of space from the pack at my back but not much. As soon as I reached the quick currents edge I turned to face the pack of males with a warning snarl of my own. I was done running, couldn't they see I didn't want to fight them, I just wanted to get away? I watched as the five males emerged from the trees and snarled as they came to a stop in front of me, sizing up my challenge. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, their teeth or the raging waters behind me, but at least the water meant my back was protected for the time being. "Please leave me alone, I don't want to fight, I was just passing through." I sent the link to them only to have them growl dangerously back at me. "Rogues do not pass through on our land!" One snarled back. "I'm not a rogue." I growled wearily. "Trespassers will not be tolerated, any last words nomad?" The powerful male voice ran through my mind in threat. I watched as their leader stepped forward with a dangerous challenge, and with it my own strength rippled beneath my fur. I closed my eyes seemingly weak to them as I steadied myself for what would happen next, the decision was easy to make for me now. The moment I opened my eyes I knew they were shining with a ferocity I had been told was far outmatching of my small stature. I watched as one of the males behind the leader stumbled back in confusion and tucked his tail at the power behind the snarl I now released to them. "You should have left when you had the chance." I sent the resolved rumble to them, and that was when they charged.
I wake from the nightmarish dream panting as my muscles flexed in eagerness for the memory of that fight. I shake away the images flashing through my mind, I had come out of it alive but that was a victory I did not wish to reap the spoils of. I got up and dressed into some jeans and a blue t-shirt before going to check the baby birds and give them a feed. Once they were taken care of I fed the dogs and Sassy before making sure they went out to use the bathroom. I grabbed a quick bagel for myself before it was time to feed the baby birds again and head into work, I was a bit surprised to see Fletcher standing beside Gavin when I pulled up.
"Hey Puppet, to what do we owe the pleasure of your company?" I hummed to the young male as I handed over the baby birds to Gavin who took them inside for bird duty. "Well I didn't really have anything to do today so I thought it might be nice to help out around here a bit." The kid shrugged and lowered his gaze to his sneakers. "Well then you can help me feed the animals and get the foxes ready to release, they are scheduled to be freed today." I comment kindly to him, he quickly agreed as I led the way on the feeding rounds. Once all of them were fed I had Fletcher help corral the pair of foxes into a transport cage, it wasn't the easiest job but we got it done.
"So whats the story on these two?" Fletcher asked as he helped me load the cage into my backseat so we could take them a bit further away from the sanctuary. "These two tried to set up home in someone's garage and instead of letting her husband shoot them, the wife had somebody pick them up and bring them here." I stated as I let Gavin know we were taking the foxes out and Fletcher took shotgun while I drove to a more secluded release sight. "Humans are horrible." The boy growled lowly beside me. "On that I would have to agree, but then on the very rare occasion there are people like us that actually give a d*** about other living creatures." I scoffed back, I sensed his gaze studying me while I kept my eyes on the road. "Yeah." He murmured softly, and I didn't have to look to know the adorable pup was blushing again.
Fletcher
Stupid flaming cheeks! I was surprised how hard it was not to just rub my scent all over her and her car, to make her a part of the pack. I was also impressed with how much of a hard worker she was and the way she showed true passion for all the animals at the sanctuary. I had to admit watching her go inside Spartan's cage again nearly gave me a heart attack, but he seemed far more tolerant of her than of any of us. When we were far enough away from the sanctuary she pulled to the side of the road and we carried the cage further into the trees before setting it down. I knew this area would be a good spot for the pair of foxes to den although I didn't give away the fact I ran here regularly on four legs.
"This seems good enough, want to do the honors?" Her hum drew me from my thoughts as I sent a nod her way. The moment the cage door was open both of them darted off as fast as they could away from us, and we just watched them go. "Hopefully they'll stay out of trouble out here, come on we better get back." She led the way back to the car as we headed for the sanctuary. When we got back Gavin met us at the door and I noticed Emmett's car was here too, I didn't really have a chance to keep up with Sidney if he was around.
"Hey Sid, a volunteer came and took the baby birds, they do full time care on a lot of the fledgling birds and when they heard we had some they offered to take them in." Gavin stated first and the small smile that creased her lips was a brilliant beauty. "That's great, I don't have to worry about Sassy trying to go after them then." She sighed happily, our response was to echo 'who was Sassy'? "She's my cat, she attacked the incubator when I brought them home last night so this is probably better for their safety." She shrugged out, and she turned to get back to work.
"Hey, it's lunchtime, aren't you going to eat anything?" I called after her with a frown as she turned back towards us. "I didn't bring anything." She replied lightly. "Well I brought extra sandwiches if you're interested?" I scuffed my shoe in the dirt as I waited for her response. "Are you sure?" Her frown seemed disbelieving so I went and grabbed my bag to show her I'd packed enough to feed all of us. "Well I guess I could eat something." She hummed as she took two of the roast beef sandwiches and got to work unwrapping them. Watching her enjoy the meal I prepared had both my wolf and human halves pleased to have provided her with food. The good mood changed however when Emmett being the attention hog he is stole the show.
Emmett
"Hey, speaking of food I've got some news you might like to hear gorgeous." I raised as I plopped down on the step beside hers. I could feel Gavin and Fletch scowling at my back but I was far more focused on the curious eyes in front of me. "Alright Sir Flirtsalot, what's this news that dares to interrupt my meal?" Her raised challenge had me grinning back at her. "Well you have been invited to have dinner with us at our place tonight, as a sort of apology for how we acted towards you the other day." I smirked as I watched her brows rise in disbelief.
"And you honestly think I want to get stuck having dinner with you idiots after that?" Her tone was a scoff and I winced slightly at the anger behind it. "Okay we deserve that, but could you maybe consider it at least?" I voiced slow and uncertainly as she paused from looking at all of us to frowning down at her last half-eaten sandwich. "Puppet, would you be making this said dinner?" Her eyes focused over my shoulder, and a string of jealousy ran through me as she frowned to little pup boy Fletch. "Uh, yes?" Fletch murmured softly back as she finished off her last sandwich with a thoughtful nod.
"Well then, if you make a sandwich that tastes this good I can't wait to see what you can do for an actual dinner. I'll be there, now if you'll excuse me I've got work to do." Her answer and dismissal were given with a small nod as she turned her back to us and headed for the cages. "She calls you Puppet?" I voiced to a grinning Fletcher, the kid looked like he'd just gotten the best news of his life.
"Hey it's better than Sir Flirtsalot, and besides she's coming over to eat MY food." He was practically preening at her praises. "This isn't another joke, right Emmett? Bowen does know about this dinner?" Gavin frowned out. "I brought it up this morning and he insisted that she be invited over, no clue what his plans are, but if this is a joke it's not mine." I shrugged back as I sent a final look back to the cages and headed for home. I had been so eager to get her attention and Sidney Blake had barely given me the time of day, but I wasn't going to give up that easily.