I understood what Coby was going through. The change made you vulnerable. I met Shaz’s gaze. “We’ll go on ahead. You guys can catch up.”
Leaving Coby in Shaz’s capable hands seemed like the best plan. He was already a nervous mess. Having Kylarai and I present wouldn’t help. In the beginning, when I’d first changed, I’d been alone. It took a long time to get comfortable with other wolves.
Hoping to avoid adding to Coby’s distress, I descended the deck stairs and disrobed beneath the raised patio, out of sight. Kylarai joined me, stretching her lithe frame before dropping to the ground. She was wolf before her paws touched the grass. The change came much easier over time. Embracing it, I savored the way it felt as the wolf burst forth. It took only seconds for my body to re-knit itself into wolf form. A brief explosion of pain quickly faded away to bliss.
I trotted along behind Kylarai as she slipped through the open back gate and into the field. The sun had dropped low enough to give us the cover of near dark. We made our way toward the trees, pausing here and there to sniff at the scent of another animal or check out the gopher holes littering the field.
My thoughts were simple when I was wolf. I could easily allow the human side of me to fall away, and I was happy just to be.
We had just blended in amid the trees when I cast a glance back toward the house. It was tiny in the distance, just one of many that backed onto the field. My keen eyes easily spotted Shaz’s white fur. An ash brown wolf flanked him. Coby would be just fine. I was sure of it.
I launched into a light run. Raising my nose to the wind, I breathed deeply of the scents of the forest. Fertile earth, fresh pine and an assortment of other smells filled my nostrils. I was home.
We lingered near the clearing in the middle of the woods, waiting for Shaz and Coby to catch up. It didn’t take them long. Coby’s eyes were wide and alert, but otherwise he seemed comfortable in his wolf skin. He paused to sniff everything as he went. The new scents and keen senses could be overwhelming at first, but they were intriguing.
The scent of coyote was fresh. They’d passed through not long ago. They had a tendency to avoid us, so we didn’t come across them often. For the most part the local coyotes lingered on the other side of town, creeping only close enough to be heard at night when they raised their voices in yips and howls.
Hoping to ease Coby into our world, we playfully stalked small night critters. Following the scent of a field mouse, I tracked it to where it hid in the long grass, hoping to go unnoticed. I pounced playfully, a few feet from the mouse, sending him scurrying away as fast as his little legs would carry him. He was a cute little thing, beady eyes and all.
I wouldn’t dream of hurting him. The little mouse was in no danger from me; I preferred prey that could fight back.
Shaz led a small hunt when we came across a relatively fresh deer trail. I had little interest, but I followed along, slinking through the trees as we tracked the big buck. He was an impressive beast alright. The rack of antlers atop his head was massive. Tall with long legs, he was a gorgeous creature.
I hung back, watching as the others encircled the deer. Kylarai was an ace hunter. She had a way of gliding up alongside her prey without being noticed until it’s too late. Her brown hide was barely visible as she stalked the buck. Shaz paused on the opposite side with Coby, waiting for Kylarai to make the first move.
For a moment, everything stopped as we waited for Ky to pounce.
A twig snapped in the distance, mere seconds before the scent of humans reached me. Immediately alert, I met Shaz’s green eyes, finding alarm in their depths.
The shotgun blast was as deafening as it was shocking. For a split second I couldn’t tell where it hit. Then the deer dropped and began to flail. A strangled sound came from the buck as he thrashed helplessly.
A second shot rang out and something grazed my flank. I’d never known hunters to be in these woods. My heart pounded in my ears. I could barely hear the sound of paws hitting the ground furiously around me as we ran with supernatural speed.
As the adrenaline faded, the pain grew in intensity. By the time we reached Kylarai’s backyard, every step I took hurt. It could have been so much worse; a near miss was nothing to laugh off. It hurt like a bitch. I collapsed on the grass, embracing my human form. The wound was ugly, a large, deep puncture that bled profusely. I felt lightheaded but I’d had worse.
“Are you ok, Lex?” Shaz wasted no time resuming human form. He lifted me carefully in his strong arms. “Looks like it just grazed you a good one.”
“I’ll be fine. It just hurts like a mother f**ker.” I groaned and clung tight to Shaz. Burying my face in his neck, I concentrated on his familiar scent. “Last thing I need is to get taken out by hunters. Lilah would love that.”