When he woke up the light in the cavern was bright once more. He couldn’t pick out individual lights in the ceiling of the cavern. The entire ceiling had taken on a soft glow that even his werewolf eyes couldn’t penetrate. He raised himself up on his elbows and looked around. He was comfortable and his body was well rested. He had never woken up as a werewolf before and he felt great. He wasn’t hungry at all, he wasn’t cold, and his muscles weren’t stiff. He felt like he could throw a boulder, figuratively speaking. He reached over and ran his claws along the scar that now slashed across his left arm. The flesh was marked with a clean white line that ran perpendicular to his muscles and was plainly seen even through his thick fur. He remembered his oath.
“Aceso, I won’t fail you.”
He stood up on his tiny mountain and stretched. His werewolf body never ceased to amaze him. He flexed and he could feel the strength and power that his body possessed. He could do anything.
Turning his thoughts on himself he probed his mind and gently nudged the concentration of emotions and instinct that was his other. The corded knot in the back of his mind was asleep. He wondered if the key to living with himself was somehow connected with the pure concentration of those emotions and instincts.
With a reckless abandon that only a child could have, he threw himself down the pile of rocks. The rocks proved to be just as immovable as they had when he climbed them the night before and, in a few bounds, he was down on the soft earth once more. He flexed his toes and claws and felt the pine needles and dirt flow up through his toes. The feeling of earth was amazing, it was almost like sand but richer.
He kicked off the earth, leaving a divot in the ground and ran back the way he had come last night. The trail he had left behind was not hard to find and he raced along the grooved track that he had cut in the earth. He followed the trail and forced himself to move faster. The still air rushed past him as he flew through the woods. The feeling of wind pass around him as he ran was amazing and he pushed himself to go even faster. He loved running like this, he had an endless supply of energy and speed. This morning it felt like he could continue to increase his speed no matter how fast he was going.
He followed his trail till it ended. He turned back to the clearing where he had eaten with Ares and the rest of his pack. The smell of blood was still in the air and he could follow the scent with little trouble. He raced up to the clearing and slowed down to a walk.
He approached the clearing and pulled some foliage to the side and looked over the empty space. He saw the remains of the carcass in the middle of the clearing. The bones looked like they hadn’t been touched since last night. He looked over to the right and saw Ares and Physis. The two mates were still in wolf form. Physis was lying next to Ares with her arms around his body. Her head and face were partially buried in Ares’ neck. Ares was half lying on his back and his head was gently resting on Physis’ head covering her ears.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
The two looked so peaceful and he could have sworn that they had smiles on their faces. Looking at a wolf smile was the most intimidating thing in the world, especially if that wolf was challenging you. But these smiles were of contentment and William couldn’t bring himself to intrude on them. He let the foliage fold back in front of him obscuring his view of the clearing and he backed away from the clearing. He would have to wait for his teacher to awaken. Well, he wasn’t just going to hang around an empty clearing. He decided that he would explore this forest a little, maybe go check out that stream and take a bath.
He took a few steps back the way he had come.
“Going somewhere, pup?” a voice asked behind him.
William whipped himself around to face the speaker and found himself face to face with Ares.
The werewolf stood at his full height. Ares was looking at him. William must have had a shocked or startled expression on his face because Ares had a bemused look on his face.
“Surprised to see me?”
“I thought you were indisposed.”
Ares looked over his right shoulder at the empty forest. Through the foliage of the underbrush a white form materialized out of the green and the brown of the forest. Physis seemed to be made out of nothing more substantial than air. She walked over and stood with Ares. “I was with my mate but you didn’t think that I would leave a possibly rabid young pup like yourself to run around unwatched and untended, did you?”
As Ares was speaking three more werewolves moved from the dense forest and into view. The male grey and brown calico werewolf were in front of a diamond pattern as the new comers stepped forward. He was flanked by two female shape shifters, the brown and tan was on his right and the black and tan was on his left. They were all in their werewolf form and seeing them make a semicircle around him was a little intimidating even for William. Now he knew what a cornered fox felt like at one of those staged eighteenth century hunts that royalty took so much pleasure in.
“William, we have been shadowing you and watching you since I sent you away from the clearing,” the calico wolf said. “That boulder throw of yours was really very impressive.”
William felt heat rush up to his face and he was thankful for his fur. If he was in human form, he knew he would be beet red right now.
The calico stepped forward away from the rest. “I am Hermes, protector of the mountain, beta to Mr. Davis. I was reborn on the gibbous moon, and I have been watching you since you entered this forest.”
The thought of being watched and not being able to smell or detect whoever was doing the watching made him a little embarrassed and uncomfortable. How could he not have smelled them or heard them?