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Wolves and Men
Book 4 Chapter 7e

Book 4 Chapter 7e

He felt his two pack mates merge with him as they ran through the trees. He looked over his right shoulder to see Charles. The man was grinning ear to ear. William smiled to himself. He couldn’t blame Charles for his enthusiasm; he had felt a similar rush the first time he felt the effects of the pack bond with Aceso. It seemed like another life time ago.

Over his left shoulder Katherine was moving through the brush with similar ease. She was not smiling however. She was looking dead ahead with her head up. Her body was moving and cutting through the brush with a meticulous path of economy. It was good to see her so determined and focused. Where they were going, they all needed to bring their “A” game.

The only problem was Nicolas. William knew that Nicolas couldn’t hold this speed for very long. He didn’t share in the pack bond and so he was dependent solely on his human muscles and endurance. Efraim had worked them hard over the last month but even so, Nicolas couldn’t keep up. Ansuya had to know this. Maybe she didn’t care? It was possible that she was trying to force Nicolas’s hand. If that was the case, Aceso would not be happy with her. His alpha wanted Nicolas to make the decision on his own. Being coerced by exhaustion or the threat of being left behind would not exactly be in line with his own free will.

What was he even worrying about? Ansuya needed Nicolas to finish this mission, whatever it was. Nicolas had to know this. Was he sand bagging it on purpose? William turned around to look for their scout. He couldn’t see him at all. It was possible that this was some kind of a test? William slowed to a walk. The brush under foot parted easily for him as he turned around and back tracked the way he had come.

Katherine and Charles soon realized what he had done and stopped as well. A minute or two later the three of them were walking back toward Alan’s Rest Inn. William knew that they all could feel where Aceso had gone and Ansuya had to know this as well. He was getting a little tired of playing their games though. The pack was more important than personal needs. The pack always came first. Right now though, their pack was splintered and would probably remain that way for a long time if Nicolas’s reaction to Charles’s oath to Aceso was any indication.

They hadn’t run very far and so finding Nicolas was relatively easy. The brown haired New Yorker was calmly walking through the trees as if nothing important was happening. “Aww, you came back for me. What, were you afraid I was going to get lost?”

William shook his head and Katherine heaved a huge sigh as she folded her arms under her large breasts. Charles simply looked at the shorter man straight faced.

Nicolas didn’t seem to know what was going on, or he didn’t care. He kept walking right past the three of them on the direct line that he had been following. William looked at his friend and Charles shook his head. Katherine shook out her long wavy brown hair which was down to her waist. William hadn’t noticed it for a long time. But in the starlight and moonlight of the outside world, Katherine really was a very attractive woman. Her huge breasts hadn’t lost any of their original size in training. They didn’t seem to slow her down at all either. He looked at her and his blue green eyes met her bright green ones. She simply shrugged her shoulders and turned around to follow after where Nicolas had faded into the forest.

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William stood there a moment wondering what had just happened. He had never even thought of looking at Katherine like that before. She was his pack mate, nothing more. Charles clapped him on the shoulder as he also started walking after Nicolas. William looked up at the stars and shook his head. Maybe he needed to get out more.

They soon caught up with the scout. He was taking his time. William knew what he was doing and they really didn’t have time for this. “We have to get moving, Nic.”

The scout simply smiled and waved his hand in the air, “No, you might have to hurry but I have to do no such thing.” William almost growled at Nicolas’s apathy. This seemed to only amuse him more. Smiling broadly now he closed his eyes as he said, “Don’t let little old me stop you, Will.” He opened his eyes still smiling, “If you want to go be with your sixty year old girlfriend, be my guest. I’m not going any faster than this.”

William could have rung his thick neck. Nicolas outweighed William by a good twenty or thirty pounds, but they both knew that in a fight either in human or werewolf form William would win easily. Nicolas’s muscles may have tightened over the last few months or so, but he was still not on par with William as a fighter and they both knew it. It wouldn’t prove anything for him to beat Nicolas again either. And they both knew it.

He let his anger vent away into the cool night air and looked toward the mountain in the distance. The majestic snowcapped peak seemed to glow as the stars shown all around it. The sky was clear and brilliant. He knew what Katherine had been talking about, no matter how many ceiling crystals there were in the underground cavern they could never hope to match the shining of those billions of stars overhead. He hoped this wasn’t the last time he would see them for another two or three months.

The soft presence in his head that was Aceso hadn’t moved for a while. He knew that they were getting close. Nicolas seemed to be on a Sunday stroll. They eventually pushed through into a clearing where Aceso and the two elders were waiting. Ansuya was simply standing there with her arms down at her sides. She had an easy stance and she didn’t look angry or impatient. Alexiares and Aceso were back in their werewolf forms. Aceso was standing with her arms folded across her chest while Alexiares was leaning up against a tree.

As they entered the clearing, Ansuya melted down and reformed into her werewolf form. Her six-foot, eight-inch frame was covered with rich brown fur. Her golden eyes gazed at each of them as they came to a stop. She didn’t say anything to them, she didn’t have to.

William knew that it would take too long to strip himself of his clothes. He knew that they had wasted enough time in just getting here. The sky was not brightening into morning, not yet but he could tell that dusk was quickly approaching. He looked down at his clothes and sighed. Oh well, what’s one more set of clothes? He forced himself to calmness and shifted into his werewolf form.