Chapter 5

I couldn’t really argue with Lela. In my old pack, I had to be very careful with shifting. I typically did it alone. Mom was always so concerned about others seeing a red wolf. She never really explained why, but she always insisted.  I was able to run with my brother so long as he ran through the forest first. I did get out on my own a few times, but I always kept to myself. I haven’t let Lela go for a run since we arrived here. A run could help clear my mind and get rid of some of the leftover emotions that were nagging me.

“We need to get to the forest line first, but let’s go.” I started off, walking along the open field towards the back of the houses. Although there was some wooded space behind the houses, the trees were not thick enough for me to feel safe shifting.

Lela and I keep bantering back and forth. After I lost my family, Lela was my companion.  Wolves were always our companion, but Lela’s support helped pull me through the dark times. I enjoyed these conversations. They helped take my mind off all the other negative things that haunted me.

After walking for about 20 minutes, I came along the end of the forest. I was not far from the spot of the bonfire yesterday. I walked about 50 feet in and away from the tree line. I knew that there were patrols in the area, but most were much further within the forest, protecting the parameter.

‘This looks like a good place,’ I said to Lela. ‘Let me take my clothes off first.  I like this outfit and we need to have clothes to get back to the house.’ I quickly took off my clothes and allowed Lela to come forward and shifted.

“Damn that feels good!” Lela yelled in my head. She shook out her fur and started running. I have always found Lela’s wolf form to be beautiful. She has deep red fur.  It is the same color red but a shade darker. There is the hint of white along her paws which is a striking contrast to the rest of her red fur.

“Where should we go?” She asked as she continued running.

“Don’t go too far out, maybe just run parallel to the tree line.  I don’t know where they do patrols, and I don’t want to deal with that.” I told her and I could feel her shake in agreement.

She ran and ran and I enjoyed the feeling. She turned around a bend and I heard running water.

“Let’s go to check that out,” I urged her and she veered off to the running water.

Lela ran for only a few more minutes before she was upon the water. A small creek ran through the forest. Lela padded over to the water, walking through the creek before turning around and taking a drink. I enjoyed the feeling of the water on her paws and encourage her to sit along the water. The running water was peaceful.

“Let’s sit for a while.” I told Lela.  She didn’t complain.  I knew that she liked the water as much as I did.

“I am going to go over to those rocks. You know I like sitting in the sun.” She walked over and jumped on to the rocks.

We sat in silence for several minutes, enjoying the last bits of the sun before it completely sets.

Lela perked her ears at a sound coming from about 50 feet away, further up the creek.

Relying on her enhanced hearing, I asked her, “What is it?”.

“I can’t see anything yet.  There appears to be something moving along the creek. Wait! I smell something.”

Just as she spoke, I could see a strikingly beautiful black wolf come into view. The fur was the darkest color black I have ever seen, with just a hint of silver fur along his chest. I had never seen a wolf with such dark colored fur before.

The black wolf looked up, eyeing me closely.

“What should we do?” I asked Lela. Running was not an option. This was clearly a very powerful wolf.

“I don’t recognize him.” Lela peered at him. Wolves can identify each other if they have met in human form first. We hadn’t met many people from this pack, and this wolf wasn’t anyone that we had met before.

Sniffing the air, the black wolf padded over to us. He sat down along the side of the rock we were sitting on. Sitting next to us, I could see the true size the wolf. Sitting on the rock, I felt large, but my size paled in comparison. Sitting on the ground, the black wolf was still taller than me.

Titling his head, the black wolf continued to look at me intently.

“I don’t think he is going to hurt us.” Lela whispered to me.

“Do you see his eyes? They are so blue that they are almost black. I have never seen a color that is that dark but still blue.”

The black wolf appeared to relax.  He opened his mouth slightly and let his tongue hang out to the side.

Lela has a puzzled look on her face, as do I. “I wish I knew who he is.” I look again in his eyes.  Gold and silver specks swirled in his eyes.

The black wolf stood and leaned over the water, taking a drink. He then lied down at the base of the rock.

“Should I lie down?” Lela was puzzled.

“I think so.  I don’t know what else we should do.” She nodded in agreement and laid down on the rock.

We sat like this for what felt like at least an hour. The sun had gone down, making the forest quite dark. I found it peaceful sitting with the black wolf. It was as if I could feel his energy. I have never felt this with another wolf. I could feel the energy in my chest, radiating throughout my entire body.

“What is that feeling? I have never felt that before.” I ask, puzzled. Lela shook her head.  She didn’t know either.

We looked down at the black wolf again. His eyes greyed over slightly and I knew that he is communicating with someone in the pack, which I assume is this pack.

He stood up with a huff and whined slightly. Using his snout, he nudged Lela’s snout with his. Lela rubbed her head along his in response, equivalent to how two people would hug. He seemed reluctant to leave but dropped his head and trotted back the way he came.

“What was that?” I asked Lela, still looking at the direction that the black wolf left.

“Raina, I don’t know what to say. That energy feeling was so….strange. I have never felt that while interacting with any other wolf”. Lela was clearly as confused as I was.

“Let’s head back. It is getting late.” Lela headed off back to where we left our clothes.

After ten minutes, we were back at my clothes. Quickly, we shifted back and I got dressed. We walked back to the house in silence.  Both of us were in silent contemplation about the interaction that we had with the black wolf.

Who was that?

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ALPHA CALLAN POV

I had arrived home from meeting with the neighboring pack slightly earlier than anticipated. An Alpha gets antsy when gone from the pack for too long. Although I had only been gone for four days, I started feeling the need to return to my pack.

“Alpha Callan, good to have you back!” Beta Jack greeted me as I arrived back. “How was your trip?” Beta Jack frowned when he saw the look on my face.

“It was fine, just long. I think I need to go out on a run”. I ran my hands through my hair, feeling slightly on edge.  The Alpha of the neighboring Blue Moon Pack had been seriously injured in a recent attack, and the pack needed some guidance.  While I had no problem helping the pack, I was tired of being away from my pack for so long.

“I set up the meeting with Raina, the new wolf who has been staying with Anne and Francis for the last few months. She will be here tomorrow at 1.” Beta Jack filled me in on some of the events that happened while I was gone. “I will leave you to your run.  Let me know if you need anything.”

I left out of the packhouse and moved to the tree line. I shed my clothes quickly and started running. Rollo howled in approval as we started running quickly, weaving in and out of trees and jumping over rocks. We ran as far as the patrol line, checking in on the patrols before turning back and running back toward to the packhouse.

“Why don’t we go down to the creek? It has been a while since we went there.” I urged Rollo. It wasn’t hard to encourage him to continue running. He loved it and growled in approval, running faster.

As we approached the creek, Rollo pulled up and stopped.

“Do you smell that? Who is that?” He put his nose in the air and sniffed again. Neither of us recognized the smell. It was a pleasant smell and both Rollo and I enjoyed the scent.

Rollo cautiously moved along the creek until he could see her. A beautiful red wolf. I have never seen a red wolf.  As far as I was aware, there were no red wolves left and there hadn’t been any for hundreds of years.  The color was striking. It was truly red, not the auburn color that was often noted for wolves.

Approaching the red wolf, we could feel her energy. Her scent was intoxicating. Both Rollo and I liked being by her, although we could not quite figure out why. I found that I was staring at her and decided to move closer to see how she would respond. She stayed still, so I continued moving closer to her. Is she brave? Scared? We don’t know why she hadn’t left, but we were glad that the red wolf was still there.

I did not want to leave her company, so I decided to sit. The red wolf had been sitting on a rock the entire time. I kept looking at her, feeling peace in her presence. I wish I knew who she was, but she was not part of our pack, as I couldn’t mind-l**k her. Or, if she was, she was blocking the mind-l**k. But I know the wolves of all of my pack and I don’t know her.

In an effort to see how she would respond, I laid down next to her.  Wolves don’t typically sit this closely or lie down next to each other unless they know each other, but her draw was so strong. I don’t know who she was, but I desperately wanted to know.

We sat like this for some time. Her presence was enjoyable. I had never felt like this around another wolf.

I contemplated shifting back to introduce myself to her when Beta Jack mind-linked me.

“Alpha Callan? There was a rogue captured along the northeast side of the pack line. Would you like to question him?” Beta Jack broke the mesmerizing hold that the red wolf had on me.  How long had I been here?

I mind-linked Beta Jack and informed him I would be back shortly.

I stood up in a huff and Rollo whined. 

“I don’t know what this is, but I don’t want to leave.” He complained to me. Rollo nuzzled his snout along the red wolf’s snout. He seemed to have developed an attachment to the red wolf, and I could not blame him.  She was so intriguing.

“I know, but we need to go see what is going on with that rogue.” I replied to Rollo.  Rollo padded away along the creek. We looked back once and could see the red wolf looking at us. 

Who was that?

Rollo ran quickly back to the edge of the forest and we quickly returned to human form. Throwing my clothes back on, I made my quickly back into the pack house.

“Alpha Callan, it is good to have you back.” I am greeted by my lead warrior Justin and his top warrior, Nathan.

“What do we know?” I directed my question to Justin. I kept walking and started heading towards my office.

“As far as we can tell, it was just a random rogue.  We swept the entire area and have not detected any other rogues in the area.” Justin shared the details of what was learned.

“He almost appeared injured, Alpha. However, when we captured him, he still tried to fight. But it was almost as if he could not speak.” Nathan chimed up, providing more details regarding what happened during the actual capture.

“Thank you, Justin. Nathan. Please continue the interrogation. Beta Jack, please stay.  I would like to talk to you.” I waited for Justin and Nathan to leave before turning back to Beta Jack. I gestured for him to take a seat. I poured myself a drink and offer him one.

He looked at me, questioningly. “What is going on?”

Beta Jack and I have been friends since childhood. In addition to being my Beta, he was also my best friend, and knew me better than anyone else.

I sat back down and sighed, taking a drink of my whiskey. “Tell me what you know about red wolves.”

He gave me a puzzled look but then decides to answer my question. “Not much. We all know the stories of the death of the last red wolf years and years ago. The red wolf was known to have some sort of magical power, although it was never clear what that power was.  It is believed that with the death of the last red wolf, all wolf packs became more vulnerable to attacks.”

“And no one has seen a red wolf since then?” Rollo perked up, waiting for Jack’s answer.

“No. Why?” Beta Jack was clearly confused.

“On my run today, I ran along the creek. I came upon a wolf.  I didn’t recognize the scent and I didn’t recognize the wolf’s eyes when I looked into them. The wolf was a red wolf. She was absolutely beautiful. Her scent was intoxicating.  I felt so at peace when I was sitting with her.” I shook my head, realizing that I must sound completely sappy as I talk with Jack.

“We know all wolves in the pack.  Well, everyone but Raina.  I am not sure that anyone has seen her wolf since she arrived in the pack.” Beta Jack stated the obvious, but I knew that the statement was more for his benefit, rather than mine.

“Well, guess we will find out more tomorrow.” I raised my glass to Jack and finished my whiskey. Could my new pack member really be a red wolf?