Talius’ voice rang out.
“Everyone! Welcome to the run. This is a special run exclusively for our pack – no visitors tonight. Tonight, we’re celebrating two special events. Firstly, as you know, Irian has been returned to us unharmed for which I am extremely grateful, and due in large part to Agelius, who put his own needs on hold to ensure Irian’s safe return.”
At this point, Talius turned his intense blue eyes on Agelius, and gave a slow, deliberate nod of his head. A quick glance at my alpha saw him blush at the acknowledgement, as he returned the gesture.
“I think you all knew that, since rumors spread pretty fast around the pack,” Talius chuckled, then continued in a more serious voice. “What you may not have known was that Isca was also under threat, as the kidnapper was Isca’s prior Alpha.”
Gasps rang out around the clearing. Clearly this was not something that Talius had been willing to disclose to the pack until the entire horrible event was over. I was only now beginning to put together the pieces. This was why Talius’ second mate had looked so familiar to me. I had only ever caughtone or two distant glimpses of Zarbius’ mate before he vanished from our pack, mainly because Zarbius kept him in his private dwelling, or under supervision of the betas, and he’d never been allowed to mingle freely with the rest of us omegas.
“And the second reason for tonight’s run…” Talius’ voice cut through my thoughts, “is to welcome Agelius’ new mate to the pack.”
Cheers rang out as the mood turned more jovial. A few heads turned towards us. There were smiles.
It was friendly, but I felt shy with the added attention. I’d spent most of my recent life trying to stay unnoticed and I was uncomfortable being the center of attention.
“…so let’s run!” Talius finished, immediately shifting into a magnificent dark grey wolf. He lifted his majestic muzzle to the fragment of moon hanging in the sky, offering his respect to the Goddess and signaling the start of the run with a long howl. Then he leapt from the trunk, and led the way into the forest, closely followed by the golden-brown and silver wolves of his mates.
The pack surged around us, as those who had already shifted hurried to follow the Alpha. The others hurried to find their canine form, eager to join the throng. A few stragglers hopped around on one leg as they struggled belatedly to pull off their pants and join the run.
Wolves flowed around where Agelius and I stood immobile. I was afraid. I couldn’t help it, but the years in Zarbius’ pack had conditioned me to avoid betas and alphas, and here they were mixing freely with others of the pack, unsupervised.
“Run with me,” Agelius spoke softly. “Together.” His eyes had a strange light in them. “We’ll run like the wolves we are… and we’ll fuck like the wolves we want to be…”
I shivered, my cock twitching with his words. How could I resist that look in his brown eyes, the chocolate swirling with flecks of gold, glinting and promising all manner of delights? How could I refuse anything he was promising?
“O-okay,” I breathed, mesmerized. I shook myself, snapping my tail and rolling my shoulders as I took my alternate form. The combined consciousness of the pack in a run called to me, the blood thrumming in my ears, trepidation turning to anticipation and buzzing through my veins. With barely concealed impatience, I shook myself from snout to tail again, as I waited for Agelius to register that I was ready and shift himself.
Moments later, he led me out of the clearing, only a few stragglers left to follow us. At first he kept an easy pace, but when he saw I was easily keeping up with him, he cranked up the speed and we dashed past the slower members of the pack - the families with pups, the younger members or the very old wolves, until eventually we were racing flat out, noses extended, tails streaming straight out behind us.
On either side of us, wolves raced between the trees, weaving their way between the sturdy trunks, over fallen branches, around clumps of thick underbrush, leaping over old decaying logs or rocky mounds. We wound our way around the mountain, heading steadily upwards, a sea of brown, grey, black and white in constant motion over the forest floor.
The sensations were acute… the cool air rushing across my nostrils, up my snout, stinging my eyes; the tingling of the fine olfactory hairs as the air flowed over my sensitive ears; thedampness of the earth on my pads and the sharp sting of a twig digging into the soft spaces between; the shadows racing past or left behind, combined with the sense of community, of pack… it was intoxicating.
As time drew on, my world narrowed down to the pounding of my heart against my ribcage, the singing of my lifeblood in my ears, the steady drumming of my paws over the forest floor… and the scent of my mate beside me, his hot breaths fanning my face, his alpha scent, raw and wild, stirring something in me that was also wild and new. It was an exhilaration I’d never known.
Above, stars speckled the night sky, a larger one – probably a planet – lingering low above the canopy. As we ventured higher up the mountain, the trees grew sparser, the stars more visible, the wind gusted down more strongly.
Muzzles stretched into the abrupt gusts, delicate hairs around snouts reveling in the tingle of cool mountain air over sensitive fiber. The air was fresh and alive with the scent of eucalyptus and damp earth. The long stalks of untouched summer grass glowed faintly silver in the eerie light, crushed under our paws as we passed.
We had neared the top of the mountain, when up ahead, I saw Talius leap onto a rocky outcrop, his wolf silhouetted against the silvery leaves of the trees behind him. Stretching his head to the sky, he unleashed a powerful howl that resounded and reverberated around the mountainous spaces. Two smaller shapes leapt onto the rock beside him and the three howled together, a song of love and endurance and mate and joy. They sang to the skies, to the night, and to any creature that cared to listen.
Then, before the last echoes of their song had rolled away, the two smaller wolves leapt down and darted away. Talius lifted his proud head to the moon and gave one more cry before following his mates. The three wolves disappeared into the bush to fulfill the call of the wild and do the things than only mates do.
Agelius turned to me. His eyes seemed to say what his wolf could not.Follow me!And he took off.
We raced further up the mountain together, but instead of stopping and heading back at the top, as the others did, we continued on, going further, until we found ourselves overlooking the valley beyond.
For a moment, we paused there: one large black wolf with a smaller, pale grey one at his shoulder. Tongues lolling, ribcages heaving, hot, heavy breaths blowing puffs of condensation into the frigid air as we caught our breath. This was our valley, a tapestry in shades of midnight green.
We picked our way along a rocky stretch where the slope fell away dramatically, then began climbing the next mountain.
When I noticed Agelius had fallen behind, I slowed and turned to search for him, but he was right behind me. A possessive gleam of intent lit his eyes, and I shivered. A trickle of slick slid out of me, scenting the air and dampening the fur of my back legs.
Agelius’ ears pricked up, his inhale harsh as he caught the scent. His nostrils flared, the red mucosae visible.
He seemed to grow larger in front of my eyes, puffing out his chest, standing taller, hair on end. A blast of alpha musk and pheromones hit me. My pulse, which had slowed, quickened. My eyes were drawn to the rod of glistening red flesh protrudingfrom his sheath. My tunnel quivered. I swallowed the saliva that flooded my mouth and nervously licked at my lips.
My eyes flickered up to his. There was nothing threatening there, only hot desire. He remained still, eyes fixated on me, just watching and waiting, but he made no move, And I knew he wouldn’t. At the first sign of me refusing – if I sat down, walked away, shifted back, anything like that – he would turn away.
