“Thanks.”
She poured another and took an appreciative drink, then gave him a once over. “Doing okay?”
“The only thing I’m not okay with is how often people keep asking me if I’m doing okay.”
She laughed. “All right, I’m done with that now, I promise. I’ve got some guys coming over today to help me finish setting up the new shop. Moving has been annoying, but I get Zach out of the deal, and now that it’s mostly finished, I’m really excited with the new space. You want to come over, or do you have something else in mind?”
He wasn’t feeling antsy with all the social activity, but he figured maybe he should be proactive and go for a run on his ownbeforegetting antsy. “How about I go explore the woods this morning, then come see your place and take you to lunch?”
She smiled. “Good plan. I’ll leave my car here for you, catch a ride into town with Zach.” She raised her hand when he started to object. “It’s easy enough, I promise. I’ll feel better knowing you’re mobile and not feeling trapped.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
She wandered away and he took the mug outside to gauge the day. It was a brisk morning, promising to be cool, not cold, which he appreciated. He’d mostly gotten used to the northern climates, but sometimes he missed baking in the Arizona sun. Might be a bitch with fur, though.
He finished his coffee, took the cup back to the kitchen and loaded it into the dishwasher. It felt weird to just strip naked on their porch, so he walked for a bit until he was comfortably surrounded by trees. He found a good branch to tuck his clothes onto and let the wolf take over.
Things were simpler as the wolf. The pleasure of a beautiful day, the joy of running through the woods, chasing small creatures, knowing his place in the scheme of things when he ran across any other animals. It was all so uncomplicated.
He nosed around for a bit, getting a sense of the area, then took off, running where his nose, his instincts, his nature dictated. After an hour or so, he slowed to a stop and found a nice sunny patch. He stretched his body, then lay in the sun and breathed deeply. It was beautiful country up here, not so different from where he’d spent the last three years. His ear twitched to catch a sound now and again but nothing intruded close enough to concern him and he napped easily, enjoying the morning sun.
After a while he rose, stretched again, and loped back in the direction he’d come. He picked up the trail of three werewolves. Of course, there had been scents all over the woods, but this was recent, so he followed until he caught sight of three naked teenagers walking away from him. Amused, he followed for a minute to see if there was a clue what they were up to, but they just trudged along in the general direction of the pack house.
He edged closer until they realized he was there, stopped and turned to look at him. They kept their heads low. He cocked his head in question and one of them cleared his throat.
“We, uh, ran out to the river a ways back. It’s not the spot most of the pack uses to swim in on a regular run, it’s a farther out, so we could have it to ourselves.” He was practically shuffling his feet but he seemed more embarrassed than anxious so Adam just waited. “So we swam for a while, horsed around, you know, and rested. We, uh, well, we thought we’d be able to turn back to wolf and get home, but turns out we weren’t strong enough, so we’re walking.”
He blinked at that. He understood the idea in theory, but had never felt like he couldn’t turn when he needed to. These boys were young, though, maybe fifteen, and maybe not going to be particularly powerful, even when grown. He gave a soft woof in understanding and walked closer, rubbing along their legs. Touching gave a better connection and he circled back to sit in front of them. Holding the connection strong in his head, he gave a yip and a nod.
Looking hopeful, the boys each concentrated on themselves, and began to turn. He fed them enough power and energy to make it happen, though he was careful not to overwhelm them with too much. It drained him a bit, but soon enough they were all wolves, setting an easy pace back to civilization, much quicker and safer than walking naked and barefoot through the woods.
He let them lead the way but knew they were on point to hit the pack house when he picked up sounds of a couple of wolves heading toward them. It took a few moments before the boys slowed to a stop and waited for the new wolves to approach. Adam hadn’t met any of the pack in wolf form yet, but he was fairly certain the male wolf was Alex, Zach’s second and security guy. He didn’t think he’d met the female wolf. His trio of teenagers gave submission to Alex, who huffed at them then jerked his head back the way they’d come. Two of them headed out, the third rubbing his nose along the female wolf’s muzzle. She nipped at him, but then herded him back toward the house.
Alex turned his attention to Adam, gave a little bow, then turned toward the house. Adam loped up to him, and they ran together after the others. It didn’t take long to get to the house where he saw a woman holding a mini-van door open for the wolves to get into. She waved cheerfully at Alex and him and drove away. Alex led him to a stash of sweats and they changed.
“Thanks, I left my stuff over at Hillary’s.”
“I figured. You find the boys in any trouble?”
“No, just too tired to turn back to wolf. They were headed back, it was just a slower journey until I helped them change back.”
“Ah, that makes sense. Though, why change to human? Testing their strength?”
“Actually, I think they just wanted to go swimming.”
“There’s a part of the river that’s good for swimming, on a day like today there’s usually others there. They should have been able to get help to change. They must have gone to a different part of the river for some privacy.”
“That’s the impression I got.”
They’d walked to the house and Alex led them to an office, coded in at the locked door, and closed it behind him. Adam took a seat on the sofa and accepted the bottle of water Alex offered.
“Thanks.”
“My guess is they didn’t realize that changing back when you’re out with the pack, they’re getting a boost from everyone changing together, especially the stronger ones.”
Adam hadn’t known that either, though he couldn’t say he’d given it much thought. He also didn’t figure this conversation was the reason Alex had led him to the private office. He waited.
“I have a friend out in Los Angeles who’s looking at where she can move on. Her power’s growing and she doesn’t see a place for herself in her pack for much longer. She’s fourth, ex-military, and a security specialist, like I am. I use her for the business sometimes when I need someone out that way on the ground and don’t want to send someone.”
