Most people do it at their homes, to the relief of the Bureau. But sometimes, a long run through the deep forest fixes something that a quick shift just can’t.
We step out of our cars naked and lock them behind us. I collect key fobs and place them in the hole we’d dug years ago, and cover it nicely with a fake patch of grass. This isn’t our first rodeo. Matt shifts first.
Beast. That’s the only word you can use to define him. A hundred times more intimidating than he is as a human, with pure black fur.
Slowly, everyone shifts into slightly less intimidating wolves each with a different coat of fur. Bree is white. Camilla is a mix of black, brown, and white. Sloan is grey. Marcus, dark brown and white.
I look down at my coat. Light brown, the color of my hair. When we used to shift as kids, I was so jealous of Matt’s coat. It looked so badass, still does to be honest. But I’ve come to accept my wolf as gorgeous too. It might have helped that at some point, I gained a few inches on him in my wolf form. I don’t know how that works since I’m shorter in my human form.
As if sensing my thoughts, Matt nudges me on the side and growls. I laugh. It comes out as a yip.
Then we’re off. Leaves, branches caressing my fur. The soil on my paws is soft, sometimes prickly. The smell of the forest drowns me, consumes me into the serene beauty stretching for miles. Fresh leaves. Rotten barks. A stream of water far, far away.
Freedom.
My friends are flying around me. My brother is racing with me.
When we’ve tired ourselves out, we stop in a clearing. I take a deep breath. It feels like my first one in ages. We lie on the soil for some time. Everyone in a puppy pile, something that’ll probably be a little weird in our human forms.
Occasional happy sighs, leaves floating in the breeze, the river stream, and insects are the only sounds. All my fears, urgency, and overwhelm drain out.
After what feels like hours and only a few minutes, all at once, Marcus stands. We follow his lead and take another lap of our usual running ground that rarely gets visits from the forest rangers.
I’m floating in the wind, Sloan and Matt right behind me, when I smell it.
Blood. Human. Fear.
I skid to a halt. Two wolves stop beside me.
Sloan turns her head to the right, and I nod. We walk towards the body slowly, all the relaxed vibes suddenly replaced with dread.
A body lying on the grass. Not on the path we usually follow. I look at the claw marks, now hidden by a mountain lion or some other hungry predator that left its own mark.
I leave the place to look for track marks while Marcus, Cami, and Bree join us.
I shift, and everyone follows.
“Werewolf?” Sloan asks, already knowing the answer.
I nod. “The rain washed away any tracks. They could have driven here, which seems unlikely.” I look around the treacherous path and the heavy vegetation. “But not impossible.”
“Or they could have carried him in wolf form,” Matt suggests.
“We should head back and report it to Meena. The sooner the better,” Cami says.
We nod and shift back.
When we give Meena a call, she promises she’ll send a cleaning crew right away and assign the case to one of the Bureau's agents. After promising me she’ll keep me updated,she hangs up.
By the time I get back home, it’s already one. I take a long shower and dive face-first into the bed. At least, this time, I can do it without feeling embarrassed and cursing the passage of time for affecting my ability to stay up past sundown.
I’ve never been more glad that field agents like us are only assigned cases that require significant legwork and access to human resources.
Because there’s no way in hell I can fit another murder board in my office.
***
“So, a date with a man, huh?” Serena quirks her eyebrow as we navigate through the downtown streets at the worst possible time of the day.
