Shots Fired

  The rain’s fall had become heavier by the time school let out. My pack was the first through the doors, running through the street contently. I followed them, smiling at their uncontained excitement. I was a few yards behind when I saw them disappear into the tree line. I glanced behind me to make sure no one had noticed us, before stepping into the forest. When I was far enough in, I dropped my backpack and shifted.

  The feeling of shifting is a hard to describe. At first it’s painful, with all your bones transitioning to take a new form. It’s not an overwhelming pain, unless done repeatedly in a day. There is a magical aspect in changing form though, one that allows us to appear wearing clothes when we shift back to human form. I appreciate this aspect the most.

  The rain soaked my fur as I ran. There was nothing that compared to the feeling of my paws hitting the ground at an unhuman speed. I dashed through the trees and bushes, letting the scents of the forest overwhelm me. I had been waiting hours for this moment. I stopped when I reached the meadow our pack used to practice in. My friends were already there, tussling with each other in the mud. Fyn whined when he saw me, before taking a step towards me and growling. I accepted his challenge, lunging at him and rolling in the grass locked in friendly battle. It ended with me on top and him squirming beneath me. I let him up, returning my attention to the surrounding trees. I raised my snout into the air and let out a throaty howl. The others responded with their own howls, before following me deeper into the woods.

  Even the rain couldn’t mask the scents of the forest animals from us. I sniffed the air, tracking a familiar scent. My instincts kicked in, letting me enjoy the hunt. I could see the others nearby, keeping pace with me at a distance. They had caught the scent too and were waiting for me to give the sign. I lightened my step as the scent became stronger. I lowered my body to hide in the brush when a flash of movement halted me. Just ahead were three deer, grazing obliviously on plants. I saw their ears flick, though they didn’t look up. They’d heard something, but it wasn’t enough to consume their attention. I slank closer.

  On either side of me, my pack flicked their ears as another sound caught our attention. It was distant, but distinct. The footsteps were light, but messy, just as a human would walk. I lowered my body entirely to the earth, abandoning the kill. The footsteps were coming from ahead, coming straight towards us. They stopped and I turned my ears, straining to hear. A few seconds passed, but even the deer were on edge. Their heads finally raised, turning to look around them. I heard Mel let out a barely audible whine, noising her frustration for our hesitation. I let out a small growl, trying to warn her to be still. The deer noticed this and stood very still as they stared in my direction. I knew they couldn’t see me, but one more sound and they’d start running.

  A booming sound erupted through the air and I felt a pain shoot up my left shoulder. I whined in pain but forced myself to quiet when I saw one of the deer drop. The other two took off and four more shots were fired, none of which were successful. I had been hit by a stray bullet, only skimming my shoulder. The deer hadn’t been as lucky. The smell of it’s blood triggered my adrenaline, while the smell of my own blood made me wary.

  Fyn was at my side in an instant, being the closest to me. I gave a low growl to warn the others to move back. I watched as the two hunters emerged to claim their kill. They cheered and congratulated each other as they examined the deer. In my fury, I wanted nothing more than to kill them both. Not only had they disturbed my hunt, but they’d shot me. Though it wasn’t intentional, my wolf was screaming inside. I watched for another second before backing up and turning around. I limped away from the scene, letting it go.

  We had come across hunters plenty of times before, and the procedure was simple. Don’t expose yourself to the humans, don’t put yourself in danger. I had done one of those things but being in line with the shot had been unlucky. Fyn whined and licked my wound, causing me to wince away from him. While he was trying to help, I was already angry. I snapped at him and growled. He complied by backing down and catching up to meet the others. When we reached the meadow again, we shifted back into human form.

  “Let me see.” Mel grabbed my arm.

  Pain shot up my body and I gritted my teeth. “I got skimmed. I’m fine.”

  “That was too close.” Ash put his hands on his head. “I thought the humans weren’t allowed to hunt in this part of the forest.”

  “They’re not.” I sighed. “But when have you ever known a human to listen?”

  “Chano isn’t going to be happy about this, Natalia. We should have done something.” Fyn clenched his fists.

  “And risk police crawling all over our territory? My father will understand. It’s nothing but a flesh wound. I’m fine and we’re safe. That’s how it needs to stay.” I crossed my arms, ignoring the pain.

  Ash sighed. “Fine. Let’s go home.”

  The walk home was longer in human form, but I was not going to risk shifting again. The humans were dangerously close to our packs cabin. I kept my arm still as possible, though it helped very little with the pain. It had numbed, but now my arm was sore. I eyed the wound. It was as I’d thought, just a flesh wound. I had a small chunk of my skin skimmed off, but it wasn’t anything that wouldn’t heal. I was still bleeding but not horribly fast.

  The rain had ceased and the sun was starting to shine through the clouds when we came upon the cabin. Jace and I exchanged looks when the scent reached us. Cedric’s stench instinctively made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. When it was followed by Byron’s, I calmed. As if on cue, my father swung the door open and walked out with the two. He was smiling until his eyes fell on me. Byron ran down the steps with a panicked expression on his face.

  “What the hell happened?” the worry in his voice made my heart skip a beat.

  “Hunters.” I met his eyes. “I’m fine.”

  “They saw you?” Cedric’s accusing tone ignited my irritation.

  “No. We were hunting the same prey and I got caught with a stray bullet. They had no idea we were there.” I cleared my throat.

  “Come on, Lia.” Fyn pressed his hand gently on my back to lead me up the stairs. “We’re going to patch you up.”

  As we walked past Cedric, I saw Fyn shoot him a look. In the midst of the excitement, I’d forgotten my father had a meeting with him. All at once I remembered the rogue wolves. I stopped in the doorway and turned to face them.

  “Have there been any more sightings?” I addressed Cedric.

  He gave his son a look before turning back to me. “It’s none of your concern. I’m sorry my son brought you into it.”

  I creased my eyebrows. “It is my concern if it involves my pack.”

  He raised his chin higher. “Last I checked, this was Chano’s pack.”

  “Go inside, Natalia.” My father met my eyes.

  “All do respect, I have a right to know if we’re in danger. The last time rogues entered our territory, my mother was a victim.”

  Cedric rolled his jaw and took a step closer to me. “You are dangerously close to insubordination, Natalia. I’d suggest doing as your father says and staying the fuck out of it. When it concerns you, you’ll know.”

  I held his gaze for a long, tense moment before Fyn cleared his throat and pulled me through the door. A second after, Byron joined us in the living room followed by my friends. I sat on the couch while Mel left to get her mother, our healer. Ash paced across the room anxiously. The others found their seats in silence.

  “You should know better than to question an Alpha, Lia.” Ky sighed. “So much for easing the tension.”

  “He’s in our territory, in my house, talking to my father. If he has a problem he can take it up with me. He has no authority on this land.”

  “Neither do you.” Fyn gave me a wary look. “You’re not an Alpha yet.”

  “No, she’s right.” Byron gave me a small smile. “He was being an ass. I’m sorry, Natalia. I think the sighting scared him more than he wants to admit and he’s projecting it on all of us.”

  “It’s fine.” I looked away from him. “I would just like to know if we need to take precautions.”

  “You don’t need his confirmation to do that.” Byron came to sit beside me. “Keep an eye out, maybe you guys can patrol the territory, and don’t get yourself shot again.”

  I smiled. “No promises.”

  He smiled back, holding my gaze. His eyes seemed to brighten for a moment, but Mel returning with Zara distracted me from him. Zara gasped and hurried to my side. She went to work stitching the wound as I winced and tried to hold still. My pack headed to their rooms, leaving me alone with Zara and Byron. Zara commented on my luck and made me laugh a few times. I could see she was just as concerned about the hunters as I was. She informed me that we had food in the fridge, since our hunt was a bust. I listened, but part of my mind was consumed by thoughts of the rogues. What Byron said was true, I could put together patrols without permission. I expected my father to be more alarmed; I didn’t see how he couldn’t understand my personal debt with rogues. He of all people knew how dangerous they were. I snapped back to reality when Cedric peeked his head in to call his son. Byron stood and said his goodbyes, but just before he slipped out the door he turned to me.

  “We can go out another night, you should rest for now.” he gave me a warm smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Natalia.”

  When he left, my wolf let out a disappointed sigh. I winced again as Zara stitched a particularly sensitive nerve. She apologized and continued with more caution.

  “He seems friendly.” she smiled. “You two seem to be getting along.”

  I nodded. “I’m sensing you want to say something?”

  She paused. “I’ve known you your entire life, Natalia. I know this is all coming up so fast and you’re probably panicking. When you panic, you push people away. He likes you. There’s a one in a million chance of that happening with arranged mates before their betrothal. I want you to give him a chance to prove himself, before you decide to push him away.”

  I hesitated before returning a smile. “Okay, Zara.”

  She continued to talk, but I was only half-listening now. Something she’d said caught me off guard. One in a million chance. I don’t know why, but in that exact moment, Hugo’s face appeared in my mind. I was thrown off by the sudden extension of this term. I was thrown off by the boy who wore a werewolves tooth around his neck. I was even more thrown off by myself, who looked forward to going to school the next day. I had a good feeling about this year, which wasn’t how I’d felt when the day began. Not even being shot could disturb my mood it seemed. I smiled to myself, a new wave of excitement surging through me.