The run

Saturday morning came around quickly.

Excitement was almost exploding from within me. I hadn’t gone on a run in what felt like forever.

“don’t forget the cheese bites. You know how much I like those cheese bites. While you are busy running around getting some snack and drinks for the picnic in the forest, please remember the cheese bites.”

I smiled at my mom, begging for a little guilty pleasure of some cheese bites.

The doctors had told her it wasn’t any good for her.

That it would only chase her blood pressure even higher than it already was.

But who was i to take away the one little joy she had through so much suffering?

I grabbed the box of cheese bites and put it into the picnic basket.

Since she couldn’t really shift anymore, she wouldn’t be able to go on the run with me.

She hasn’t been able to do so for the last one and a half years.

Our last run together was my first run. An honor that I am happy to have enjoyed just in time.

As I packed up the rest of the picnic goodies.

I couldn’t help but wonder if I might not be lucky enough to come across my mate in the forest.

Maybe the moon goddess makes him need a run as well. Maybe he lives in one pack there.

There were Four different packs in that area and we had to always be very careful as to not cross over any borders.

Because if we got just a little too close for their comfort, they would hunt us down, seeing us as rogues that threaten the safety of their pack.

I close the picnic basket and go to help my mother up from her seat.

I helped her to our car, a blue 2004 Toyota Yaris that was barely holding itself together.

But it did the job that we needed it for.

I helped my mother into the passenger seat, making sure the pillows were where it made her the most comfortable.

Whilst also making her tall enough to see the road.

She was a terrible back seat driver with even worse road rage.

When we arrived in the forest, we parked our car under a tree near the edge.

I left first to set up the picnic.

And soon returned to help her get there.

I sat her down on an old khaki camping chair. that stood above a red and white picnic planket.

“You good mom?” I asked.

She nodded in response and started looking in the basket for what I can only think would be her cheese bites.

“You go on your run and don’t worry about me. aha” she pulls out the cheese bites, kissing the box.

“as long as I have my cheese bites you won’t have to worry about me. Take all the time you need honey”

I nodded and turned to go deeper into the forest.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, letting the scent of nature fill my lungs and refresh my wolf heart.

I shifted. Something that wasn’t painful to me at all. I shifted with ease.

I was grateful for that, as I knew the shifting process could be an extremely ugly and painful experience for many wolves.

It was just another thing that made me grateful for having Althea as my wolf.

I burry my paw into the ground, a feeling I had missed. The concrete floors of the city were hard and unwelcoming.

Whilst the ground here is steadily cooling and yet slipping in between my toes.

A feeling that made me feel closer to nature to my primal side.

A side I didn’t need to hide out here. I look back up at the tall trees desperately reaching up at the heavens.

And I ran.

Dodging trees and leaping over the fallen one. Like miny hurdles, the cool breeze flowing through my fur.

The pine smell filling my nostrils and welcoming me home.

I laid down on the grass, watching my own reflection in the pond.

My wolf truly was something absolutely beautiful.

She was as white as snow, except for the few highlights of purples that sat at the ends.

My eyes were a pattern of whites and purples making a beautiful dreamy pattern that would make anyone look twice.

Then a smell came tugging at my nose.

A smell that wasn’t part of the forest.

A smell that could only belong to wolves.

But how many? I looked around, trying to see any of them. I then saw movement in the corner of my eye. An whipped my head into its direction. 

A huge chocolate brown wolf looking straight at me.

Growling. He was angry. He started trotting over to me, slowly and carefully. Watching my every move.

Suddenly, a bunch of other wolves circled me.

Anxiety rose with in me. Screaming run! “ALINA! RUN!” Althea, my wolf, barked at me, and before I could even think where, my paws pushed off the earth, leading me all on their own.

This was obviously Althea taking some control in order to protect us.

Soon we clawed our way up into the trees, jumping from one tree to the other, trying to cover more ground whilst making it harder for them to catch us.

I could smell that these wolves weren’t rogue.

They were pack members of the Crimson pack, one of the well-known packs that had the strongest warriors.

 Also one of the few packs that were of pure blood from the first family. I was sure that I had stayed off the border lines.

So why were they chasing me?

What could they possibly want from me?

My chest burned at this point from trying to lose them, and I took a slight break.

I was sure I had lost them somehow.

Wolves weren’t the best climbers.

But one had to adapt when you had no pack to protect you.

I shifted into my human form to blend in a bit more with the surroundings.

Since, my white fur wasn’t successful in camouflaging.

I sliced open the tree bark.

Grabbing the sap that leaked from the tree and rubbing it all over myself to as an attempt to hide my scent.

Before I knew it, my back hit the ground with a massive impact, knocking the wind out my lungs. The chocolate brown wolf was now pinning me down to the floor.