possibly get a few hours of sleep. Since we had started this hunt for the warlock who openly attacked a child in our pack, I was restless. I couldn’t sleep; I couldn’t think right. I thought for sure it was because I was in a rage over the thought of that warlock hurting one of our own, but it became clear over the last month that it was more than that. Even when I was pissed, I had never stayed this unfocused for so long. I knew Jude noticed it. The twins would never say anything, even if they did. They may have been my friends for years, but I knew they were still a little unnerved by me.
I slowed when I knew I was closer to our camp. I slipped into the camp. The twins sat around the fire. Billy joked loudly, while his brother, Jameson, suppressed a cringe. I knew that while he found his brother’s antics funny, there were times it was even too much for him. Jameson would never said anything though because he protected his brother fiercely, even if that meant from himself. I shook my head at the story Billy was telling yet again. Jude smiled politely but turned his head in my direction. His eyes never left Billy, but I could see his nostrils flare and his head turn in my direction.
I moved in closer, still in my wolf form. I found it more comfortable to be in this form when I was in the woods, on the hunt. The others didn’t seem to mind, and when I transformed into my human form, it was when we were traveling in the day.
Billy continued his story, even though I knew from his own head tilt and his brother’s sideways glance that they knew I had arrived back. None of them acknowledged me outright, and I moved to sit around the fire. The woods serenaded us with its sounds, and I knew my pack mates could feel the energy of the forest burning in them. I didn’t understand how they could resist the call to shift and live in it as the wolves we were.
Billy was the first to slink away into his tent. Jude followed next, but not before he stopped and looked down at me. I knew that look and I refused to acknowledge the questioning hurt in his eyes. I didn’t want what his brother was offering. I wanted this life. I was happy, whether he chose to believe it or not.
“Give them time,” Jameson said, his eyes never leaving the fire. I grunted and laid down. “One day, you might see the world a little differently.”
I didn’t think that was going to happen.
It smelled like sunflowers. I didn’t know why in the world the scent hit me so hard and fast but it was all consuming. It took over, wrapping around me and holding me tight as I ran the next night. I stopped, trying to shake off the scent. Perhaps I got pollen in my nose, but that made no sense. I was surrounded by thick, dense woods. If anything, I should be smelling the oaks and pines that surrounded the Michigan forest. I shouldn’t be unable to shake the scent of sunflowers.
I turned and headed back to the camp. We had moved again, finally making it to another state where the warlock’s scent was leading us. He wasn’t being subtle about his magic and it only furthered to piss me off. I wanted to make sure he understood that he was being hunted, but he was practically flaunting it in my face that he didn’t give two fucks. I growled, thinking about the warlock, but the scent remained. The scent was almost like a balm against the agitation burning under my skin. It wasn’t enough to soothe me completely, but it was enough that it stopped the steady growl that thundered in my chest.
I hadn’t even been gone for twenty minutes before I arrived back to the camp. The others openly turned to stare at me as I padded back into the camp. Jude’s brow furrowed as he started to stand, but I shook my head. I needed out of my wolf form. I couldn’t speak this way. I knew I could communicate through pack bonds, but I avoided doing it if I could. I didn’t like the idea of others in my head, and I loathed the idea of being in theirs.