Thirty Six.

Dylan

We had been sitting around the living room trying to decide where we would go so that I could shift and let Rae out. It had to be somewhere that we could be sure that no one would just happen to come across us.

After a while we decided that out by the coast would be the best option since there haven't been too many patrols out there for the past few weeks and if we needed to hide, we could go up the mountain.

We didn't want to wait for dark to completely fall, so the twins went to go get clothes for themselves and Lecia and I stayed home to get my own stuff ready. Lecia stayed with me and when the boys left she followed me to my room.

Throwing herself on my bed, she watched me get a small bag and some sweats and an oversized shirt. I had never done this before. Packing a bag to go out for a planned run was new and a little scary.

Even though they have all seen me naked, I didn't want to just parade in front of them like that. Lecia was still watching me when I walked over to my bed, folded the things I got, and put them in the bag.

"Are you sure you wanna do this Dylan? You know that you don't have to do anything that you don't want to," she said softly as she reached out her hand and placed it on top of mine.

Gods, I was so glad to have a friend like her. I patted the top of her head with my other hand. "I know, but I really want to try this with you guys. I think we might learn something useful."

The smile she gave me filled me with comfort and I knew that if at any minute I changed my mind, she would be completely okay with it.

By the time we had gotten back to the living room, the twins were back with three backpacks of their own.

It was late afternoon when we left the house and headed to the woods that led to the coastline. I had always loved living out here this far from the pack house.

The old barracks were used mostly as storage now and people who don't live in the area pretty much stay far away from this part of the pack lands.

As we walked through the woods Lecia tried really hard to lighten the mood by telling embarrassing stories of her and the twins from when they were little.

Some of them were too funny. She told me that when the twins were little they used to try to trick everyone into thinking they were the other twin, especially when they were in trouble.

Apparently they had the same shade of hair up until they were around eight or nine and then Cruz's hair started to gradually become a bit darker so they had played numerous tricks on their parents and even Lecia their whole childhood.

Hearing the different stories of all the escapades that they got up to filled me with a mixture of both joy and sadness. I had no childhood stories of childhood pranks and mischief to share with them.

Rae's thoughts were so loud in my head that it was a little hard to focus on everything at once. Lecia's stories, my own feelings, and Rae's excitement were enough to keep me from fretting about what we were on our way to do.

When we were walking through the last part of the forest, I noticed that there were so many different sounds in the woods, but I had a feeling that it was due to the fact that there wasn't going to be a moon tonight.

That was another reason why we had chosen to do this tonight. With no light from the new moon, we would have a lot more privacy tonight then we would on any other night.

Birds and insects are not the only ones who are affected by the moon. Even though we are more advanced than simple animals, our kind are also affected by different phases of the moon.

Some wolves are affected more than others, of course we are all affected by a full moon when we are young and have our first shifts, but some can't even go outside when there is it's a new moon.

Most say that it's more superstition than actual physical or mental affliction, but I've never had the chance to really ask anyone about it, and only read about it in journals and text books.

There was a time when I was younger that I was infatuated with the different phases of the moon and the lunar cycle, but with work and responsibilities I didn't really have much time to focus on it anymore.

The woods looked so different as we walked through them. The smells and sounds of plants and animals that were thrown off their usual routines.

Nights of the new moon were always my favorite because those were usually the days that I could shift and let Rae run free or I could train on the beach. 

Even though I have only lived out here for a few years, I have become as familiar with the land as I could. Since I needed privacy to let Rae out, we had to make sure that we knew all the best hiding places.

When Lecia's stories ended we walked for a while in quiet comfort as I enjoyed just being in their presence. 

When Cruz stopped walking all of a sudden, we all stopped to see if he noticed something out of the ordinary. He ushered us on, and after a few moments he ended up catching right back up to us.

Nico and him were now walking behind Lecia and I when suddenly something felt strange. There was a shift in the the air and the sounds of the forest were going quiet around us.

For a moment, I thought that someone had caught us, maybe one of the patrols or the guard members was out this far and we had missed seeing them first.

When we walked into the large clearing near the coast, Rae seemed to suddenly insist on shifting and her thoughts were so jumbled it was hard for me to understand.

Shock, surprise, fear, and frustration had suddenly replaced all of her excitement and anticipation. The sudden shift in her thoughts and emotions was a little overwhelming and for a second I felt off balance.

As soon as the sudden spot of vertigo vanished I looked around to see my companions all on edge. The twins and Lecia's eyes all had that shiny gleam in them and I knew that they were all trying to silently communicate with each other and figure out what was going on.

I was more confused at who all three of them were talking to. Was there truly someone else here that one of the twins, or maybe even Lecia was linking with?

The sound of something approaching our location came on so suddenly and their approach was coming so quickly that I was worried about us getting caught out here.

Explanations for what we were doing out here were already running through my head. We were just taking an after dinner walk. We wanted to go out on the night of the new moon.

Thank the Gods that they had come upon us while we were still in our human forms and not while we had all already shifted.

Whoever was headed this way had come from the coast, which meant that it had to be one of the patrols. Inwardly, I hoped that it would be Vit or Noel, but I knew that the chances of that were slim to none.

Cruz and Nico looked like they were about to shift and had started to move in front of Lecia and I as if they were taking up defensive or protective positions.

Wait, if they were trying to shield us, did this mean that they already knew that we were going to get in trouble for being out here? Rae, was practically thrashing about in my head and I nearly let the shift take control.

Thank the Gods I didn't, because at that moment right before she pushed completely forward, a giant wolf jumped out of the trees on the opposite side of the clearing.

Anytime I saw another wolf I was always stunned into silence. Every wolf I had seen so far had been amazing in it's own way. Some wolves were much larger then others, but each one had it's own distinguishable features.

This wolf, for example, had hair that seemed to be some what longer than that of the other wolves I've seen. Eyes, ears, tails, coloring, and even scars were just a few of the individualities I've noticed.

This wolfs coloring was hard to fully make out with only the limited lights coming from the darkening sky that held no moon, but it looked like a dark brownish red.

A scent that reminded me of cinnamon and smoke filled my nose and made my chest ache a bit. Not because I didn't like it, but because it felt oddly familiar and I wanted more of it.

Before I realized what I was doing, I had dropped my pack, closed my eyes and had taken a few steps forward inhaling the air greedily. 

Never having smelled anything like this, I wasn't sure why my body and mind were reacting in this way, but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling.

For a moment I felt as if I could almost taste the cinnamon on my tongue. Behind my closed eyes, I was picturing a snow filled forest, warm fire, and large mugs of spiced tea.

Rae was fervently trying to speak to me and even force herself into my mind, but had completely stopped trying to force a shift.

"Dylan, you need to focus," she kept repeating over and over. I had forgotten where I was for a moment, forgotten who I was with, and let the power of the odor evoke all kinds of images in my mind.

If I was being honest, the feelings of pleasure and comfort were what held me in place for a bit longer then they should have. 

A soft touch of my hand pulled me out of my illusion, and back to reality. When I opened my eyes, Lecia was on my right softly grabbing at my hand, and I noticed how far I had gotten from where I dropped my bag. 

Turning slowly, I noticed that even though Lecia had reached out for my hand, she was straining forward to reach for me, almost like she didn't want to get closer to the wolf in front of us.

On my other side there was a large tawny wolf next to Cruz who was visibly straining to keep his shift at bay.

The comfort and soothing feelings that had filled me only seconds ago were now slowly seeping out of me as I took in my friends reactions. 

Looking over at the wolf, I saw that other then it's initial appearance in the clearing, it hadn't made any moved to come closer and stood almost as still as a statue.

Staring back was the only thing I could do until I knew what we were dealing with. I tried to take in as much of the massive wolf as I could with what little light we had.

From this distance I could tell that the wolf was a male because of his height and sheer mass. There was a large oddly shaped scar across the left part of it's chest, but his eyes were the most visible feature.

Dark gold eyes stared at me and images of warm honey danced in my mind. Though the twins seemed ready to pounce, I did not get the impression that this wolf wanted to attack us, but what did I know.

"Who is this," Lecia asked out loud to her brothers, and I knew that she did it so that I was part of the conversation.

"I'm not sure," Cruz answered coldly. "None of us have been able to link with him, which means, that he is not from our pack."

The moment those words registered, I remembered what everyone had said about the intruder that had been coming to our pack. I was about to take a step back when the wolf suddenly bowed it's head and lowed itself to the ground.

We all watched in disbelief. If this wolf was not from our pack, why would it suddenly lower itself into a submissive position.

Even though it was now on the ground, his eyes were still watching me, and I watched right back as it flattened its ears and even lowered its tail to lay by their side. 

Cruz took a step toward me, and Lecia did the same on my other side. They were both close enough that I could feel the heat from their bodies against my arms.

Nico on the other hand prowled in front of where the three of us stood and I heard his soft growling. As he paced back and forth in front of us, I noticed a few differences in their appearance that I found quite interesting.

Nico was large, but no where near as large as the wolf across from us was. I also saw that there was quite a few differences in the shape of their ears, noses, and the length of their hair.

How odd that I would be able to take all of this in while unsure of what was even going on or if we were in danger. 

Rae seemed to be paying even more attention that I was, "look at the size of that scar on his chest, what could have made that," she asked more to herself than to me.

Intrigued by her question I began to picture different kinds of knifes or blades that could have possibly cut him bad enough to scar his body like that.

Cruz nodded softly, and I caught the quick shake in my peripheral vision right before I saw him take a step forward.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in the Blood Mist pack," he asked with a sense of authority I've never seen from him before. As I looked at the dominance in his posture I remembered that he was part of the patrol.

The wolf c*cked their head to the side softly and slowly moved their lips. For a moment I thought he was going to snarl or growl, but it seemed like he was trying to smile.

In that moment the enormous wolf had gone from looking like a ferocious lion to looking like a large dog. I couldn't hold back the little giggle as I imagined the shift in my mind.

When the sound left my throat, all eyes turned to me, and I watched as the wolf's ears went up in response as well. 

Lecia asked quietly, "Dylan, is everything okay?"

I had to think about that for a moment, was everything okay?

Yes, I mean other than the fact that a strange wolf had made it onto our pack lands on the night that we were sneaking to the beach where I was going to show my wolf to not one but three people when I have been expressly forbidden from doing so.

"If they are not from our pack, how can we talk to them," I asked all three of them, but I said it loud enough for the wolf to hear as well. 

Even though I could tell that my friends were obviously worried about the wolf, I didn't feel as though they had any ill intent, towards us at least. Odd, since I was usually frightened by most situations I was unfamiliar how to navigate this whole thing.

Cruz answered cautiously, "the only way for us to talk to them is for them to shift into their human form." As if the wolf had been waiting for permission to speak, they softly barked.

Rae laughed in my head, "I think they want to shift to talk to you."

I agreed with her, but it struck me as odd that she had come to the conclusion that they were here for me and not anyone else. 

"I think they agree with you," I said trying to hide the excitement in my voice. Rae's emotions were really rubbing off on me, and it was getting hard to focus on how I actually felt in this moment.

Lecia spoke and I was surprised, and impressed by her, "if we allow you to shift, will you stay where you are and tell us what it is that brought you here?"

The wolf slowly turned his gaze from me, to her, to our clasped hands, and then back to me. The glow in their eyes brightened and they nodded their massive head.

As slowly as they could, the wolf stood up and then shifted. A small bag had been strapped to their leg that I had not seen earlier, and he immediately reached in and pulled out a pair of shorts that he quickly put on.

The man that stood in front of us was, well, beautiful. He had brilliant pale skin that shone even under the dark sky and his short ruffled hair fell softly against his forehead. 

Even from this far away, I could see his smile and it was so full of joy and warmth that I couldn't help but smile back. 

Cruz looked at me, and then back at the man across from us. "Now tell us who you are and why you are here," he demanded.

The man smirked at him quickly and was about to take a step towards us, but Cruz yelled out to stop him. "No, stay where you are and tell us from there."

"As you wish young one," the man said in a husky voice filled with a sense of snarky laughter. "First, let me tell you that I am not here to hurt you, but I am here for her," he said as he nodded in my direction.

That caught me by surprise and I stilled instantly. My three companions did as well, but they all moved quickly to encircle me as best they could. 

Lecia's grip on my hand tightened and she was about to say something when a familiar voice came from my far right that caught everyone's attention.

Vit walked out of the woods a little to the left of where the strange man stood. "Tristan, are you really here to ruin everything?"