Running with the Pack - 2. Chapter 2

The wolf had gone out on his own, needing time away from the rest of the pack for a run through the forest. It was not that he did not like being around the others; he did, and many of the younger wolves looked up to him as a leader. One or two of his counterparts in their group on the other hand he could definitely use time away from. He would attend to his duties with his pack, but for now, he needed time to himself, time to relax and fully enjoy these mountains. Following various game trails with no direction or destination in mind, he let different scents on the breeze guide him. He was running for the sheer pleasure of the run. The scent of a human nearby caught his attention. It was obviously a younger male, but there was something different about this one he could not figure out. The scent filled his senses with a longing and a need to follow him.

Cautiously he tracked this person and eventually caught sight of him. He tried to stay out of sight so not to scare the human. The wolf was surprised to find it looked to be so young; at first guess, he figured maybe fifteen or sixteen. He appeared to be in good shape and had a shaggy head of blond hair, though the wolf thought he seemed a little thin. He followed the human pup from a good distance back to where it was camping. It did not take long to realize the boy was all alone. There was a look of loneliness in his eyes as he picked up some tattered papers and seemed to be reading something. Occasionally, the teen would look up at the sky as though he were wishing to see something. After observing him for a while, the wolf quietly ran off to rejoin his pack mates. He could not get the scent of the human off his mind though. He knew he would go return to see this young pup again. Once back with his pack mates, the wolf returned to his human form and dressed before relaxing for an evening around the campfire.

Over the next several days, the wolf would go between spending time with his pack mates and tracking the young human he had seen. He could not quite figure out why he kept seeking out this stranger. The animal side of his mind told him he should know, but was seemed to enjoy not giving the more human half all the information to put the puzzle together. Somewhat frustrated, he set out to see what the boy was up to. It did not take him long to find where the teen was hiking. He was surprised to find him doing so in the nude. Briefly thinking about it, he could not blame the human as it was a nice day and was a great way to work on a full tan. He had to laugh when the blond stopped to pleasure himself while thinking he was all alone. After it had finished and licked away the results, he followed the boy from a distance back to the human pup’s campsite.

He watched from the brush as the boy washed up in the stream before lying out in the sun to dry. With his attention on the human, the normally stealthy wolf accidentally stepped on a twig causing the teen to look in his direction. Even though he could not be seen, it appeared the blond was looking into the brush for him. The boy moved into the shade and sat with his back against a large tree. The large wolf watched as the human pup become aroused and almost as if he were putting a show on for someone, began to again take care of his hardness by hand. Once finished, the wolf tried to make his escape but the boy saw just enough to figure out what had watched him. As he was running off, he was able to hear the boy exclaim, “I just jacked off for a fucking wolf.” The scent the teen gave off during his arousal, as well as his semen, filled the canine’s nose and was forever imprinted in his mind.

By about the third day the wolf wanted to get a little closer to this young human he found so intriguing. After following the boy again back to his campsite, he sat near the edge of the clearing the teen was using. The wolf watched as the boy washed up and got a drink from the stream, then sat in the shade of a large tree. Although he did not want to scare him, the human pup’s eyes grew big when he noticed the large black wolf sitting nearby. He could smell the fear coming from the boy and also see him starting to shake. Trying to set the teen at ease, he laid down and watched the young eyes staring back at him. He would occasionally rest his head on his paws acting as if the boy were not even there and closed his eyes to the point the human would think he was sleeping.

He eventually got up, slowly and carefully walking towards the frightened man pup. When he reached the boy’s side, he sniffed him a few times, truly loving the scent. The young human shook even more as the scent of fear filled the air. Leaning in slowly, the wolf licked the teen’s cheek before lying down at his side, nuzzling his arm, and working his huge head under the trembling hand. His was ecstatic having the human pup touching him. The animal portion of his mind told him this was their pup to look after and care for. He eventually felt the boy’s fingers start to move, scratching the top of his head, feeling so good just behind his ears. The teen was telling him how beautiful his wolf was. Glancing up, he could see the loneliness he had seen in those blue eyes, at least for the moment, was gone. Sheer awe replaced it as the blue orbs locked on his eyes. Happily the human continued to pet him.

The wolf picked up the scent of his pack mates on the breeze and ran off quickly so perhaps they would not find his new human friend. He went back later to check on the boy and found him sleeping, most likely exhausted as a result of their encounter. Thinking the teen might not manage to catch himself anything for dinner, he took off and easily caught a rabbit, which he brought back to the pup and left near his feet. He returned to visit the boy several times over the next couple of days, following him as the teen went hiking, or sitting next to him as he fished. His pup would start speaking to him like you would to any friend; rattling on about nothing in particular, just talking to fill the time. He loved when the boy would reach over on his own to scratch his ears or rub his belly as he would lie beside him.

He sat with the boy as he fished and watched him catch two nice trout. The teen carefully cleaned them both, prepared one for himself, and fed him the other one. His human friend was feeding him, which made him all kinds of happy he could not understand. The wolf truly enjoyed spending time with this young pup.

After a nice afternoon with the boy, the wolf picked up a scent on a shifting breeze and jumped to his feet looking around while scenting the air. He knew right away who it was that was nearby and it pissed him off knowing he had been followed. Out of all the wolves he was camping with, this was the one he actually disliked. Zeroing in on the intruding wolf, he glared and let loose a low but threatening growl warning the other wolf, “Stay clear of this human.” Looking back to the boy, he again saw fear in its eyes. Giving his pup a quick lick on the cheek, he ran off into the woods.

Running almost full out he could still smell the other wolf a ways ahead of him. Reaching their own campsite he shifted back into human while looking around for the one that intruded on his time with his human. When he agreed to go on the trip, he did not realize Michael would be there as well. They were both the same age, had played the same sports in school but had never become friends, and seemed to rarely be friendly. Aiden believed in doing what was best for the pack and his pack mates while Michael was developing and attitude of entitlement thinking he was better than everyone. Michael expected he would one day become the next Alpha of the pack. The two had fought on more than one occasion always with Aiden coming out the victor. Aiden searched the site for Michael and after finding him chatting with one of the others in their group, walked over, grabbing him by the shirt and dragging him away. “I wanted to talk to you, Michael. Now!”

The two exchanged words with Michael thinking it was all a joke, “It’s just a human, what do you care? We’ll be gone in another day and never see it again.”

Acting like he was trying to make peace with Aiden, Michael went and grabbed two beers from the cold stream, after opening them, he walked back and handed one to Aiden. Aiden accepted the offering in the hopes this issue would be settled peacefully. After drinking about half he knew something was not right. The alcohol would have no effect on him, but his vision grew blurry and he was having a hard time standing. About the time he collapsed, he realized Michael had drugged the beer, most likely with Wolfsbane extract. A few moments later, Aiden blacked out.

When he came to, it was dark out and he realized he had been bound. He cursed his stupidity for accepting anything Michael had touched. The voice of the others carried on the wind as they talked about how someone had found a lone human and thought it would be fun to make it the prey for the full moon hunt. He heard another voice ask if they had seen him and the response was that Aiden was making sure the human did not wander off. While Aiden tried to get himself free, the others shifted into their wolf form, and took off into the night. As the effects of the Wolfsbane wore off his strength returned and he was able to break his bonds, finally freeing himself. He shifted into his wolf form and ran as fast as he could to the boy’s campsite. When he arrived he found the others approaching his pup who had rolled into the fetal position on top of his sleeping bag. Michael was in front of the group, growling with teeth bared and moving in on the human.

Running and jumping over the top of the boy from the opposite direction, Aiden’s fur brushed the young pup’s body as he stood at the side of what was his. He made sure his tail stayed in contact with the boy, hopefully reassuring him a friend was there to protect him.

He took an attack stance between the teen and the rest of the wolves; the group stopped moving as they looked amongst themselves unsure why one of them was putting a stop to their fun. All the wolves except for Michael backed away from the human. Growling louder and baring his teeth, Aiden tried to force Michael to back down. After briefly cowering to Aiden in front of the others, and apparently trying to save face; Michael attacked. The two wolves fought viciously for several minutes. Rolling around, they ended up beside the boy; Michael changed his attack towards the human and sank his teeth into its leg causing the pup to scream in pain. In a fit of rage, Aiden pinned Michael to the ground on his back with his powerful jaws wrapped around the throat, ready to snap it if any move was made to escape. He unceremoniously dragged Michael away from the boy to the sound of pained yelps. It took every ounce of control Aiden’s human side had to prevent his wolf from killing Michael. Michael stopped struggling and assumed the position most wolves consider the most humiliating form of submission, on his back with his legs up going limp.

Aiden released his grip on Michael’s throat and looked over as his young human friend went into convulsions. Everyone shifting back to human form including Aiden who jumped over to the teen’s side. He held the small body as it went limp. “I’m so sorry. It’ll be okay.” Moments later the boy fell unconscious.

******

When Ethan woke, he shot up in a panic and screamed. He quickly realized he was inside a building of some type. He took a little time to examine his surroundings and try to figure out how he had gotten there. It looked to be a log cabin and he was lying on a bed. Light filled the room from an open window on one of the walls, letting a nice breeze fill the room with fresh air, and giving him an escape route if one was needed. He started to move and immediately felt a sharp pain in his leg. When he pulled back the blanket, there was a bandage wrapped around it. He also noticed he was wearing a pair of his shorts. For the life of him, he could not think of how he got there, wherever there was, or remember what happened to his leg. He knew he must have gotten hurt and someone had found him. He suddenly felt embarrassed wondering if he had been found naked or not.

Shortly after he woke, a huge man walked through the door and saw Ethan was sitting up. He was the quintessential mountain man right down to the heavy beard, plaid shirt, and suspenders. Ethan guessed the man saw the fear and panic on his face, as he held up his hands to try and show he wasn’t a threat. “You’re safe here. My name’s Caleb Alexander, and I’m pretty much the doctor around here. I’ve been looking after you since you were brought in.”

He seemed to give Ethan a minute to let that sink in while taking a seat near the bed. “Can you remember what happened?”

Ethan kept staring at him nervously and shook his head.

“Can you tell me your name? Would be nice to have something to call you now that you’re awake.”

He just barely got out, “Ethan,” before his voice cracked and he realized his mouth and throat were dry.

Caleb stood and poured him a glass of water. After Ethan had taken a couple sips, the man retook his seat by the bed. “Well Ethan, do you mind if I take a look at your leg?”

Ethan nodded his approval; Caleb removed the bandage and inspected the wound. When he was done, he wrapped a new bandage on the injured leg.

“It’s looking much better today. After we get a little food in you, we should get you up and walk around a little.” Somehow the smile did not look right on his scruffy face.

There were so many questions Ethan wanted to ask, but was not sure where to start so he went with the obvious one, “How did I get here?”

“Some hikers brought you here after they found you.”

“I guess all my stuff is lost now since I don’t really know where I was.” Sadness filled Ethan’s voice.

Caleb smiled again. “All your things are over in the corner as far as I know. I think they packed up your belongings before bringing you to me.”

Ethan kept trying to figure what questions he should ask next and blurted out, “What happened to my leg?”

“What do you remember or what’s the last thing you remember?”

“I don’t know. Growling I think. A lot of growling.” Recognition spread across Ethan’s face as . “I got bit by a wolf. They were about to attack me and one tried to protect me.”

“Judging by the wound on your leg, you definitely got bit.” He paused for a moment before continuing, “As to the rest, only you know. It’s rare to have a wolf try to protect the prey from the pack so you’re very lucky.”

Ethan told Caleb about ‘his wolf’ and how he had follow him while he was hiking and laid next to him at his campsite. He even mentioned the rabbit the wolf brought him to eat.

“Well, it sounds like you’ve got quite the friend out there.” The man chuckled.

Ethan grew nervous look. “I don’t know how I’m going to pay for you talking care of me. I don’t have any money.”

Caleb stood to leave the room. “The hikers that brought you in took care of that already and the forest service gives me supplies in exchange for service I provide to people like you.”

A short time later, the doctor returned and suggested Ethan get up, and they could walk out to the main room to have lunch. He did not realize until then just how hungry he was. Caleb helped him stand up and he slowly put weight on the injured leg. It hurt, but not as much as when he first woke, so it was not enough he could not walk on it with a little help. It really was not as bad as he thought it would be.

After they had eaten and Caleb cleared away the dishes he turned to his patient. “So, how you feeling? Want to try walking around some more?”

“Yeah. That sounds good and I’m actually feeling better. The leg hurts, but it’s not that bad.” Ethan felt he was trying to act brave.

They walked out to the front porch of the cabin and Ethan looked out over the valley before them. It was a breathtaking view. He did not notice at first, but realized there did not seem to be any electric lights out on the porch or anywhere else around. Everything looked to be old oil or gas lamps. The more he inspected his surroundings, the more he saw how rustic the cabin was.

Caleb could see the question forming in Ethan’s mind and answered before he could ask it, “Nope, there’s no electricity here other than a small solar and battery unit.”

After some of the usual small talk about how Ethan ended up in the mountains and how long Caleb had been living here, Ethan asked, “How long will I need to stay?”

“Depending how you feel, I’d say you should be able to go tomorrow or the day after. The bite is healing pretty quickly and doesn’t really look that bad. It appears to be clean with no infection setting in.”

They had a really good venison stew for dinner. Caleb was a good cook considering he was using a wood stove. When he noticed Ethan starting to doze off, he suggested the boy head off to bed. After a while, he finally fell into a fitful sleep having dreams of being attacked by the wolf pack. Almost at the edge of the dream were images of the wolves turning to people after they had attacked him, and ‘his wolf’ looking down at him with those sorrowful, yet beautiful eyes.

******

The next day, Ethan woke bright and early. He helped Caleb make breakfast. After, the doctor checked the leg again. “It doesn’t look like it needs to be bandaged anymore.”

Caleb had him walk around for a while to exercise the leg and they went a short distance into the woods before returning to the cabin. After another good dinner, Ethan turned in early so he would be rested to leave the next day.

In the morning after breakfast, Ethan gathered up his things and got ready to head out. “Thank you for everything you did for me, Caleb. I still feel like I owe you something for all this.”

He smiled, “Think nothing of it. Just take it easy on that leg and if it starts to hurt or you feel tired, sit down and rest.”

Ethan assured him he would and left the cabin with Caleb watching from the front porch.

When Ethan was out of sight, Caleb picked up a satellite phone and placed a call to an old friend of his. After getting the usual pleasantries out of the way he became rather serious. “He seems like he’s fine considering he was viciously attacked by group of your wolves. If he remembers anything other than being attacked and bitten, he isn’t saying and didn’t give me any reason to think he does.” He listened to the other person before continuing, “There was no reason to keep him here any longer since he appears to be fine now, so I had to let him go. His scent didn’t show any signs of being turned and I couldn’t find any other indications of the change starting in him, but if there is, it is your responsibility! We’ve been friends for a long time, but if you can’t keep those damned pups under control and teach them respect for others, they won’t be welcome around here anymore, territory or not!! From the scent of the bite, your son is the one that attacked him. At least one of the boys came to the defense of this kid and tried to protect him from the others.” Caleb also related what Ethan had told him about one wolf befriending him in the days leading up the attack.

Again, Caleb listened to what the other person on the call had to say then voiced his final opinion on the subject, “It disgusts me that those pups would pick on and attack a defenseless boy like they did, human or not. I know you do a good job teaching your pups respect and never to bite a human. This one received a bite in an attack and it did break the skin on his leg. I just hope that somehow he hasn’t been turned and left on his own to find out at the next full moon. We both know the mortality rate for someone’s first shift like that. I’m guessing that by the next moon there is going to be a lonely new wolf or a dead human.

“I understand why you do these trips for the pups and the one that befriended the boy sounded like he took those lessons to heart; care for and protect others, show leadership and all that. Thankfully, he stopped this from getting much worse. Unfortunately, your son hasn’t learned that same lesson, nor have the others that followed your son to attack the boy. I also understand that the adults that come along camp a ways from the pups and keep an eye on things. Obviously, this time, someone wasn’t watching enough or those boys are good at hiding what they’re getting up to. Because it’s your pack, I won’t send a complaint to that Lycan Council of yours.”

Caleb was quiet while listening to his old friend promise to get to the bottom of what happened and punish those involved. “Goodbye, my friend”.

After turning off the phone, he walked out onto the porch and sniffed the air. Not smelling anything, he undressed and shifted into a good size black bear and took off into the woods for a much needed and relaxing run.