Way of the Wolf: LIBERTY (The Wulvers Bk4)

Chapter 4 ~ Superstitions

(Unedited)

Chapter 4: Superstitions

Wind ruffled my fur, the ground rushing past to the pounding of paws. I was panting hard, my chest beginning to burn with exertion but I pushed myself on. The landscape wasn't anything like the hills and glens I was used to, but it was beautiful in its own way. The land was flatter and the sun seemed to shine more clearly with not a cloud of white to be seen in a sea of blue sky.

My drifted back to shaggy grey wolf that was Lucas and I lengthened my stride when I noticed he'd put a few more paces between us. I refused to lag behind as he set our pace: strong and fast. Paula was grunting and straining to keep up. She couldn't hide her exhaustion, whining and nipping at Lucas' tail in an effort to get him to slow down. But he didn't, and he wouldn't. Lucas was future Alpha to his pack and Paula would run until he stopped.

I felt bad for her. She liked Lucas, I'd noticed that when she'd held herself tall in her fur before we'd set off, moving in the purposeful way a female does to attract the eyes of a male. Lucas had watched her with interest that disappeared when he began to lead the way.

My muses began to burn and I shook my head of thoughts to focus on putting one paw rhythmically in front of the other. Paula's pace faltered slightly and I bumped my bigger body against hers, urging her to keep going. Though Lucas wasn't showing any weakness or sign of tiring, he'd been scenting the air for a while now. Hopefully he was looking for a safe place for us to stay the night. Part of me was annoyed I so willingly followed his lead like a pack wolf but I kept in mind that I was on his father's land, a land I didn't know. Letting Lucas take the lead was the smart thing to do.

Trees began to grew fewer and the smell of farmland stronger. The sudden blare of a car horn had my ears twitching to the left. I could make out houses in the distance and the rumble of car engine slowly disappearing. So this had been what Lucas had been searching for, not a place to rest after all. I was grateful at least that the town we were approaching slowed our pace, allowing me to catch my breath. The scent of cooking chicken filtered towards me and my stomach growled angrily. Lucas swung his head towards me, amusement in his wulven eyes.

I huffed, letting my tongue loll out as we crept closer to the verge and the pothole filled road before us. The town was small, with ancient looking, red brick buildings and storm shutter painted in a rainbow of colours.

Muscles rolled, ready to slip through this place as quickly and quietly as possible. It was a surprise when Lucas and Paula simply started walking across the road in plain view of any humans milling about. I scrambled to catch up with them when my senses had returned. Expecting us to make a dart for the forest I could just make out in the distance, the pair instead kept up their calm lope.

The flutter of curtains drew my gaze to a cottage and a small face appeared. I watched as the young boy yelled something that had a couple coming to the window too. The older woman made a strange movement with her hands that the man next to her repeated before quicky tearing the young boy from view and snapping the curtains shut. I pondered on their reaction for a while, confused by what the odd hand signal meant but before I could dwell too much on it, Lucas barked and we were running again.

It was easy to get lost in the baser thoughts of my wolf and I let my nature take over. It helped distract me from the way my body protested at being made to run again.

These great forests reminded me of home a little more. The ground was thick with green foliage, birds tweeting loudly in branches.

Our run slowed to a trot under the shade of great oak trees and I was grateful to finally have the glare of the hot sun off my back. The rush of water that had been quiet at first grew louder and it was only then I realised how dry my mouth was, how tired and hungry I was.