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Page 7
Chapter 6
On Tuesday morning I called Brandon, hoping he wasn’t sleeping as I listened to the ringing on the other end of the line. On about the third ring I heard him pickup.
"Hello?" Came his voice over the device.
"Hey Brandon, what are your plans for today?" I asked.
"Not much, just enjoying my time off. I didn't really have any plans."
"I took the week off, do you wanna go do something?"
"How about we go for a Run?" He suggested.
"Um…" I hesitated, running isn't one of my favorite activities, or at least it never has been. "I'm not all that into running Brandon, you know that."
I heard him laugh softly, "I don't mean going running Nick, I mean go for a Run."
"I'm missing the distinction." I said, confused.
"A run is what we call it when we shift forms and run, play, or even hunt in our animal forms."
"Hunt? Why on earth would we want to hunt?" My confusion was swift to become distaste. I don't really mind the concept of hunting for food, but I have a hard time with the skinning and butchering of it.
"For the skill of it, some times for the fun of it. There's a thrill to running down your prey that you just don't have anywhere else. Plus, it's good to know how to do it, should you someday need it for some reason."
"But do you... eat it... raw?" My disgust at the idea was clear in my voice.
"You can, but you don't have to. It isn't as bad as you might think. As a wolf it's just natural."
"If you say so," I said, willing to take him at his word, "I'm okay with going for a run, but can we skip the hunting part?"
"Sure, if that's what you want. You know where the Hot Well Dunes hot tub is?" He asked.
"Of course. What person who went to high school around here doesn't?"
"Let's meet out there. In say? An hour? And don't forget to bring something to eat if you don't want to hunt." He reminded me.
"That works, I'll meet you there." I thought the rural location would be a good place for a pair of wolves to run around in broad daylight without being seen. I stopped by the grocery store on my way out east of town and grabbed several pieces of fruit. As I was headed to the drinks aisle I noticed cans of meal replacement shake on a shelf and grabbed a few, I guessed that between the two, that should be enough for today’s outing.
I made it out to where we’d agreed to meet with ten minutes to spare in the hour Brandon had set. I parked in the small lot before I got out of my car and walked around, looking over the area while I waited for Brandon. As I looked around the place I noticed that few things had changed in the years since I had last been out here. I remembered the parties out here had been a blast. I wondered for a moment if the teenagers still party out here or if they've moved on because the cops have discovered it? But that was mainly a nighttime entertainment and the place was empty in the light of day. I didn't even see the usual evidence of the nocturnal activity, so area probably become known as a party spot and the kids had found somewhere new.
It wasn't long before I spotted the dust that Brandon's car was throwing up and I wandered over toward the cement in-ground hot tub that had been built here before I was born, in an attempt to avoid the worst of the dust Brandon’s car had kicked up as he pulled up. The tub was in good shape for being more than thirty years old; the water was always warm, without being too hot. It was crystal clear from being continuously fed from an artesian spring nearby, and overflowed into a cooler pool downstream, and in the process, cleaning out any debris that might fall into the water.
After Brandon parked and the dust started to settle, I headed back toward both vehicles to speak to him.
"Hey, how're you doing?" he asked, unfolding his body from the small car.
"Pretty good, Bill recommended that I take the week off work, possibly next too. We'll see how long it takes me to get used to my new strengths and skills."
"And how're you doing with that?"
"Pretty well I think, I spent yesterday morning working with Bill on my telepathy, and during the afternoon Karen worked on teaching me shielding. Bill said I just have to practice; I pretty much have the basics down. But I think shielding is going to take more work, it's not as instinctual for me as the telepathy."
"Understandable..." he said, nodding. “I've had a bit of practice with shielding so that I can stay out of people's minds unless I want to. I have a talent kind of like yours, only I don't hear things, I see them. Not thoughts, it's more that I can see through their eyes."
"Oh wow, that sounds more than a little creepy and I'd want to learn how to control that too. That would be about as much fun as hearing random bits of information out of people's heads."
"You hit the nail on the head with that one. You ready to run?"
"Sure, let me get around to the other side of my car to change and then I'll meet you down by the tub when I'm done." I heard him chuckle at my desire for some privacy to shift, but I ignored him.
I walked around to the driver’s side of my car and opened the rear door before I started slipping my sandals off, I pulled off my shorts and tank top, folding them neatly and setting them inside the rear door on the seat. I set my shoes in the floorboard and then locked and closed the door before I bent into position and shifted.
As the skin tingling sensation of shifting subsided I moved and stretched my wolf body. Though I’d shifted once since I discovered what I am, I hadn't been extremely active and now I felt the urge to move and work my muscles. I was also discovering how much stronger my sense of smell was in this form and what a distraction the myriad of scents around me could be. I could smell the sand and the acrid scent of the creosote bushes that grew so well in the area, as well as the gasoline, oil and exhaust scents that surrounded the two cars.
I padded the short distance from the cars to the tub where Brandon was waiting for me and I discovered that the water had a strong mineral scent to it as well, it wasn't an unpleasant odor, just unfamiliar. I moved further downstream and took a drink from the edge of the cool pond before turning back to Brandon.
*Are you ready?* I asked him mentally.
*As ever.* I heard his voice in my head as clearly as if he had spoken out loud.
*Which way are we gonna head?*