by Lou Grimes
No sooner had the doors slammed shut than Louvette walked to her car in more of a run than anything else. She tried to draw the least amount of attention to her getaway.
***
Louvette pulled out of the parking lot, heading to the forest as swiftly as possible. There were many places she could go, but her mind deemed one to be a better choice than most.
She was going to the park. An effortless pick because the town was so small. In the case someone such as her mother saw her car, she’d assume she was just stretching her legs after a long day at school. The only ones who would suspect she wasn’t at the park for some hiking would be Quinn and Arsen. Another reason that the park was the perfect choice was because it was a bit off the beaten path, so they wouldn’t be driving down Main Street and see her.
Louvette locked her door after throwing some extra layers of jacket in the front seat. She naturally ran hot as a wolf, so they were more of a hindrance than a help.
Once she had stretched some, she made her way deeper into the forest. Louvette focused on her surroundings, sensing whatever might be troublesome. Though Arsen seemed to think she was oblivious to the everyday dangers of running alone, she was not. Louvette was on alert after Blaise Campbell.
After finding nothing, she shifted into her wolf. The ease of the changing was becoming second nature to Louvette. She enjoyed the freedom so much, but this time she wouldn’t almost get lost in her wolf’s mind in the same way as last time.
This would be proof she didn’t need a babysitter if she could manage to avoid the loss of control. Her wolf dashed through the forest, opening her lungs up, making each pump of muscles stronger.
The objective of this run became heading up the mountain. She went higher and higher up. The temperature grew brisker and her breath created a larger cloud with each huff. The land became more elevated and jagged. The trees became thicker until she could no longer see far ahead. The density of the forest was starting to slow her progression.
Her wolf broke through a clearing of trees to find herself on a massive ledge that put the one where she and Arsen had their first date to shame.
Her wolf paused, taking in the sunset’s own personal hues that now painted the sky. A rarity in its truest form. When the next sunset came, it would be vastly different in some way. The red might be less bright tomorrow, or the clouds’ texture might be rougher than this night, but the fleeting nature of the sunset only made it more breathtaking in Louvette’s eyes. The same variability applied to sunrises, too.
The wind howled, echoing around the mountain. Louvette howled back as loudly as she could, challenging the wind. Her ability to reach deeper notes than the wind earned her the winning title.
The wind stilled, backing down from the fight. She soaked up the peacefulness that surrounded her.
Something snarled from a cave that had gone unnoticed in her haste. She had awoken something unintentionally. Two unblinking narrowed brown eyes moved toward her.
A hulking thing continued her way. Once the body was out of the shadows, Louvette saw that it was a massive grizzly bear. There were no human characteristics to the eyes that led her to believe that this thing was anything other than a bear. However, the thought did occur to her that a lone wolf of smaller stature would have trouble fighting a bear. A pack or a much larger wolf like Arsen would have no problem challenging this beast.
She took in her surroundings long enough to see that she had nowhere to go that didn’t involve plummeting to her death. Her ears went back; she tried to control its mind. No matter how hard she tried, her Gift wasn’t working. Either their Gifts didn’t work on animals or she was too worried to focus enough.
The bear took a deliberate step toward her. Her wolf released a growl, showing its displeasure at the movement. The bear snarled back. Its fur shifted as it moved.
The grizzly stood on its back legs as if it wasn’t imposing enough, standing probably eight feet tall. Her wolf narrowed its crystal blue eyes, realizing this wasn’t a terrific sign in any shape or form.
Before Louvette could stop her wolf’s nature, she let out her own snarl. The snarl gave Louvette mental goose bumps. The bear wasn’t something that someone would want to cross alone in a forest, but neither was she exactly. A grim silence followed.
The bear slashed its claws in the air toward her general direction. The strong dislike of being challenged was instilled in all predators, so the bear was not happy to be provoked in the manner that Louvette’s wolf had done. It roared as deeply as any bear possibly could. Its muscles bunched up, preparing to charge.
Before it could, a dusty black wolf bit the flailing bear’s arm. The wolf was almost as small as Louvette’s own. The bear turned its attention to the attacker.
Her wolf snarled, aiming to help the savior. She ran toward the fight now taking place. The black wolf wasn’t fighting. He was dodging the bear’s attack. He was giving Louvette a distraction to escape.
Louvette’s human mind crushed her wolf’s will to take the reins on this runaway carriage. She made it past, but stopped just short of the trees when she saw that the other wolf was now trapped.
The bear was on its hind feet again. Louvette charged the bear from the back side. The black wolf started barking to keep the bear distracted. She threw everything she had into its ankles. However, before she could move, the black wolf jumped in front of the opposing side that Louvette was going for. The bear hit the ground rolling.
Rolling right off the cliff, the bear made deep scratches as it toppled. The two wolves didn’t do anything for a second. Louvette glanced at the black wolf, then walked to the edge of the cliff.
As soon as she reached the edge, she discovered the bear was still alive. It was now crawling down the mountain away from them. If the bear had been a wolf, its tail would have been between its legs.
Louvette was happy that they hadn’t killed it. The poor thing was protecting its home and Louvette happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. She more or less turned to putty when animals were involved.
The soft steps of her companion stopping beside her broke her out of her thoughts. For the first time since he had arrived, she took in Quinn Redbears.
He was the smallest of Arsen’s friends as far as wolves went. His wolf’s black fur matched his human hair. She wondered how he had found her and planned to ask. They were nearly the same size.
She flicked her tail angrily like a plotting murder kitty. Louvette started running back to her car after noticing that the sun had disappeared, intending to be home before she wasted any more time. No shock from her when Quinn trailed behind her during the rest of her run.
The second they came to the clearing before the park, she stopped and changed back into human form. The change was the easiest whenever she was either furious or under attack, resembling a magic trick that normally involved making a bunny disappear. However, her human form was the bunny, in this case. One poof and a drop of a cape, and a wolf was in the place of the missing human. Just painless. Quinn did as well. As soon as they were both back as humans, Louvette turned on him.
“How did you find me?” Louvette demanded. He didn’t say anything. After no results, she decided on a more aggressive method of interrogating. There was no way she was going to attempt mind control on him. She didn’t feel like a physical fight either because it wasn’t his fault that he was here. He wasn’t the type to physically fight her anyways or it would cause a rift between him and Arsen.
She locked eyes with him, challenging his wolf similar to her challenging Arsen the day she met him. His green eyes transformed into wolves’ eyes. Eyes burning, Louvette’s own retinas started changing.
Quinn’s Adam’s apple bobbed for a second while he struggled to stay in human form and not attack her. She recognized what he was doing because she was experiencing the same thing. He shifted from side to side for a minute, then stopped.
His eyes flicked down, submitting to her challenge. Louvette couldn’t help the
flood of exhilaration at succeeding.
“Arsen is going to be so mad. This was really only supposed to be in case someone kidnapped you or you lost control,” Quinn said, full of guilt.
“Tell me,” she demanded.
“He put a tracker in your bracelet that he gave you,” Quinn blurted out before he could stop himself. Louvette blinked through tears that were begging to be unleashed. Her hand went to her bracelet. A tsunami of pain nearly washed her control away. She gritted her teeth as hard as she could, remembering that physical pain was a trigger to stop the change. When her teeth didn’t break, she was amazed.
“Promise me that you won’t tell him that I know,” Louvette said.
“He’s my alpha, Louvette. If he asks, I must tell him,” Quinn responded.
“Is he though? He’s only in training at the moment. On top of that, you are going to get in so much trouble for telling me,” Louvette pointed out.
“Yes, I don’t have misconceptions about how much trouble I will be in when he finds out,” Quinn said.
“It will be better for everyone if he isn’t told now. You don’t have to lie. Just don’t mention this and he won’t ask about it, either,” Louvette explained.
“Okay, I won’t say anything unless he asks,” Quinn gave in.
“I’m sorry about being so rude to you, but do you understand why I’m doing this?” Louvette asked.
“I can definitely see what a drag it would be to have someone following your every move,” Quinn conceded.
“Yes, and that’s how things will always be unless I nip this in the bud, now. I need my own life in my own hands,” Louvette added.
“I never thought that Arsen would be the one to put a tracker on his girlfriend or hire me as a babysitter. I thought Ian would, for sure,” Quinn said. Louvette couldn’t help flinching at words that sounded too familiar to her ears. She wondered if Arsen’s mom was running a smear campaign behind her back without her knowledge. The sight of Mrs. Whitecreek handing out homemade cookies at a semi private meeting to bring over people to the “I hate Louvette team” came to mind.
“Am I a bad influence?” Louvette couldn’t stop herself from asking.
“Not at all. Love is the bad influence on us all, no matter who it is. Arsen is currently experiencing that little life lesson now,” Quinn said. Louvette blushed hard. She chose to ignore the love part.
“His heart is in the right place, but he can’t protect me from the real world forever,” Louvette said.
“You’re right, but without you, Arsen would work his life away for the pack. That’s not fair to him. You might be more important than the pack to Arsen, which is a very good thing,” Quinn agreed.
“Thank you. I thought I was the only one that thought his duties were taking over his life,” Louvette replied.
“Thank you for saving me. You didn’t have to come back, but you did,” Quinn said.
“You saved me first. Y’all are my pack. Y’all are the only family I have left besides my mother,” Louvette clarified, slinging her arm around Quinn’s shoulders like she would have a little brother.
***
Louvette was pissed to see Arsen leaning against her car when she left the forest. Her fingers brushed her cuff unconsciously. He had tracked her. There was no doubt in her mind.
The desire to stay infuriated at him lingered in her mind. The desire was magic smoke from a campfire that followed her around as she avoided it. The sole goal it had was to smother life or any happy thoughts that one might think of.
The wind rippled his red plaid flannel button up. He wore a brown leather jacket heavier than his normal leather jacket and some jeans.
As attractive as it was for his shirt to ripple in the wind, her own curls started whipping her in the face. Louvette attempted to free her eyes and face of her hair, but she might as well have tried taming the wind.
While running toward him, Arsen’s lips tilted into a smoldering smirk. Louvette was conscious of everything she was doing at that moment.
“What’s so funny?” she called, thinking he was laughing at her struggle to tame her hair.
“Nothing,” he said, continuing to stare. Once he licked his lips, Louvette lost more self-control.
“What?” she asked.
“I just love your hair,” he said, sighing as he watched the bouncing come to a halt before him.
“Oh, thank you,” she said. The belief that she was being ridiculous took over her mind. Though thrown off guard, Louvette was still steaming on the inside over her present being a tracker.
“How did your run go?” Arsen asked.
“Great, until Quinn had to go and be all heroic to save my tail,” Louvette said. Quinn ducked his head modestly.
“It was more a mutual saving, to be more specific,” Quinn tried to explain, but Louvette cut him off.
“Don’t be modest. He saved me from a grizzly,” Louvette chided.
“Now, aren’t you thankful that he was there?” Arsen replied, satisfied.
“Yeah, but people can’t always be there. I need you to teach me to defend myself. The wolf has amazing instincts. I’ve found that instincts can only get you so far,” Louvette said.
“I know, and I intend to. I just don’t have the time right now. Can you not wait for me to teach you?” Arsen asked.
“No, I can’t,” Louvette said, determined.
“I’d offer to teach you, but I honestly am probably the worst fighter out of them all. I’m a fast runner. She could go to the gym and train beside the other soldiers,” Quinn said.
“Sounds like a stellar idea,” Louvette said.
“No, they will hurt you a lot. They are career soldiers. That’s all they understand,” Arsen said.
“That’s the point. Besides, I’m supposed to get hurt to be a better fighter,” Louvette replied recklessly.
“I care if you’re hurt, Winter,” Arsen said.
“The training is nothing to joke about. The trainers are brutal. I merely suggested it because you don’t have a lot of options,” Quinn added.
“Sign me up,” Louvette persisted.
“This isn’t the boy scouts or some after school sport. Lupines have died in this class. They have gone rogue too,” Arsen explained.
“You are signing up for something that Arsen and Garrett did. This is how they train the Northline Pack’s soldiers,” Quinn clarified.
“Maybe I can handle the training,” Louvette said.
“What if you can’t, Louvette?” Arsen asked, using her actual name to convey the truth in his words. However, Louvette was set on doing this. On the occasion Arsen didn’t cave, she’d go there, regardless. She was aware of the exact location of the gym.
“Two things can happen here. I either fail or I succeed. That makes my odds 50/50. I’ll take that chance because the probability of someone attacking me again is greater than 50/50,” Louvette declared.
After a time of silence, Louvette used her secret weapon, which was a bit unfair, because he would have to see it from her side.
“Anyway, it’s not really your choice, is it?” she asked quietly. The look on his face was satisfying when he understood that she was right. The one option she had and he had to understand that fact. There were no towers to lock her in that could keep her from the actual world. Just being a Lupine alone made this life rough and dangerous.
“You’re right. It’s not. I’ll tell them that you are coming to train,’” Arsen said, relenting.
“You don’t have much choice, Arsen,” Quinn said, siding with her. Louvette sent a grateful glance his way.
Arsen scooped Louvette into a hug. There was something more than affection in his embrace. There was a mix of emotion in that hug. Worry was the most prominent one.
“You act like I’m going to make killing me easy,” Louvette taunted them. She was making light of the current situation to ease Arsen’s worries and reservations.
“Not easy, I’m worried you’re not going to quit when y
ou should,” Arsen explained. He kissed her goodbye before departing. Quinn left, too.
Louvette went home after Arsen, debating his words. He had been right about her not stopping when she set her mind to something. She had to win, both to prove she could fight, and also for her own safety.
Chapter 6
Class was going splendid that day because Louvette was so excited about what after school would bring. She was so distracted that her conversations with Cara had her barely there.
“Cara, Ms. Valley needs you in the office,” the teacher said.
Cara got up, sending Louvette a peek before she left. Louvette was a little sad when her friend was called out. She spent the rest of class pondering on what the training might be like. She certainly couldn’t imagine the training would be worse than facing a rogue.
They were supposed to be hard to kill and Louvette had done it. She had done it alone. However, Arsen and Quinn had both warned her so much. There was really no imagining what was coming. Much of how this training would go would depend on the teacher. Would he be teaching her through chores, have her running up a mountain, or would he break her down only to build her back up? Her mind created scenario after scenario. Some were so far fetched even Louvette was skeptical any of them would actually happen.
Lunch started and Cara still had not reappeared. Standing in the lunch line, Louvette had resigned herself to the fact she was going to eat alone today. That was okay with her because she could daydream uninterrupted.
While she was waiting, someone got right up behind her. So close the small tendrils of hair that were hanging down the sides of her face moved. She wrinkled her nose at the breath on her neck that didn’t belong to Arsen. There was no cedar-smelling guy behind her. Her wolf always seemed to know when he was around. She stepped forward, brushing it off as something accidental that had put them in her personal space. She felt the person step again as well. That was when she perceived this person was invading her space on purpose.
