Chapter Thirty-Two
June
"You're almost there, kid," Smokey said.
I was stumbling over my own paws trying to stand, my vision was fuzzy, and focusing was hard until the final pop that fully melded me and my wolf together. My breathing was a bit uneven, and I was hyperaware of every lungful of air I took in. My wolf shook out our fur, sniffing the air and memorizing Smokey's scent.
"There, that a girl. Second time was easier, wasn't it?" he asked.
I shook my head, a different sensation from a human head nodding. A little disorienting, but I was adapting quickly.
"Okay, Shotgun." Smokey chuckled. "Let's see you run."
I growled. I shouldn't have told them my old nickname. Smokey patted our back. "Don't like it? Make me eat my words. Run."
We trotted down the path, slowly, our paws feeling the forest floor.
"I said run, girl. Not take a Sunday stroll," Smokey barked.
I'm working on it , I snapped back.
I tried to watch how some of the other wolves walked. Which feet they coordinated, and how they alternated their weight.
"Matt, glad you got your ass out of bed today," Smokey said.
I turned to see who it was he was talking to. Nathan's cousin, the moody teen I'd met the day they all showed up. He was walking into the training fields, arms crossed, and already looking bored.
"Hop onto the track with June here and we can test the new pups together," Smokey said.
Matt frowned. "I shifted last year, I'm not a new pup."
"You're all pups to me," Smokey said. "And that wasn't a suggestion. Get to the track. Now."
Matt rolled his eyes but began stripping to shift. I looked elsewhere and focused on watching the other wolves train and run. Watched how they moved certain muscles, shifted their weight.
"Okay, kids, get to runnin' and show me what you can do."
I turned around to see Matt had already shifted. It was disheartening to see how fast he was, and how much younger too.
My wolf whimpered.
Sad?
I sighed. No, not sad . Frustrated .
But she didn't deserve me being bummed out. I just had to try harder.
Matt made his way to where I stood on the path. Not nearly as big as his cousin, but the same coloring as Nathan. White with some gray in it. We stood shoulder to shoulder and began trotting along.
I was getting the hang of these feet when Matt suddenly took off.
Hey! I snapped.
He can't hear you, girlie . He's not Moonpeak , Smokey said.
A small growl escaped me as I dug my paws a little harder into the dirt track. We started to actually run.
My heart skipped a beat. The running was exciting but scary. I kept flashing back to a track at school. The crowds cheering us on in the big race. My legs pushing harder, and harder, and harder, and then the snap in my leg, and I screamed—
"June!" Smokey snapped. "Are you running or crawling?"
He was right, I was barely moving now. I shook out my head. I wasn't on the track at school, and I wasn't tearing a quad muscle. I was a wolf, and long since healed from my human injuries. It was just . . .
Okay? my wolf asked.
Yeah, I'm okay .
I picked my pace back up. Trotting, running, chasing after Matt. That was all I needed to do, follow Matt around the field. If I could just focus on that, I could do this. Wolves run, that's what they do. So I had to run too.
The sun was high before Smokey stopped us. I wasn't too tired yet, but learning could be mentally exhausting, and I was ready for a break. Unfortunately, Smokey wasn't.
"All right, come on over," he said. I kept my eyes on Smokey's face, not at all distracted that he was still walking around naked even though he hadn't shifted all morning.
I laid down on my stomach in the grass, glad to have the shade. All this fur was warm, but the plus side would probably be the long mountain winters here, where it got cold and snowy.
"June, were you even trying to catch up to Matt?" Smokey asked.
I stayed behind him the whole time , I said.
Smokey snorted a laugh. "You're either the slowest wolf I've seen, or you weren't actually running. Matt wasn't going near his full speed. He was waiting for you to pass him so you two could race properly."
I looked over at Matt, who was sitting in the grass near me. Oops. I laid my head down, embarrassed.
"Never mind, but run next time." Smokey shook his head. "Let's see how your nose is. Come here and smell this bag."
I followed Smokey to a shady spot under a tree, where he held up a sealed bag.
"This shoe belongs to someone in the pack. Find 'em." Smokey dumped the shoe on the ground and crossed his arms, waiting for me.
I looked down at the simple white laced shoe, then back up at Smokey.
"You think I'm joking or something?" he asked. "Go on, get sniffing."
I huffed, but put my head down close enough to get a good scent. I didn't enjoy the process at all, but my wolf seemed to be interested. She quickly took over, having us smell all over it, then the ground around us.
"It was sealed for a reason, kiddo. There's no trail here. Go figure it out," Smokey said. "The shoe stays here if you want to come back for a fresh sniff."
But my wolf shook her head. No, we had this. We turned away from Smokey and happily trotted toward the village.
Dom, I'm going to the village for a test , I thought at the last minute.
Do you want me to follow? he asked.
I'll be okay.
Tell me if you have to stray from the village , he said firmly. I don't want you alone if those rogues are still out there.
I will.
With that out of the way, I was free to smell. And smell we did. The brain of a wolf was a fascinating thing. The way things imprinted to our mind like a picture, based on smell alone. I sat back and let her do most of the work since she seemed to know what she was doing.
Up the slope and to the village, we picked up traces of the smell. My wolf was excited, I was excited. We were doing this, we were doing a normal wolf thing that I wasn't afraid to try.
Up and down the main street, the smell was stronger near the end closer to the pack house, but it strayed down a side road just before we reached Doc's. On the road, we found three houses, with one that stood out the most.
Trotting up to the faded blue door, we sat. What next? Did I shift and go in? I hadn't brought any clothes with me. As far as I knew, it was polite to be dressed inside the village limits. What now?
Smokey, maybe I've found the house the smell is coming from? I said. But the door isn't open, and I don't have clothes.
I didn't ask you to find a house, I asked you to find the person that shoe belongs to , Smokey said.
Do I have to go in naked? I asked.
I don't know, New Bite. Do you? Smokey asked, amused.
I could go back to my house and get something, or maybe they would let me in as a wolf? Could I figure out how to knock on the door? Or maybe . . .
No.
I turned my attention to my wolf. No?
Gone.
I looked back up at the house. She was right, the person we were looking for probably lived here, but that didn't mean they were here right now. And while the scent was the strongest at this house, it wasn't that recent. I didn't know how I could possibly know that. My wolf was probably the one who contributed to that knowledge.
Nose back to the ground, we kept smelling. They had walked in a big circle, then down the road and to the other side of the main street. The person we were searching for had been to a few of these houses, either last night or this morning. They weren't here now, though, and we kept going.
Suddenly, my wolf perked up our head.
Scent!
And we took off. Stopping occasionally to smell the ground or the air, we wandered up the main street to the pack house. This person had walked around the side of the building and into a side entrance. These smelled fresh!
The kitchen door was partially open, and I stuck my head inside.
"There you are! You found me." Alice chuckled. She was stirring a pot on the stove, but when I came in she wiped her hands on her apron and walked over.
"Here, dear. You can shift, I have a dress for you." Alice walked to the coat rack and took down a large, simple dress that would fit most females well enough. At least it would cover me.
"Splendid job, June." Alice patted my arm. "I've already told Smokey."
"I got stuck at your house first, I think." I smiled. "This smelling thing isn't so bad. It seems useful."
"And it is." Alice nodded. "Your nose is the first alert to danger. It can help you find food, or avoid trouble. Take good care of it."
"I'll try," I promised, not quite sure how you took care of a nose.
"I've got lunch for you, that Smokey would keep a pup running around for days before he let them eat," Alice said.
That perked me up.
Alice laughed. "Now, why do you think I had a dress ready? I'm feeding you before you go. I've got to be here cooking, anyway, what's one more mouth?"
"Thank you," I said, and followed her to the kitchen counter.
"Ah, here we are. It's not much, but I hope you like a good ham and cheese biscuit. Still hot." Alice handed me a warm cloth napkin with a delicious scent inside. "Oh, and I made too many toutons last night. Take a few with you, that Dominic of yours had a soft spot for them when he was a pup."
My face lit up. "You knew Dom as a pup?"
Alice handed me the basket of toutons. They looked pretty much like a kind of doughnut. Hopefully, that would be how they tasted.
"Oh yes, he's a handful that one." Alice stirred her stew. "But so was his dad, bless him. Not as stubborn as Amelia, but closer than I'd have liked."
Sitting on a bar stool at the island, I ate my lunch. "Did you cook for the last alpha too?"
Alice's face fell, and she spoke in a whisper. "I did, but it's best to not speak of that."
Her eyes flicked to the door that would lead to the rest of the pack house. I nodded in agreement. But it made me mad. My wolf too.
Shotgun! Smokey startled me and I almost dropped my lunch. What the hell are you doing up there, dolly dress up? Kitchen tea party?
Lunch , I said. And she wants me to bring you back a touton?
Smokey paused for a moment. I waited with bated breath for his response.
Come back with two .
I managed to scarf my lunch down with no further interruptions. Scooting off my stool, I piled a few of the treats into the napkin and gave Alice a hug, leaving the basket behind.
"Thank you again, Alice," I said. "I need to be getting back."
"Take care, dear." She held the napkin for me as I shifted, then helped me settle it so I could carry the ends in my teeth. "Don't let that Smokey bully you too much."
I could have laughed, but then I would have dropped the dessert. Back to training, back to learning what my wolf could do.
At least this time I had toutons.