Running with Wolves Ch. 15

It took some time, but he finally felt his ears move back into their proper place and the last claw turn back into a nail. Opening his eyes, he was greeted with a smiling Misty propping her chin on her palm while resting against the log. He glared at her, which only made her smile wider and begin laughing once more. And damned if didn't give him butterflies in his stomach.

*

The rest of the day was spent exploring Dominic's new human body and senses. During the first three days of being a werewolf, he had been racked with growing pains. He hadn't noticed it much while as a wolf, but being once again on two legs, it was a remarkable difference. He had been lanky before at 5'11", but now he felt he was closer to 6'7". It was making it difficult to walk and run on two legs, but his new agility was helping to offset the effects of his growth spurt.

Being in his human form as a werewolf for the first time, he equated it to when he had been in the infirmary after Flint's shift. This time, however, Misty showed him how his wolf could help his brain filter out all the unnecessary information. It would take time to be comfortable again, but as he sat listening to the forest around him it was amazing all the things he had never noticed before. The complexity of the song the woodland orchestrated with its dancing branches brought tears to his eyes. He could listen to it for weeks on end and never tire of it.

Then, deep within the whistle of the wind and chattering of the animals, a new sound reached his ears. It was faint, but distinct. There was a wolf fight going on somewhere.

"Misty. Can you here that?" Turning to his right, Dominic watched as Misty pulled out a heavy-duty weatherproof bag from the hollow of a tree. She paused, listening for a moment until the wind brought the sound of the fight to her. She jumped down the short distance and opened the bag, pulling out two pairs of clothing. They were both massive, but better than running around in the nude as they had been all day.

"We need to get back to the Den. Something may have happened." Misty reclosed the bag, nipping her finger and smearing her blood onto the plastic before laying it at the base of the tree. "I don't remember there being any scheduled battles going on for at least a month."

"What else could it be?" Dominic took the offered outfit and slipped on the basketball shorts and tank. The air was nippy, but he wasn't nearly as effected as he would have been while human. Misty had explained it was one of the benefits of being Were.

"Nothing good. If Flint was shifted I would be able to ask him, but he isn't. I can't contact my mom, either."

"Why can't you contact your mom?" Dominic walked with Misty through the trees. He had no idea where they were but she obviously did.

"When I mated with you, I chose to become a part of your pack so as not to start a fight for dominance within my pack. It has been a struggle for my parents to leave you as an Alpha in their territory, but making you a part of my birth pack would have been intolerable to their wolves. This way, the transition can be dealt with by our human sides rather than the wolves."

Dominic became confused. "But I thought I wasn't strong enough to be an Alpha."

"You aren't, at least not now that you are a werewolf." Misty thanked Dominic as he held up a low hanging branch for her. "Every pack has an Alpha, and not just Werewolf packs. Vampires, witches, even the Domestic beings of the world who have no magic driving them; they all call them by other names and they may be set up differently, but in every group there are the leaders and the followers. For the vampires, it is not necessarily the physically strongest who is the leader of their covens. For them, it is the oldest and most respected of their covens who take the seats of their councils and Head of Households. For humans, it is the smartest and most charismatic who find their way to the top. For the witches, whoever can cast the strongest and most complex spells is the one with the most respect of their people, even if they aren't an organized society like the Were. (I didn't know how to phrase this part. Let me know what you think I mean and if you understand where I am coming from I'll leave it as it is.) It may look different, but it is all the same.

"Every group that is gathered together for a common purpose has an Alpha; it is just the way of the world. Even a pack only made up of a few Omegas will end up having an Alpha, but the moment a true Alpha is introduced into the pack, they will always stand down, usually with gratitude. In your case, you took over your pack because, in whatever way, you were more capable than the others to lead them into achieving the group's goals."

"It wasn't exactly like that." Dominic dragged his hand through his hair, grimacing at its slightly oily feel. He had gotten used to having a shower every day. "When I went off on my own, Ben and Jarod wanted to come with me. I was never the boss of them. We decided things together, though they did have a tendency to look to me for the final decision."

Misty nodded. "That's the difference between a pack with a true Alpha and a pack without one. It tends to be more democratic that way." She paused, sliding down the large boulder they had found themselves on top of to the ground below. "What did you mean by that?"

Dominic smirked as he jumped and landed in a roll at the bottom of the wall of stone. He didn't stick the landing quite right, but he liked his newfound agility and strength. In the future he knew he would end up testing it more and more. "Mean by what?"

"You said you "went off on your own". What did you mean by that?"

Stopping, Dominic contemplated telling Misty. It wasn't exactly a secret what he had done, but he still didn't enjoy letting people know.

"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want. I was just curious." The tone Misty had made it clear she really did want to know, but was making a conscious effort not to be bossy and demand him tell her.

Inside his mind, Dominic's wolf urged him to tell her. She was their mate and there should be no secrets between them. "It's not that; I just don't usually tell people cause it's not a part of my past I enjoy reliving, but I guess it's something you should know."

"What did you do?" She didn't sound worried, just curious.

"I ran away from my foster home when I was 16."

Misty's head quirked to the side, her eyebrows pulled slightly together. "What's a "foster home"?"

"You've never heard of a foster home?" She shook her head in the negative. "It's where you go when Child Protective Services takes you from your family or living situation. You are put into the foster system until your parents are deemed fit to take you back or you turn 18. Until then, you stay with other families that volunteer to house you."

"Oh..." She thought it through, seeming to find some understanding in his explanation. "Why were you taken, though? Was your family not strong enough to provide for you?"

"Something like that." It was obvious Misty was still confused and becoming frustrated. Taking a deep breath, Dominic slowly let it out and began revealing himself to her. "I didn't grow up in a very healthy environment. My parents were young when they had me, and definitely shouldn't've had children to begin with. My dad couldn't have cared less about raising a kid. He was too caught up in his drugs and partying, and my mom..."

Misty's voice was quiet. "What about your mom?"

"A mess on the best of days. She had her own problems with drugs, but I know her mental health had never been good.

"On her good days she loved having me as her kid; she took me to parks, and did the good mommy routine to the point of smothering. But as soon as things got tough, even a little, she couldn't handle it and would spiral. When she really couldn't handle her life, that's when things got bad."

Dominic sighed. "I remember one time, she was having one of her bad weeks, and at one point she got into a fight with my dad over me. She wanted him to help raise me, but he didn't want to do it so she decided she couldn't handle it anymore. She told me I was too much trouble and was ruining her life and her marriage.

"She picked me up, put me in my car seat, drove me into the woods nearby, and left me. I was four at the time and used to her episodes, so I sat and waited until she came back. I remember she was so panicked, crying and begging for me to forgive her, telling me she would never do anything like that again. I did, because I loved her. That night she made me spaghetti with hotdogs and let me eat as much ice cream as I wanted. By the next morning, she didn't even remember what had happened."

"That's horrible. How could you have lived like that?" Misty had that look of disbelief and horror people get when they had no idea that kind of lifestyle exists.

Dominic shrugged. "That was normal to me. She left me in all kinds of places. Stores, allys, playgrounds, the woods, her friend's houses. A lot of the time it wasn't even on purpose; she would just forget. I learned fast that as long as I stayed in the same spot she would eventually come find me. My life growing up was a constant roller-coaster of trying to do everything I could to keep my mom level and my dad from freaking out on us."

She scoffed. "That is unbelievable. I can't believe a mother would constantly be abandoning or forgetting her child. How screwed up do you have to be to do that?" Thanking Dominic as he lifted a branch out of her way, they came across a creek and had to use the submersed stones to cross without getting soaked.

Getting to the other side, Dominic continued. "That wasn't even the worst of it. You haven't even heard what she did when she was at her worst.

"While I was growing up, I was sick a lot. Doctors were constantly trying to figure out what was wrong with me, and I was in and out of clinics almost every other month. It wasn't until I was about six that I started to figure out on my own what was happening.

"Since she couldn't or didn't want to handle having a kid, my mom would dose my food with anything that would get me sick and leave me in the care of doctors for a day or three."

Misty gasped, her horror evident. "She made you sick on purpose? How could she do something like that?"

His answer was a shrug. "I told you her mental health was never good to begin with: Having a baby didn't help. She was beyond fragile, depression and mania a constant in her life. To cope, she would either take drugs or needed me gone. Sometimes she did it to protect me from my dad's paranoia episodes, but most of the time it was just so she could stay sane. After a while, I started doing it on my own so that I wasn't a burden on her. One time I took it too far and overdosed accidently. I was 10.

"By that time I had gone to so many doctors so often that they were beginning to suspect something. After the OD they called in a psychiatrist and she got it out of me. They called CPS and by the next morning I was removed from my mom's custody." Dominic felt tears flood his eyes, his guilt rearing its ugly head. "She was heartbroken when they took me. I could hear her screaming down the hall, begging them to let her see me. She ended up having a nervous breakdown and being 51-50ed in the psych ward. After that I was put in foster care while they did their investigation."

"Were you ever allowed back into the custody of your parents?" Misty asked.

Dominic laughed non-humorously. "Are you kidding? The moment they walked into my house and found the pot farm in the basement I was never going to be allowed back to live with them. They were imprisoned for illegal drug possession, intent to distribute, child endangerment, and all kinds of other offenses from stuff I had no idea they were doing. They were going to jail for a long time." The tears finally began to fall then. "The last time I saw my mom was during a visit to the jail. I was allowed to go once a month. Before the guilty verdict, my mom was always happy to see me, convinced my dad would take all the blame as he should, and that the courts would be lenient enough to let her have me back.

"The first visit after she had been sentenced to 25 years, she was so angry. She screamed at me, cursed my existence and blamed me for everything that had gone wrong. She had been happy before I was conceived: no one would have found them out if I hadn't screwed it up. She told me she hated me and that she hoped I would rot in the system just like she was going to. I never went to see her after that."

Without realizing it, they had both stopped walking. Even the forest had become silent, as if mourning Dominic's loss with him. Misty was the one to break the silence.

"I'm sorry."

Feeling embarrassed, Dominic shook off his feelings and wiped his eyes, grunting as he pulled himself together. "You don't need to apologize; there's nothing you could have done." He sniffed a couple times and began walking, trying to leave his feelings behind as he moved forward. "Anyway, that's how I ended up meeting Jarod and Ben. Jarod was another foster kid that I bonded with. He and I were in the same district and bounced around to similar homes. At one point we were both re-homed to the same house at the same time, which is when we met Ben. When I decided I had had enough of the system and that I was going to leave, they told me they wanted to come with. I should have told them to stay, convinced them they were better off there than homeless on the streets, but I was too relieved and selfish. If it hadn't been for me, they would both be safe right now." Of course he was referring to the fact they had been kidnapped by Werewolves.

"It was Destiny that they came with you, Dominic, and that your decisions led to us. I know you are still adjusting, but I promise I will make up for my past mistakes. Whatever it takes, I will make things right between us."

Her confession somehow made Dominic feel better about being with her. He may not be in love with her, despite their connection, but at the rate things were progressing it wasn't such an impossibility anymore.

For the rest of the walk, Dominic avoided talking about himself by asking her questions. She talked about her life in the Den and growing up with her massive extended family. She reminisced about how she used to love chocolate pudding until Cole ruined it for her. She even talked about a few humorous memories she had of sneaking into the kitchen to steal popsicles and getting caught because her mouth would still be green the next morning.

"I can't believe it's been so long since I've done something like that. I've been so busy with my training. Maybe now I'll have a bit more free time since I won't be going through so much training to become Madam Alpha." It was obvious that she was trying to convince herself that she was okay with not becoming the next Madam Alpha like her mom, but Dominic could tell it was killing a piece of her. He tried to distract her as they drew closer to the Den.

"How long has it been since you snuck down to steal a popsicle?" Her answer had him choking on his own spit.

"It's been almost 35 years since I did something like that. Whoa, are you okay?" Misty patted his back as he tried to clear his windpipe. His eyes stung as he tried to get his words out.

"How old ARE you?!"

Misty blushed, her eyes wide. "I'll be 45 this December."

Dominic's eyes widened and he felt his head become light. Every time he thought he was beginning to get a hang of this life, something else was thrown at him from the side. He realized he was staring at her, which was making her ramble.

"I guess to a human that might seem old but for Were it is actually quite young. I mean my father is over 250 years old and my mom is a few years older. They didn't find each other until they were in their 60s which is around the age most Were find their Destines. It's not like I'm really that much older than you, I've heard of humans finding mates with twice as many years between their ages than us so I don't think it's anything you need to be embarrassed about."

"Misty, it's okay. I'm sorry I overreacted. It's no big deal how old you are, it just caught me off guard is all." For the first time, Dominic reached out and initiated contact with Misty, placing his hand on her cheek. "Besides, I kinda have a thing for older women anyway."

The blush he got from her heated his palm and made him laugh. It felt good to do so after such a heavy conversation.

Misty blushed harder and stormed off back into the direction they were headed. He had to jog to catch up with her, his breaths interrupted occasionally by a stray giggle.

All merriment stopped as they finally got into hearing range of the Den. With each step they took it became more and more clear something was off; it wasn't just two wolves fighting, but multiple, with human words being shouted intermittently. Misty began picking up her pace until she was sprinting full speed through the trees. Dominic did his best to follow, but he wasn't skilled enough to keep up and not fall into something.

When he finally caught up to her, he was bursting through a tree line surrounding what he assumed was another training field. It was similar to the one he had been in when the twins had challenged him, but there was one major difference. This circle of dirt had a massive enclosure in the center of it.

The cage was easily 40 feet in all of its dimensions. The bars it was made of were thick poles buried deep into the ground and as thick as Dominic's wrist. The top was covered in a canopy of vines and fake branches so that any aerial surveillance wouldn't be able to spot it. That wouldn't have been hard considering the entire thing was made of silver.

The only thing more impressive than the cage was the creature pacing inside of it. The wolf was large, easily as big as some of the wolves that had been in the warehouse, with a thick muddy brown coat and angry glowing eyes. Its shape wasn't quite right to call it a wolf though. The way his shoulders arched made him look taller, and his hands were just shy of being paws. The amount of hate and bloodlust rolling off the creature made Dominic's wolf bristle and rise to the surface.

Taking his eyes off it went against every nerve in Dominic's body, but he did in order to focus on the fight that had brought them to this location to begin with. On the other side of the monstrosity of a cage where a trail led to the paddock was Orion, Sol, Flint, Kate, and about a half dozen more wolves and people Dominic didn't know. Sol was naked, so he assumed she had just shifted. She was giving order to the snarling wolf in front of her to shift back as well, her tone broaching no argument.

From his right, Misty stood taking the entire situation in. Her breathing was heavy, which could have been from the run or fear, Dominic couldn't tell because all he could scent was the wolf in the cage.

"What is this, Misty?"

It took her a second to answer. "I don't know, but Lark is completely feral right now, on the edge of going rogue. Those wolves over there are his parents and some of the elders. What the fuck is going on?" Keeping her eyes locked on the creature in the cage, Misty began making her way around to the group. Her movements didn't go unnoticed, and Dominic shouted as Lark charged her without warning.

Dominic got to her just as Lark smashed into the bars, pulling Misty behind him and shifting. Without thought he went to attack the male that had threatened his mate, only to make contact with the bars. He backed off immediately, yelping in pain. The metal burned!

"Dominic!" Misty was in front of him in an instant, checking the burns on his muzzle and cheek. "You idiot, he can't get out of that cage. The entire thing is made of titanium and is wrapped in silver. Don't go near it again." She kissed his nose, right next to one of the burns. "Thank you, though. It was sweet of you to protect me."