Running with Wolves Ch. 23

Hello everyone! It's good to have another chapter out. Hope it will be worth the wait.

For anyone interested, I am still looking for a second editor. I would be grateful for any type of help, whether it be with grammar, plot, character development, or just poking me every so often to make sure I'm either dead or still writing the chapters.

Shout out to Markrane for being an awesome editor. Let me know what you think in the comments and voting!

*

Life was dark. It wasn't just the fact that it was 7 o'clock in the morning, the cloud cover was thick, and the winter days were starting later and later. The color from the world seemed to dull further every day. Smiles brought pain rather than happiness. Every day was harder and harder to face. Any longer like this, and Augustine wasn't sure how she was going to survive.

"AUGUSTINE! PAY ATTENTION!" A body slammed into her right side, rendering her stunned and sprawled on the ground.

'Then again, Clay's training might just kill me before then.' Augustine's wolf snorted in response as she rose up off the ground, shaking her fur and growling at her sparring partner. The bitch yipped before play bowing in challenge, clearly not intimidated. No one had been for a while now.

Rage caught like a flash fire in Augustine's wolf and she lashed out before her rational mind could stop her. She lunged, sailing through the air straight for the black female, only to be taken out from the other side by another wolf, this time in their hybrid form. She was body slammed back down to the ground, the air whooshing out of her lungs.

The pain tamed the anger and the wolf, both receding into the back of Augustine's mind. She rolled to her knees, coughing up blood as she crawled to the side of the training field away from their three-on-three training session. She sat at the base of a tree, watching as Clay frustratedly motioned for another to take her place. The six persisted with their exercises while the rest stood watching, pointedly ignoring what had just happened.

Clay continued to shout instructions and pointers until all six were seamlessly working together to attack and counter attack each other. There was a certain beauty to it, watching them lung and fall and roll and jump, moving in and out of practiced maneuvers and patterns. Augustine had always thought of these practices as playing games of chess against themselves; knowing exactly what your moves were and trying to outdo yourself. She loved it; she used to be the best at it. But now she could barely focus on the maneuvers because she was in a constant struggle with her wolf. She needed to get control...

Footsteps alerted her to someone approaching. Her wolf responded aggressively, whipping around and baring her teeth up at Clay. He rocked back on his heels, his eyes glowing in challenge. Augustine immediately backed down. She could feel her cheeks blushing red with embarrassment.

Once she dropped her eyes submissively, Clay proceeded forward. His arms were crossed, his thumb thumping as he thought over what it was he had come to say. "This is the third time you have been unable to finish the exercises this week, Augustine. You told me you were getting this under control, but so far you have yet to regain dominance over your wolf. You have not been able to take on your hybrid form for two months."

"Clay..."

"Maybe you should take some time for yourself, and when you get back we can... reevaluate your training regimen. Maybe it would be more productive to put you in a Patrol more your speed until you are able to keep up with us again."

A cold sweat broke out all over Augustine's body. "Oh."

Clay gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "I know you have been under a great amount of strain recently. Just give it a little time. Until then you can keep up with your basic training with one of the other Patrols." He was trying to say it nicely, but his message was loud and clear. He and the others did not want her to be a part of their Patrol. She turned her eyes to either side, seeing that the other members were still doing their best to ignore her. They had all talked about it, decided that she no longer had what it took to be one of them. She had known their decision to let someone so young into their ranks had been a controversial one, but...

"I understand. Thank you for indulging me for so long. I'm sure there are others who would be better suited to take this place." Augustine's shame pushed past the breaking point. Rising up, she wandered over to her clothes, tugging on her pants and hoodie before leaving to go back to the Den with a brisk pace.

"Augustine." She didn't respond, only kept walking away. "Augustine, that isn't...!" Clay continued to shout for her to come back but she refused. She wanted to go home, curl up in bed, and not move.

The path around the Den was quiet, save one or two grounds keepers and another Patrol on their own training run. They all pretty much avoided her, finding their tasks engrossing enough that they never looked in her direction. She felt her wolf rise aggressively to their lack of notice, but she pushed the beast back, hurrying along the path until she came across the correct entrance door.

She was about to enter when the wind shifted, the cold air bringing with it a scent she could not pull away from. Before she could stop herself, Augustine was darting through the trees, tracking down her greatest desire and root of all her pain.

A few dozen yards from the Den, Ben was standing along the path, using a clearing to teach what looked to be the bird they had rescued months ago. It was a lovely raptor, with slate blue wings and a rusty orange belly, and sharp talons that were hooked tightly into the leather of Ben's glove. Augustine hid quietly behind a nearby tree, watching the two of them interact.

"Look, man, if you don't go get it you just won't eat." Ben was attempting to reason with the fowl. He kept motioning towards the ground where a dead something was lying. The wind shifted again and she could tell it was either a mouse or vole, a perfect breakfast for one such as him.

"I'm telling you, I'm not going to cave this time. You don't go get it, you starve to death." The bird simply tilted his head and screeched at him, shifting from one foot to another. Ben attempted to dislodge him by bouncing his arm up and down rapidly. It didn't work. Instead of flying to the food, the bird just lost its balance and fluttered awkwardly to the ground. After getting back upright with an indignant ruffling of his feathers, he stood staring expectantly up at Ben with bright black eyes.

"No." Ben crossed his arms, glaring back down at his little friend. "You go get it."

They continued to stare at one another. Ben attempted to motion the bird in the direction of the food, shouting "Go. Goooo! Go, go, go," while shooing the falcon. He just continued to screech up at Ben, hopping around and fluttering about until he became tired of the game. With the intention of landing back on the leather glove on Ben's right arm, the bird launched off the forest floor and flew at him. Unprepared for the sudden assault, Ben's immediate reaction was to panic. He backed away, arms swinging and protecting his face. "Hey! You little fucker, NO! No! Bad bird!"

Watching her mate fend off the falcon was both amusing and infuriating. Watching the little Domestic "attacking" her mate was unacceptable to her wolf. She growled, stepping forward with the intention of wringing the bird's neck, but a deep growl behind her halted her movements. She spun, more surprised than anything, to see Fog at her back. He was one of the other wolves in her Patrol, someone she trusted, which is why her wolf did not feel the need to attack him. Still, the fact he had snuck up so close to her was unsettling to say the least.

"F-Fog. I didn't notice you there."

The Beta lifted one eyebrow, his expression one of distaste. "Then your control has slipped even farther than we originally thought."

The knife that shot through Augustine's heart was sharp and long. It brought tears to her eyes, the pain was so great. They really had gathered together and discussed her ability and qualifications to be in Clay's Patrol. "I'm joining one of the other Patrols. I won't be running with you any longer." He nodded in acceptance.

"Augustine?" She turned back to the clearing, panicked as she realized she had been caught by Ben. She had not intended for him to notice her; she was not yet ready to face him, but now she had no choice. Her wolf was receiving attention from her mate. She would not allow Augustine to run.

"Hey..." They stood staring at one another for a long time, until the falcon on his arm became impatient and began nipping at the glove. It pulled Ben's attention away from her, which she was grateful for. He grumbled and went over to the dead rodent, picking it up off the ground and giving it to the bird. He snatched it quickly and began to devour it.

The awkward silence grew. Augustine shifted on her feet constantly, a continuous stream of conversation starters running through her head in an attempt to come up with something to explain her avoidance of him. She knew he had asked to see her, during the first few weeks after Dominic had left, but she had given excuses for her mom to pass on to him. At night she lay awake for hours imagining what she would say to him; all the different ways he could react. She fantasized about him being glad; she figured it would be something much less pleasant.

She had been right. Ben didn't say anything. He only watched her with a guarded expression, full of apprehension and uncertainty. The knife that had imbedded itself into her heart twisted violently. Augustine couldn't hold back a whine of pain.

"Ben, I'm-"

He cut her off. "I'm ready to go back." Ben glanced to his escort, who was still behind her.

Augustine saw an opening. She turned back around. "I'll take him."

Fog glanced form her to Ben and back, shrugged his shoulders, and wandered off into the trees. He was headed towards the training field where the others were practicing.

As she watched him disappear, she could hear someone stomp quickly past her. Looking, she watched Ben's tense back as he headed down the path back to the Den. She hurried to catch him. "Ben, wait!"

His back only straightened further. "What, now you have time for me? Don't you have some training, or need to go into the city, or some other bullshit?"

His tone stung. He was pissed, and walking faster to get away from her. Augustine had to hold herself in check. Her emotions were already frayed; she couldn't afford to let herself become angry. "I'm sorry I haven't come to see you. I... I have just been busy."

The snort that came from Ben was clearly one of dismissal. "Yeah, you were busy. So busy that nearly every single person I asked about you thought you were doing something different. During the weeks you were supposed to be in the city, you came back multiple times to hang out with your friends, recover from a Were immune resistant cold, go on a weeklong intensive training expedition, which you took a break from to teach cooking classes to the pups-"

"Who the hell told you all that?!" Augustine was completely flabbergasted. She had told her mom to just say she wasn't available, not create all of these stories! It just made it blatantly clear she was avoiding him!

Ben shrugged, continuing with his marching pace. "Every time one of the cleaning crew came down by my room I would ask them where you were."

"You were looking that hard for me?" Her fluttering heart stopped cold. "They wouldn't have just told you those things. They would have told you to speak with my mom. What did you say to get them to tell you those things?"

"I didn't ask nicely." He snarked bluntly. Before she could demand he specify just what he meant by that, they arrived at the Den. Ben swung the exterior door open with enough force for it to bang against the wall, making Augustine flinched at the loud noise.

"Ben, I am truly sorry for not coming to see you."

"Whatever."

"I am!" Augustine ran until she could get ahead of him. She was losing the battle with her wolf, the stress of her Destined continuing to rebuke her making her all that much more desperate to get through to him. "Please, Ben? Can we just talk about this?"

He continued past her, not stopping until he reached his rooms. She was surprised when he passed the door, only to enter one just down the hall. Was he no longer staying with his pack?

"Ben, just let me explain..." She followed him into the bedroom, the scent of bird and her mate hitting her nose hard. She watched as he put the falcon in a large homemade bird cage. It took up most of one large corner of the room, with posts sticking out to give him perches, one large stand in the corner that had a box on top, and butcher paper covering the floor and walls. The small raptor quickly hopped across the branches to get to his home and crawl inside.

Once the door was closed, Ben turned back around. He was trying to keep his face clear of emotion, but his scent and his actions could not lie. They stood in a dead lock, neither sure how to express how they were feeling.

Finally, the tension broke between them.

"Whatever it is you feel you need to explain, don't. We're even, so you can leave me alone now." Ben almost violently ripped the leather glove off of his arm and threw it into a nearby chair. He wouldn't look at her again, but she could still see the slight sheen in his eyes.

"What? Ben... what do you mean by that?" She tried to touch him, but he flinched away from her. When he looked at her, she could see all of his pain that she caused. He wasn't just angry, but truly hurt by what she had done. She backed off, pulling her emotions into herself so as not to allow them to influence her. "What do you mean by us being even?"

He turned away again, focusing on the far wall. "I get that I read too much into that whole Destined thing. We had a good time up on the roof, and you needed a safe place after what Lark did to you. It's fine that you don't want to have any more of a relationship with me than that, but you could've at least told me to my face. You didn't have to get other people to help you avoid me. I'm not a psycho stalker."

Realization was a sharp slap to Augustine's face, followed by a powerful punch of regret to her stomach. Ben thought she was avoiding him because she regretted being intimate with him, that she didn't want to associate with him in case he wanted to take things farther. She should have known her actions would have these types of consequences. She desperately tried to figure out how she could make up for what she had done.

"I wasn't avoiding you because I didn't want to see you. I have wanted to be with you every day since I found you." This time when Augustine reached out to touch his arm, Ben did not pull away. She could feel him shudder, but she did not think it was out of revulsion or displeasure.

"Then why did you go?"

Augustine opened her mouth to answer, but as her explanations died in her throat. She tried multiple times, only to panic and choke out, "It's a pack thing."

Ben reaction was instant and dramatic. All of the emotion that he had been showing chilled as his shoulders squared and back straightened. Under her hand she could feel his muscles jump. He turned to face her, his dark green eyes slits. "What the hell does that mean? What do they have to do with any of this?"

"It's... complicated."

Ben leaned back on his heels, crossing his arms. "I think you're full of shit."

Augustine sputtered. Essentially, Ben was calling her a liar, and she was had always prided herself in the fact that she was known for her honesty and discretion. "I'm not being dishonest, Ben. I know you may not be able to understand this, being that you are still human, but after what happened with Lark I need to prove that I am worthy of the pack again."

Ben's nostrils flared. His fists bunched at his sides, as if he were trying to keep himself from grabbing her. Augustine's wolf prepared her for the coming attack, tensing her muscles to the point they hurt.

Then, all at once, his expression cleared. The fire in his eyes left, and his entire body went limp. "I think you should go." His voice was just as empty as the rest of him, without a shred of feeling.

Hearing the complete and utter lack of emotion set off her wolf. She couldn't believe he was dismissing her!

It took every meditative and training skill to keep her wolf in line and not attack Ben. The fact that she would scared Augustine more than anything and that gave her the strength to spin on her heel and storm out of the room. She was able to get to the door and a few steps down the hall before she lost all control and shifted, her howl of despair echoing throughout the entire Den, drowning out the scream of pain within her own mind.

*

Without opening her eyes, Samantha knew exactly where she was, who she was lying next too, and that it was very early. She smiled, curling up tighter to the chest at her back, and wrapping her leg tighter around the calf of the twin in front of her. She was suddenly transported to one of those vibrating chair they put out in the malls. Both pairs of arms that were wrapped half-hazardly around her body tightened and she was squished tighter between the two massive space heaters. It was a nice feeling at first, but pretty soon she was giggling as she tried to push them off her body so she could get some cool air.

"Come on you two. I'm getting all sweaty!" They both refused, smiling as they converged on her even more aggressively. It was fun, until she twisted her neck and a sharp pan lanced up her shoulder. Her cry of pain put an immediate halt to the fun, and both Storm and Thunder were off here, kneeling above her as they rolled her on to her back.

"Let us see." Storm gently pulled her head to the right. Samantha hissed as it stretched whatever it was that was on her neck.

Storm's fingers were gentle as he probed the area, then he turned her head the other way and checked the other side. "We are so sorry Samantha. We did not mean to hurt you last night."

"What is it?" Samantha lifted her hand to investigate for herself. The pain was concentrated to odd ring shape on her neck, slightly to the back. Thinking of the night before, a hazy memory shot to the surface. "You bit me?!"

Samantha was off the bed and into the connected bathroom before either man could stop her. She tilted her body as far as she could without agitating the wounds, trying to see them in her reflecting. Seeing the bright red scabs set her heart racing, but those were far from the only marks she bore from their passionate sex the previous night. Checking herself, she had hickeys all over her body, bright purple ovals scattered from her neck to her thighs. There were even a few rugs burns from the sheets on one hip and elbow from where they had moved her.

But none of those inconsequential wounds made nearly the impact as the bite wound. Samantha knew what being bitten by a Were meant. She began to hyperventilate. "Holy shit. Holy shit..."

"Sammy? Sweetheart look at us." Storm came into the bathroom, his brother right behind him. Seeing them did not bring the calm that she had learned to associate with them. Instead, she felt trapped, claustrophobic. As they approached her she shook her head, conveying to them through the mirror that she needed them to stay back.

"You bit me."

Storm spoke calmly, taking one small but sure step forward. "Yes we did." He took another step, making his way within arms distance of her. "Thunder lost control and marked you last night, but you will not turn yet. Our wolves were not fully involved when Thunder marked you, so the infection will take time to adapt your DNA. We still have time..."