• I could tell it was going to be a long patrol by the way his emotions preceded his form up the mountain. I lounged on a thick log that hadn’t yet begun to rot, looking up into the darkening sky. I loved the way blue faded into pinks and golds and made the world seem so much more peaceful than it really was. There was a rustle in the bush downhill from were I laid and I savored the peace a few more moments before shifting my gaze to the russet colored wolf. I watched as the fur melted away and a young man stood in its place.

    “Hey beautiful,” he said in a low voice, mischievous grin quirking the side of his mouth and dark green eyes twinkling in the fading light. His reddish brown hair was messy and fell around his face in unkempt waves. I groaned and looked back up at the sky before rolling off the log and landing easily on my feet.

    “Whatever. Are we patrolling or what?” I asked, annoyed. He did this every time. Whether we were patrolling or one of us just walked into a room, he had to make his intentions known.

    “I don’t know. Are we?” he replied in that same aggravating voice that had followed me everywhere since I turned fifteen, which was two years ago. I clenched my fists. Willing myself not to punch the alpha’s son, I shifted to wolf form, snarling halfway through the change. He still stood there, staring at me with his cocky grin and arrogant eyes. A rumble started to rise up in my chest, causing him to sigh and shift back to wolf.

    Let’s move, Kenneth! I growled, whirling and taking off through the trees. I could hear his silent laughter reverberating through my mind as I forced myself to focus on where I was headed.I slammed a mental door shut on Kenneth and continued weaving through the trees, listening to my breathing and heartbeat until my annoyance subsided enough to allow me to glance back over my shoulder. Kenneth was gone. I skidded to a halt. Casting about and retracing my steps for a few yards, I found a place where his scent both started and stopped. I reopened my mind and stretched my awareness as far as I could and still found nothing. Either he was blocking me or he was unconscious somewhere that I couldn't sense him at all.

    Just as I was about to widen my search, something scraped against a tree off to my left and uphill. I turned toward the noise and inched my way back up the mountain and around to where I could see more clearly. Before I could get a visual, an awful stench was carried to my nose and I just about tried to hack it out of my mouth and nose. An instant later something large and brown flew out from the small clump of trees and slammed into my right shoulder, knocking me sideways. I rolled onto my back and then righted myself and whirled to face whatever it was, ready to fight. Just as I turned, it leapt forward and attempted to pin me to the ground, but I managed to avoid the attack by sliding downhill a couple feet. It streaked past me and disappeared back into the trees.

    I cursed silently to myself and called for the rest of the pairs on patrol. Their mental response was immediate and gave me the confidence to cautiously pace ever closer to the clustered trees, ears twitching and nose searching. The horrible stench still permeated the air around me and I bared my teeth at the annoyance. The smell was so strong that it just sat as a fog on the air and I couldn't get a trail. I could feel the others moving closer and closer through the surrounding forest. One pair from the North and one from the East. Come quietly, I told them when they came within speaking range.Each of their affirmative replies slid through my mind like soft silk, soothing any underlying doubts I had about the current situation.

    The four others converged on my restless location near the thicker group of trees. They all moved in near silence, heeding my precaution. The Northern pair were two tawny, light brown wolves that were the twins of our pack, Cana and Caleb. The Eastern pair consisted of a young black wolf and a stocky grey, Jake and Shale. I bobbed my head to each of them in greeting and then recounted my earlier experience.
    Where is Kenneth? He's the one that always takes care of these things best, Caleb pointed out.

    Flaking right when we really need him, as usual. He probably ran off after a chipmunk, Cana sneered, not even attempting to hide her dislike of Kenneth.

    Ixia would have been able to follow his scent if he just left though, Jake stated. Shale gave an affirmative grunt as back up from Cana's hard stare. Any idea that might excuse Kenneth, she despised.

    You're the boss here, Ixia. What are we going to do? Caleb asked, diverting the attention of his sister to more important issues. I thought about our options. There was still time to try and follow the creature that had attacked me or we could go find Kenneth and report the incident to the alpha. I decided to do both.

    Jake and Caleb will head back the way I came and go tell Rolfe what has happened. Cana, Shale, and I will attempt to follow whatever it was, I announced. Then turned to Jake and Caleb, Go quickly but pay close attention to any sign of Kenneth. Tell Rolfe what we are doing and that we are treading as cautiously as physically possible with all our senses on high alert.

    Will do, Caleb said; he probably would have saluted if he had been human at that point. Then he swung into the underbrush, nose riding on the air, with Jake close behind mimicking his actions.