Outsiders

I had no idea how long we had run. Run was an overstatement. Trotted? Jogged? Moved briskly? It seemed like forever. But my ears told me it wasn’t fast enough. Our pursuers were gaining on us. I didn’t want to think about what special plans they might have when they caught up. That one guy said Katelyn was reserved which sounded creepy. I was guessing one of their upper echelons had claimed her as his mate. My imagination was too good concerning my fate. I had taken out two of theirs. I was sure a simple death would not be high on their list. Being ripped apart into tiny pieces sounded about right.

So, I kept encouraging Katelyn to keep moving as fast as she could. I knew humans were not by and large speed demons. I was much faster on four feet, but I wasn’t about to leave her behind. She was the whole reason I was out here in the first place. I kept trying to Call but it felt like I was making noise in a soundproof room. I was sure I was not making any connection to anyone.

I heard a strange noise somewhere in front of us. I concentrated and finally figured out what it was. I stopped, bending over to catch my breath.

“New plan.” I said.

“Let’s hear it.” Katelyn panted.

“There’s some road nearby with traffic on it. We’ll angle up next to it and you can hitch a ride.”

“Oh, no.”

“Wait a minute. Hear me out. You hitch into Denver or wherever the road goes. You can phone the house, and someone will come get you. Easy. Right?”

“What about you?”

“Well, I can’t exactly hitch naked.” I laughed, “Think I just avoided that kind of attention. No. I’ll shift and run like the wind for home.”

I was lying. They had made up a lot of ground behind us. I didn’t think I could outrun them even on four feet. I was very tired. They didn’t seem to be. Of course, they’d probably had food and rest sometime in the last few days as opposed to me. And Katelyn wasn’t going to outrun them anyway. Her only hope was finding transportation.

“I don’t know.” Katelyn said uncertainly.

“This’ll work out great. Plus, they won’t know who to follow, right? Come on. We need to get to that road.”

One of the pursuers chose that instant to howl behind us. It sounded closer than ever. My wolf growled. She was ready to fight to the death.

I started jogging toward the road hoping some car would pick up Katelyn. Once she was safely around some bend in the road, maybe I’d just step out in front of a semi. Beat being torn to pieces. Same result but quicker.

We’d gone another twenty feet when Katelyn groaned and bent over double. I stopped and went back to rub her back.

“Leg cramp? Back? Stomach?” I started, not knowing what body part was giving her grief.

“Everything.” She said.

She took a faltering step forward and pitched forward onto her knees. I reached down to hook my elbow in hers to lift her up, but she went on down to her hands. She cried out and fell onto her side. Please don’t have an appendicitis attack, I thought. Or gall bladder. Or anything else. We have a plan to save you.

“Come on, Katelyn. We’re so close.” I said.

“Okay. A minute.” She said and tried to sit up.

With a moan, she grabbed her midsection and fell back down.

“Tell me what it feels like.” I said.

Maybe if she started talking, it would take her mind off any pain. She would forget about it, and we could get a move on.

“Like my insides are coming outside and if I don’t let them, I will explode.”

I shook my head. That was crazy.

“What? Tell me again.”

“I’m coming unglued. Going inside out.”

She made a guttural sound that almost sounded like … O.M.G. … a growl.

“What are your insides saying?” I asked tensely.

“To let them out.”

I walked in a tight circle. This could explain so much-why she was still at the house and why she smelled strange to me. Wolf gave a sharp bark, effectively calling me an idiot. Ok. I get it now. She was Were but had never shifted. Hence, the weird, almost familiar scent. No one had ever told me she was human. I had just assumed it. Surprise and a hell of a time to figure it out.

If I tried talking non-stop, I might be able to persuade her to retreat from this first shift. It would take a ton of words and it might not work. Her wolf wanted to come out to protect her. It had heard the howl of our followers. It would fight me. We could well still be here arguing about shifting when they showed up.

If I helped her, she might, might get through this. Again, time was not on our side. Katelyn might fight me on shifting, wanting to deny she was Were and repress her wolf side. We could still be engaged in a back and forth when our pursuers found us.

But I couldn’t just walk away. Not now. Not when she was caught in her first shift. They would catch her for sure.

“Katelyn. You are shifting. Your inside wolf wants to come out to save you, to protect you. You have to let her out. Just relax. Breathe.” I said.

“What?!” she screeched.

“Yes. You are a werewolf just like me and your insides are, in fact, coming to the outside. It is natural for you. You just have to let them. Close your eyes.”

“Do I have to kill bunnies?”

“No. No, no, no. You never have to kill anything. You do have to shift. Now. As fast as you can. Close your eyes. Smell the woods. Breathe, Katelyn. Feel your heartbeat. Count the beats. Relax. Breath out. Breath in. Hear the birds? Smell the wet dirt? Slow down and breathe. Listen to your insides. She wants to come out. Let her stretch. Just breathe. That’s it. It’s not a fight. You will still be in control. You are always in control.”

Not quite the truth considering how I had just fought but oh well. Not the time. Inside I was praying she wasn’t so drugged that her wolf was trapped. I had never been around anyone during their first shift except for me. I shut up as she kept up a slow breathing pace. Then, her arms stretched away from her belly, and she relaxed. In a couple of blinks, a gorgeous silver-grey wolf lay on the dirt at my feet. She opened yellow eyes and looked at me, yawning. She had dark grey tips to her ears, over her eyes and down her back to her tail. She was just as beautiful this way as before. She stood up, shaking her fur. Of course, she tried to say something, and it came out as confused barks and yips.

“You’ll have to wait until you shift again to tell me.” I said grinning at her, “Right now, we have another new plan. You killed the bathing suit when you shifted. So hitchhiking is off the table. Now, we both need to run faster than ever.”

I shifted finding I was a little bigger than she was. I could only hope we could outrun the wolves behind us. They were in for a surprise when they scented a new wolf on the trail. Maybe they would pause trying to figure it out. I hoped. I let her take a few stumbling steps as she learned to walk on four feet but then we needed to kick it into gear. It was learn by doing time.

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