Chapter 37

When Hotch woke up the next morning, he smiled. It was early and no one else was up. He silently made his way out of the room and went to start coffee. He felt good. The kids had taken his news well enough and his wife had agreed to spend eternity with him, so he couldn't get the smile off his face. It was the most relaxed he had felt since the whole thing had started. He knew it would still be a few months before he could change Kahlan, but knowing she would eventually be joining him made the wait easier.

He looked out the door at the sun coming up and the fog floating above the lake and sighed deeply. He always liked spending time at Rossi's cabin. The serene setting was always a welcomed break from all of the cities and places he had to travel for work. Knowing they had the whole day to relax and spend with the kids, too, had him in smiling even more. I needed this.

After another moment of staring at the beautiful morning, he decided to go for a run. He hadn't done that since being turned and he wondered what it would be like, so he went to his go-bag by the door and got out his things. After changing into running pants, a t-shirt, and sneakers, he went out the door. He took a deep breath as he stood on the deck. Normally he would stretch a little before starting, but he figured he didn't need to really worry about that anymore, so he went down the stairs and to the trail that went passed the lake.

XXX

Once Kahlan awoke, she frowned at being alone in bed. She sighed as she sat up. He is way too damn quiet now! She shook her head as she headed to the restroom and then went in search of her husband. Not finding him anywhere in the cabin made her turn towards the door, but when she saw his go-bag open, she knew he had gone for a run. Her brows furrowed. I wonder if he runs at normal speed. As she thought about it, she smiled. Hell, maybe once I'm changed I might actually be able to keep up with him. After a second or two she wilted, though. No. I bet he'll still be faster. Oh well.

After a half an hour, the kids woke up, but she wasn't worried about Hotch because she wasn't sure when he had gotten up. After being up for about an hour, though, she couldn't help but feel something was wrong. He had never gone running for that long. She mentally winced, though, because she wasn't sure if his new stamina would allow him to run for a lot longer than usual. After about another fifteen minutes, she made an excuse and went out onto the deck.

Where the hell are you, Aaron? She took a deep breath and searched the area around the cabin with her eyes, and then ran a hand through her hair. Stop stressing, Woman, there wasn't much out here that could hurt him before, let alone now. After making herself calm down, she went back inside. The whole time she got dressed, though, she couldn't shake the nagging feeling in her gut that told her something wasn't right. Fuck it, I'm going to go find him!

After telling the kids to stay inside; and by her look and tone they knew she meant it; she went out in search of her husband. If I know Aaron, he probably went up the north trail cause it's the hardest. She sighed. Thanks, Hun. She shook her head and started up the trail that went passed the lake.

After about ten minutes, she heard the crunching of dry leaves off to the side of the trail, and she froze as her eyes searched the trees around her. When the sound stopped, too, her hand absently went to small of her back. After a few seconds and wondering if she had actually heard it, she started out again. As she strained her ears, she could tell whatever had been moving off in the bramble had started up again, too. She mentally winced because she could tell whatever it was that was pacing her was a decent size.

She took a deep breath and decided to see if was truly following her by taking off at a run. When she heard it speed up, too, she mentally cussed. After about ten more yards, she slid to a stop and hid behind a large tree as she held her breath. She could clearly hear whatever it was move closer to the trail, so she took out her knife. She knew a few mountain lions had been seen at different times up in the mountains around Rossi's cabin, and even if she really didn't want to admit it, she was a little scared.

When she couldn't hear the thing moving anymore, she cringed. As she thought about it, she bit her lip. If that's you screwing with me, Hun, I'm gonna beat your ass, and I don't care if it won't hurt you! After a inhaling deeply, she jumped out from behind the tree with her knife held ready.

A massive black wolf flinched and jumped back as a yelp escaped it, and Kahlan wasn't sure which one of them was more startled, her or the wolf, but she froze. A long whine escaped it, and she frowned. There aren't any wolves around here! What the hell?

The wolf ducked its head as it whined again but its penetrating yellow eyes locked with Kahlan's, and her breath caught in her chest. "Oh my God," she uttered quietly. "Aaron?" she asked as she took a step closer to it.

It cringed back into itself, so she froze again. When its eyes darted to the knife still in her hand, she quickly held up her other hand in submission as she put the knife away. "Shit! I'm sorry, Hun. I didn't know it was you!" she tried as she held out both empty hands.

The wolf stood up straighter as it relaxed a little, so she took another step closer to it. "You are, Aaron, right?" she asked softly, but everything in her told her it was.

The wolf picked its head up and stared her in the eyes and she smiled as she shook her head slowly. "My God, Aaron. You are. . . you're. . . magnificent," she gushed as she stepped even closer. Her hands ran down her face as she moved close enough that she could touch him. "I mean. . . Sebastian was cool and all, but. . ." She shook her head some more as she giggled. "But you put him to shame in every way."

After a deep breath, she reached out with a shaky hand. "Can I touch you?" She knew from Hotch that Sebastian could understand them when he was a wolf, so she figured he could, too.

The wolf moved forward and nuzzled his head against her hand as a soft whine escaped him, and she inhaled sharply as his dense, dark, fur, worked its way through her fingertips. "Wow," she gasped and then ran her hand down his powerful back. "This is amazing, Hun," she told him as she moved back and looked him in the eyes again. "I can't believe that you figured out how to do it."

When he whined a little stronger and ducked his head away from her, she finally realized that something wasn't quite right. She studied him and could see the tension in his whole frame, and when she noticed his tail tucked between his legs, she knew something was definitely wrong. "Oh no," she uttered as she squatted down in front of him and put her hands behind his ears and made him look at her. "You don't know how to change back, do you?"

The pitiful look in his eyes and the sorrowful sound that escaped him told her all she needed to know. She nodded as she stood back up. "I'll go get my phone," she insisted. "I'll call Sebastian. . ." she offered as she started to turn, but she stopped when she felt teeth gently grabbed her fingers. She looked down at him holding her and frowned. "You don't want me to call Sebastian?"

He let go of her and moved back a step. She wasn't sure why, but she nodded. "Ok. . . Although. . . I guess that you would think this would be a little embarrassing, huh?"

He made a sound like a huff and she giggled, but her hand flew to her mouth. "Sorry."

He moved away a little more, and she took a deep breath. "You're trying to force it, aren't you?"

He looked at her and she almost giggled again when she saw him basically frown. She shook her head some more as she tisked. "You should know better than that, Hun."

When a low growl escaped him, she huffed. "You know trying to force your mind to do something never works, Aaron," she insisted as she went to him and squatted down in front of him again. She grabbed his head and looked him in the eyes. "You have to relax, Hun."

He whined.

"You've tried that, huh?" She licked her lips as her eyes darted around. "Maybe. . ." she started and his eyes widened obviously wanting to know what she was thinking. She bit her lip as she shrugged. "Maybe you should think about being a man. Maybe if you focus on actually being a man, then it would make it happen," she suggested.

His eyes cut to the side, but after a moment he whined at looked back at her.

"You know, think about all those things you can do as a man like picking up Joey or. . . or tossing around the ball with the boys," she led, but then mentally winced as she imagined him, as a wolf, playing fetch with the boys. Jesus Christ, Woman! Stop that!

When it was clear that wasn't helping and he was getting even more agitated, she exhaled through her nose. "Just breathe, Hun. Try to relax," she urged and she rubbed a hand down his neck. When a sigh escaped him, she took a deep breath and sat down. "Sit. . . with me," she added quickly as she mentally shook her head for talking to him like a dog. He studied her a moment and then moved closer to her. She pat her leg. "Come on, you need to relax, Aaron."

A pathetic whine escaped him but he moved and sat down next to her and after glancing at her one more time, he laid down as he put his front legs across her legs and laid his head down on top of them.

A smile formed on her lips even though she tried hard not it let it out, and she reached up and started running her hand over his head. "Just breathe and relax, Aaron," she offered in the tone that worked best on him. "Just clear your mind and breathe," she told him as her fingers massaged his head right in front of his ears.

After a few moments, a long breath escaped his nose and his eyes started to droop; she smiled again. "There you go, just let yourself drift," she offered tenderly as gentle hands moved over him.

After a couple more minutes, the weight on her legs tripled, and she smiled down at her husband, in his human form, laying on her legs. "Ahhh. . . Hun?"

He suddenly flinched and sat up. He looked at himself and then looked at her, and then swallowed her in a massive hug. "Thank you!" he oozed as he held her. "I thought I was stuck like that!"

She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him. "You're ok," she whispered against him. "You're fine, Aaron."

He took a deep breath as he nodded and pulled away from her. He ran a hand down his face. "Damn."

She smiled. "While I'm sure that was scary not being able to turn back, that was cool as shit!"

He shook his head as he pushed himself up off the ground and then pulled her up. "It wasn't so cool not knowing how to control it."

She winced. "I bet. But how could you not know how to change back? Did you try to just reverse how you changed into the wolf?"

He huffed as he brushed his pants off. "I didn't even know I did it."

She frowned. "What?"

He shrugged. "I was just jogging. . . and. . . it just happened, I guess. I'm not even sure when it did." When her brows furrowed even more, he sighed. "I was running, and I decided to go down to the creek." He winced as he shook his head in remembrance. "I should have known something wasn't right when I wanted to get a drink from it, but. . ."

Her brows rose in shock, but she silently waited for him to go on.

He sighed. "And when I got to the water's edge. . ." He wilted a little as he turned away from her. "And when I saw my reflection, it actually startled me."

When a laugh escaped her, he turned back to her with a dark look. "It's not funny, Kahlan! And when I realized what had happened, and I couldn't make it go away, well. . ."

She sighed and went to him and put her hand on his arm. "I'm sorry. I know that must have been a shock."

He huffed as he shook his head.

"And since you didn't know how you did it, you didn't know how to reverse it."

"No. After seeing my reflection, though, I looked back up the trail and I could clearly see paw prints all the way up it, so I'm not even sure how long I had been a wolf."

She smiled. "Well, now that you know you can, you just have to learn how to control it like everything else."

He huffed. "How can I control it when I don't even know how I did it?"

She studied him as her mouth quirked. "Well. . ." She sighed. "You mean it feel any different? You went from running on two feet to running on four and you didn't even notice?"

He licked his lips as his eyes darted around for a few moments. He looked back into the trees as he ran his hand through his hair. "Maybe. . . I don't know for sure," he uttered and she could tell there was something.

She went to him and placed a hand on his back. "You were running along just like every morning, but something let you change this time. Were you thinking about it or anything?"

"No. I don't think I was thinking about anything, which is strange in itself, I guess."

Her brows furrowed wanting more.

He shrugged as he grabbed her hand and started them back towards the cabin. "When I run at home, I know the area and such so well that I let my mind drift. My feet go where they're supposed to go, and I use that time as a mental break if you would."

She pulled him closer and put her hand in the crock of his elbow. "I understand. I do the same when I go for my little jogs."

He nodded. "But whenever I've run up here I've had to pay attention. You know with rocks, tree roots, and such, I've never been able to not focus on where my feet are headed."

"But this morning you didn't?"

He shrugged again as his brows furrowed. "I know I got up to the top of that first big hill because I remember tightening my shoelace up at the big rock outcropping." He sighed. "But I can't say I really remember going down into the first valley."

Her brows rose. "And you went all the way to the creek. That's like four valleys over."

He nodded. She giggled lightly, and he looked over at her. "What?" She licked her lips and opened her mouth to say something but then shook her head. He pulled them to a stop and faced her. "No. You thought of something. What?"

"Well, you like to run, and God only knows why," she joked and he rolled his eyes and shook his head. "But from what I understand, so do wolves."

"And?"

"So maybe being out here, in the forest, running. . . Maybe that just allowed it to come out. It allowed it to finally come to the surface."

His eyes darted around for a few moments and then he shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well, it's been there, under the surface since you were changed, Hun. Sebastian implied that you could do it on that first day."

He nodded his agreement. "And?"

She smirked and huffed. "Maybe it finally got tired of being repressed so it took the first chance it got when your mind was elsewhere."

He huffed and turned away from her as he shook his head. "Great! Just what I need, something else inside me vying for control!" He wilted as he exhaled slowly and ran a hand down his face.

She snorted as she shook her head. "Just stop!"

He turned to her. "I'm sorry, Babe, but I can't see something taking control of me without me even knowing it as something that's cool!"

She mentally winced because she knew she had chosen the wrong words. "You're right. That's probably not what happened." She wrapped her arm around his waist and started him back towards the cabin. "And you can think about it and we can figure it out later, but right now, we better get back before the kids really get worried."

He sighed and nodded. "Yeah."

*Pictures of Hotch's wolf form, and the others, are on the website: the tales of hoffer .com (no spaces) for anyone who doesn't remember or is new.