Chapter 9- Forest View - Revised
I swam as fast as I could towards Jacob. He had a head start but I was catching up with him. It wasn't long before we were right next to each other, racking the water with our hands trying to swim faster. I looked over at him and I knew what he was about to do a split second before he did it. He phased. There was the sound of tearing clothes and he was gone, he had jumped right out of the water and had landed in the shallows. Then he turned to look at me still swimming and trotted onto the beach wagging his tail and barking; he was laughing. I stopped swimming. I pulled off my clothes under the water, stuck them in my mouth, and phased too. I bounded right for him and he leaped out of the way. I dropped my soaking wet clothes next to his sneakers and my flip-flops which had flown off as I had run into the water and turned to face him.
"You're a strange color for a wolf, there aren't many red wolves," I heard Jacob say.
He was right; I was a red wolf, no doubt because of my red hair. I had a red back which lightened slowly to a strip of gold fur running down from under my muzzle to my belly.
I wagged my tail appreciatively.
"You're the dark chocolate-colored one, so who was the white one?" I asked him.
"Leah, she's white with grey. Sam is black, Emma is brown streaked with gold, Seth is a hazel color, Paul is hazel and black with a white belly and Jared is a sort of dark grey with black paws and a black muzzle; he's the oddest one of the bunch. Well, next to you," Jacob replied.
"I knew Seth must be the hazel, he was the smallest," I said.
"He won't be for long, once he turns 18 he'll be as big as me," said Jacob.
He turned his head to look over the water where the sun had almost set and purple was breaking up the pink and orange colors in the sky.
"We had better get back; I expect Emily will be making a feast for us. I'll stay like this, but you can phase back if you like; I kind of ditched my clothes," he said with a bark of laughter.
I laughed too, "Yeah, you littered in the ocean; bad boy Jacob. I think I'll stay like this too though," I said and turned to head back along the road, "I haven't been able to be out and about like this in a very long time."
"Oh no, we aren't taking the road, we'll take the scenic route," said Jacob and he bounded towards the woods just beyond the embankment.
I pick up my clothes and our shoes in my mouth and ran after him.
As I entered the forest the smell of the ocean left me and all I could smell was the trees. Wild blueberries were growing somewhere because I could smell them with my sharpened senses. I could also smell pine and maple trees, freshly dug earth from some small creature creating a burrow, and wildflowers growing in the meadow. I ran after Jacob and we bounded through the forest, dodging trees with ease and jumping right over the fallen ones. It took us less than five minutes to reach the edge of the forest again and see all of the houses.
I heard them before I could see them, three wolves walked up from behind us.
"What have you two been up to?" asked a female voice, as the white grey wolf, Leah, shifted. "We've been for a swim," Jacob replied, "You guys just finish patrol?"
"Yeah, we are headed to Emily's, and then Sam, Paul, and Jared are going out to patrol tonight," said a young boy's voice and I knew it was Seth, the hazel wolf, speaking; or rather thinking. "We'll be right back, we are going to change and come over too," said Jacob.
"Alright, see you over there," said the third wolf, black-streaked with gold; Emma.
They walked off into the woods to phased back and change. Jacob and I continued into the backyard of Jacob's, or rather, our house.