All reviews are great - glad to see you like it so far - I hope you are in
for the long haul for I can see this extending somewhat.
Chapter 5
Luke padded away into the undergrowth, mentally grinning at the impassioned insult that hung in the air after him. Wimp? No one had called him a wimp for as long as he could remember. He admired the girl's bravado. New place, new people and she wasn't even the slightest bit intimidated, or at least to the naked eye. Even her scent had been curiousity, mixed with faint apprehension and over all of it a heady scent that bore traces of Sophia in its complexity. Pretty girl too, under all that attitude, lanky and growing still, with dirty blonde hair and storm blue eyes and her mother's easily flushing skin. All in all, a very interesting addition to Wolf Lake.
He had found himself at the house almost before he knew he was going there, his sub-conscious taking over before his reason had a chance to have a look in. But he was willing to admit that some part of him was desperate to see her again, to dispel the fantasy that had haunted him for 16 years, to replace it with a harsh reality he could put to one side and move on. But she hadn't been home, and only the waft of her scent - dimly remembered and richly recalled, had poured through the open door after her daughter, wafting round him with gossamer fingers. But even that scent - so much more complex than the girl he remembered, rich and wild, telling of cities and places he had never been, even that was enough to partially intoxicate him, and he moved through his woods in a cloud of it, his nose unable to remove it completely from his senses.
Which was why, he later justified, that he never saw the other wolf until he was almost on top of her.
One minute he was happily loping along, the next minute a thunderous snarl startled him so much that he leapt straight up in the air with a squeal like a cub, skidding to a stop and staring about goofily. And then realising with a sinking heart quite how totally ridiculous he looked. Irritation quickly replaced embarrassment and his hackles rose as he scouted about for who, exactly, had dared to so embarrass their Alpha - for whom these woods were a private fiefdom.
She was standing, partly concealed, in the undergrowth at the other side of the clearing. For a minute in the moonlight he thought she was merely a trick of smoke and mist - a mirage created by the moonlight. And then the clouds cleared and she was still there, all the glimmering white coated slenderness of her, golden eyes gleaming.
He frowned mentally, uncertain. Was it Ruby? He couldn't be sure. She was so seldom seen these days, as she almost never came down from her mountain home. And when she did she was always in her human skin. In fact he couldn't remember seeing her in Wolven form for over 10 years. But it had to be her, for there were no other White Wolven in existence, and she was one of his people, of that there was no doubt. And there was something naggingly familiar about her. He sneezed in irritation. He couldn't even make out her scent, his nostrils were still so clogged from the Donners.
'Ruby?' - he tentatively sent.
She looked back at him, silent and aloof - and then turned and vanished into the undergrowth like a silver shadow.
'Hey - wait!'
His momentary confusion was quickly followed by irritation as he loped after her. Half sister or not she was still one of his Pack and she owed him a duty of, if not obedience, at least common courtesy. But when he reached the other side of the clearing she had vanished into thin air, no scent or marking left that he could follow, a trail gone cold as if she had never been, leaving him irritated and baffled in her wake. He scouted for her trail for another half an hour, until he gave up in disgust and loped home, vowing to have words with his sister one of these days.
Chapter 5
Luke padded away into the undergrowth, mentally grinning at the impassioned insult that hung in the air after him. Wimp? No one had called him a wimp for as long as he could remember. He admired the girl's bravado. New place, new people and she wasn't even the slightest bit intimidated, or at least to the naked eye. Even her scent had been curiousity, mixed with faint apprehension and over all of it a heady scent that bore traces of Sophia in its complexity. Pretty girl too, under all that attitude, lanky and growing still, with dirty blonde hair and storm blue eyes and her mother's easily flushing skin. All in all, a very interesting addition to Wolf Lake.
He had found himself at the house almost before he knew he was going there, his sub-conscious taking over before his reason had a chance to have a look in. But he was willing to admit that some part of him was desperate to see her again, to dispel the fantasy that had haunted him for 16 years, to replace it with a harsh reality he could put to one side and move on. But she hadn't been home, and only the waft of her scent - dimly remembered and richly recalled, had poured through the open door after her daughter, wafting round him with gossamer fingers. But even that scent - so much more complex than the girl he remembered, rich and wild, telling of cities and places he had never been, even that was enough to partially intoxicate him, and he moved through his woods in a cloud of it, his nose unable to remove it completely from his senses.
Which was why, he later justified, that he never saw the other wolf until he was almost on top of her.
One minute he was happily loping along, the next minute a thunderous snarl startled him so much that he leapt straight up in the air with a squeal like a cub, skidding to a stop and staring about goofily. And then realising with a sinking heart quite how totally ridiculous he looked. Irritation quickly replaced embarrassment and his hackles rose as he scouted about for who, exactly, had dared to so embarrass their Alpha - for whom these woods were a private fiefdom.
She was standing, partly concealed, in the undergrowth at the other side of the clearing. For a minute in the moonlight he thought she was merely a trick of smoke and mist - a mirage created by the moonlight. And then the clouds cleared and she was still there, all the glimmering white coated slenderness of her, golden eyes gleaming.
He frowned mentally, uncertain. Was it Ruby? He couldn't be sure. She was so seldom seen these days, as she almost never came down from her mountain home. And when she did she was always in her human skin. In fact he couldn't remember seeing her in Wolven form for over 10 years. But it had to be her, for there were no other White Wolven in existence, and she was one of his people, of that there was no doubt. And there was something naggingly familiar about her. He sneezed in irritation. He couldn't even make out her scent, his nostrils were still so clogged from the Donners.
'Ruby?' - he tentatively sent.
She looked back at him, silent and aloof - and then turned and vanished into the undergrowth like a silver shadow.
'Hey - wait!'
His momentary confusion was quickly followed by irritation as he loped after her. Half sister or not she was still one of his Pack and she owed him a duty of, if not obedience, at least common courtesy. But when he reached the other side of the clearing she had vanished into thin air, no scent or marking left that he could follow, a trail gone cold as if she had never been, leaving him irritated and baffled in her wake. He scouted for her trail for another half an hour, until he gave up in disgust and loped home, vowing to have words with his sister one of these days.