Wolfblood
Chapter 8
"Woah, what's wrong with you?"
I groan lowly, burying my face deeper into my jacket that I'm using as a pillow. Exhaustion drags at every part of me, so much that I'm not sure I'm not currently in a state of half sleep.
"Late night with your girlfriend?" Joshua guesses playfully. I'm not in a very playful mood at the moment. I hate dark moon days. It's the only time of month that the moon loses its pull on my wolf genes, and I become completely human.
It's a truly awful experience. And I'll only get more tired the closer in gets to sun-down.
"She's not my girlfriend," I barely remember to answer my friend, drifting in and out of consciousness. "We've only been on two dates." After that, I lose track of everything going on around me until someone is shaking my shoulder.
"It's time for our next class," Joshua says, standing over me. I could have sworn he was standing in that exact position just a minute ago, before class even started. Now his expression if concerned. "Seriously, Ry, are you okay?"
"Mm'tired," I mumble, climbing to my feet and collecting my knapsack and pillow. Dark moon days are hard, and exhausting, but I've made it through many before. Doesn't mean I'm not still tempted to skip school.
I make it through all of my classes similar to my first, and most of my teachers leave me alone. I'm a good student and I don't normally lay my head down to fall asleep, so I get more concern from them rather than a scolding.
Except from Mr. Greene. He tacks on another detention onto the five I have left.
"I take it you're not coming to La Push with us?" Jo asks at lunch. I never turn down going to the beach, or I haven't yet.
"Nope," I say, not bothering to open my eyes.
"Can we at least drop you off at home on our way there?" Isaac asks. "Seriously, why are you so tired today?"
"I don't know," I lie. "And if you want to wait for me to get out of detention, that would be great."
I sleep right through detention too (it's pointless anyway), and when I get home, I go straight to bed.
…..
"So, what exactly are we doing out here?" I ask, leaping onto a fallen log and balancing my way up the gradual incline until the boots I wore for this occasion slip on the wet bark. I turn my fall into a graceful hop as I land solidly on my feet. "What are we looking for?"
"Anything really," Jo says, handing me a handheld camera. Her own, more expensive one, is hung around her neck.
"Odd prints, giant mutated animals," Isaac continues casually, testing the flash of his camera by taking a selfie of himself.
"Is that your theory?" I ask.
We are deep into the woods somewhere between school and the Reservation. We are in my woods. I recognize the smells. There is a badger hole, an entrance to the tunnels, 200 feet west of this spot. Noah and I run to school every morning through these woods.
I've never seen any mutated animals.
Jo looks distinctly uncomfortable, and I try not to let my disbelief be as obvious as Isaac's. The boy isn't even pretending to take this seriously.
"I don't really know," she admits, "I just know what I saw."
"Well," I say, hefting my camera, "I guess we are going wolf hunting," I smile. "And if we don't find anything, I like hiking anyway."
"Speak for yourself, I think I'm allergic to nature," Isaac grimaces, slapping a hand to his neck as a mosquito bites him.
"Shut up," Joshua shoves him, "and support your friend." He turns to Jo with an apologetic smile. "So, what do you want us to do?"
"You," she says, reaching into her knapsack and dragging out a giant bowl filled with what must be at least three pounds of ground beef, "Put this on that stump over there."
My mouth waters as the scent hits the air, and I know that every carnivore in a mile can smell it. It's good bait. Also, a little dangerous for my human friends.
"You had that in your bag?" Joshua gags, but takes the bowl anyway. "Gross."
"Can I have that when we're done with it? You're not going to throw it away, are you?" I ask. My stomach snarls.
Isaac gives me an odd look, along with the rest of my friends. "What?" I ask defensively. "It would be a waste to just throw it out."
"You are very odd," Isaac tells me.
"Yeah, yeah," I wave him off, turning my attention back towards the raw meat. I wonder if they'd notice if I took just a little nibble. I haven't had supper yet and raw meat isn't bad at all. "I call dibs if nothing comes for it."
"Help yourself," Jo laughs, shaking her head in bemusement.
Once the meat is placed as few meters away, we all crouch down to hide behind the fallen tree I had climbed earlier. Isaac immediately settles in for a long wait, slouching down against the dead wood while the rest of us peek over the log.
….
We have to wait almost two hours before anything happens. The night noises keep me occupied for that time. I make a game of listening to all the wild animals. Owls perch up in the trees, hunting mice. Insects buzz high up in the branches like white noise. I can hear spiders crawling across the damp forest ground.
The first warning is the smell.
It sets my instincts off and has every hair on my body standing on end. I have to suppress the growl building up in the back of my throat.
Then a branch snaps nearby and everyone, who had been lulled into boredom, immediately snaps to attention, peeking over the fallen log with new adrenaline racing through their veins.
Jo immediately readies her camera.
There is a shuffling sound not too far away, and an animal's sniffling. Then a large shape comes into view, causing me to tense even further.
Bears are very dangerous to a lone wolf. A wolf can easily outrun it, but if it catches you unawares, or you've come too close to its cub, you won't be getting away without a scratch. Wolves are the same way with our young. And here I am, a lone wolf, with three human friends to protect.
Hopefully it won't come to that.
"Everyone hold perfectly still," I hiss at my friends. Even Isaac won't be dumb enough to draw the bears attention.
Jo silently snaps pictures as the bear ambles over to the bait and tips the bowl over onto the forest ground. I mentally groan at the waste, but I let the wild animal eat it's fill without complaint.
I can hear my friends' heartbeats fast and strong for almost twenty minutes before the bear shuffles away without ever noticing us.
When the forest is its once again normal nightly sounds, Joshua lets out a loud breath.
"See, your giant wolf was just a bear. Can we please go home now?" Isaac asks, sounding a bit nervous.
"I-" she glances down at her camera, and even in the dark I can see her conflicted expression. She sighs after a moment. "Yeah, I guess. You guys want to spend the rest of the night back at mine?"
The boys immediately agree.
"I'll have to let Noah know that he'll be alone tonight," I say, pulling out my phone to call the house. I really should get that boy a cellphone soon. "But you have to feed me because I'm absolutely starving."
While I call, Joshua goes to pick up the knocked over bowl that had been licked clean. Lucky bear.
A/N: Please review guys!
~Silver
