I yelped and jumped up. Bad idea, I thought as I crashed to the floor. Okay, still in wolf form. I scrambled to my feet and hunched my back, making my hair stand up.
"Whoa pup, relax. No one is going to hurt you." One of them spoke to me, holding out his hand. His voice was so smooth, so relaxing that I almost found myself immediately trusting him. I backed up until I hit a wall and couldn't go any further. Knowing I was trapped I started growling and pulling up my lips. Hopefully, they just thought I was some dog, and not..well, not a shifter.
"Hey sweetie. C'mere puppy." A small, pixie like girl stepped forward. She had long red hair that had been pulled back into a half up, half down do. She had large, round blue eyes that sparkled in the light. She crouched down and held out her hand, she even lowered her head and looked at the ground. Shit, shes a shifter. It was the only explanation. Well, looks like I found the new pack. I decided playing dumb would be best. Slowly, I walked over to her and sniffed her hand, I even licked it for added emphasis. She smiled and scratched behind my ears.
"Told you." She smirked at someone behind her, earning her a hearty scoff.
I started whimpering and looking around; playing the scared puppy was always the easiest way to get outside.
"Maybe she has to use the bathroom?" The small girl suggested. Jackpot. She moved to open the door, but a hand shot out of nowhere and grasped her wrist. It must have been very painful, judging by the look on her beatiful face.
"She is not allowed outside. Put her in the bathroom. I'm sure she knows what to do with it." The man turned his attention on me, glaring harshly. I rolled onto my back and whimpered again.
"Dammit, you've scared her! And she was just trusting me. How can you think that every dog, or even every animal that we come across is a Being? She is a dog! If she wasn't, she would have phased and fought her way out by now. Wolves aren't exactly known for just rolling over." She said pointing at me to prove her point. I was safe, for now. The young girl would protect me as long as I played it smart.
"Caroline, I swear to God if you get in my way with this-"
"Back off, Gabrial." A warning voice came from the back of the room. I couldn't be sure, but it sounded like the same person that had scoffed at Caroline earlier. I gave the room a good once over for the first time. There were six people in the small room, not including myself.
"Eli, do not tell me what to do." The man named Gabrial switched his attention to Eli.
"Easily done. Don't threaten my fiancee and you've got yourself a deal." He smirked cockily and held out his hand as if they would shake on it. Gabrial pointed his finger at him and it looked as if there were very many colorful phrases going through his mind, but he decided against it and let his hand fall.
"Caroline." He nodded briefly at her and left the room. There wasn't much I could see when the door was opened, but it looked like that led to the outside. As long as I could slip through that door, I would be home free.
Caroline walked over to me again and rubbed at my chin.
"Come on, puppy. Lets go potty." She patted her thigh and I jumped up and tried my best to look eager about pissing outside. She walked towards the same door that Gabrial had gone through and cracked it open.
"Coast clear?" Another girl stepped out from a shadowy corner. She had long, dark hair and a light caramel complexion. As she walked closer to me, I noticed her green eyes flash with anger. She sucked in a breath and glared at me, but said nothing. Emily..is that..is that you? I sent out to her. Her eyes narrowed by a fraction but she showed no other signs of recieving my message. When you're in a pack, everyone can hear everyone all the time, no matter what. But if you were to meet a Shifter from outside of your pack, you could only hear the things they wanted to send to you, and visa versa. If this really was the long lost Emily, I couldn't be completely sure.
"Yeah, everything looks good." Caroline nodded, and opened the door wider. I took the opportunity and bolted. "The dog! No!" I heard one of the girls yell, but in my rush I couldn't distinguish, nor did I particularly care, which it was. I pushed with all my strength, barely acknowledging the scenery around me. I saw a medium height wooden fence coming up fast. Jumping had never been my strong point but I didn't see any other choice. I picked up speed and charged at the fence, leaping at the exact moment I meant to. I sailed through the air and easily cleared the fence. The ground came back up at me before I was ready, and I hit it hard. I rolled into a ravine and decided to just lay there quietly for a moment to regain my strength.
"God dammit, Caroline! I told you not to let her out! What the fuck did I say?" I could hear Gabrial bellowing close to the edge of the yard. "God dammit!" His voice shook with anger and I thought I could feel the ground rumble slightly beneath me.
"Should we go after her?" Caroline asked timidly.
"No, she'll be long gone by now. Did you see how fast she made it to the fence? She was faster than even Lain." I didn't know who-or what-Lain was, but I didn't want to stick around to find out. I waited until I heard their voices fading and the door slam until I even took a deep breath. I sniffed the ground in search for my path home, but nothing smelled even romotely familiar. I sneezed out of anger. I had no idea where these people had taken me, but it wasn't anywhere near home. I picked a direction at random and silently padded through the underbrush until I was out of earshot, then I picked up speed and hoped for the best.