Wild Heart – Chapter 2
Derek was resting peacefully in a clearing near a stream. He was quiet, just feeling the breeze in his fur. He heard a thunder far away and lowered his ears. He would have to return to his lair soon, there was a storm coming on. The wind started to blew stronger and the wolf couldn't help to sniff the wind. He liked to sniff the wind at times like this, before a storm. The wind brought all the scents of the woods and it was comforting somehow. Trees, grass, squirrels, rain and ... human. Human? He straightened and sniffed the air again to make sure that his nose was not fooling him.
That was the distinctive smell of a human: sweat, soap, clothes softener, salt and all the other things that composed the human scent, a scent which Derek hated. It was a male, he could smell the musky, different from females whom had floral smell. There was a note of something else on that smell, though, something that Derek could not put a finger on what it was. But it honestly didn't matter, he was a human anyway, therefore, he was dangerous. Immediately, the fur on his back raised and he started growling because humans could only mean one thing: threat. The wolf inside of him rose in his paws while a thunder rumbled. He bared his fangs.
"Human. Threat. Get rid of him." His wolf told him.
Derek was not human. He had never been.
He vaguely remembered a day when he have been something who looked like one, but that was a long time ago, before the Fire. Humans were worthless, humans were cruel, even more cruel than the monster that was Derek, but he could do nothing about it because it was in his blood to be a monster. He was born more wolf than human, even for someone of his kind.
He ran quickly through the forest, searching, chasing the human who dared to break into his territory. He was used to the smell of humans on Preserve during the day, but they were harmless childrens in most. However, when he smelled it at night, this could only mean one thing: Hunters.
The smell was coming from the old trial, the human was coming towards the House, so he was probably a hunter. It has been a while since they came to disturb him in his territory and he thought he would be free of this plague, but no. They always found him.
Derek had learned long ago that humans were menacing, that humans had only the desire to do harm to his kind and they would kill him if they had a chance. He felt in his own skin the harm that humans could cause. His family, his pack, dead. All of them dead but him. All because he had trusted a human. He would never make that mistake again.
He would get rid of the human.
It did not take long for him to reach the trail, after all, he knew all the forest paths and shortcuts like the back of his hand. Following the smell was not too difficult, since it was a smell that stood out in the woods when so few people dared to enter in his territory. As he approached, he could notice the hint of that something else on the human's smell getting stronger, but he had no idea what it was yet. Stealthily he approached and hid among the trees, lurking. Soon the human showed himself in his field of vision, walking on the trail. He wore a red hoodie and had a flashlight in his hand. Low guard, unprepared, pathetic. He was ... he was singing ? If he was a Hunter, he should have learned a few things about prudence before entering the territory of a predator. Hunters should be silent, they should be like ghosts, get into the forest without being noticed to make their traps, those filth pieces made with wolfsbane, made to hurt and - with any luck - to kill. Or maybe that was his intention, maybe he wanted to lure him to kill him face to face. It had happened before. Not that it would work for the stupid human, but Derek prefered when the hunters gave up of that low blow to endure a 'fair' fight. That was better than being stuck in a trap in the woods and bleed to death.
He sniffed the air and did not noticed other human than that one. He was alone. Ah, this human should find himself so strong, he should find himself so special to come alone into the forest. Did he really thought he could handle it?
He moved closer and the human noticed his presence, staying still.
Derek growled. He came out of the trees and approached the human from behind, watching as he was paralyzed by fear. Through this distance, he could hear the human's heart hammering inside his chest and he could smell his fear. The Hunter was terrified. He was pleased with that, but now that Derek was this close to the human, the smell that was intriguing him was more poignant. But he still could not identify what it was like, he only knew that now that he was close to the human, his scent was... good.
"Wait, his scent, he is..." The wolf inside him said.
No. He was wrong. He hated the smell of humans. Humans brought death and destruction to its kind. He spent all these years fearing and hating that smell, learning to identify it so he could flight or fight, however, the scent coming from this boy made him feel weird.
He shook his head. That could not be possible. That should be a ruse to lure him. He definitely had to get rid of the human. To emphasize that he was not kidding, Derek growled, trying to look as menacing as possible and it was then that the boy ran away. Wait a minute, he ran away? Shouldn't he try to attack him? Strange.
But Derek did not have time to be pondering on this, he had to reach the human. He began to chase him through the woods, listening for any sound that would indicate that there were other people there. There weren't, the human was really alone. He chased him until he saw the hunter pathetically hiding behind a tree. "For Gods sake !" Derek snorted. "As I couldn't tell he's there. What kind of training did he had?". Patiently he waited until the hunter came out of his hiding place and only then Derek took a good look at his face and all his menacing pose melted like sugar in a pan.
"He is ..." his wolf tried to say but Derek stopped him.
Damn, he was a kid! A fucking kid! Derek could see his big brown eyes, wide frightened eyes. He should have something between sixteen and seventeen years old, his face was still smooth. He must have never shaved his face. The hunters were recruiting children now? He could smell his fear. He had bare hands, no weapons, he could only be a bait. Derek felt so angry. Then the most unexpected thing happened. He heard the boy's heart skip a beat to beat in the same rhythm as his.
"He is ..." Derek sniffed the air again. "He is ..." Derek heard his wolf start to purr and, who would say, he begun to purring along with it. He did not shut his wolf when it said what he was trying to say from the begining.
"He's my mate."
He saw the boy say something, but he heard nothing, he was still in shock with the realization that he just had. This could not be possible. That was not right. Suddenly he felt the rage be drained of him. Suddenly he felt no desire to hurt him the way he felt a few minutes ago. He felt something totally different. He felt calm, he felt something inside him, he felt warm and ... complete, as as though there was a part of him that was missing before, and he was complete now.
He saw the boy take a step back, snapping him out of his reverie. His wolf whimpered. No, he could not run away now, not yet. Derek stepped forward to stop him from running away, but then he remembered he was in his wolf form, and that should probably be scaring the hell out of him now. He took another step forward and saw the boy take another step back. 'Damn!'
He had no idea what he supposed do now, he was totally confused, the scent of the boy was confusing him. If he was in his human form now, he would be with a outstretched hand towards him, with a stupid puppy face pleading 'don't go !'.
The boy looked absolutely scared and he wanted to do something to soothe him. It was then when he saw the boy stumble on a root and fall.
"No." his wolf said. "Something's wrong, he's not moving."
Derek smelled blood. The blood of his mate. "No. No. No." He had to do something. Derek had only a second to decide. He focused on the shifting for a few seconds and the fur, the claws and the fangs were not there anymore, he stood on two legs, swaying a little because of the lack of use. He leaned against a tree for a moment to regain his balance and stepped toward the boy. He walked on two legs for the first time in a long time. He was naked, of course, wolves do not wear clothes, and he could see that his body was quite different from the body that he had before choosing to live in his wolf form full time. He was just a teenager at the time. Now he could see how his shoulders were broad, he was taller and his body looked much more muscular than the body of a teenage boy. He ran a hand across his face and felt the stubble on his jaw. He mused he would have a fright if he saw himself in the mirror.
Putting these thoughts aside, he had to focus on the fallen boy in front of him. He approached the boy and knelt beside him. He leaned over him and saw that he had opened his eyes and for a moment the two stared at each other. For a moment Derek studied the delicate lines of the boy's face. He was beautiful, with brown eyes and pale skin. He couldn't help it, it was something totally connected to his instinct. He leaned over on top of him, his nose almost touching the skin of the boy's neck, and Derek inhaled. He almost groaned. There was no doubt, that kid was really his mate. At that moment Derek felt a wave of protectiveness hit him.
"Take care of him, protect him, take him to somewhere safe. Protect him, protect the mate. "
Derek pulled away just enough to look again at the boy's eyes, but they were closed. He gently held his head and felt his hands get wet. The boy had hit his head on a stone and the cut bled. Even more carefully, he settled the boy's head on his bare chest. He held him and lifted him off the ground, carrying him bridal style through the forest. There was a safe place where he could take him and Derek just hoped to get there before the rain.