I found Scott and Yuri sitting on the couch and fighting over the remote control for the TV. I couldn’t hear Matt’s heartbeat in the house. He was probably at the library or at that cafe I kept forgetting the name of. He liked studying there for some reason.

“Hey, how was work?” Yuri asked, laughing as he pushed Scott away, winning the remote.

“I need a hunt,” I said, the question clear in my eyes.

“Let’s go then,” Yuri smiled and threw the hard-won remote on the couch, jumping to his feet, quickly followed by Scott. As we walked into the forest I told them about my call with Daniel first. Scott wasn’t quite happy about me and Yuri going off to meet with a vampire but said he trusted me to deal with the guy. He offered to come aswell, which was nice of him, especially since I knew he was terrified of vampires. I decided to only take Yuri though. Someone had to watch over Matt. I didn’t like leaving him alone, even now my mind was full of worry.

Once that debate was over I told them about the loners I met. “Mass recruiting? Seems kinda risky,” Scott said as we walked deeper into the Ghealach territory forest.

“That’s what I thought.” I nodded.

Yuri thought about it with a grim expression on his face. “Do you think he’s planning to start a war?”

“You don’t actually think he wants to challenge Alistair? I mean numbers don’t matter when the Cŵn Annwn is unleashed.” Elliot wouldn’t be that stupid right? Especially when half his pack was made from untrained loners who had no idea how to fight in a pack.

“Maybe he’s still hoping you will join him. Then he could fight fire with fire…” Yuri suggested. Now that sounded like a disaster. One wolf with the Cŵn Annwn in their veins could destroy a whole town without a problem. Two of them? We could devastate the whole damn Alaska in a day if we lost control. I shuddered as cold claws of dread ran down my spine.

“We’ll see, I’ll try to get as much info from the three as possible. If they call…” I should’ve asked for their numbers instead. Damn it.

“We should also tell Alistair about this,” Scott said, then froze in place seemingly surprised.

“What?” Yuri asked, stopping aswell.

“I…” Scott looked up at me. “That’s the first time I said ‘Alistair’ not ‘Alpha’.”

Oh… For a second we all just stood there and looked at each other then as if on an invisible sign we just kept going. One problem at a time.

When we were some distance into the territory we started stripping. The snow felt cold under my bare feet and I shivered. It was still snowing. Thank the Gods for our wolves that kept us warm from the inside. We hid our clothes in the backpack Yuri brought.

“Come on! My feet are freezing off!” Scott complained and totally naked went on all fours in the snow. I and Yuri did the same. I called forth my wolf, grunting as pain shot into my spine and my body convulsed as it changed its shape. I let all my worries be pushed in the back of my mind as my wolf took over…

The black wolf got up and shook out his black fur, sniffing the air for any signs of prey. The other wolves were slower to get up, still undergoing the last parts of the shift. The black wolf sighed and closed his eyes, listening to the forest around. Somewhere out there an owl was hooting, mice and shrews scuttled through the undergrowth, their little paws almost soundless on the snow. Leaves in the trees rustled as more and more snow piled upon them, somewhere far away there were two wolves, running in the snow just like the three of them planned to.

A cold nose bumped his side, followed by a friendly whine. The black wolf opened his gray eyes, looking down at the small brown wolf with a white patch around his yellow eye. Scott, friend, pack. The brown wolf pushed his ears back and crouching low offered the more powerful wolf his throat. The submission pleased the black wolf and he licked Scott’s ear, wagging his tail happily.

The third wolf got up too, stretching his big body. His fur was gray while his eyes shone amber. This wolf was powerful and confident, looking the black wolf in the eye arrogantly. The black wolf growled, he knew though, that Yuri was his friend. It was just teasing. Yuri didn’t back off though, he growled back, baring his fangs. The black wolf lunged at him, rolling him into the snow. They both nipped and scratched at each other more playing than fighting. When they stopped the black wolf had the other one pinned under him. Yuri offered his throat immediately, the submission easy. The black wolf squeezed his throat in his jaws for a second, not enough to break the skin or hurt, just a friendly reminder of who was the more powerful one.

Soon Scott was whining and pushing between them, licking at their mouths, breaking the mock fight. The black wolf let Yuri get up, then shot into the forest at a run, leading the way. Both wolves followed obediently, trusting their leader.

They ran through the night-covered forest, playing, hunting small animals, enjoying life, and burning energy. The bond between them flared, singing pack, pack, pack. They turned their heads to the sky and howled, their voices in sync, complementing each other. Two other voices answered them, then even more, the forest full of werewolves.

They kept playing, rolling in the snow, yelping, and barking like puppies, feeling the forest around sing to them, warming up their paws with the feeling of home. When they finally got tired, they went back to the backpack and just lay down in one heap of fur, nuzzling and cleaning each other. Happy to just be together. Too bad they couldn’t stay careless forever…