Page 2 of Chase's Human Mate

The prospect of my father’s disappointment lessens its grip on me with each step we take further away from the West Coast pack territory. It’s not like him being disappointed in me is anything new. I’ve been hearing about it since I was a young boy.

Now, freeing myself from the shackles of not living up to his expectations feels better than I ever imagined it would have. The more distance I put between the two of us the lighter my heart becomes and the more gracefully I move through the shadows.

Isaiah, Ash, and I sit by a gurgling stream, each of us panting as the sky lightens around us and the sun begins to rise.

“This feels like a good place to set up camp for a little while. We can hunt and figure out our next moves. I’m starving and I think we’ve covered more than enough ground these past two days.” I say a little out of breath.

“I’ll say we’ve covered enough ground.” Isaiah grins as he leans back and closes his eyes.

“Can we hunt after a nap? I am hungry but I’m more exhausted than anything else and I don’t think I could catch a turtle right now if I needed too.” Ash begs.

My human legs feel stiff and my back aches. I can hardly keep my eyes open as it is. “Looks like Isaiah has a head start on that one.” I smile looking at Isaiah’s closed eyes.

Reaching into my rucksack I pull out some jerky that I brought with us and toss some over. Isaiah lifts his head and catches the jerky just in time to avoid getting hit in the face.

“Thank you, you’re a real-life saver,” Ash says smiling gratefully. Isaiah nods gratefully, ravenously chewing the dried venison.

Leaning back, I rest my head at the base of a tree, my eyes flutter closed before I can even finish eating my jerky.

When I wake up the sun is high in the bright blue sky, and it beats down hot against my skin. Sweat drips down my brow.

I prop myself up on my elbows and blink a few times trying to get my eyes to focus. Slowly my vision clears, and I take in my surroundings.

The stream we parked ourselves by sparkles with rays of light shimmering as they reflect off the water onto the closely packed tree trunks around us. Birds chirp loudly from the treetops.

Dark green moss covers the large grey rocks along the sides of the stream. This really is abeautiful place.My heart skips a beat, and a smile plays on my lips.

I can’t believe I’ve finally done it. I’ve gotten away from my father.Inside my chest my heart beats like a caged bird that’s finally escaped into the open sky.

Even the stiffness of my tired limbs is welcome under these circumstances. Ash’s mouth hangs open and Isaiah snores softly from the depths of his slumber. Reaching my arms above my head I stretch feeling my tight muscles struggle against my pull as I lengthen them.

I close my eyes for a moment and listen to the sounds in the forest. Little creatures scurry about in the underbrush and somewhere to the east in the distance I hear the tentative footsteps of a deer moving through the trees.

The loud growl of my stomach interrupts. It’s time to hunt.

Slowly I stand up. Pulling off my clothes and carefully tucking them into my rucksack, I flex my hearty muscles and roll my neck.

It’s time, I think, willing my body to contort and shift into my wolf form.

A subtle tingling begins in my fingertips. A gentle electricity courses through my veins as I close my eyes welcoming the strange sensations and the pain to come.

It’s much easier to shift when you surrender to these sensations rather than rage against them. I learned that the hard way.

My skin softens as though I am shedding the outer layers of my human flesh. Rippling across my body, a cascade of fur erupts from beneath my skin.

Bones creak as they elongate and adapt to the shape of my wolf. A shift is a transformation that merges two worlds.

Muscles ripple and contort over my bones redefining my physique. The air crackles around me as my transformation intensifies.

I can feel the sleek and powerful frame of my wolf emerging from within. My already enhanced senses heighten even more.

The world around me becomes sharper. The scent of pine and the damp earth near the stream fills my nostrils.

The distance trace of prey on the wind urges me to leap forward, hunt, and kill. My vision shifts and the colors around me are more vivid than ever.

With each passing moment, my humanity slips away replaced by the primal instincts of my wolf. My human is still there but it is as though my human is watching the world from the seats of a theatre rather than engaging with it in the present.

My paws scrape against the earth getting a feel for the land. Stretching out and bowing my head I prepare to pounce forward.

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