Cherry
The next week goes by in a bit of a blur.
My days are filled with running around the yard with the twins in wolf form while Bain watches from close by.
Then we go to the pond where they try to teach me to swim.
I can do a sloppy paddle now, but I don’t like my chances of swimming on my own any time soon.
I’m fed plenty of food, including lots of meat, more than I can ever finish.
I can already feel the difference in my body.
My energy and stamina are much higher than they’ve been since before I was taken.
Probably even better since I’m twenty-four now and no longer held back by the body of a fourteen-year-old.
I wonder how fast I am? It’s hard to go too fast in the yard, but I push myself harder and harder every day, determined to increase my speed.
The first couple of days living here, I was confused by what the guys did for a living. As a kid, even though we moved around, my parents were always able to find jobs to pay the bills. Even if that meant Scarlett had to homeschool Ruby and me instead of our mom sometimes.
But through some deductive reasoning and some comments I’ve picked up on, I believe that Gage does something online to make money.
I’m guessing it’s enough to support the entire pack since nobody seemed to leave for work outside of pack stuff.
I’m not sure if Gage is investing or running an actual business.
It’s hard to know how much time he spends on that versus researching, since he always has his nose in a book or a computer screen.
The guys have pieced together that I was being held captive, so Gage recently started to do a deep dive into anything human-run that’s against supernaturals.
Most humans don’t know we exist, so it’s not like you can just look at them easily, but Gage seems to have his ways.
He’d already looked into three different organizations.
Of course, without me being able to tell him details like what they were doing at the facility, what it looked like, how long I’d run before they found me, or even what state I’d been in, which I didn't know, it made it almost impossible.
Occasionally, he would ask me questions or show me pictures, but nothing had helped so far.
“Alright,” Maddox says as we finish breakfast. “It’s time to go.”
“I can’t believe we have to do this,” Chase grumbles as he pushes to his feet.
“We missed the last two pack runs. We can’t miss another one,” Maddox says, reminding me where we are going. A pack run. Not with the Silverstorm Pack like we’d done a couple of days ago, the only pack I considered myself a part of, but the Westgrove Pack.
A pack within a pack still didn’t make sense to me, and I got the impression it was extremely unusual.
The only reason they were able to do it is because Maddox is supposed to be running the Westgrove Pack and is letting his uncle do it instead.
He didn’t seem interested in it, which is why he formed his own mini pack of alphas within it.
And I believe Alpha Marcus Kane let him do it because he needs these five strong alphas in his pack.
Although Westgrove did have other alphas, my impression is that they aren’t as strong or powerful as my guys. I smile internally. My guys. My pack. Fated mates or not, I feel more at home here with these five than I’ve ever felt anywhere.
I haven’t had a nightmare about my time in the lab in two days, and when I do have one, someone is always there to wake me up and hold me, their presence reminding me I’m no longer there.
The fact that they could calm me down when they didn’t even know what was scaring me just made me feel even closer to them.
“Everyone sticks close to Red,” Maddox says as we step into the backyard. “Don’t let anyone else get close to her.” He looks at me, taking a knee as he asks, “You understand you need to stay with us at all times, for your safety?”
I press the top of my head into his hand, letting him scratch behind my ear as I lick his arm in confirmation.
“Good girl,” he says quietly before standing and pulling his T-shirt off. I step past him, putting them all at my back as I look out at the forest. The forest still gives me a mixture of hope and fear.
I’d spent two weeks out there with them without a single sign of Dr. J or any of his lackeys.
If they were going to find me there, it would have happened already.
Maybe they’ve given up the search. Maybe they never even tried to look for me.
Is it possible they thought I was dead? That when Thatcher stabbed me, he thought my body magically vanished?
Maddox’s wolf steps up to my side, his head rubbing against my neck.
His coat is a mixture of browns that remind me of his hair.
I can feel his wolf side pressing forward, excited to be here with me.
Even though I don’t feel a distinction between my wolf and human side, I can always feel the change in them.
Maddox’s wolf is a calm, solid, reassuring presence, like his human side. However, the protectiveness and dominance I feel from him in this form are more notable and seem to drive every action.
I can tell he’s protective of our entire pack of six, but when he’s in wolf form, his attention always seems to be on me. He’s constantly standing close to me, his side pressed to mine, just like it is now.
Bain’s blond wolf rubs his entire body along my side as he passes us to move in front, where he stares out at the forest. That was how Bain’s wolf normally reacts to me.
He likes to rub up against me, as if marking me with his scent, or maybe that’s just me hoping that's the reason for it.
Then he would move to silently stand watch.
I am desperate to get his wolf to play with me one of these days. So far, only the twins had run around with me, and I felt desperate to get the other three to wrestle and play tag with me too.
Gage’s black wolf comes up to stand on my right.
I only get to see him in this form when we go on pack runs.
He tends to be less touchy-feely than the others, and I’ve been wondering if that means he feels differently about me.
I have a feeling it’s just the way he is, but I often find myself craving more of him.
The others always find themselves in my bed at night, but I only find Gage there in the morning, as if he waits for me to fall asleep before coming in.
Of course, he’s always in his human form when he does make an appearance, and I wonder why. Does he not like being in wolf form?
I watch him as he looks forward into the forest. Something urges me to move closer to him. Maybe it’s my wolf side craving his? For once, I give in to the temptation as I take a step closer, gently bumping my head into his neck.
I pull back and wait for his reaction. He turns to look at me, but doesn’t react; he just stares at me. I tilt my head in question, wishing we had a pack bond together so we could speak. That would make all of this so much easier.
I’ve been wondering about that all week.
Chase told me that for him and Hunter, all it took was for Maddox to declare to their current alpha that they belonged to the Silverstorm Pack for their bond to snap into place.
Maddox had made the same declaration about me to Alpha Kane, so why am I not part of the pack bond yet?
It bothers me. Did Maddox not really mean those words? Or is it because he was supposed to say it to my previous alpha, and since I had been considered a rogue, a wolf without an alpha, it didn’t work?
I have no idea, but none of them have mentioned it either, so maybe this is normal and the twins' case was unusual?
Chase barks as he and Hunter run past us, nipping at each other’s legs. They are definitely more playful in their wolf forms, always up for a game. I appreciated that they didn’t treat me like I was on the verge of breaking and were happy to include me in their games.
Maddox lets out a chuff, then moves forward, leading us into the forest. They’d already informed me we were going to meet the rest of the pack in a clearing in the woods, as it was quicker than driving to Alpha Kane’s house. I appreciated that. The less time I spent at his place, the better.
Hunter follows Maddox and Chase moves to my left, with Gage ten feet to my right, swerving through the trees and Bain behind me.
We move at a light pace until the sound of other wolves howling and barking starts to reach my ears. My guys all move in closer, Chase’s shoulder bumping mine with each step, and I can practically feel Bain’s breath on my tail.
Nerves start to fill me at the thought of being around other wolves.
I’ve never even met any others before. When we enter the clearing, all the other wolves grow silent as they all look in our direction.
I feel everyone’s eyes on me as I try not to cower and instead hold my head high, reminding myself I have a right to be here too.
A large gray wolf steps into the center of the clearing. I can immediately tell it’s Alpha Kane. He looks down at me for a moment before glancing at the others. A slim, black wolf comes prancing up beside him, and something about her presence tells me this must be Juliet.
Slowly, she steps toward Maddox. Although he may be shorter than your average alpha in human form, his wolf form was almost as large as Bain’s, and he was larger than any other wolf here. Something I think her wolf appreciated, even if her human side was less than impressed with him.
Her tail swishes back and forth as she approaches him, and although I literally have no idea what is happening right now, a cold fury fills me. The need to keep her away from what is mine drives me forward as I quickly dart between Hunter and Maddox and snap at her legs.
She jumps backward, looking at me in shock and confusion as I position myself in front of Maddox and growl at her.