Hunted
11

"Lexi!" My mom called, snapping me from a daze.

I shook my head and blinked, adjusting my eyes as she slid a plate of pancakes across the counter. I sat up, grabbing a fork and mumbling a thank you.

"Are you okay, sweetie?"

I gave her a questioning look. "Yeah. Why?"

She shrugged and turned back to flipping more pancakes. "You just seem. . . down I guess. Is there something you want to talk about? Does it have to do with why Kaden never comes around anymore?"

"Mom!" I groaned. "I've told you not to ask about my love life!"

She rolled her eyes. "Sorry! I've just noticed some changes and wanted to make sure you were okay."

I took a bite, "well, I'm fine. Thanks."

She leaned across the counter a little. "Hmm. Well if it's not about Kaden, is it about that wolf you found a few weeks ago?"

I sighed, "again, I'm fine. . ."

"But. . ." Mom encouraged.

I let out a long breath, setting down my fork. "But, I am worried about him. It's been nearly three weeks since we found him! He seems to be healing all right, but Dad won't let us release him." I still haven't told her about the wolf being Austin Ashford, and I don't plan to. She'd never understand. It was my secret.

Mom gave me a small smile. "Your father is an excellent vet, Lexi. Just trust him, okay?"

I nodded and wolfed down the rest of my breakfast. I pushed the cleared plate back to my mom and stood up. "Thanks for the food, but now it's the animals' turn."

Mom smiled and put my plate in the sink. "I'll leave you to do that; I'm going to run to the store soon, okay?"

I smiled back and gave her a nod and headed outside. I crossed the spongey lawn with Fleur at my heels. I quickly unlocked the shed and walked inside where we keep a mini fridge loaded with meat chunks. I dumped a bunch into a clean bucket and carried it around the side to the wolf pen.

"Hey guys!" I called.

Austin immediately sprung up, his ears and tail pointed tall. He trotted to the edge of the pen and sat down neatly.

I grinned, especially when I noticed his injured leg wasn't even injured anymore. Everything was healed up nicely, thanks to my dad and probably a little bit of wild werewolf abilities that I'm not sure I'll ever understand.

Fleur barked at him from her spot next to me and he barked right back. The retriever froze and slowly sat on her haunches, glancing up at me with a horrified look in her eyes.

I laughed, "Did he just order you around?" She just stared at me with unblinking hazel eyes. "Good, that'll teach you to mess with my wolves!" She gave me a little whine through her teeth, making me giggle.

I slowly unlocked the pen gate and Austin stood up, wagging his tail excitedly. I glanced back at Fleur. "Stay!" I told her and swung the gate open, quickly entering the pen.

Mom and Dad told me to never go inside the wolf pen but I've decided not to listen. Yes, I knew it could one day get myself hurt, but with these two, my chances of that were pretty low.

The first wolf always stayed in the back corner, its head down and tail tucked. I was surprised it even eats the meat I throw. I wasn't sure what was wrong with it, so I was hoping Austin might have figured it out. I wouldn't know until he shifted back, though.

And with him, I definitely knew he'd never hurt me. He never told me directly before he shifted, but I could see it in his eyes: he loved me. And whether it was a brotherly love or a romantic kind of love, I wasn't sure; I just knew it was there. Although my heart is betting on the romantic type because of everything that happened with him getting Kaden to break up with me. My head however contradicts that theory and tells me it could never happen.

And this might sound incredibly strange, but over the past few weeks, I had been falling for him. Even though he had been a wolf the entire time, I could see so much emotion in his eyes and how excited he got every time he saw me. And it was more than how Fleur gets when I come home from school. In Austin, I could see his human side flowing through, showing me his personality in pieces; giving me more than the cold, distant, and guarded boy from school I had once known.

A snort from in front of me brought me from my thoughts. I smiled down at the auburn wolf "Sorry, I tend to daydream."

Austin wagged his tail at me and snorted again. I could've sworn he was giving me a wolfy grin.

I stuck my hand in the bucket of meat chunks and sighed, pulling out a handful. "I wish I could give you real food, but this is all I've got until you shift back." He cocked just head at me, his eyes asking a question, and one I understood. I hoped at least. "What? I've been researching okay?" Austin narrowed his eyes and let out a small growl. I tilted my head back, my face towards the sky, in a dramatic sigh. "Okay fine!" I suspired, "I'll stop; you can explain everything to me when you're back to being human, okay?"

He wagged his tail and straightened up. I tossed the meat on the ground and he gobbled it up quick. I turned my attention to the other wolf.

"What about you?" I called. Austin lifted his head and looked at it too. "Are you hungry?"

The wolf barely gave me a glance and I sighed, getting discouraged. Austin growled at it and walked over. This got the biggest reaction I've ever seen from it.

The wolf snapped its head up and snarled at Austin. And then it focused on me and bared its teeth.

I widened my eyes and took a step back. "Okay, maybe I should've stayed outside the gate."

Austin bounded over and took a stance in front of me. He growled back at the wolf and it halted, raising its brows. It's dark eyes flicked from me to Austin and back again.

I held my breath, my eyes wide and my feet poised to run. But then it surprised me by letting out a sound that kind of sounded like a laugh, as if something clicked in its brain and it knew something I didn't. What in the world?

And then a thought clicked in my own brain. Was this wolf a shifter too? Was it just like Austin, maybe even from the same pack?

I didn't have much time to dwell on that thought, though, because a familiar figure stepped out into my yard from the side of my house.

Austin barked and I waved. But I didn't dare call to her because I didn't want to startle the wolf.

Kaitlyn crossed the yard, seeming to understand the situation and stopped at the gate. "Hey, Lex! What are you doing with Aus- I mean the wolves?"

I gave her a strange look, and my heart skipped a beat for a second. Did she know? It sounded like she was going to say Austin. But that's crazy right? I honestly wasn't sure what to think anymore. "Feeding them?" I answered.

"Ah." She tilted her head and looked right at Austin. "What's wrong with that one? I don't remember him."

"He's okay now. A few weeks ago he got shot in the leg by some crazy guy in the woods."

Kate widened her eyes and gave Austin a weird look as if she was trying to communicate silently with him. "Really? Strange. Well, I -" she cut herself off, freezing and looking past us and at the trees lining my property.

"Kate?" I ask slowly.

"Um, who are they?"

"Who?" I whirl around to find two men crossing the yard from the trees. They were actually quite close to the pen. What stopped my breath though, was the fact they both were carrying guns. "Uhh Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"Should we run?"

She didn't answer though when something whizzed past my ear and hit the shed wall. I whirled around and spotted a dart sticking out of the wood wall of the shed. "Tranquilizers?"

"Step away from the wolves, little girl!" One of them called. They were much closer now.

I didn't move, fear rooted me to the ground.

Austin snarled at the men and back up into me. I knew he was protecting me. What surprised me, though, and also made me extremely happy, was the fact that the other wolf also turned around and growled at them. I think it was also loyal to me in its own way.

"No." I told them sharply. "This is my house and my yard, so technically you are trespassing!" I sounded much braver than I felt.

"Lexi, maybe we should go. I don't like this." Kate warned from behind me.

The man looked between me, the wolves, and my best friend. He glanced at his partner, "She's with a whole bunch of them. Are you sure this one's human?"

"Thought so." The other man grunted and shrugged.

"Might as well get her too."

Now I was really confused. But I didn't have time to think about it when I felt a sharp prick on my arm.

A lot of things happened at once: I yelped in pain, which set Austin off in a rage at the men, which riled the other wolf up, which made me scream and jump back. I turned to look at Kaitlyn, but that just made me more horrified.

I watched her quickly transform into a beautiful white wolf — suspiciously one that looked just like one of the wolves that saved me in the woods a few weeks ago. She jumped the fence and then the tranquilizer effects hit me and everything went dark.