Chains

Chapter 12 - Recovering Strength

JaxonRegular meals, even if they were small, has been a great benefit in helping me gain back some of my strength. When we first arrived, I was so weak I didn't think I was going to survive very long. I still have a long way to go, but for now I'm able to keep pace with Lucy for longer runs each day. We've been out here for two months now, and I'm still incredibly skinny. It's going to take a long time before I'm even close to my weight from back when I turned 18. Every day I feel a little bit stronger, a little bit better and most importantly a little bit safer.

We're out hunting hares; Lucy spotted signs that there could be a fluffle here. We're in our wolf forms as that's better when we're hunting. We don't have any weapons to hunt with, and the wolves are natural hunters anyway. Not only my own strength, but regular meals have done wonders for Jake as well, he's strong enough now that he's completely healed the remaining bruises and wounds that I have had from all the abuse. I have scars that I'll have the rest of my life, both physical as well as mental, but that's to be expected after years of abuse. Jake loves being out and he's turning out to be quite good at catching small prey too. Even better than Shannon, Lucy's wolf. He's somewhat proud of that; rightly so.

Jake catches movement out of the corner of his eye, immediately bounding off after the quick hare that broke cover. The chase doesn't last long and Jake gives his head a quick shake to finish off the hare he's got by the neck. Shannon popped up with a hare in her jaws too. We were going to have a full meal each tonight.

Lucy

Jaxon's health is improving well out here in No Man's land. Even though he's two years older than me, he looks like he could be 14 or 15 instead of 22. That is physically; when you look into his eyes, sometimes you would think they were the eyes of someone much, much older. His eyes give away that he hasn't had it very easy in his life. I think his appearance may be to our advantage though. I've been thinking that we should head further East before too long; summer is nearly over and the weather is going to cool down a lot once fall begins, and we have to be gone well before winter. Even if Jaxon were in perfect health, he's not really suited to be outdoors in the winter. There are some small human towns and even a few cities to the East, and Jax needs more than what we've been able to catch and forage around here to complete his recovery.

I think it will be better if we try to pass him off as a young girl rather than a young boy. If alpha Pete hears about two young women travelling together, he might not be as suspicious as he would be if he heard about a young woman and a boy. We need to keep as low a profile as we can; even though where we're heading is far outside White River's territory. I'll talk to Jax about this, but I think he'll agree to it.

For now, we should find a place to rent in some town along the way. We can stay there for a while, and maybe find out what is happening at White River. If alpha isn't looking for us, then we can head to North Winds and mom and dad. If he is looking, we will just wait as long as we have to. I need to charge my phone too, even though there's no signal out here. Mom and dad are probably really worried about us; I'm sure that someone's told them that we're gone by now, they still have a lot of friends in White River.

I think we should leave within the next week. We're still too close to White River territory for my peace of mind and there's always a chance that someone might still find us. My nerves are always on edge, and I know that Jax feels the same way, he's still not sleeping well and that is affecting his recovery.

Jaxon

Lucy thinks we should leave soon. I don't mind, this place is just like any other to me, and we're still too close to our old pack. That has never been far from my thoughts. I think I might be able to breathe easier if we move on too.

"Lucy", I ask, "have you ever been to any of the towns that you told me about?"

"No, I haven't", she replied. "Some of the other scouts have though, and they told me that everyone there is really friendly. My only concern is that they're pretty small, and everybody knows everybody. It's a lot like how we all know pretty much everyone in our pack".

"Do you think we'll be safe there?" I asked.

"I hope so, Jax. I hope so." Was all she said.