The Scarlet Hunter

Chapter 2-1

The house was quiet as she threw off her covers and placed her bare feet on the carpet. Isla had been staring at her phone, waiting for it to tell her it was five-thirty before she got out of bed. She wasn't going to go back to sleep, and if for some miraculous reason she was able to, she wouldn't wake up feeling any better at seven. She could pull a couple of things off her truck before training and see about getting a ride to town for parts that afternoon.

A few yoga poses woke up her body and her joints, and with the stretches came the rush of dread of being back here. Was she really back after all these years? Her stomach answered her with a wave of nausea to remind her that road trip snacks and anxiety should not be combined.

Better to skip breakfast than risk throwing up eggs at training. The goal is to slip in, stay quiet, and slip out at the end of summer. Re-introducing yourself back to your pack is best to do without bringing up your partially digested morning meal.

She grabbed the clothes closest to the top of her bag; gray sweat shorts, an orange sports bra, a white tank top, and some compression socks that went up to her knees. There were low-cut socks in there somewhere but spending the additional time in her high school room finding them wasn't worth it. The morning light added her juvenile décor to the list of things causing her agitation.

After French braiding her hair into two plaits on each side of her head, she grabbed her sneakers and keys and headed for the front door.

Once outside, she paused and looked over to where she felt something watching her last night. She sensed no such presence this morning. Under the brightening sky, she was able to see bushes where she had been looking at in the darkness of the evening before.

Isla jogged over to the area, sensing nothing and no one nearby. She crouched down and inhaled deeply through her nose. She could have shifted to her wolf form to pick up the scent possibly, but as it was, she didn't think there would be an identifiable amount left overnight. She surrendered the investigation and headed towards the curb in front of her house.

Popping the hood and looking around, she took inventory of her work. So much better than when she bought it. But with her budget and available time, it wasn't where she would like it to be. Hence the burnt oil and whining brakes.

With her back on the asphalt, she crab-walked under the engine compartment and confirmed the failed status of the valve cover gasket. Everything else was in order. It wouldn't be difficult to replace it on her particular truck, but it would take a lot of her time, and she would have to see if her dad had the tools needed to do the work.

She started reliving some of the events from her last semester while she got to work. Although she enjoyed thermodynamics, she found heat transfer tedious. She had studied enough and felt confident about her final, but she won't find out for another week.

Also, what was going on with Red Moon? The pack near her college seemed to be on edge. It was hard to tell since she wasn't a pack member, but maybe she should investigate it before she asks to join this year.

Suddenly her brother's voice filled her head; panic carried through. "Why aren't you here? Where are you?"

"I'm at the house. Where are you?" Isla answered him as she crawled out from under her truck. The sun was a lot further from the horizon than it should have been.

"I'm at the training arena. If you run, you can just barely make it. Hurry! Alpha Alec is here!"

"On my way."

Leaving her truck with the hood up and her rags and tools on the ground, she took off on foot towards the training arena. Her nerves got the best of her with thoughts of embarrassing herself and pissing off her new alpha. The run drained more of her energy than it should have.