Faze

Chapter 10: Packhouse

Chapter Ten

Sunny ran through the woods like his life depended on it, and it did. He kicked balls of dirt from under his feet and pushed long thin tree branches out of his way. Leland chased him but Sunny kept a good distance from him. His lungs burned with each heavy breath he took and he sweated from fear. He feared that Leland would turn back into the big brown wolf with golden eyes that reflected the sun. A part of him wished that curiosity didn't eat him alive. Was finding out the little town's secret a bad thing? People could turn into wolves.

He let out a shudder for a breath and he felt like his skin was crawling from nerves. He stopped running once the footsteps behind him came to a sudden halt. Sunny turned and matched Leland's lack of movement. He looked into his plain brown eyes and wondered why the gold was no longer in them, and wondered why they were instead layered with fear.

"Sunny, I," Leland tried but it was like his voice was stolen from him. He stared at Sunny and tried to figure him out. He frowned like he hadn't seen before. Was he angry? Scared? Disappointed? "Don't run anymore, we can talk this out."

Sunny shook his head and let out a long breath, "I would be one stupid person if I listened to you after what I just saw."

His eyes softened and he took a step towards Sunny who instantly took one back. Leland didn't move again, like there was a secret line he wasn't supposed to pass and unfortunately, Sunny was on the other side of it. "I'm not going to hurt you," he sighed. "The other packs might, but not mine and not me. Never. I would never hurt you."

Sunny raised his eyebrows, his blue eyes shining once they widened, "packs? So you have a name you call yourselves too. That must mean the rumors are true. Does everyone really know, is that why they all call you freaks? I seem to be the only one then."

Leland looked to the ground and then back to Sunny's blue eyes. His own dimmed. "No one knows. They just get the vibe that there is something weird about us, and I guess they're right but we're not freaks, don't say that."

Sunny then laughed, as he does when he's nervous, "You turned from wolf to human, Leland, that's the freakiest thing I have ever seen!"

A shadow of gold lined across Leland's eyes for a second, "Sunny please, we can talk about this. It's okay to be scared or confused but I promise you that I'm not going to hurt you, and neither is anyone in my community. It will be okay."

Sunny shook his head and began walking away, "I'm not talking to you ever again."

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Mackie stood in front of what Zephan called a packhouse. It was a large wooden cabin that looked like it could hold a couple of families. Mackie wondered why they lived so deep in the woods and why his house was so big. His nerves took over his questions and he remembered why he was there in the first place.

"Let's go," Zephan gently nudged Mackie towards the back door of the packhouse. Mackie dug his heels into the ground and Zephan draped his arm along his shoulders as a sign of comfort. He was trying to get Mackie to trust him. "It won't be that bad. We will just talk and then you can go home."

Mackie shook his head, "How am I supposed to know that you aren't going to kidnap me? After what I saw... I mean what I didn't see, I didn't see anything."

Zephan nudged his arm again and without surprise, Mackie refused to move. "I understand if you're scared but nothing bad is going to happen. You just have to talk to my parents and everything will be okay," Zephan said, his voice soft.

Mackie shook his head and when he refused to move another time, Zephan surprised him by picking him up over his shoulder. "Hey, let me go!"

Zephan didn't respond as he carried Mackie inside his home like he weighed nothing, just a feather for weight. Even when Mackie smacked his back and wailed his arms, Zephan's hold did change, and not once did he look like he was struggling.