Chase the Moon (On Hold)

Four

The scent of human lingered in the breeze and my wolf was immediately drawn to it.

My claws dug into the hard earth as my wolf trotted onward, following the invisible trail of a lost hunter. I urged my wolf to leave him be, but it was curious as to who would dare wander into our territory.

Knowing my influence would be best spent when we arrived at the scene, I relaxed my mind and let my wolf lead the way.

It didn't take long for us to catch up to the man. Thankfully, my wolf decided to keep to the shadows and observe for a while.

He looked to be in his sixties, a bit of grey scruff covering his chin. His grey hair was tucked under an orange cap and he wore a vest to match it. Camouflaged sleeves protruded from beneath the vest and a pair of patched jeans covered his lower half.

He sat on a log with a rifle perched beside him. A camouflaged pack rested at his feet.

With his hand perched on his chin, the hunter stared thoughtfully into the fire blazing before him. Shadows danced in the light of the flames, deepening the darkness and bringing color into the once silver night.

My wolf was on edge. He hated fire, and on top of that, there was an unknown man within the vicinity of the pack. If he discovered our kind, all hell would break loose.

As we watched, the man stood and added another log to the fire. My wolf was tensed and ready to attack at any moment. I did my best to calm him down.

It was not easy, but I was able to contain my wolf and its appetite until the early hours of the morning. Once the Goddess was satisfied with the amount of time my wolf was given, I wasted no time in shifting back. 

The shift was always meant to punish the human, not the wolf, so the change back was quick and painless. The only problem now was that I was stark naked in the middle of the woods with a hunter sitting only a short distance away.

I quickly hid behind a tree and mentally cursed myself when I stepped on a twig. The hunter turned his head at the sound and reached for his gun. He was on high alert as he stood and slowly walked in my direction. 

"Who's there?" he called into the darkness.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir," I said after a moment, poking my head out from behind the tree, "But I saw your light." 

He squinted at me and took a step closer, lowering his gun , "Are you wearing any clothes?"

I gave him a small smile, "It's been a rough night."

It was no lie. It has been a rough night, just not the kind that I'm insinuating.

The man chuckled as he lowered his gun completely. He turned back to his bag and dug around in it for a bit. Much to my relief, he pulled out a pair of pants, "Here," he tossed them to me. I could already smell the metallic stench of blood, "Wore those when we were butchering a deer yesterday, sorry for the mess." 

"It's okay," I chuckled a little as I put them on. They were a bit big on me and still damp and sticky with blood, but I'm not one to complain too much. Though the smell was a bit distracting. I buttoned up and stepped out from behind the tree, "Thanks."

He smiled and took his seat on the log once more gesturing for me to do the same.

I sat across from him, the dancing fire blazing between us.

"I'm Mark, by the way," I introduced myself. The man looked up and smiled.

"Rick," he said sticking out his hand. I accepted the shake with a grin, "You know, he squinted at me curiously, "You remind me a lot of my son."

I chuckled, "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

There was a mischievous glint in the man's eyes, "It could go either way."

I laughed and turned my attention back to the flames.

"So I'm going to assume you're a hunter then?" I broke the silence after a while.

"Yeah," he replied, "Wasn't really planning on spending the night, but some of my dogs took off and I'm still trying to track them down."

I frowned and inhaled, subtly searching for the scent, "You said you're hunting deer, right?"

"Yeah," he confirmed even though I was already picturing the trail.

"What kind of dogs were they?"

"A blue tick and a beagle," he replied.

"I think I saw them down by the river," I offered, even though I haven't been anywhere near the river lately. That's where their scent was lingering.

Rick frowned and nodded his head, "Thanks."

"No problem," I said as I stood. The sun was starting to peek over the horizon, "I should probably get going."

"You can keep the pants," he chuckled, also standing.

"Thanks." I smiled before sticking out my hand again, "It was a pleasure to meet you, sir. Good luck finding your dogs."

He nodded and shook my hand one more time, "And good luck with whatever you've gotten yourself into," he said with a gesture at my naked torso.

I chuckled and nodded again before stalking off into the woods, waving at the hunter as he disappeared from view.

I'm glad my wolf didn't attack him, he was a nice guy.