Raised By Wolves

Chapter Thirty One | The Way Back

It was the steady hoo-hoo of an owl that woke May. Again and again the creature made the sound, and every time she settled back to sleep the stupid bird would begin again. With a groan, she stood and of course Caleb woke them; head instantly up, ears alert as he growled with an instant warning to whatever disturbed them. In the dark, he could faintly see May's outline as she neared the opening to their den, his growl disappearing into a yawn as he sleepily blinked before getting up to follow her as she slipped outside into the cold. Their breath billowed up into the night, as May looked up into the trees to find the offender while Caleb yawned again. Clearly nothing was wrong, not in the way that required him to get up, but despite their reunion and the three days since then, he was still paranoid she'd run away again. He wasn't taking any chances.

Running away was the last thing on May's mind as again the hoo-hoo rang out. It was like needing to turn off the alarm when it was on the other side of the room and now she was out of her warm bed, and unable to find it. Growling in sheer frustration, she raised her nose up to try and work out where the stupid bird was when instead the faint squeak of a mouse had her head snapping to the left and sure enough, the graceful figure of the owl swooped low and fast, picking the rodent up and away. May snorted, annoyed it wasn't the owl she snatching up as a midnight snack, but she was hopeful that was the end of that.

Caleb nipped her shoulder and shadowed May back beneath the ground before the duo curled up against one another. His head rested on top of hers as she squirmed to get closer against him and with a content sigh the duo fell back into an undisturbed slumber until dawn. Then it was Caleb who was up first, taking his time as he went back out. Stretching his back legs one at a time, he bowed down and stretched the front before yawning loudly. Wolf or human, the ability to sleep in hadn't been forgotten and glancing towards the den opening, he wondered if May would come out. Briskly shaking his coat he moved around the tree that sheltered them and whose roots they had made home within before poking his head back in just as she sleepily started to come out. He licked her muzzle, her nose and just above her eye before shuffling back so she could join him.

After stretching, May shifted and in all her naked glory, stretched again as Caleb changed to do the same.

"Breakfast?" He asked easily, like two people living as wolves was the most natural thing in the world. What would they do now, have a lazy morning in bed with a stack of pancakes, go out to a cafe or how about find a rabbit or two to prey on. Yes, life was full of tough decisions.

"I have an owl in mind." May grinned, her whole face lighting up.

"Oh, is that what that was about?" Caleb smiled back, enjoying all of this. Them. Whatever life they chose to live together.

The real world seemed exist in another dimension, where people lived, drove cars - had jobs and went to school. They lived busy, stressed existences full of responsibility and duty, and rules. There was hate, cruelty and pain. News of people killing each other for a few dollars, car accidents and disasters. None of that mattered to them anymore. They hadn't discussed it, it just happened. This was their world now. There was only them, and love and nature. Perhaps it was purely denial, or they had lost their minds - it didn't matter. They were happy, together and both felt a peace they hadn't had for what seemed like an eternity because of it. After the night of their reunion they ended up taking a shelter in the rocks and since it wasn't practical to be human, they shifted and apart from brief moments like this, they stayed in their fur.

He moved closer to her and May didn't shy away as his arms went around her body. His nose against her neck, Caleb breathed in her scent before kissing her jaw, her cheek, her forehead then nose before settling on his lips. The feeling of her smile against him made him feel on top of the world before suddenly she was gone, and her giggle disappeared as she took off at a trot back as her wolf. Caleb sighed, before shifting too and chasing after the pair started a game of chase until they hit the river. They weren't alone, one of the wild packs were further upstream and seeing the pair they were quick to join them. And that was how the day was spent, playing and lazing around with the wolves, who didn't hold the same kind of bulk and condition as their shifter companions. May knew it was part of nature, the winters were always hard on the animals, but a few of last spring's pups were a little slow and weak, she tried to help how she could. Fish were caught in human form, creating semi-blunt spears and despite the freezing water - she made sure all were well fed.