Sly as a Fox {Book One}

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Run

verb

-move at a speed faster than a walk, never having both or all the feet on the ground at the same time

-pass or cause to pass quickly or smoothly in a particular direction

-extend or cause to extend in a particular direction

Willow

From the time I was just a kit, I learned to run away. When everyone is so much larger than you, running becomes the only thing you can do to defend yourself. After running to hide behind my brother for years upon years, it was only after I had to defend him that I stopped running. It had been a good few years since I had last backed down or run away from a confrontation, but I also knew when I was way in over my head; it wasn't like I could just start wailing on my mate like I could to any other "threat" I've faced.

I could feel my sneakers slipping on the dampness of the leaves as I burst through the treeline of the forest, barely stopping my momentum from taking me into the busy street. Serena jerked back from my sudden appearance and yanked out her earbuds; I knew then that she hadn't heard a thing and was completely unaware of what had just transpired not even fifty feet from where she had been standing. In a raspy voice, she shrieked, "The hell?! What're you-"

Without a moment's pause, I snatched her wrist and told her lowly, "C'mon, we're playing hooky at your place." I wasn't about to stop and divulge all of the dirty details of what had just happened right then and there. With all logic thrown out the window, the only thing on my mind was escape and her house was the closest "den" I could think of. I didn't even stop to consider that my mate could easily track my scent directly to her house and catch up to us.

I didn't realize it then, but he was inescapable, almost inevitable.

She tried to take her hand back from my grip, but failed when I grabbed on tighter and started to drag her behind me. "Whoa, Willow, what's goin' on? I mean, as much as I wanna skip school with you-"

"There's no time, please just come on, I-" The sound of heavy footfalls coming from the woods we met my ears and I visibly gulped.

My mate came into view through the trees not even a second later, waving his arm as he called out, "Hey, wait a minute!"

Shrinking back from his approach, I let go of Serena's hand and was more than ready to shrug off my backpack to start running again when Serena repeated my previous action and grabbed onto my upper arm with a death grip. "Who is that?" She asked with the slightest of growls edging her voice.

I couldn't answer her, mostly because I didn't want to say it aloud; I didn't want to admit it to myself.

My nameless mate jogged out from the trees and slowed his pace as he said with amusement, "Damn, you're fast." Without the light being obscured by the last few leaves clinging to life on their branches, I backed up as I fully absorbed his form. His dark gray shirt was loose on his middle, but his athletic build was still visible even as it was swallowed by the shirt. His arm muscles were thick with the evidence of an intense workout routine. The V-Neck of his shirt dipped down low enough to reveal a few of his chest hairs and the outline of his pectoral muscles. He had full, pink lips and a crooked, aquiline nose that somehow made him endearing. There was the dent of a scar underneath his eye and it made me wonder how many fights he had gotten himself into. His nearly black eyes were simultaneously both soft and hard as emotions danced behind the obvious guard he had built up. A few stray black curls damply fell onto his forehead, probably the result of a morning run as the rest of his long hair draped along his wide shoulders.