Our extended Christmas break is over and she wants me to practice scent identification every day. I am getting pretty good at it, so good in fact, I can smell the person when they walk in the room. When you’re in school with so many people all of the time, their scent sort of lingers in every room but each day a person’s scent can be altered. If they stopped at the 7-11 on the way to school it might smell like hot dogs or gasoline, if their mom hugs them I can smell her. I am getting a good idea about who is dating whom and who is cheating. I have imprinted so many scents into my brain and I’m amazed how photographic my memory is over smells. Oakley told me that it was unbelievable how well I am doing. Some wolves spend years learning how to recognize scents.
Saturday morning the doorbell rings as I’m walking past the front door.
“Hey Oak, where’s Pru?” I don’t know why, but I feel a little stressed. I can feel Oakley is nervous and I can smell Pru on him.
“Get your tennis shoes on and tell your mom you’ll be back before dinner.” I see he has his running shoes on and is dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. He smells like he has been outside all night.
“Where’re we going?” I ask.
“Don’t worry about it, just hurry up ok,” he says as he puts a toothpick in his mouth.
My mom came outside and I tell her I am going out with Oakley for a while. I can see she appreciates his obvious good looks. Kinda creepy, but whatever.
“See ya later mom, I love you. Before you ask, I will be home for dinner.” I open up the passenger door and get a huge whiff of Pru. Something is up.
“You wanna have dinner with us Oakley?” Mom asks. I see the disappointment when he tells her not tonight and thanks her for asking.
We drive in silence, no music or talking, just silence. We’d been on I-40 for about 10 minutes and I can’t take it anymore.
“What’s going on Oak? Where’s Pru? I can smell her in here and I smell her on you. Has something happened to her?”
“Man it takes you a long time to ask questions. This is a task and that is about all I can say. Sit back, relax, we’ll be there in about 20 minutes. We can’t have music on, I need you to clear your head. Try to focus on Pru, what she looks like, what she smells like, what she sounds like. Try to eliminate everything else, and think of only her.”
“Um, okay.”
I sit there, thinking of her and her hair, I love her hair. I think about her body, not sexually, how I like the way she is curvy and how she moves so gracefully. When she walks, you can’t hear her feet touch the floor. When she talks, her eyebrows move with so much expression. When she is teaching, she is so focused, when she is happy, she smiles and giggles. Pru isn’t perfect, but pretty close. I hear her voice in my head, that deep sexy tone, the way she says my name, it sends chills down my spine.
“You know, I don’t understand why I have to obey just because you guys tell me to.”
“Don’t worry, soon you won’t have that to worry about. Stay focused and stop talking.”
“You’re aggravating sometimes. And bossy. Have I told you I think you and Pru are bossy? You are.” I play punch him in the arm and he pretends it hurt and I go back to thinking about Pru.
We pull off I-40 at some exit I have never heard of. We are about five miles from the exit when we pull onto a dirt road, which isn’t very good for the Camero. I feel the suspension getting a work out as we hit crater after crater. Pru is going to whip his ass when she gets a hold of him if her car is messed up. The trees start getting thicker and thicker until we are in the woods with nothing else in sight. I don’t even think we passed a house since getting off the highway.
After we stop, Oakley gets out and tells me to follow him.
“Hey, Abel. Thanks for not giving me too much grief over this. I’m sure it’s hard being told what to do all of the time, but I think you’re a pretty cool dude. I’m not just sayin’ that because you’re my soon to be Alpha, I really mean it.” He says as he puts the keys in his pocket.
“Yeah, no problem,” I say, looking around taking in my surroundings.
“The General got a call last night and it has the Pack a little nervous. I don’t know if they’ve talked to you about the Irish Pack, the O’Connell’s, but their Alpha is on his way to Oklahoma. He will be here in five days. I guess there have been some rumors about you going around and he wants to come here and meet you to discuss your Pack pledge issue.”
“First, I don’t know why they have to come in person, couldn’t we just do it online? I don’t plan on leaving you guys anyway, so he is wasting his money.”
“You’re The Great Wolf, that’s why. Our history goes back to Ireland, we are all descendants of the Irish Pack. I’ve never been good at genealogy, but I know that we are all linked. I think he is worried about you taking over all of the Packs and causing an uproar. About two weeks ago we sent one of our guys Matt to England for a wedding. He went out drinking and started running his mouth about you, and how Pru had these visions but you haven’t even shifted yet. They want to take you to Ireland to train with them. The General wants to make sure that you aren’t strong armed into pledging to them, it is up to you, and you need to be educated and able to protect yourself. There have always been rumors about how the Irish Pack wants to put together an army of elite wolves. You’d be a trophy for them until you change, and then he’d probably try to kill you to keep you from becoming their Alpha. We have to speed up some of your training to assure them that we are training you the best way and that even if you haven’t changed, you belong here.”
“Wow, I’m not going with anyone. They may as well just call this guy and tell him not to bother; it will be a wasted trip.” I feel my conviction but I’m scared.
“Good. That is the attitude you have to keep. Now we train. Pru is in these woods, you have to find her. There are two other members here too, they were dropped off so you wouldn’t smell their car and know who it is. They will shift back to human form once you spot them and call out their name, correctly. This is a timed exercise. You have one hour to find her. Even if you don’t find them, the exercise is to find her, but there is a bonus if you find all three. Trust me, you’ll want to find them all. I will be within shouting distance the whole time, so if you get into any trouble I’m here. Ready? Doesn’t matter if you are or not. Go!”
“What the hell? You’re telling me to go find three wolves and I don’t know who two of them are?” I look around into the woods, I think I hear someone cough straight ahead.
“You just going to stand there and whine? Go! Now!” Oakley demands.
So the next thing I know I am running through the woods trying to find three wolves. Oakley shouts out for me to focus on her scent and try to figure out who else is out here. Fan freakin’ tastic.
I freeze, kneel down and sniff. I smell someone. I know I know that smell. I just breathe deeper and realize it is Aaron. I run through the trees stopping every so often to sniff. I feel eyes on me so I turn around to look up and on a big boulder is a reddish wolf staring at me.
“Aaron! I found Aaron!” I shout as loud as I can. Oakley said he would be in shouting distance but I haven’t seen him one time. I haven’t heard him either. Right then the good old Oklahoma wind kicks up and I catch a stream of Pru’s scent. I run as fast as I can, finally when I think my lungs are going to explode, I spot her.
“Pru! Hell yeah! Pru!” She sure doesn’t look like a wolf to me. She has on gym shorts and a tank top. I run over to her, pick her up and swing her around.
“I knew you could do it. You still have one more to find. I’ll meet you back where you started. Good luck friend.” And off she runs.
It is another fifteen minutes before I pick up another scent. I smell Parker.
“Ah ha! It’s Parker I’m looking for! Come out come out wherever you are.”
“Take a better whiff, it isn’t Parker,” Oakley said r
ight behind me.
“Dude you scared the crap out of me. I know what I smell, and Parker is here.”
He takes a deep breath and he agrees with me that Parker has indeed been in the woods but he isn’t who I am looking for. I jog through the woods zig zagging around until finally I am about to give up when I catch Dolly’s scent. She isn’t far, I can sense her, I can actually feel her wanting me to find her. I can feel her warmth, the feeling of caring and concern. Through the corner of my eye I spot her smiling at me, she too isn’t in wolf form but I can tell she just shifted because her clothes are all twisted up on her.
“Dolly! You’re pretty slick, I thought I was looking for two of the guys. I see how you are.” I give her a hug, she is just a huggable kind of person.
I run back to the Camero with Dolly right behind me.
We all high five and knuckle bump. Dolly holds her hand out to me and drops a set of keys into my hand. She tells me that the Pack wants me to have a vehicle to get around town in, and they couldn’t imagine me driving anything but a Mustang GT. What the what?
“I hope candy-apple red is your color,” Dolly says.
“What? You’re kidding me right? Ah, man this is awesome. I love it,” I do love it. I stand there staring at it, practically jumping up and down inside my own skin. “I can’t accept it. My parents will never let me keep it. Thank you so much but I can’t.” I hand her back the keys. She tells me how Pru and she had talked to my parents about it, and they are okay with it. My parents?
“Do you love it?” Pru is jumping around me like a cracked out flying monkey. “I hope you like it. I know how much you love my car, but one time you were talking about the new Mustang coming out, and how awesome it was going to be. My dad was able to get one before they are released to the public. I’m sad about it because I won’t get to come pick you up, but I’m so happy for you.” She put her arms around me and gives me a hug. “We have so much work to do; this is going to make it easier for us.”
There is one thing a man never forgets, their first adult magazine, and their first car. Both exciting, and both life altering.
The ride to Pru’s house in Piedsville is amazing. I can’t believe this is all mine, I think to myself. Everyone in the Pack come over for a cookout which means a feast is cooked on the grill. Everything is great until the General calls me into the house to have a talk. All good things must come to an end.
“This isn’t going to take long. I want to make sure you aren’t overwhelmed with everything going on,” he says to me. He takes us into a room I’ve never been in, “sit,” he points to one of the leather chairs.
“No, everything is great. Thank you so much for the car, it’s really awesome.” I look around awkwardly trying not to stare him in the eye.
“Good, glad you like it. I want you to live, eat, and breathe training. Oakley and you are going to amp up the training. If I can advise anything that would be, don’t show weakness. Always stand for what you believe in, and fake it if you don’t. Find the answer once you’re able. Any questions?” He takes a long drink on his amber liquid filled glass.
“No sir, but if I come up with any, I’ll be sure to ask,” I say nervously.
“You do that. Oakley is waiting for you. Work hard but play harder.” He picks up a remote control and a television rises up out of a cabinet along the wall.
When I get there, Oakley is standing in the doorway to the gym, dressed to fight. This isn’t going to be good.
“Ready to fight?” He flashes me a big toothy grin as he starts hopping from foot to foot like boxers do.
“Huh? I’m not fighting you, are you crazy?” I stand there with my mouth open in awe that he wants me to fight him.
“Abel, Abel, Abel, you have to learn how to fight for real.” Oakley puts his hand on my shoulder telling me the rules of fighting with wolves and leads me to a mat. “You have to learn how to watch your opponent and know what their next move is; you have to know who to kill and who to hurt. Don’t think that if they’re a girl you can go easy on them. If it is a wolf, they are a hunter and a fighter and they won’t go easy on you. In our world the gender doesn’t matter as much. Our first priority is our Alpha, we fight to protect him at all cost. We play hard, we fight harder. Remember we are wolves so if you look another wolf in the eye for longer than 15 seconds, you’re challenging them, so you’re instigating a fight. Never stare the Alpha in the eye, it is forbidden. You’ll be hurt by the Pack if you do. The Alpha can challenge any wolf he chooses, he doesn’t even have to do the fighting if he doesn’t want too, the rest of the Pack will back him up. When you meet the O’Connell’s, you can’t stare them in the eye. Keep your shoulders back and your spine straight, no sign of submission. You’re the Great Wolf so you have to show leadership quality. If you don’t do it from the beginning, it will be hard to respect you. You’ll earn your respect in our Pack since Pru has seen who you are, we don’t question her visions, and we can sense it on you anyway. Take off your shoes, you get to try and kick me in the head. Good luck.” He does a back flip and lands in a fighting stance.
“Show off,” I say and throw my first punch. He catches my hand and pulls it up behind my back. It’s going to be a long day. I think to myself.
The rest of the day is me being blocked and knocked to the ground. I had to balance on a balance beam and kick a balloon he held in his hand. Finally I am saved by Pru when she stands in the doorway staring at Oakley with her wide gray eyes. She isn’t there to check on me, it is to enjoy the show. It is hard to watch her watch him, but I can’t make someone feel something for me if they don’t.
Before I leave, I stop to talk to Parker.
“Hey man, I am wondering about something. Were you in the woods today?”
Parker shakes his head no and leans up against the wall like he is bored.
“Funny, but they were intent on finding some woods that you guys don’t run in, but I could smell you out there. Are you following me?”
“Interesting question, following you? Let’s just say, I run where I want. I think your mom is expecting you for dinner. Drive safe.” He turned and walked out of the room.
Oh Parker has a way of pissing me off with his attitude, why do they keep him around? I can feel it, one day I am going to punch him… hopefully I’ll get better at fighting because if I tried that right now, I’d have to run for my life. He scares me just a little… all that I have heard about him being unstable and all.