Big Red and the Little Wolf

Chapter 4

Echo Pov

When I opened my bedroom door, I wasn’t surprised to find Violet on the other side of it. “Hey, Violet.”

“Are you doing anything now?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No, I’ve just been reading.”

Violet clasped her hands as though she was trying to hold herself still. The anxious energy rolled off her in waves. “Would you like to go on a run with me? Since yesterday was so difficult, I really just need to let my wolf out.”

“Violet, it’s okay. You don’t need to explain yourself to me.”

“Thank you.”

Since we would be running in our wolf forms, there was nothing I needed to grab before we left. I took a second to lock my bedroom. Though the pack house was extremely safe, I had learned the hard way that my bedroom was fair game for anyone wanting to give the runt of the pack a hard time.

As we made our way down the hallway, Violet began to apply her lip gloss.

“Do you really need that?” I questioned her. “We’re going to the middle of the woods. Not a party.”

She shrugged. "You never know who we might run into."

"We'll be in wolf form."

“But we’re walking in human form. I’m the alpha’s sister, there can’t be any reason for pack members to start rumors about me looking like a slob.”

I wanted to tell her that people wouldn’t dare start rumors about her before I remembered the cruel things that have been said about me over the years. Even still, Violet was a gorgeous girl with or without makeup. I had a feeling she was less concerned about rumors and more concerned about impressing some of the warriors.

Derek and Violet sizeable age gap for siblings as she was seventeen and he was twenty-six. Since she was only seventeen, she didn’t have the ability to sense her mate. This meant that she had an interest in the boys around here as there was still a chance that her mate was someone within the pack. Most wolves had a difficult time being interested in a person they were aware wasn’t their mate.

For her sake, I hoped her mate was her crush or at least someone from the pack so that she wouldn't have to leave. It was then I decided not to question her motives further.

“You look beautiful, Violet.”

“Thank you.”

It didn’t take long before we had exited the pack house. There were other members walking along outside, but none of them stopped to talk with us. When we entered a portion of the woods inside of the pack territory, Violet and I found a shady spot that seemed relatively private.

One of the most frustrating parts of shifting was needing to undress to avoid the risk of ripping through our clothes. When I shifted into my golden brown wolf, I picked up my pile of clothes to carry them in my mouth. I had started this habit ever since some teenage boys thought it would be funny to take the clothes of an unsuspecting group of girls. Though nudity had less stigma around it in packs, I couldn’t risk myself being the subject of even more humiliation.

Beside me, Violet shifted into her dark brown wolf. Her wolf was much bigger than mine as she came from an alpha bloodline and I was one of the smaller wolves in the pack. Though others used that against me to make me feel inferior, I often embraced my size. Those with long hind legs could keep a faster pace over long distances, but I had quick reflexes and maneuvers that made me a more difficult target to follow.

I made the first move to sprint out of our spot, almost daring her to catch me. Of course, it didn’t take long before she was running alongside me. We took a long route that we knew well. When it came to stretching out our wolves, it never seemed as though we ran long enough.

When we entered a clearing, Violet and I paused to lap up some water from the stream. Our breathing was heavy, but not so loud that we couldn’t hear the rustling near us. Many creatures roamed throughout these woods, but one sniff of the air revealed unfamiliar scents.

I turned to face Violet. Her eyes showed that she had picked up on the intruders as well. We backed away from the stream, unsure if we could make it away undetected.

We had only gone a few steps before a twig snapped on the edge of the clearing. It was then that we bolted in different directions and the hunters came out of hiding. There were two of them.

Though the hunters were no match for our speed, all they needed was to get close enough to us for their bullets to penetrate our tough pelts. As one of the hunters went straight for Violet, I turned around to help her out.

My paws dug into the earth as I used all my might to close the distance within seconds. The hunter was blindsided as I rose from my hind legs, snapping my jaw onto his shoulder blade.

By preoccupying the one hunter, Violet sped closer to the edge of the woods where she would find our pack. Unfortunately, my canines didn’t sink too deep before a silver bullet pierced my abdomen. Pain ignited in my belly, causing me to release the hunter.

Now that I was injured, my chances of fighting them off diminished. I moved away from them quickly. The older hunter, who shot me, paused to check on the one I bit as he moaned on the ground and held onto his shoulder. This brought me just enough time to take a hiding place behind a close rock formation.

I cursed internally, knowing I wouldn’t have much time before they circled the rock. That was when I heard Violet in the distance. She howled, calling for others. The wolves on border patrol responded to her. I couldn’t risk making a sound that would draw the hunters closer to me. Soon enough, the howls could be heard throughout the forest, and they were closing in on us.

“That shot wasn’t enough to kill it!” one of the hunters groaned.

A new howl broke through the trees. This one was almost as familiar to me as my own. Derek’s howl was just as intimidating as all of the border patrol’s howls combined. These hunters needed to realize they had no chance if they were to go against our alpha.

“If we stay here, we’ll be outnumbered,” the other one argued. “Come on!”

I risked peeking from my hiding spot to watch them scramble to get out of the woods fast enough. It wouldn’t take long for Derek and the border patrol to find me. The scent of my injury would draw them closer to me. I looked down at the bullet hole to see my underbelly soaked with blood.

With the silver bullet still lodged in my abdomen, the wound remained open and throbbing. Silver was detrimental to werewolves quickened healing. My injury wouldn’t get better until it was pulled out. Until then, it felt like a burning coal was stuck in my side.

When a large black wolf stopped in front of me, I knew I was safe. Derek shifted back into his human form and rushed to my side. The border patrol soon followed him. One of the guards handed him a blanket to cover me with.

“You’re okay, Echo. You can shift back now.” Derek wrapped me in the blanket as I returned to my human form. My breathing became shallower as the pain was more difficult to manage. Derek turned to the guards to order, “Search the grounds for those damned hunters. If you find them or any valuable information, report back directly to me.”

When Derek had a pair of jeans on, he tried to support me as we walked out of the woods. My injury had me hunched over, struggling to move forward. Eventually, Derek lifted me into his arms so we could reach the infirmary faster. I was still losing a lot of blood.

As soon as we entered the infirmary, everyone froze at their alpha carrying an injured pack member.

“We need the pack doctor!” Derek ordered. When people weren’t moving quickly enough, he added, “Now!”

One of the nurses brought a stretcher over so that Derek could set me down. Then he rolled me into a private room where I could be examined and helped. Derek tried to follow us, but a guard needed to speak to him outside of the room.

Just when Derek was out of year shot, the nurse mumbled, “Leave it to the runt to get into trouble.”

If I could pull out the silver bullet myself, I swore I would’ve made him swallow it. To take my mind off the pain and ripping the nurse’s head off, I tried to focus my attention on Derek’s conversation outside of the door.

“What do you mean one of the scouts had an encounter with hunters the other day?” Derek shouted with anger. “Why wasn’t I informed of this?”

“I don’t know, alpha.”

“Someone very important to me is injured now because of his f**k up! Any one of our pack members could’ve died today because no one thought to bring up that the hunters are back.”

“You’re right, alpha.”

“Strip the scout of his responsibilities. He can’t be trusted with the pack’s safety anymore.”

“Yes, alpha.”

I imagined the guard with his head bowed during the whole conversation. Derek took the pack’s safety very seriously and would punish anyone who put his pack members’ lives in jeopardy.

The doctor then entered the room with Derek at his side. The nurse had already moved me from the stretcher to the hospital bed. I laid there, curled up to protect my injury from further distress.

As soon as the doctor saw me, he sat beside the bed and put on his latex gloves. “Let’s have a look at the injury, shall we?”

He took a hold of the edge of the blanket and pulled it back to see where the bullet remained embedded in my stomach. The nurse arranged a tray of tools beside him, which is where he grabbed a tool that resembled a giant tweezers.

“Once we get the bullet out, your wound will be able to heal properly. I’m also going to stitch it up to help speed up the healing process.”

I simply nodded my head and looked away. Derek came to my side so that he could hold my hand. When the metal of the tool touched my raw skin, I squeezed Derek’s hand for dear life. Gritting my teeth was the only way I kept from screaming as the doctor twisted the bullet out.