Mated Runaway

Ominous Feeling

Eli’s POV:

“Hey, Alpha, you may want to check this out.” It was my beta, Jameson linking me while on patrol. Not sure what I was about to come up on, I prepared myself and took off to meet the him on the outskirts of our territory. When I got there, he let me know that the patrol team caught a faint scent of another unfamiliar wolf. This will make about 50 different scents we’ve picked up in the past month. At this point, we’re not sure if it’s a coincidence or if rogues are starting to join together. We’ll have to be on alert the next few days to make sure no one is trying to cause issues, especially in the human town we’re linked with.

A lot of our pack elders like to go into town and mingle every so often since the vast majority of the townspeople are over the age of 50. I sat at a clearing and watched for a while trying to catch any unusual activity within the town but didn’t see anything. It was too early to go into the town without being suspicious, so I made it a point to come back later in the day and look around and see if there’s been anything strange happening.

I take off back to the pack house. If I’m lucky I can get a nap in before breakfast. I get back and quietly go up the stairs to my room. For some reason I can’t shake the feeling that something is about to happen. I’ve never had any major issues to deal with as Alpha. Here and there there’s been some rogues that tried to challenge me, but they quickly submitted to me and majority of those have even been assimilated into the pack. I jump in the shower to see if I can shake this feeling before getting some sleep. Maybe me and Jameson need to meet to see if we’re on the same page or start coming up with a game plan just in case something is going on. I let the water run over me a few more minutes before turning it off and grabbing a towel and wrapping it loosely around my hips while I brush my teeth. I walk back to my room and pull some shorts on. A couple hours of sleep will be good for me. As soon as I lay down, my body sinks into the mattress and I can feel my eyes getting heavy.

What feels like five minutes later I’m being woken up by Jameson mind linking me to see if I’m up. “I am now,” I grumble out loud. I look at the clock and see that it’s 3:00 in the afternoon. Crap. I wasn’t supposed to sleep that long. I quickly throw on some jeans and a t-shirt, feeling pretty grateful that my hair is cut short and doesn’t need any attention. I make my way to my office and mind link Jameson to meet me there. When I walk in, Jameson is leaning against the desk smirking. I roll my eyes, “Don’t start,” I laugh. He raises his hands like he’s done nothing wrong, “I haven’t said a word” he says with the same smirk still on his face. We get right to business discussing the number of wolves that have been in the area lately. We haven’t had any signs of foul play but we don’t want to wait until something does happen to form a plan. I let him know that I’ve already decided to go into the town and look around and talk with a few people to see what I can find out, he agrees that’s the best first step. We also decided to expand the area we patrol at night to try to intercept any outsiders coming through. We quickly go over a few other minor adjustments and agree to meet again tonight before dinner.

Once I finished up with Jameson and got a bite to eat I headed toward the human town. I decided to go through the forest in wolf form just in case I can trace the newest wolf scent a little further. This scent was different, even though patrol said it was faint, to me it’s strong. I follow it until I see it’s taking me to a clearing. I quickly shift to human form and get dressed. There’s a few older people in town that know about our pack and we use as informants of any issues happening. The scent starts to get muddled with all the other smells of the town the further I get in, but a werewolf has definitely been here. I turn the corner and see one of our informant’s shop is already closed for the day. “That’s what you get sleepy head” snickers my wolf. Well, he isn’t wrong. I check the shop door just to see if it’s unlocked and the owner inside by any chance. I turn the knob and the door opens. I walk inside and it hits me, the same strong scent I was tracking in the forest. I follow it to the back of the building and going up a set of stairs. “Hello?” No answer. “Hey Mable, it’s Eli. Are you in here?” I call out again. Goddess knows the last thing I need is to give that sweet old lady a heart attack. I walk upstairs and open the door at the top and see a bedroom with a small bedroom attached. Whoever this werewolf is, they’ve been here. Their scent is all in the room and the bathroom. I can feel my wolf getting antsy. “Dude can you chill?” I mutter. The room is empty and the only sign that someone has been here is the unmade bed. I turn and hurry down the stairs in order to avoid being surprised by whoever the scent belongs to. I walk out of Mable’s bakery and look around to see if I see any unfamiliar faces, I don’t. I walk around the back of the building to clearing of the forest that wraps around the opposite side of the town. I start to pick up the same scent again. Ok, this wolf has been all over and around the bakery. I shift and take off back to the pack territory. I need to set up a meeting with Mable soon.