Run! The Black Wolf's prey.

Chapter 50 - Sunrise and Croissants

Isabel woke up by the first hesitant rays of the dawning sun on her face. She had been sleeping in an utterly uncomfortable position and her neck was killing her! She groaned as she tried to loosen up the tension by rolling her neck from side to side. John was still driving, and they were currently on a smaller and older highway with bumpy little holes in it.

“Good morning,” John smiled at her.

“Have you been driving the whole night?” Isabel rubbed her eyes and yawned.

“Naah, I stopped to fill up the tank. And I got you these,” he handed over a bottle of water, a can with juice and a fresh croissant.

“Thank you,” she tried to smile but grimaced again as she rolled her neck.

“I think maybe next night we should stop somewhere and let you sleep in a bed,” John chuckled.

“Don’t you ever need to sleep?” Isabel was intrigued by John’s ability to stay awake for several days in a row.

“I used to sleep a lot more when I was younger,” John shrugged his shoulders. “But nowadays, I’m not so bothered. But sure… I’m starting to get a little tired. It would be nice to have a break. I actually have a place in mind where we can go to have a rest.”

They continued driving, but soon John steered them onto a smaller forest road, seemingly forgotten by the world as it was full of holes and with crumbled edges. It went up and down like a roller coaster and Isabel was starting to feel a little nauseous. The surroundings were extraordinary though, and every time the road climbed up, they could see glimpses of the sunrise between the trees.

Finally, at a hill above the treetops, John stopped the car and they stepped out. The view was breathtakingly beautiful! The morning sun was setting the world on fire, the soft clouds gleaming in different shades of gold, in contrast to the dark blue sky above them. High mountains with white peaks were looming in the distance, and far down below them was a valley with a large river floating through it.

“Wow, John, this place is amazing,” Isabel tucked herself close to him, letting him embrace her.

“Yes, isn’t it? I haven’t been here for quite some time. But I used to go here when I was younger,” John hugged her closer, enjoying sharing this special place with her.

“But isn’t this far from your home?”

“It is,” John nodded. “But as an adolescent, I needed to spend some time alone with my wolf. Sometimes, I was away for weeks, running and hunting. It took me a few days to get here, but it was well worth it. You see over there?” He pointed towards an opening in the mountain on the other side of the valley. “That was my cave, where I slept. And I bathed in that river, catching fish.”

“Were you all by yourself? Out here, in the wilderness?” Isabel looked at him with wide eyes.

“I’m a half-wolf, remember?” John chuckled. “The wilderness is my home, just as the pack. It’s the city that is foreign to me. All the noise, all the smells, and all people… It’s a little too much for me. I prefer this, to be honest.”

“Do all werewolves live in packs?” Isabel frowned. “It sounds like you had preferred to stay on your own…”

Isabel’s mind started spinning. What if John could let go of his pack? What if they could live like this? Maybe they could find a little house somewhere in the woods. Not forever, of course, but until everything had cooled down. Maybe eventually, they could go back to the city, they could live in her mother’s lake house and drive to work and….

“No, even if I really enjoy being by myself, I miss the pack and the pack life too much to stay out like this in the long run… And I am born to become the pack Alpha, it’s been my duty since birth. I’m not sure exactly what would happen to the pack if I wouldn’t return, but it would put them in a very dangerous situation… So no, I’m not a Sigma,” John replied, crushing Isabel’s silent hope that he wouldn’t want to return.

“A Sigma?” she asked curiously.

“A lone wolf who decides to live without his or her pack, most often an alpha male who never becomes the Alpha of his pack and is not really comfortable being bossed around, becoming someone’s Beta,” John chuckled. “Most lone and packless wolves are not Sigmas, though, usually we call them ‘rouges’ since they use to be real troublemakers - criminals, burglars, and thieves, who live as stray dogs, not having any other purpose in life than doing mischief.”

“OK, so you’re not a Sigma… You’re an Alpha. So, what should we do? I’m starting to freak out a bit at the thought of living with your pack,” Isabel admitted.

“I am going to talk to my parents, and then we are going home.” John kissed her softly and held her chin in his hand, tilting up her face so their eyes met.

“Look at me,” he said. “They will accept you. Not only will they accept you, but they will also come to love you, just as I do. Because you are a beautiful, wicked woman, with so many skills and virtues. It’s impossible not to love you.” He tenderly traced her lips with his thumb, and her heart started racing.

“They will forget about you being human after a while, when they have gotten used to your presence. And one day, they might even accept you to become our Luna.”

“What’s a Luna?” Isabel felt stupid asking.

“Sorry,” John laughed, “I forgot you don’t know anything of our ways! The Luna of the pack is the Alpha’s mate, and they lead the pack together. The Luna is in charge of the pack’s economy, the pack members, especially the females, and ceremonial preparations. The Alpha is in charge of the pack warriors and battle and defense strategies. We have a very hierarchical structure, with the Beta wolf as the Alpha’s next in command, the Deltas, Gammas, Omegas, and so on.”

“It sounds very old-fashioned…”

“I told you, traditions are very important to us. Also, the structure of the hierarchy is much needed since we are a very hot-tempered species with difficulties controlling our emotions. We need a clear chain of commands, and everyone must obey, or people would get hurt or we would expose ourselves to the humans.”

“And here you are, disobeying,” Isabel smiled wryly, her eyes twinkling. “Watching a romantic sunrise with an ordinary human, who now knows about your true nature. Sounds like you’re playing a dangerous game!”

“What can I say, I like living on the edge,” John chuckled, kissing her. “I tried to obey, remember? But I failed…” he muttered. “I thought I could go on without you. And I thought you would be better off without me. But the mere thought of you not being safe, and all these other wolves coming at you, it was enough to wake me up from my delusions.”

They continued to look at the sunrise in silence, both deep in their own thoughts. Isabel was feeling a bit light-headed, everything was still so new to her and she was wondering if her life ever would go back to normal after this.

John held her tight, pressing her back against his chest, as if he was afraid she would be snatched out of his arms any second. He had his nose buried in her hair, inhaling her scent, which made both him and his wolf a little calmer. She belonged in his arms, that much was certain. She was the only one he had ever loved... and he couldn’t imagine being with anyone else.

“Come,” he took her hand and started leading her on a trail down the hill. “I want to show you something.”

They walked down the trail, the vegetation becoming thicker, and they had to hunch and bend down at times, going through thickets and bushes on their way.

“Sorry, I forgot I have never walked here in my human form,” John laughed. “We might have to crawl a bit further down.”

Eventually, they came to an opening of the vegetation into a large glade and Isabel gasped; the sight was absolutely stunning! A series of cascading waterfalls formed a natural staircase, glistening in the morning light as they flowed down from the mountain above. The falls emptied into a series of swirling plunge pools before joining a small river that wound its way through the glade and beyond.

Some of the trees surrounding the clearing had already started to shift colours, their leaves were sparkling in different shades of green, golden yellow, and fiery orange in the morning sun.

“This must be the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen!” Isabel said excitedly, her amazement evident on her face.

“Your eyes reminded me of this place,” he smiled, happy to see that she appreciated the location as much as he did. “They have the same colours as these trees now at the beginning of fall.”

“I can’t believe it’s fall already, it was so hot just a few weeks ago,” Isabel curled up against John’s warm frame.

“We can still go for a swim if you’d like to,” John winked at her.

“Won’t it be too cold?” she liked the idea, but the morning air was still quite cool. She wasn’t feeling cold, though, John’s body was like a radiator.

“I’ll warm you up afterward,” he promised with a playful smile.

“OK, what are you waiting for?” she laughed and threw off her sweater, and jumped out of her jeans before she began running towards the waterfall. “Catch me if you can!”

John growled, his inner beast immediately wanting to surface at the enthralling challenge! He easily jumped out of his clothes and ran after her, his arms grabbing her only a few milliseconds later, and they twirled around, laughing.

“Wow, you’re fast,” Isabel giggled, panting.

“You should see me in my wolf form,” John smiled wryly. “We’re even faster and stronger in our wolf forms.”

“Show me,” Isabel’s eyes twinkled with excitement.

With their hot bodies pressed against each other, their hearts started pounding fast and their breaths became shallower. As their lips met, hungrily, John swept her up in his arms.

“Later,” John murmured, “But right now, I have something else on my mind…”