Fight By My Side

"Wynter!" A voiced called my name. I crawled up out of Shadow's Sanctuary and grinned. Today would be a better day than yesterday. Jack was out, wandering around the neighborhoods while checking out the scene. Mike flew up above us overhead. Vic had called my name but was nowhere to be seen.

Weaving my way around the broken chairs and the abandoned rooms, I came to the old, broken door to the entrance of the house. I opened it, letting it flop on its hinges and stepped outside. A flying body tackled me as I rolled to the grass.

Vic pinned me down, looking triumphant. Sure, he may have been thirty, but he had the energy of a ten year old. He grinned, happy that he scored a win. Whenever we got the chance to goof around outside in the fields, much like today, we had a running game of who could pin who. I would jump out and attempt to pin Vic to the ground and then it was his turn. It was just fooling around, but it could turn serious.

"Gotcha!" He exclaimed happily. I stuck my tongue out. Okay, he had surprised me this time, but I would have my revenge. I struggled under him, his face twisting into a smirk as he watched me writhe. I relaxed and I could feel the strong hands that bound my wrists loosen up just a fraction. I took that to my advantage and tossed him off me. Vic rolled to the side and then grabbed me by my waist as I attempted to run away. Mike laughed high overhead.

Even though Vic was in his human form, like all Shapeshifters, he retained many traits from his animal form. The tiger part gave him a huge advantage in strength, yet he was always really gentle with me.

Vic tackled me to the ground as I squirmed in his strong arms. He was still grinning.

"Got you again." He pointed out. I sighed and rolled my eyes. Placing my hands on his muscles chest, I pushed him off and sprinted for the far fields, Shifting in the process. Now on four paws, I felt more agile and faster. A roar that followed my trail alerted me to a tiger on my tail.

I flew over the hills, head low to the ground, all four strong limbs launching me further and further. Vic was far behind me, but as I turned around on the top of the hill, I saw nothing. Maybe I left him a little to far in the dust.

A shadow alerted me to the presence of the tiger behind me. He leaped but I was more nimble and jumped out of the way. The large tiger stumbled and I turned around, jumping back on him and continuing our game of chase.

I crashed into his flank, knocking him to the ground. I Shifted to a human and pinned the tiger, who Shifted to a human. Vic wriggled on the ground, but I snickered as he struggled. Finally he closed his eyes, panting heavily.

"I give up." He admitted. I laughed and pretended to pout.

"Does little Vic not wanna play anymore?" I asked. Vic pouted with me before we both cracked up.

"Vic is just tired." He sighed. The warm sun was relaxing and made me want to sleep. I got off Vic and laid on the ground, looking to the forest only a half mile away. I was on my stomach, elbows propping me up. Vic looked past me.

"Jack's back." He murmured.I turned around to see a Mountain Lion coming back up to us. He stopped and Shifted back to a human.

"What's up, Barakat?" I grinned. Jack pointed behind him in the direction of the gravel road.

"We got a visitor." His eyes were flooded with fear. It was really usual to have a visitor two days in a row.

But I had a feeling I knew the person.

"Here, I'll go check it out." I offered, knowing I couldn't let the others know. Jack and Vic had Shifted back and were lopping at a quick pace back to the house. I headed in the other direction, going to the gravel road.

I made good time, getting there quicker than expected. He wasn't on the road like I thought, but at the rocky outcropping. His form cast shadows on the ground, shrouding the grass behind him. A soft tune wafted through the air as he hummed it. Deciding it was safer to wait on the hill behind him, I sat down, watching what he would do.

I sat watching him for ten minutes as he sighed and looked around, but never behind him. The gravel road sat silently in the distance as the sun danced overhead. There wasn't a cloud present in the sky. Eventually I got bored of watching the still figure. I wanted to glance into the soft brown eyes once again. Getting up, I moved slowly and silently around to the left of him. I was on my belly, crouching low to the ground, only ten feet away, but able to see his soft eyes watch the grass sway in the wind. The long grass blew in front of me, providing a better cover, yet the boy looked my direction.

"I know you're there." He called softly. I stood up, staring at him curiously. The small section of rocks that jutted up out of the earth was surrounded by short, stubbly shoots and a few weeds. I entered the little circle of roots and crushed plants, eyes still locked on his.

"I didn't think you'd show up again." He continued the conversation. Did he really come out here expecting to see me? The tall boy sighed, probably realizing he was having a very one sided conversation with a wolf who couldn't respond .

"Well anyways, I guess I should introduce myself. I'm Austin Carlile, and I'm that creepy kid who if people saw me, would send me to a mental hospital for talking with animals." He joked. I chuffed a little bit, letting out a low wolf laugh, sitting down on the grass. A hawk called to me from far away. Mike would come looking soon.

"Well normally I would ask for your name, but since its fairly evident that you can't tell me, I'll just skip over the question. I'll tell you a little bit about myself. I had a mom, dad, and right now I recently adopted a cat, but they don't know about that." Austin chuckled quietly. That laugh was so adorable I nearly lost my concentration to stay in this form.

"Shh, don't tell them. Well, I mean if I am truly crazy and am talking to just a normal animal, you wouldn't, but if I'm talking to a Shifter, then don't follow me home and tell them." Austin cracked himself up with the thought and then sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"Who am I kidding? You're probably not a Shifter, but just some wolf who's listening to her meal talk before eating him." Austin smiled weakly. I watched him as he stood up and walked around, stretching a little.

"Don't worry, I'm not much of a mouthful." Austin came to sit on the grass watching me curiously. I couldn't help but admire that he wasn't just adorably cute, but funny as well. Austin poked his stomach, showing he wasn't much meat, not that I was going to eat him. A buzzed cut through the deafening silence. Was that his phone? My ears perked up as I raised my head from resting on my paws.

Austin took out his phone, quickly unlocking it. His thumbs were fast, flying over the keyboard. He was probably sending an alert to the Guardians. I put a little trust in him, and he was just throwing it away, but it was my fault. I shouldn't have been so curious.

In my anger and fear, I growled as each letter was pressed. Austin looked up, freezing instantly. As he attempted to type again, I barked. Did I really need to alert Jack and Vic to this?

"Wait, I'm just texting my mom!" He spoke softly, his voice wavering. How could I really trust him? Austin could easily be lying to me. I stood up, my lip curled in mid-snarl.

"Look!" He set the phone on the ground and back up onto the rocks. I crawled forward slowly. For all I knew, he could have a gun on him. He watched as I went up, sniffing the small device. As my nose touched the screen, it lit up. I jumped back in surprise as it showed a text to Mom. The metallic scent of the phone lingered as I backed up. Okay, so he wasn't messaging the Guardians.

The hawk cried again. I let out a short howl back. I needed to return. Austin picked up his phone as I turned to leave. The heart in his chest beat madly as I started to back up.

"Well, I'll be back tomorrow, in case you had any intention of saving steak for dinner tomorrow." He joked and turned to leave. I bounded off, not caring to look back. Mike swooped low above me as we hurried back. Mike shifted just as he hit the ground. Jack and Vic were down in the basement. I entered quietly, Mike right behind me.

"Who was that?" He asked me softly.

"A boy." I answered. He scoffed.

"Well, I knew that!" He retorted. Jack and Vic were both seated on the couch. I came and plopped on the bean bag chair. Both boys just stared at me.

"So how was your little meeting?" Jack asked curtly. Vic raised an eyebrow. I ducked my head and blushed.

"Look..." I started. Vic cut me off.

"How long have you been seeing the Usual?" He asked me sharply. I shook my head. It wasn't like that.

"Guys, yesterday he was the person that was out on the road. I went to go watch him leave, making sure he didn't turn around or do towards the Sanctuary. He saw me, but didn't do anything. He just walked back out. Today I saw him, and all he did was talk to me, thinking I was just a regular wolf." I quickly covered up. The only thing I didn't tell them was that I revealed myself yesterday. Mike didn't seem phased at all. The younger Fuentes brother just sipped on a glass of water. Vic and Jack seemed to cool down a little.

"Look, I was watching her, and the guy spotted her and called her out. All he did was just talk to her and she sat there." Mike backed me up. I nodded and pointed to him, giving the thumbs up.

"Austin wasn't going to do anything!" I cried out in frustration. Vic and Jack froze.

"YOU SHIFTED IN FRONT OF HIM?!" They cried out at once. I held up my hands at my slip up.

"No, no, no! He told me his name, but I didn't directly talk to him. It was an awfully one sided conversation. I just sat there as he talked. He thought I was going to eat him!" I raged out. Vic and Jack let out a heavy sigh.

"Ok, we'll be all good then." Vic concluded, finally smiling. Vic was pretty easy going when it came to this stuff.

"He's coming tomorrow. Yes, I'm going to stop by." I rolled my eyes. Vic gave a cheeky grin.

"Our little sister is growing up, Mike! I still can't believe you're falling for a Usual, but I guess that's the way it goes." Vic trailed off. Jack grumbled.

"I'm not in love with him!" I shouted back. Vic shook his head, reading right through my lies.

"You LOOOOOVE him." Jack teased. I got up and smacked him on the shoulder. I needed to sleep for a little while to rest and relax.

"I do not!" I laughed back. Love was a word only reserved for those you completely trusted and had known for a while. I did not know Austin that well and I still don't know if I can trust the stranger.

Is he funny? Hilarious. Is he adorable? Most definitely! But did I love him? It was to early to tell. Mike patted my arm as I went by, throwing me a casual wink.

Oh these boys. They would be the death of me.

Notes

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