Re: The Woods: Full Moon > Pack Trailers in the Woods
It had been years since he'd had any wolf's attention on him this way, much less a pack leader. He could remember, in those distant, still-painful memories of childhood and early teen years, seeing the pack's Alpha on mornings after the moon, but he was never big or important enough at that point in time to warrant any real attention. Sometimes a pat on the head in passing, but that was all. Never this clear, intense-eyed stare and a slowly-closing distance as the other man moved forward. The injuries on him didn't seem to make him any less, being just signs of a struggle won. Badges that communicated that this was a wolf who could take on another and come out the victor.
The steps continued toward him, and he couldn't help the way one heel inched backward. Away. He balled his fists to keep his hands from shaking, and every thought that wasn't given over to confusion over those words was screaming at him to run. He'd returned to town with the foolish hope of a second chance at having pack - having home - and in that moment, he was convinced that decision would be one of his last. He could feel the back of his neck prickle, that early warning that he needed to calm down or find himself back on four feet, but he couldn't find the shift in him with those dark eyes pinning him in place.
"I don't know what you're talking about." His voice shook, barely a whisper though everyone gathered could hear him perfectly. Their murmurs of surprise sounded like condemnation to his ears, sounded like jeers and reproach. His breath caught in his chest, panicked wheezing, and he longed for the simplicity of four feet to carry him away, allow him to slip into the woods again. He'd leave town. He'd leave. Leave, leave, away.