August Summers (looktome) wrote in light_of_may, @ 2013-12-23 00:24:00 |
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Though he may have been a supernatural creature, there was still a part of him that was human. There was only so long he could go without sleep, and so much longer still that he could go without a shower. Camilla had gone into mothering overload. Being unable to reach and care for her two youngest meant there was nothing that could stop her from minding the rest of the Summers children. Despite all his protests and declarations that he wouldn’t leave the high school, there was no arguing with the mother wolf. His parents were still there, Trent was still there – if anything happened, he wouldn’t be very far away; the more Camilla pressured him to leave, the more he began to admit that a break (even for an hour) would be a welcome one. The stress and worries that were at a painful peak when he left the school slowly began to dissipate the closer he got to home. By the time he reached the front door of his cabin, August was glad his mother had been as forceful as she had. The warm greeting he received made it all the better. Other pack members had been by to feed his dogs, but they had obviously been counting the seconds until August came home again. He bent down so that each one could have the chance to climb his chest and lick his face. Their unconditional love warmed his heart, much as it always did when he came home from a bad day to their enthusiastic embrace. As he doted on each one with pets, he contemplated shifting and going for a run with them. Need to shower first. August knew he would only get dirty again, running with them in the woods, but he wanted to wash away the grit and havoc of the school.
He didn’t bother reaching for a towel after he turned off the hot water of the shower. He hadn’t even stepped out of the tub before he shifted to his wolf form. The dogs were by the edge before he even had the chance to shake off the water that still clung to his fur. August jumped out among them and gave out a low bark to signal that it was time to move out. He guided the pack through the house and out the doggie door he had put at the back that led to the woods that surrounded the Summers’ property. His paw had barely touched the crunchy forest floor before he moved into a sprint, the four dogs chasing behind him. The puppy, Moony, gave out an excited chirp that would have made August smile if he could. He slowed down his pace to allow for the small Husky to catch up. He was stalled out for no longer than a second before his body was pounced on by Homer, the largest of the bunch. They rolled around in the leaves for a moment while the others decided whether to join in or not – and that was when the scent caught his nose. August bolted upright. Every inch of him stood at attention, from his ears to the fur on the back of his neck. There was something – someone – else out in the woods with them: a scent he had never smelled before. It was most certainly wolf, but not any wolf that he knew of.
August moved forward slowly in the direction of the smell. His dogs, who had sensed his alarm, stayed at his back, alert and ready. Finally his eyes landed on the intruder. Had it not been for the ordeal with the school, he would have likely gone through the dance of attempting to discern the intentions of the other were in his territory, but instead he shifted to his human form, the one with a voice. “What are you doing here?” His voice was stern, but not nearly as threatening as it could have been. It didn’t matter that he was standing in the middle of the forest without a stitch of clothing on. Being a were his entire life meant that going au natural was nothing new or significant to him. Besides, there were more important matters at hand: identifying the strange were being primary among them.