FIVE | STRIKE ONE

"Yeash, you're tiny." Coach Lyle frowns down at me. The behemoth of a man towers a good foot above my 5'7 frame, all muscular and unnaturally tanned skin. I try not to cringe when he looks me over in my uniform-grey sweat shirt with the school's crest over my chest and the sweat pants I purposely ordered a size too big. I'm trying to look small. I don't know if it'll work on everyone, but old habits die hard. "Alright, Holland, for now I'll put you in squad eight with the Azure's. Maybe those guys can keep an eye on you when we have flag-football and dodge ball tournaments."

"Uh, that's okay-" I begin but Coach Lyle has already blown his whistle and signaled the entire gym-filled colony of humans - and two Azure Wolven - to come in for a huddle. I avert my eyes from the two and look at the far wall in an attempt to pretend they're not here. This must be the class Zane mentioned we shared earlier.

"Okay, everyone, this is Scarlett Holland and she'll be joining squad eight. Boys, keep an eye on her." Coach Lyle nudges me towards the guys. I do recoil a little at his touch, more out of surprise for having a human touch me than disgust, but brush it off and stalk over to the Azure cousins.

"Will do, Coach." Yuri pipes up and winks at me. I roll my eyes at him, trying to control the sudden flush threatening to creep up my neck at his suggestiveness. I'm sure he doesn't mean anything by it, but I'm not used to him enough to not react. "Z told me we'd have you for this class." Yuri mutters to me when I reach him, careful to stand beside the bulkier guy and not by Zane like I desperately want to. Behind us, Coach begins to drone about the rest of the week's schedule before dismissing us. A few students filter out the side doors, others begin stretching in little formations of four. We're the only squad of three. The only Wolven in the whole gym.

My Wolf tugs at the reigns of my control - enjoying being near Zane again so soon - but I restrain the urge to shift and go sniffing around him like part of me wants to. *Behave*.

"You'd better warm up a bit, Scarlett. Today is a 'routine' day. The tournaments are on Fridays." Yuri tells me and he two guys begin stretching in place. I try not to watch either of them flex their muscles, not that I'm drawn to rippling muscles like Yuri's or the compact lithe ones Zane has. Especially not Zane's abs when I catch a little peak of them as he reaches his arms high above his head. *Totally not staring. Really, I'm not. Nope*.

"Okay..." I say a little too quietly, and have to give myself a mental slap before shaking out my limbs and stretching alongside the Azures. "What kind of routine?" I force the words to come out louder, calmer. It doesn't help the eagerness now leaking into my voice.

"Laps. Twenty times around the trail, then you can have free time." Zane says and I have the unnatural urge to look him in the eye when he talks directly to me. "They made the rule hoping to keep everyone on the track during the forty minutes we're out here, but that doesn't really apply to us." A little flash of silver flits through his irises. "If you can keep up." My Wolf rises to the occasion, getting antsy as the last threads of my control almost fail. Being this close to him is doing weird things to *me* too. My hands feel sweaty at my sides and my heart - which is normally a dull thud - has begin to pound a little harder. Not faster, just with more gusto than usual. I try to ignore these changes, letting the prospect of racing with other Wolven fill me instead.

"That sounds a lot like a challenge." I smirk, raising an eyebrow at him as my wolf rises to the bait. "I accept." I say without thinking it through and take off in the direction the humans have been going. Yuri lets out a curse, but laughs as he runs after me, Zane at his heels. They have different paces, though like any werewolf, they're almost silent when they run. I can just barely differentiate between the two as we burst past the side entrance of the gym and bound down the dirt path leading into what looks like a forest.

Yuri's steps are slightly louder, like maybe he's flat-footed, and rougher. The weight of his body and the strength in his muscles audible in each foot-fall. Zane's are more deft, equally strong and sure, but the even beat also has an assertive tempo that I soon find myself keeping time to. That's why I don't notice when he catches up with me.

"What was that about keeping up?" He asks me, silvery-grey eyes flashing with amusement when I snarl at him - without any real anger behind the expression. For once, I'm not fighting to keep up appearances around humans. It' been years since I've felt this free. We're running at a fast but humane pace.

"I'm just warming up." I shoot back, knowing we're way ahead of the humans by now, and push just a little harder with each footfall. My Wolven side flares to life, energy bursts into my core and the scents around us sharpen. I fight to keep the shift at bay as I shoot past Zane. The fall-colored forest becomes a burr around me, though I can practically sense the trees and plant life around us. Even the life in the underbrush and in the branches high above.

I let out a laugh of exhilaration and feel my speed flow past the limits of my human form and dip into something else. Not Wolven. Not human. Something entirely foreign and yet somehow familiar... The beating of my heart thrums loudly in my head, bright, fiery red paints my world in a horrific scene. I shake my head in alarm, fear choking my lungs as the ability to breathe only brings searing pain into my chest. I don't notice the warning the Azure's are yelling some distance behind me as a sharp bend in the trail we'd been following throws the redness from my sight.

And just like that, I go toppling over the edge of what looks like a mini ravine.

Ass over teakettle, I think is my favorite expression to explain my unsavory decent. It's a hell of a lot better than saying I very ungracefully went head-first off the path, encountering the most unpleasant assortment of greenery near the middle of their autumnal shedding. Roots connect with practically every inch of my exposed and unexposed skin. Somewhere along the way, my head gets knocked against the side of a tree, turning the world dark when blood coats my eyes. A high-pitched whine begins in my head, the ringing drowning out the sounds of my body getting beaten by mother nature.

I don't have time to curse or really even attempt to switch forms as my snow-ball body goes into log-rolling mode. Ribs get bashed and my limbs take unnecessary hits. It feels like forever, but I know it's only a few seconds - maybe one minute.

I groan as my body comes to a stop at the bottom of the steep hill, the scratches from the brambles and thickets of thorny branches are already healing. I can feel some bruises surfacing as my accelerated healing kicks in and the usual prickles of the process feel like fire ants stinging certain spots. There's an almost imperceptible pop from my right knee and an involuntary hiss escapes my mouth. A soft buzzing begins in the back of my head, letting me know special chemicals have been dumped into my bloodstream to control the worst of pain and calm washes over me.

I hear the Azures from above, their pace letting me know they're scaling down the side of the slope. It's not long before Zane reaches me. My vision has cleared by the time he reaches me, kneeling in front of me with a mix of horror and worry on his normally calm face. *Even like this, he's beautiful*. I can't help the dazed thought or the little smile I feel as I stare at him.

"Red, hey, you okay?" Zane reaches out to cup my cheek, his silvery-grey eyes wild and searching mine-


*The Wolven glowers down at me, sky-blue eyes gleaming maliciously with the classic iciness I've come to associate with the my old family. His lips are twisted into a snarl, sharp teeth bared as he leans down closer towards me. His strawberry-blonde hair is cropped short to his head, the beginnings of a tattoo licks over his jaw. It's the mark of an enforcer of the Reinier Pack, a mark allowed only to the elite hunters. Trackers.*

"*Ryker," My words come out as a rasp as I try to breathe. His painful grip on my throat tightens and my vision swims. The breath in my lungs is already starting to go stale, aching dully in my chest*.

"*Cousin." He spits back, venom dripping from the word. I try not to recoil from the way he says it. Like Paris, Ryker was one of my closer cousins - almost like a brother. Definitely a friend. Before the Pack turned on me*.

*"H-how did you find me?" I gasp out each word painfully. Already, I can feel bruising coming on from the strength of his hand - my healing ability, like with my scars, is hindered because we're still part of the same Pack.*

*"It wasn't hard," He snarls, nails now digging into my skin. "Your stench was all over the place." Black dots begin dancing over my eyes, his voice getting farther away. "You always sucked when it came to hunting, never knew how to blend you scent." His grip loosens little when he says this, voice slightly wistful. Almost regretful*.

*"Ry," I rasp, my eyes prickling as memories of our childhood flood my memory, assaulting my senses. I can tell the same is happening to Ryker as the anger softens in his eyes, the icy-blue warming the tiniest bit. A lost look comes over his face, confusion warping his expression the smallest fraction of a bit*. What did they do to my sweet cousin?

*"Red? That you?" A familiar voice filters into my consciousness and I glance in the direction it came from. At the end of the alley stands Zane*. Why is he here? Where did he come from?

"*Get out of here, Blue." I try warn him, even with Ryker so close, I know I have to get him to leave. This isn't his fight. Ryker's face hardens, his grip on my neck tightening*.

*"What the hell do you think you're doing?" This growl from Blue is directed at Ryker as he draw closer, jogging to get to us faster. Fury like I've never seen, mars his perfect face*.

*"Made friends, did we, Wisty?" Ryker snarls at me, using my old Pack-given name. Like he doesn't even want to acknowledge we're cousins. A different kind of pain spikes in my chest, deeper than the superficial feel of the lack of oxygen and so much worse. It twists so violently that my eyes start to fill with tears*.

*"Leave him alone, Ry-" My head makes contact with the wall closest to us, my vision swimming yet again as my skull cracks against the brick. The taste of iron and a sweet tang coat my mouth, a sharp ringing in my ears stealing my hearing for a minute. Then I can hear the two Wolven scuffling a few feet away, my vision too blurry to get a solid read on the two forms clashing and bursting apart in a vicious rhythm. "Stop." I manage to choke out, wincing as I try to sit up. No luck*.

*"I'll be back, Wisty. For you and anyone else who tries to stop us. Count on it." Ryker spits in my direction, already running out of the alley. Blue makes a move to follow him, but stops when I let out a hissing breath. Instead of chasing my cousin, Blue runs back over to me and kneels in front of me*.

"*Red, who the hell was that?" Blue's normally cool and calm demeanor is overrun by the near-hysteria in his voice. I bat at his hands when he tries to touch me, tries to check out the head wound I know isn't healing right and the bruising on my neck that's only now starting to swell. "Hey, talk to me." This time he manages to cup my cheeks, holding me still easily now that the threat of pain from moving my neck is there. I stare up into his gorgeous face. Yes, even if he's battered now, a little blood coating already healing scratches over his left eye and right cheekbone, he's easily the most beautiful guy I've ever met*.

*My mind goes blank when he leans closer, eyes intensely focused on mine. So incredibly gentle and scotching as they search mine, like he's trying to discover my deepest, darkest secrets. Like he's trying to see my soul. I become lost in them. Utterly lost and immobile. Then I feel his breath on my lips, the barest hint of his warm skin. Sparks dance through my nerves at his initial touch and I melt into him as he presses his lips to mine*-