73: Pine trees

**Tristan**

I used to hate the smell of pine. It reminded me a lot of the place Ambrose used to take me to for my training. We’d go there so often that the smell was basically burned into my nose and with it, the memories were burned into my brain, scorched, imprinted, tattooed. Ambrose had never laid a hand on me growing up, not like he had with Lucien. Instead, the lasting psychological scars I had were lashed into my mind. I could remember a week in which he left me in the heavily wooded area surrounding the packgrounds to fend for myself. Days and days of nothing but pine trees. I cried a few times back then. The worst was when it rained throughout the night, and I’d find myself shivering and dreaming of warmth and fire and food. But despite my hardships throughout those days of solitude, wandering the pine woods, it was the smell of the place which really got under my skin. But the moment the week was up, Ambrose was there, waiting for me. He never really smiled, but that day, he had a proud smirk on his face.

“You really are a survivor,” he said, “my brave soldier. I doubt I’ve ever felt this much pride before in my life.”

From that day onwards, I was known as Ambrose’s brave little soldier and Goddess, did I try to live up to that title. But still, even then, I was haunted by the smell of pine…

“You seem to be lost in thought.” Lucien said after stopping the car in front of the house. I glanced up at him and then nodded before sighing.

“I’m just thinking…”

“About?”

I smirked and then lied, not wanting him to change his mind about our trip through the pine forest. “How much I love you.”

He chuckled and then kissed my cheek before opening his door and motioning for me to do the same. The pine forest here was not as dark as back at my old packgrounds. In fact, it was less foggy too and rays of sunlight shone through the spaces between the trees, and I felt myself begin to relax slightly.

“You wanna go for a run?” He asked as he started to take his shirt off. I unashamedly let my eyes indulge in the sight of his bare skin and he smirked. “Oh, don’t worry, you’ll be seeing more of this later.”

“I should hope so. And a run sounds good. I’m sure I could outrun you in a heartbeat.” I said, soon joining him and removing my clothing.

“Huh, cocky much. I hope you can put your money where your mouth is.” He said.

And just because he said that, I laughed before smiling wickedly and saying, “Or I could put your cock where my mouth is instead. It all depends on how well you behave, Mr Michaels.”

He stood frozen, eyes wide and mouth gaping for a moment before letting out a soft hiss. “Yup, after this, you’re not leaving my room.” With that he removed his pants and underwear and then winked at me from over his shoulder. I felt my entire body heat up just by this gesture of his alone. Then, he ran for a moment or so before launching himself off of the ground and into the air and once he landed, he was fully in his wolf form. I was surprised at how huge he was, much larger than Ambrose even. In fact, I was sure he was the largest Alpha wolf I’d ever seen in my life and the most beautiful. His dark fur was shiny and smooth and within his brilliant red eyes, an almost golden glimmer shone.

I walked towards him slowly before placing a hand out in front of me. He walked up to me and lowered his head, and I placed my hand against the softness of his head.

‘*Your turn*,” he said through a mind-link.

I nodded before removing the rest of my clothing, placing them in a neat pile next to his and then dropping myself on all-fours. The sound of my bones cracking and reshaping filled the air and once they’d stopped, I was completely transformed into my Blue-Eyed Alpha self. Our size-difference was almost a laughing matter. However, despite how small I was compared to him, I was still much stronger, and much, much faster.

Lucien neared me and then brushed himself up against me. I nuzzled my nose into his fur before licking the side of his face. He panted and then said through the mind-link, “*Ready?*”

I lowered my head in response and he moved himself next to me so that we could start at the exact same spot.

“*We’ll run to the edge of the forest, just before the main road. You sure you can beat me?*” He asked.

I growled playfully and then said, “*Don’t you worry about me, worry about yourself.*”

“*As you wish. On the count of three. One. Two*\-”

“*Three!*” And with that I sped off, not once making sure that he’d taken off with me. My arrogance was a mask, covering up how anxious I actually felt here. I’d been good at keeping it at bay until now, and now that I was surrounded by the familiarity of the smell and the sight of the trees, I felt overwhelmed and consumed by that feeling I got in the pine woods all those years ago- the feeling of death looming on me, breathing down my neck.

By the time we’d gotten deeper into the pine forest I was so overwhelmed by everything that I felt myself slow down. I was just about to completely stop to take a breath and regain my composure when the sound of Lucien’s paws filled my ears. He dashed in front of me, but not before mind-linking, “Eat my dust slowpoke!” And as this entered my mind, he turned towards me and I was caught off-guard by the happy look on his face, as though he had not a care in the world. Just that look on his face and the reminder that he was right with me, was enough for me to begin relaxing again.

I let out a huff before chasing after him. He was fast when he had a bit of a head start. But he couldn’t compare to me and soon I’d outrun him. But I never let myself get too far ahead of him. I wanted to look back at him and see that carefree look on his face, a reminder that I was safe, that this wasn’t life or death. A reminder that the scent of the pine trees and the dimness beneath it was nothing to fear. It was part of the reason I’d chosen this pine forest instead of the beach. The beach was safe, untainted by any bad memory I could possibly associate with it. The pine forest was uncomfortable. It still tied me to a past I’d prefer to forget. But the more my paws hit against the damp ground beneath me and the further on I went, the more I began to realise that there was no way I’d ever get rid of these memories. The only thing I could do was try to live with them- the scent of pine and the scars of Ambrose. I’d live with then just like Lucien had. I’d live as Ambrose’s dishonoured soldier.

It was no surprise when I made it first to the endpoint of our race. Lucien reached it a moment or so later, panting heavily and then throwing himself down on the floor.

“*You weren’t lying when you said you could beat me in a heartbeat.*”

“*Of course not. Blue-Eyed Alpha speed aside, the Kayden family was known for their extraordinary speed. Even if I hadn’t been a Blue-Eyed Alpha, I would have still kicked your sorry ass.*”

“*You really are competitive. Maybe you were just lucky. We’ll have a rematch to see who gets back the fastest.*”

It amused me how despite the fact that I’d effortlessly wiped the floor with him, he still felt the need to compete against me. But I was nothing if not sympathetic to his little fantasy and so I agreed. Needless to say, I still beat him on the way back. This time, however, I wasn’t as anxious running through the forest, and if I only thought of Lucien, I could almost completely ignore the scent of pine trees.

When we’d gotten back to our starting point, Lucien and I rested for a moment or so before transforming back into our human forms and getting dressed.

“I don’t know why we’re putting our clothing back on when we both know we’ll be naked the second we enter the room.” Lucien said.

“Because what if someone wanders around, huh? An innocent human on a hike.” I retorted.

Lucien thought about what I’d said for a moment before nodding. “You’re right. I don’t want some weirdo staring at you when you’re naked.”

“Likewise.” And as we walked towards the gate of the yard, I felt myself breathe a silent sigh of relief. Once again, I’d survived the pine trees.