CLARA

#Chapter13 CLARA Twenty years ago… I push myself harder, as hard as my wolf can run. I can hear the heavy thud of my paws, and the dirt rising in the air behind me. I can feel my heart pumping erratically and my blood pumping in my body. My senses are enhanced, and my eyes can capture the least illuminated points in the forest. My ears prick every time I hear a snap of a twig or the rustling of leaves. This is night time and of course, the forest is alive with thousands of creatures. I’m just trying to be careful not to be caught. If my parents knew I was not in my bed at this late hour and was running in the forest, they would probably install iron bars on my window sills and my brother would have a field day. The pack follows a strict no wanderings and running at night policy, which I have failed to follow quite a few times. I know this policy isn’t insured because of safety reasons. The pack borders are guarded day and night by border patrols and they would rather die than a rogue get through, so my wolf urges me to sneak out night after night. It has now been four days since I have submitted to my wolf and allowed it free reign to run at night. Somehow, everything is more pronounced at night and I and my wolf enjoy our nightly runs more than our day runs. It’s a drug; if I’m not careful the alpha might notice and I would have to suffer for breaking the ack rules. We’ll get to the bridge in time, though. For now, I close my eyes and let my wolf guide me through the woods. My wolf emerges into a wide clearing and steps towards the watering hole. The place is gorgeous. A soft waterfall dominates the landscape with a pool of cool water. Huge rocks surround the perimeter of the lake and I long to take a sip after my extremely long and hard run. My wolf dips his muzzle into the water and I greedily lick up the water. “The rules are meant to be followed; you know. When the alpha says you’re not meant to be out in the woods at night, that’s exactly what he means.” My wolf stiffens when I hear the amused voice behind me and I slowly turn around to look at Samuel, casually leaning back on one of the huge rocks surrounding the lake. “What are you doing here, Clara?” Samuel asks and to my enhanced senses, he looks even more beautiful and handsome and rugged than he does on the best of days. I growl in answer because that’s all I can do right now. “Oh, I’m sorry.” He scrambles to get up and this is probably the only time I have seen him be clumsy because he stumbles on the rock twice. He jogs and disappears behind the tree line of the clearing but he isn’t very far away as his scent still reaches me. Samuel comes back into my view and throws something. An oversized shirt and shorts land on my feet and I realize that he wants me to change into my human form so that we can have a conversation instead of me just growling and grunting. I pick up the clothes with my teeth and bound behind the tree line, away from Samuel’s view so that I can shift into my naked human form. I hastily don the clothes he provided me with and barefoot, I again enter the clearing with Samuel’s guarded eyes on me. If I had been human, I would have been extremely conscious about not wearing any undergarments beneath my clothes but as werewolves, I have grown up shifting naked in front of most of the boys in my age group. While I may not be so brazened now, I am better equipped to handle this than an unsuspecting teenager. I sit down across from him, wanting to keep some distance between me and him. This is probably one of the very rare times we are alone together. Of course, there have been moments when I have found Samuel sitting alone in our living room or passed him in the school’s hallways. This time no one is here to interrupt us and we can stay alone here as long as both of us like. “Why are you out here in the middle of the night? You know that’s against the rules.” Samuel says pointedly at me and I roll my eyes at him. “Did you just roll your eyes at me?” “I did. If you haven’t noticed Mr. Future Alpha, you are also outside the pack house in the dead of the night.” #