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“I’m gonna go change,” I tell Storm, standing and heading for the stairs before he can respond.
I know we need to hunt. It’s been too long, and my beast is restless. I can only imagine how the guys’ must feel. Their need to hunt is hard-wired into them because of their predatory nature. Mine is built from habit—from years of hunting with the guys. It’s something I’ve learned to enjoy and look forward to. It’s thrilling. But we’ve never been so at odds while doing it. Even back when I went with them the first time, they were a well-oiled machine. I was just the one with trust issues. Issues that they easily helped me put to rest.
Something tells me this hunt is going to be a disaster.
Blair, Storm, and I rode up to Cohutta in Blair’s truck while Sol, Pike, and Lyle took Pike’s Jeep. We always take two cars, starting about two miles apart. Too many predators in one area will spook just about everything away. Something we learned the hard way when we were younger. So we start as two groups and meet in the middle, where I lure the other prey of the forest into a false sense of security.
It’s the most useful part of me being a prey shifter.
The first time I suggested it, the guys shot it down without even listening. They insisted it was dangerous and refused to let me wander the woods alone. Two unsuccessful hunts later, they were willing to try anything. Being some of the highest-ranking alphas has its perks most days, but pack hunting isn’t one of them. One high-rank alpha is enough to spook most things, and there are five of them.
The drive is long—almost two hours—but it’s familiar. I let the guys take the front seats and stretch out in the back with my book. I don’t even make it ten pages before I feel myself being lulled to sleep by the car’s sway.
“Rena,”Storm’s voice pulls me from a dream, the details of which fade away as my eyes focus on my surroundings. It takes my brain a second to catch up as I look around at the surrounding woods. Excitement fills me for the first time in a few days, and a smile pulls at my lips. Storm backs up, letting me hop out of the truck cab, and I can’t stay still, bouncing around.
“It’s been too long,” Blair says to Storm, who nods in agreement, pulling our packs out of the back.
“Yeah, I’m just happy to see her smiling and more like herself,” Storm says, tossing my pack at me. I snatch it out of the air and sling it onto my shoulder before bouncing over to them and pressing a kiss to Blair’s cheek. I don’t let myself overthink it. I refuse to let my brain ruin this.
We need this.
I turn to do the same to Storm, but at the last second, he turns, and our lips meet. I pull back and glare at him, but the smile on his face is so bright I can’t help but chuckle, even as my body feels like it’s vibrating.
Asshole.
I smack him in the chest, pulling back quickly when he tries to grab my wrist and bounce out of his reach, sticking my tongue out at him.
“You should get going.” Blair steps in front of me, blocking Storm’s way to me, his face serious in a way it wasn’t a few minutes ago.
Is he angry with me?
Upset that Storm kissed me?
“Oh, yeah, you’re right,” I stammer, looking down at my feet. “I’ll get going,” I tell them, taking a step back toward the heart of the forest.
“Run, Rabbit.”
Blair’s voice carries to me as I run off to find a good spot to shift, and I swear I hear a hint of a threat in his words, but I don’t dare look back.
Stripped down, I stash my pack and shift. My beast is less than happy with me for taking so long between shifts, but she's ready the second I let her take over and drop down on all fours. The first time I was bait for the hunt, I thought I would feel bad, luring unsuspecting creatures to their doom, but my beast loved it. The thrill is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before.
The guys always give me some time to explore before they follow my scent. I make sure to use that time to scope out the best place for us to start. Today happens to be near one of the streams. It’s not exactly hot out, but a wide variety of animals have made it down today either to bathe, drink, or enjoy the vegetation. None of them bat an eye at a rabbit as I go to the water for a long drink.
If I stumbled across this stream as a human, I’d never drink from it, but for some reason, it’s always delicious when I’m not the one running the show.
The breeze shifts, ruffling my fur, and I have to work extra hard to keep my excitement in check when I catch some of the guys’ scents. They’re still farther away but getting closer, and I know that means the fun’s about to begin.
Everything is going fantastically.
Lyle caught a bobcat, and Blair is already closing in on one of the wild turkeys. The twins are working to back down a black bear that just decided to join the party, though I’m unsure if they plan to pursue it or just want to scare it away. Pike hasn’t joined us yet, but I’m sure he will soon. He probably got distracted by something on his way down here. He’s not very good at ignoring the chase.
Drawing prey in is something I seem to excel at, and sometimes more than just the guys' notice. Being alphas makes that a nonissue for them, though.
I’m practically vibrating as I hop near the stream’s edge, watching my pack as they close in on the animals around me. Storm lets out a vicious roar, and I feel it deep in my chest. The need to join them is riding my ass harder than ever before, but I know better. I don’t want to get in their way when they are like this. One wrong bite, and I’m a lucky rabbit’s foot.
Shifting is hard to explain. You hand over control to your beast, but it’s still a part of you. Still, the same body just changed. We’re all still us, just with heightened instincts and a more base set of needs that matches our beasts instead of what we’re used to. Run, hunt, eat, sleep, and protect. No need to worry about things like homework or jobs. Just stay alive and enjoy the world.
I think that’s half the reason I love shifting so much. It’s liberating to let go of all my other worries and simply be.
