AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She nods. “Positive. Have fun tonight! I can’t wait to hear all about it.”
Avery loops her arm through mine, taking that as all the permission she needs to start tugging me in the direction of the exit. “See ya tomorrow, Lolo!” she calls back cheerfully.
“Thanks again, Lo,” I add as Avery pulls me down the aisle.
She gives me a thumbs-up, winking.
37
“Remember, it’s just me and you,” I say, framing Sloane’s face in both hands and staring into her vibrant moss green eyes.
“You and me,” she agrees with a little nod.
I lean down to plant a kiss on her lips before taking a step back, glancing toward the large crowd gathered in the living room of my packhouse. I’m thankful we were able to steal this last private moment together before the chaos of the run itself, even if we’re just tucked away in the corner rather than being truly alone. I’ve got a duty to my pack to lead the run tonight, and they’re all waiting to begin until I say the word.
The pack always gets amped up for the full moon run. Sure, wolves are drawn to the full moon, compelled to shift and run beneath it, but this ritual is so much more than that. It’s the one time a month that the pack all comes together, forging new mate bonds and strengthening the bond of the pack as a whole. It solidifies our connection with one another; the sense of unity and camaraderie that’s vital to this way of life.
Because it’s so important, my duties to the pack have to come first. This may be a big night for me, but it is for them, too. They’ve looked forward to it all month. And I won’t let them down.
I stride toward the center of the room, cupping my hands around my mouth. “Alright, who’s ready to run?!” I call out, and I’m immediately met with a chorus of whoops and cheers that vibrate the packhouse walls, the excited frenzy of the crowd palpable.
Fuck, I love this feeling. It’s euphoric. I soak it in for a good minute, sliding my gaze around the room to meet the eyes of as many pack members as I can. Then I throw up an arm, gesturing for them to follow before heading toward the rear door.
I pass Sloane along the way, still hanging off to the side of the room. “I’ll see you out there,” I say, tipping my head to her.
Sloane’s lips tip up in a little smirk. “Catch me if you can, Madd.”
A laugh tumbles from my throat as I lead the way outside to the back lawn of the packhouse, everyone else spilling out the door behind me. As soon as they hit the lawn, people start tossing their clothes off, leaving them strewn in haphazard piles as they prepare to shift. I lift my own shirt off over my head, chucking it away as I stride toward the treeline at the rear of the property.
Like I said, the full moon run is a ritual of sorts, so there’s an order to these things. The pack alpha is the first to shift, signaling the start of the run with a howl. Then, the family of the alpha- in this case, my sister and parents. Next is the pack beta and anyone else with rank, followed by the remainder of the pack, and lastly, any visitors- squad members that chose to stay here for the run rather than going back to their home packs, and tonight, Sloane.
My heart pounds with excitement as I drop my pants and call my wolf forward, the air around me shimmering. Energy surges through my body as my bones snap and rearrange with my shift. When my wolf first came in, this part was uncomfortable and almost painful, but now, it’s second nature. It only takes a second for the shift to be complete, and once I’m on four paws and shaking out my fur, I throw my head back and howl to the sky.
As I bound toward the treeline, I hear the echo of howls behind me- my sister, my parents, the ranked pack members. Then more of the pack. There’s a deafening chorus of howls that feels like it’s echoing all around me as I surge into the forest, my paws pounding against the earth.
I hear the thunder of a running wolf coming up alongside me, turning my head to see that Avery has caught up and is keeping pace with me, like usual.
‘Left or right?,’she asks through the mind link- a handy connection the pack uses to communicate when we’re in wolf form.
‘Left,’I reply, realizing that we’re already approaching the edge of the perimeter we set for ourselves. Before the hunters started terrorizing shifters, we were able to run anywhere within our territory under the full moon. Now, we keep to a tight radius, far from our pack’s boundary lines.
The two of us veer off to the left, the rest of the pack following as I hear the distant howls of the last of my pack shifting to join the run.
My heart beats faster, and it isn’t from exertion. I’m sprinting at top speed, kicking up dirt beneath my fast-moving paws, but it’s the anticipation of Sloane joining the run that has my pulse racing.
This is it.
It’s finally our time.
Fuck, I hope we’re right about being fated.
I kick those doubts out of my brain the moment they arrive, because I refuse to accept any scenario that doesn’t end in Sloane and I marking one another by the end of the night. We’ve waited too long. Endured too much. Fought too hard.
We deserve this.
‘Feel anything yet?’Avery asks through the mind link, checking in on me.
‘Not yet,’I reply.
