WP- Ch 42- Captured

Wolf Pack- Chapter 42- Captured

Jaclyn stared up at the stars with a longing, her ears pulling back as the cold nipped at them. The group had left a few days ago from the Council's territory and it was about as easy to get out as it was to break from Arden's dominance. Tyson was practically sobbing when he found out that Jaclyn was leaving so soon and gave her a stern order that she must come with Logan when he comes to meet the Council. She smiled softly at the thought and the image of Elle silently waving goodbye to the group as they left.

Arden warned her to follow Logan closely now, though Jaclyn could hear the emotion behind his words. He was just as worried as Logan was about her, now that she had gotten a little more experience with her new acute ears she could hear the emotion easily. Blaire and Quinn were out hunting that morning so she was unable to thank either of them for helping her. Although that day also brought back reality.

Logan was leading when the barrier came to a sudden stop and Jaclyn found her eyes falling quickly to the ice covered ground compared to the clear grass on the other side of the barrier. It was shocking to see such a change but she was also reminded that Logan nor Kale was born with her size, the two of them towered over her head and made her stomach shrink when she noticed the shadows compared to hers. Her fairytale was over and the hard part was just beginning.

Now she was back to lagging behind the male wolves and carried everywhere. Sure Tyson did his fair share back at their territory, but now it felt as if she was right back to the way she started, helpless. The past few nights she tried to change herself back to a full furred wolf so she could keep pace with Logan and Kale, but it never worked. Her eyes traveled back up to the sky after another failed night.
Logan was off hunting for something to eat while Kale was building a fire, it was still cool out and she was sure the fire was more for her benefit then the other wolves. She snorted in the direction of the male leaning over the sticks, crossing her arms in frustration. If Kale and Logan could take the cold, so could she!

A cool wind swept those thoughts out of her mind faster than a rabbit's run. She shivered and stuffed her hands into her jacket's pockets. The trip had been rushed the past few days because of the fact that a new moon was coming up and Logan was becoming nervous that they would be stuck out in the middle of the woods for new moon. Apparently the group had stayed at the Council's territory longer then they had thought. Winter was clearly winding down and Arden had warned that they had missed one new moon already while at the territory.

Jaclyn had studied the new moons all the way back in December when she thought that it would be the only time she could see Kale. So she had memorized the winter months. It didn't take too long to realize that it was March already and the new moon was on the 26th. She glanced back at Kale and wondered how he'd take it if she would end up protecting him. She stood up, taking in a deep breath before brushing off the back of her jacket.

"I'm going for a walk, Kale!" She called over to the silver wolf. His ears instantly swerved back and his head whipped around. He shook his head and pursed his lips, instantly showing signs of standing from the weak fire at his feet.

"There's no way that you can go, dad didn't come back yet and we need to stay at the camp." Jaclyn crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at the giant narrowing eyes trying to wear her down. She knew the real reason he said she couldn't go…he couldn't come with her. She had to admit going off her own was a little scary to think about but she was 'unsealed' now, if there was danger she could simply change. She needed this walk…just sitting here was making her restless.

"I'll stay around the area, I won't be more than an hour or so." Before Kale could stand she ducked into the trees. She knew he could track her if needed, his nose was better then hers at the moment, but if he managed to lunge at her at that moment she wouldn't have been able to even eat dinner without him watching her to see if she'd bolt.

Her legs were itching to move even after all day. While Kale and Logan's energy would be depleting hers would be rising. She hadn't been able to take a single step except on short breaks that didn't last more then five minutes. Ever since Kale had returned to his normal size he'd been just as clingy as Tyson and Logan seemed to be catching up pretty quickly to equal Kale. With those two around she couldn't sneeze without the two worrying about her. It was a little suffocating and she couldn't stop her mind from wanting to get away, just for a little bit that is. Her ear flicked at a small snap went off, making her ears instantly turn on alert. She perked and turned to her left to see a little brown figure crept out of the brush.

When it rose on its hind legs she could see it was a field mouse, his little nose twitching frantically. Her own ears turned back at the smell of the mouse and gave a small growl to see she almost matched its size. It didn't even look at her as he dropped back down to all fours and walked past her, nose on the ground. She sighed and felt her shoulders dropping in disappointment. How was she supposed to scare anything if nothing was imitated by her? And it was a mouse of all things…she couldn't even give a simple scare to one of the jumpiest most jumpy animals of the forest.

Although that was the only thing that managed to scare her as she walked, making a wide circle around the camp. The rest of the sounds she heard were far away and comforting. It was nice to be in the Council's territory but there were no animals there, the animals were kept out so it was quite and lonely. Now that she thought about it she could understand Elle letting the animals in all the time and Tyson holding onto every person that was new to the lands. However she only realized her mistake when she tried to remember how many times she circled the camp. Quick math concluded that it was around her 3rd lap that she could finally stop the distraction of her memories and forced her mind to focus. Only on the 3rd ring around the camp did she notice an extra set of quiet steps after she focused. One of her ears involuntarily turned back toward the sound but she paid close attention to what the steps were like as she tested her pursuer.

She tested the rhythm of her steps to see could throw them off in giving away themselves, the speed of her steps, or completely stopping and pretending to find interest in something. However this pursuer was clearly skilled in what he or she did, they stayed down wind so she couldn't smell what it was (even if she could label the scent) and they were keeping quiet and a good distance away. It wasn't until the 5th time she stopped, ready to settle her fast beating heart and attack did she acknowledge her follower.

However…her follower beat her to it.

She felt a hand slap against her mouth, covered in a thick glove. It surprised her, for she figured that there wouldn't be any Pegatans in the forest, she figured it was a predator following after her. She struggled instantly and heard a few groans and grunts from the clear male behind her but she felt her mind getting foggy, sluggish, unresponsive. The more she tried to focus, the less her mind would respond to what she wanted. She managed to bite into what she assumed was a finger, feeling the bone snapping under her strong sharp new teeth. Although as soon as she bite down she felt her jaw letting up when she wanted to bite harder. She screamed behind the glove before she felt her eyes fluttered and her shoulders slump, her scream dying in her throat. Before she could fight any more, she was out, slumped in the arms of a stranger.