Don't go past the threshold.

Drew POV

The pack started to arrive, I could hear them chatting miles away as if they were in the room with me already. Reluctantly, I figure it's best to start getting dressed. I roll myself off my bed and pull on my jeans and trainers I had left out earlier. In need of a top, I searched the room. Finally, I found a red t-shirt scrunched into a ball in the corner of the room. A quick sniff test tells me it's not exactly clean but fresh enough to do. I really should have made an effort to get clean but I needed to get back to the clearing, just for a minute. I haven’t been able to shake that feeling off my mind since crossing over the threshold. There’s an inevitable pull drawing me back, every fibre of my being telling me that’s where I need to be. I noticed the light fading, already the sun was beginning to set. Before long it would be dark. If they catch me there is no way I am getting away.

“Has anyone seen Drew?”Addison asks people while searching for him. I can’t see her right now. My heart races as I avoid her like a child hiding from their parents when they know they’re in trouble. I’ve already started running paws, hitting the earth. It must have been raining when I’d been napping earlier, the ground is damp and the smell of the foliage is invigorating. I much prefer living in my wolf state, everything feels more intense. I can taste the rain, and hear the earth talk to me as it moves.

“NO!” A scream echoes through my skull, coming from the clearing. Pushing myself harder, sensing I have to get there faster. I need to be there now! I feel myself running faster, harder. My feet leave ditches in the ground as if cannon balls had just dropped, causing the earth to tremble beneath me.

What was that? A surge of energy rushed through me, knocking the wind out of me. “Run. Come on Drew, you need to keep running!" I egged myself on. A scene playing out in the distance catches my attention. What is that? My brain is not functioning at what I’m seeing. What I am feeling. Fury. We aren’t supposed to involve ourselves in human problems, but I can’t stop myself, even if I wanted to. I’m not in control of my actions. Bounding straight over her, placing myself between her and the infidels. Quickly, I turned to check if she was all right before redirecting my attention to the vile specimens in front of me. I zoned in on the second largest, a thin, gangly, older white-haired male trying to sneak away, my fangs sinking into his abdomen splitting him in two with ease. His blood sprays out everywhere as if he were a garden sprinkler coating my fur in sticky blood. He bleeds out within seconds. Blood soaks my fur, warm and sticky. Footsteps moving behind me informed me she had left. I set my focus on the mirror-image men, blonde smarmy-looking things they are. The one on the left first, I decided. I leaped over him as I did, I took his whole head into my jaws and twisted it. All that could be heard was a sickening pop like a balloon being burst as I decapitated him, rolling his head along the feet of the other like a bowling ball gets rolled down the alley. The screeches of these grown men are enough to drag out a crowd of hundreds. At the risk of being discovered, I forced myself to leave. Before leaving, I circled the other twin, the smell of urine hits me as his unzipped trousers soak through, a low growl escapes me as I cannot contain this one last swipe, razor-sharp claws cover the whole of his face, splitting the skin and shredding his eye. The last I saw he had collapsed to the ground, curling up and sobbing like a child.

The need to find her overwhelmed me. Panic rose in my chest. Anyone who entered the forest was lost, but not her. I won't allow it.  It wouldn't take long for me to find her. I can feel her pull through the earth. I dig my paws deep into the earth, channelling the energies around me to feel for her presence. Feeling her vibrations set off to find her. The long fingers snag at my fur as I make my way through the trees to her. She was lying motionless on the ground, covered in so much mud, that most would have looked straight past her, not even knowing she was even there. If it wasn’t for the strong scent of blood and this utter need to be near her, I might have missed her too. My heart stops just for a moment, she is so still one would think she had passed over, but her heart beats softly, matching my own rhythm uncannily. Instinctively, I kneeled down, brushing the hair from her face, ensuring she was truly breathing. She may be the most splendid creature I have had the honour of witnessing. Her hair was unruly, plaits and twirls falling out, pops of colour still showing through the mud and blood, it was hard to decipher the true colour of her hair.

  I need to take her to the pack, my dad will know what to do. Carrying her in my wolf form is not an option right now. I am going to have to switch back. Clothes. I need clothes. There should be some stashed close by. Launching myself in the direction of the clothes has me on edge - I do not want to leave her. They are needed though, so I aim to be as quick as I can, keen to be back with her more than I can explain. Clothes, clothes, where are the damn clothes? At last, I spotted a pair of jeans. Grabbing them in my jaws, I took them back with me. Switching back there will be faster. Quick as a flash, I am back by her side, in nothing but my dirty jeans. I scoop her up as gently as I can, fearful I may break her if I hold her too tightly. To my surprise, she weighs next to nothing. Her beauty captivates me. The way she’s curled her head into my chest, opening her eyes for just a glimpse before falling back to sleep makes me weak. I had best get back to the pack.

“Where have you been, Drew? We had to start without you.” My father said cheerily before he could even see me.

 “Drew?” I heard Addison’s concerned voice, but I carried on walking forward, I needed his help.

“Dad?” He lifts his head towards me and does a double take before it dawns on him. I am carrying a woman and we are both covered in blood and mud. “What have you done? What have you done Drew!?” He shouted accusations dripping from his words.

Wait, what? He cannot be serious right now, he can’t seriously think I have done this? An irrepressible growl exits my body. “How could you begin to think I have done this to her?!” I demand an answer. Standing tall, my alpha aura explodes from me, as my face gives away my disgust at his assumption.

He takes in a deep, calming breath before speaking “What has happened then, Drew? Who is this girl? Where is she from?” He asks more gently now. He is concerned. I sighed in relief, I knew he would be.

“I found her in the clearing just past the threshold”, I began to explain, his face hardened at hearing this. In all of the drama I forgot about the rule- no wolf was to pass the threshold.