~ Alex's POV ~

"We're here!" I say, opening the door to the pack house. We all walk inside, Stella and Colt looking amazed at the sheer size of this place. It's three stories and has dozens of rooms for each pack member. I head toward the office and knock on the door.

"Come in," says a voice. We go inside and see the Alpha sitting at his desk. When the Alpha and Luna were taken by hunters, the Beta filled in the role until Kirsten and I come of age to take over the pack.

"Alex! Kirsten! You've been gone a while, is everything alright?" He looks at the group. "Who are they?"

"Jackson, this is Stella and Colt. They're horse-shifters."
His eyes widen. "Horse-shifters? Haven't heard of those in a while."

The two look at each other nervously. Being in a house full of wolves must be a little intimidating. Stella shoots me a glance and I smile. She smiles back and looks at Jackson again.

"There's a problem in the woods. The hunters are back." Kirsten says.
"The ones that killed the pack leaders?" We nod.

Jackson runs his hands through his brown curly hair and sighs. "Did they see you?"

"They tried to maim us with wolfsbane."

"Wolfsbane? You could have died."

"That was their goal."

He looks at us after a few moments of silence and says, "Then it's not safe here. There's only one place you guys can go." He pulls out a map and points to a place in Northern California. "The original home of the Silver Moon pack."

"What do you mean by us?"

"If we all travel together, they're going to realize that we're a pack. But the four of you might be able to make it here." We look at each other.

"Alex...it's our only chance at survival. The hunters can't find us." Kirsten says.

I sigh and say, "All right then. Let's do it."

Jackson nods his head. "Once you make it there safely, we can move the pack out in small groups. The sooner we can get you guys out of here, the better."

"When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, so you should probably start packing."

"All right then." We all stand up and say goodbye to Jackson before leaving the office.

"So, I guess we're really doing this." Stella says.

"Yeah, guess so." I look at her, my wolf longing to be near her. Trying to contain Dante is difficult, and he takes over for a second, before I take control again.

Kirsten nudges me. "Hey, you alright? Your eyes turned golden."

I nod my head and keep walking. My mind focuses on our journey and how we're going to get there. All that matters to me is that everyone gets there safe.

Colt looks at his watch and says, "Wow, it's really late. See you guys tomorrow?"

We say goodbye to him and he runs off toward his home. That energy just doesn't stop.

Stella looks at the black night sky and says, "Welp, I'd better go home and start packing..."

"Do you want me to walk you home?" I ask.

"I wouldn't want to bother you."

"No, I'd love to." I say with a gentle smile. She blushes and nods.

Can you feel the love tonight? Kirsten sings in mindlink.

You're really going to do that? I ask, unamused.

At least I'm not singing it out loud. You know I might.

I close the mind link and look at Stella. "So which way..."

"This way," she smiles, leading the way. "Thanks for doing this."

"Yeah, no problem."

You're blushing... Dante laughs.

Go chase your tail or something, I'm trying to talk to my mate.

You do realize that I can turn you into a wolf right now?

Oh. Sorry.

Very good. Carry on.

"Wolf acting up?" Stella asked.

I chuckled. "Yeah, he's persistent."

We walk in silence for a few minutes, not really sure what to say to each other. I decide to say something.

"So how exactly does a herd work?" I ask.

"Well, the lead stallion and mare are basically the alphas. They guard the herd and take care of the mares and foals. The colts stay in the herd until they turn four." I look at her curiously. "Eighteen in horse years. They choose a mare and leave to start their own herd."

"That's pretty cool. What happened to them, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well, some mustang rangers were in the area, so we had to disband before anyone was caught. There had been some rumors about humans taking the forms of horses, and we couldn't risk anyone finding out about us."

"Why do hunters have to ruin everything?"

"Exactly." She looks at me with a gentle smile, then at the house in front of us. "Well, I guess I have to go..."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow morning at the pack house?"

"All right. Goodnight, Alex." Her smile and beautiful voice leaves me feeling warm and peaceful as she goes inside.

I'll have to tell her that we're mates at some point, but in the meantime, there's only a few things on my mind - getting to the new pack location safely, keeping our little group safe, and surviving.

Game on.
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Let me know what you thought of this chapter!

Also, I threw in a little Originals reference for you guys...😉

You may have noticed the short story "Becoming" on my page. It's a entry for the Full Moon Challenge by the Wattpad Werewolf profile werewolf . Basically the goal is to write a story from 200 - 1500 words about someone's first shift. Let me know what you think of my story!

Have an amazing day, everyone!