Wolf Heart

Chapter 2

    Being outside was the purest form of freedom for Carson. The air was clear, no walls containing him, and he was able to embrace his entire being.

    Embrace his true wolf form.

    As soon as he reached the forest edge after leaving the school, Carson shifted into his dark grey and white wolf form, and took off in a sprint. 

    This was how Carson preferred to exist. Running, just running, with no pesky human emotions or thoughts to get in the way of his happiness. Just being in that high school for that short amount of time was more than Carson would like to experience, and he didn’t even see any humans there other than the office ladies and that Aria girl. 

    What was her deal anyway? How could she be afraid of Carson one second and then fearlessly taking his hand the next? His paw still smelled of her human scent and that bothered him. He took a turn to run towards the river where he could cleanse his paws. 

    As he arrived, he could hear the faint noise of paws thudding against forest floor that weren’t his own, and then the familiar scents of his packmates were in the air. 

    Two wolves, one large and pure black, and one much smaller with a brown and white coat. Kenzo and Penny. 

    When the two of them arrive at my location they circle me in greeting. Hey Car, what are you doing out here this morning? Penny asked me through the pack link. The two wolves sniffed Carson’s fur, which Carson was sure would give away his previous whereabouts. 

    Yo, is that what I think I smell? Kenzo’s voice echoed in Carson’s mind. Did THE Carson Lane let a human girl touch him?

    No way! Penny shrieked. Carson wouldn’t just let that happen right? 

    Would you guys relax? Fagen just made me go to Riversedge this morning and one of his lame office humans shook my hand. Carson growled. These two always go off with their wild ideas before listening to anyone. 

    Why would Fagen take you to school? It’s orientation day. Penny asked.

    Don’t tell me Fagen is finally making you go to school with us. Kenzo laughed, and even though he was completely joking, Carson hated how he always caught on to things without trying. Without an answer to give the young wolves Carson remained quiet, but that was all the answer the two needed.

    No. Way. You’re gonna go to school with us?! Penny didn’t even try to hide her excitement as she jumped around filled with energy at the news, much to Carson’s annoyance. Real friends would feel bad for him if they knew what he really wanted. 

    I’m doing no such thing! Old man just needed me to help lift random crap. Don’t go getting any stupid ideas. And Carson took off towards home, leaving his two packmates behind. Now that he’s been irritated more than once today already, he needed to blow off a lot of steam. Luckily the run home would take at least forty minutes. 

    Carson felt much better when he arrived at the pack’s estate. The mansion was basically a boarding home for the entire pack Carson had been adopted to 6 years ago. He had grown up without a pack, in the care of his single human mother. After spending all these years finally in a pack, Carson has grown to detest his past. Being forced to suppress his wolf side ever since it emerged when he was five, Carson grew to hate humans and their fear of his kind. So many of them have been hunted and killed by humans, and now only a few packs scattered around the world remain. 

    And what was worse, Carson had no choice but to be in his human form in accordance to the pack alpha’s rules. Fagen’s rules. His adoptive father, who appeared in Carson’s life so suddenly and saved him from his hateful mother’s grasp. Out of respect for Fagen, Carson followed his rules, no matter how much he wanted to throw his human side away, never to be seen again.

    Carson shifted into human form once he was right at the estate entrance. The beauty of the front lawn and the architecture of the building was lost on Carson, they weren’t things he would care about as a wolf, so he never gave it much attention. 

    The estate WAS massive though. Enough rooms to fit thirty pack members, each with their own room. In the heart of old Asheville, North Carolina, the building was old and abandoned decades ago. Fagen’s father restored it for the pack and they have lived here ever since. 

    The only human in the entire world that Carson has been able to tolerate, the pack’s maid Ronda, greeted him as he entered the kitchen. 

    “Good morning Master Carson. Would you like me to make you breakfast?” Ronda offered with a smile. Carson couldn’t in good consciousness have negative thoughts about humans when Ronda was around. She took such good care of the pack, and was fully aware of what they were. 

    “Sure Ronda, that would be great.” Carson replied. Ronda gave him the feeling of the mother he never had. 

    Hours past and Carson spent the day thinking of how he was going to dodge Fagen when he got home. He knew there was no way he wasn’t going to let Carson off the hook for leaving, though he was still unsure why he was being made to go in the first place. Fagen knew better than anyone why Carson can’t stand to be around humans. 

    Carson knew his time was running short when Kenzo and Penny arrived home, meaning Fagen wouldn’t be far behind. He could hear the two gossiping about him downstairs only minutes after arriving at home. He thought he made himself perfectly clear when he said he was NOT going to RiversEdge High. Those two never listen to him. 

    Twenty minutes later Fagen was home. All the wolves that are home make their way downstairs to greet their alpha, except Carson. He was mad today, so his father could deal with Carson’s absence at the pack greeting. 

    As soon as he heard the knock on the door Carson dreaded the conversation that was about to follow, but there was no denying it was coming anyway.