Born Rogue

BORN ROGUE CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Freddy rolled over and stood on his furry legs, he shook his fur out. Sneezed and sniffed the air, searching for the howler.

He nudged Rowan trying to rouse her. Another howl, closer now, sounded from the hills they'd come through. Someone was tracking them.

Rowan's eyes fluttered open. She sat up, groggy. Using his muzzle, Freddy, nuzzle her under the arm, encouraging her to get up.

"Can you hear me, little wolf?" Freddy said telepathically.

"Yes," Rowan answered out loud.

"I don't know who's tracking us, but we have at least one wolf on our trail. I need you to move. Can you run?" Freddy asked her through their mindlink.

"Maybe," Rowan answered and tried to stand.

Freddy's wolf form was nearly five foot at the shoulder. "If you can hang on tight, you can ride on my back!" Freddy communicated to her.

He knelt in front of Rowan, then lay in the grass. He was still over three feet tall just laying down. Rowan struggled to jump up on his back. When she was finally seated, he said, "Lean over my neck and wrap your arms around me. Hold onto my fur really tight! You won't hurt me."

Rowan did as instructed, her face nestled in the side of his neck, her arms barely made it over his massive shoulders, but she clutched his soft orange fur as tightly as she could.

Freddy bounded off in a burst of speed, Rowan had never experienced before. He leapt over the electric fence easily. He ran even faster across the pasture towards a barn far in the distance.

Another howl, closer than the first, sounded from the foothills behind them again. Another answered this time, from further away in the mountain.

Freddy sped through the tall pasture grass. It whipped against Rowans legs high on Freddy's back. He bounced over another fence and into a paddock behind the barn. He dove into a haystack near the center. Hiding Rowan and himself inside.

He snuck his head out just so he could see, hear and smell. He perked his ears and lifted his snout to the direction they'd just come.

"Row, I need you to go look for a car. If anyone sees you just pretend your lost and contact me through our pack bond. Can you do that? I need you to try and talk to me only in your head."

Rowan found the place where her pack bond with Freddy now existed. It was easy to find, but very new. She'd never had pack bonds before. Nothing like this that existed inside her. It was a comforting place to her and all she had to do was close her eyes and she was there. Inside, Freddy's heartstring connected to hers and her to him.

"Imagine holding the string that goes to me, that connects us!" Freddy directed. "And then just speak your thoughts right to me."

"Can you hear me," She thought.

"Yes! Good job, kid!" Freddy congratulated her. "I'm going to go a scout out this wolf we heard. Stay here. If you see any wolves call me and hide! Just find a car, a truck, anything, okay?"

Freddy leapt out of the hay and took off back they way they'd just come.

Rowan crawled out of the hay and looked around. It wasn't a large paddock and she could smell the cows and some other animals coming from the barn. She crept over and looked inside. It was dimly lit, but some cows still lingered in stalls. The majority housed there must be somewhere else. A cat stopped and flicked its tail at her. Then turned and went back the way it'd come.

A man was shoveling s**t and then rinsing the floor with a hose before laying down straw bedding. Rowan ducked out of sight and followed around the outside of the barn instead of going through.

When she got around to the front she stopped and looked at the two story farmhouse with flowers hanging on the porch and planted in the green shady front yard. There were plenty of vehicles parked in some regard around the property.

"Hey there!" said a friendly voice.

Rowan jumped, she hadn't notice him come out of the barn.

"Can I help you with something?" He smiled friendly and took his baseball cap off and wiped sweat off his brow and pushing his sandy blonde hair back and putting his cap back on his head. "Names Chris!"

Rowan backstepped like a skittish horse. Uncertainly, she said, "I need a ride, for me and my...dog?"

"A ride? Well, how'd you get all the way out here?" Chris asked, a smile still on his face.

Rowan stammered, "We...we...were...um...those boat things...in the river..."

Boudica sighed, "Kayaking!" She supplied.

Rowan was angry at Boudica for just now showing up to this s**t show, but to Chris she threw her hand in the air and said, "Kayaking...yeah we were kayaking and we lost the kayak. We were supposed to go all the way down the river." Rowan finished lamely.

"Really?" Chris saw bullet holes in this story already. "Where'd you put your boat in at?"

Rowans eyes were wide, she wasn't a good liar, probably because she'd hardly ever talked. "Up by the bridge?" She answered more like a question.

Chris chuckled, "The one right before the waterfall?" He asked skeptically.

"Yeah! That's how we lost the boat. Been walking all night." Rowan could see his lack of belief in her story. She didn't even remember the waterfall, but decided to use it and put a confident little shoulder shrug into and met his gaze.

Chris just smiled, "Yeah, I'll just take your word on that. Hey if you can chill five minutes I can give you and your friend a lift, down river. If that's the way you need to go. "I just got to go wash my hands and boots off and put this stuff around back. So, you want a ride?"

Rowan thought about it and nodded. "Sure, thanks." He smiled and disappeared around the barn.

Rowan did the pack thingy and told Freddy, "I found someone to give us a ride."

"Found someone? You were just supposed to find a vehicle, not talk to anyone. Humans cant know we exist." Freddy told her. "On my way, but company is close behind!"

Rowan hurried to the back and told Chris, "My friends coming." She didn't know how to get him to hurry without telling him to hurry.

Chris was rinsing off his boots and hands with a hose by the water trough. She was bouncing around on her toes and keep looking around. "It's the red truck over there." He pointed to a truck parked further down the dirt lane leading away from the house.

Rowan nodded and looked for Freddy as she hurried to the truck. "I am at the truck!" she told him through the pack bond.

"Tell him I'm your dog." Freddy told her.

"My dog? He's never going to believe you're a dog, Freddy!"

"Tell him a rare giant breed of wolf hound from Romainia or something, just sell it!" Freddy ordered. "I'll be there soon."

Chris was walking over to the truck now, Rowan searched for Freddy. She whistled real loud starting him! He jumped and put a hand to his chest.

"Geesh! Warn a guy or something," he laughed.

Rowan laughed awkwardly. "Just calling my..." She swallowed. "dog,"

Chris said, "You're dog?" He asked quizzically. "You said your friend, before?"

"Isn't everybody's dog their friend?" Rowan quipped.

"Okay?" Chris went along with it. "Where's your dog.

Freddy raced in a blur right passed, Chris, spinning him sideways. Chris spun like a tornado just clipped him. Freddy leapt up in the back of the truck and gave what he hoped was a playful yip. The trucks back suspension sagged and creaked, making him look anything but playful.

Chris's eyes were huge! "That's not a dog!" He insisted.

"Sure he's my dog! His names Freddy."

"Kruger?" Chris asked seriously.

"Freddy, is a big baby. Don't be scared." Rowan coaxed, Chris who looked ready to run away.

Freddy, laid down and let his tongue loll out of his mouth and tried to give Chris big puppy eyes.

Chris swallowed. "Fine as long as he stays in the back!" Chris insisted never taking his eyes of Freddy even as he got in the truck and closed the door. He was still watching him in the rearview mirror. "That's a big fuckin' dog!" Rowan was sure she heard Chris mumble.

"He's a Romanian Wolfhound," Rowan said as she got up front of the pickup.

"Sure," Chris said as he pulled out and drove down the lane.