Seren woke up about 4:30 AM, instantly as awake as if it were noon. She covered McGreggor up with a blanket without interrupting his horridly loud snoring and took a shower. She scrubbed her skin with the pink tomato-based soap and nothing else. She only used her fruity shampoo and conditioner when she was going to be in her human form for an extended period of time to further help hide her scent. 

Toweling off, she didn't bother putting any clothes on and tip-toed to the kitchen where she quickly ate a poptart, eager to be out and on her run as fast as possible. She scribbled McGreggor a note, saying that she would likely not be back until Sunday morning and stepped out onto the back porch, the towel still wrapped around her naked body.

She deeply inhaled the fresh mountain air and listened for anyone coming up the driveway. The coast was clear! She dropped the towel and lunged forward, shifting liquidly over the steps and landing on the soft grass as a wolf. Tongue hanging out, she zigzagged through the orchard as fast as she could, relishing in the wind whipping through her fur and the feeling of her muscles finally getting the strain they so desired. Seren pushed herself harder, flying out over the forty acre field beyond the orchard, the wind deafening as she sprinted with all her might, delight flowing through her veins at the pure freedom she felt.

She made a huge circle, her tail nearly touching the ground as she struggled to keep on her feet at her speed. Seren was, without a doubt, the fastest wolf there was. She ran so often and so hard, that she was sure none could compete with her. In fact, she would rather be in wolf form than human at any given time and often wondered if she wasn't a werehuman instead.

The grass was high and unruly, making it a game to leap up and disappear again. Seren nosed around until she discovered a flock of blackbirds and startled them up into the air, leaping as high as she could after them, then sprinting along beneath the flock.
Suddenly, a rustle caught her attention and she slowed just enough to see the brown back of a rabbit shooting away.

All humanity disappeared in an instant and Seren lunged after it, all her senses fixed on the fleeing prey. It was swift, but she was swifter, her paws more able to dig into the ground, her larger muscles rocketing her forward. She had its scent and the tiniest glimpse of its tail drove her onward. She saw the rabbit leap high over the wires and followed its arc effortlessly, chasing the prey into the forest on the other side, overcome by the smell of its fear. Her body contorted to match the agile movements of her prey as it dove at sharp angles to shake her off its trail.
The sound of its heart hammering against its ribs made her hunger in the most primal way. She saw nothing, heard nothing and  smelled nothing other than the rabbit. And that was her second mistake.

Something slammed into her right side, harder than a freight train, knocking the wind out of her. Seren rolled under the weight of it, the scent of wolf filling her nose. She struggled to get to her feet, blinking in a daze.

Fear washed over her. She was in Gray Paw territory. And the massive brown wolf did not look happy. It dove for her, teeth locking on the flesh of her neck and she screamed, trying to pull free. It bit down again, slashing deep cuts over her ribs with its claws. Yelping, she kicked the wolf off with her back legs and dipped beneath its chomping jaws, scrambling through the leaf litter to escape as fast s possible. Now that Seren was alert, she was able to dodge the brunt of the second wolf leaping for her. His bottom teeth still scraped across her back making her scream again and run for her life. She did her best to follow the scent of the tall grass back, the two wolves dangerously close on her tail. Relief washed through her when she finally saw the tangled mess of the fence and jumped over it, but it did not hold back the wolves that followed her onto McGreggor's land.
Now what?

Panicked and blood-stained, she ran toward the Wind Runner land. Surely, they would still all be asleep still from their party and would not notice her on their border. The paws of the wolves behind her sounded thunderous upon the ground and their breaths were hot and short. Within a minute, she was leaping over the other side of the fence, leaving the two behind in McGreggor's field.

Barreling into Wind Runner territory, she found the first cave she could and collapsed in the tiny crevice beneath an overhang of earth. Panting so hard, he couldn't lick her wounds. She wished she hadn't told McGreggor that she wouldn't be back til Sunday. She needed help, but with the Gray Paw pack on McGreggor's land and Seren on Wind Runner's, she could neither get to her home nor call for help. She would have to wait and let her wounds heal as best they could.

The day passed slowly and she took the time to sleep and lick the blood from her fur to keep her scent out of the air. She rolled in the dirt, both to neutralize any remaining scent and to coat her wounds with clay to stop the bleeding. It was just in time, too, because a group of seven Wind Runners trotted by not fifteen feet away, no doubt searching for her.

Two, she could escape from, but seven meant certain death. They would tear her apart before she could get a word out. She listened for their soft panting to fade before she let out her breath, willing her heart rate to slow.

Seren laid her head on her paws. How could she have been so foolish? Blindly running into Gray Paw territory and then fleeing into the Wind Runner forest had been the biggest mistake of her life. It would be weeks before she could safely shift without the two packs searching for her. She just hoped they wouldn't suspect her human form. Surely, they would be looking for someone new to the town, checking the inn and asking around, not wondering which of the few citizens was secretly a rogue.

Her stomach growled, but she ignored the pain. There was nothing she could do until the packs went back for supper at night. Even then, she could only guess the time and hope they didn't have any out patrolling. Supper was usually a big deal for packs, something that no one was really allowed to miss, or so McGreggor said. To Seren, sitting at a crowded table with men and women that outranked you and would steal your food was just another reason why she didn't want to ever experience pack life again.

She sniffed at her flank. She didn't have much time before the soap wore off and her scent would come through. The sun was beginning to sink and the forest dimmed, the birds all returning to their nests for the night. Seren decided that the Wind Runner pack would be sitting down for their evening meal and if she didn't move, she might lose her chance. She would rather not be surprised by them.

Seren pushed herself up on her aching limbs and slowly started padding through the trees, keeping her ears and eyes alert for every miniscule sound. She headed south, making her way towards McGreggor's house, while paralelling his land so that if the Gray Paw's were still lurking around, they wouldn't see her. She ran the risk of being caught by the Wind Runner's, but there was still a small chance they didn't even know she was in their territory. 

A low growl made all the fur on her back stand on end and she wheeled around. She met a pair of brown eyes, but there was nothing to suggest that this Wind Runner was her mate and she nearly sighed in relief. She knew better than to make eye contact, regardless of the situation. This wolf was large brown and shaggy. He could have been mistaken for a grizzly bear from afar, but he was certainly twice as strong, dominance rolling off him in waves. However, Seren didn't think he was the alpha of the Wind Runners, though most likely one high in comand, a beta even.

His lips were pulled away from his sharp white teeth as he snarled at Seren. Now that she had it, she didn't dare break eye contact, because as soon as she did, he would make his move. On either side of him was another wolf, one gray and one brown and gray. She swallowed nervously, her tail tucking and she lowered herself to the ground, hoping that he could see that she was no threat.

The very second the brown one relaxed his posture, she used her crouch to spring sideways and shoot like an arrow through the forest. It took them a moment, in their surprise, to give chase. Seren didn't know where she was going, only that she needed to find something that smelled horrible to throw them off her trail, however faint it may be. Returning back to McGreggor's house immediately was now out of the question and would only blow her cover completely.

She could hear them crashing through the underbrush behind her, less accustomed to running than she and much larger. Seren only weighed 115 pounds, but each of the males behind her were at least 190 or more with their giant muscles. Though they could easily overpower her, they had nothing on maneuverability and were struggling to catch her as she wove in and out of tight places, took sharp turns and squeezed under logs and low hanging brush to hang them up. 

At last, she smelled what she had hoped for. At the bottom of a small, but steep slope was an area of dark mud. By the gnats swarming above it and the stench rolling off it, she could tell it was stagnant and dove into it, quickly sprinting back up the hill and off to the side under a pine. Not only would the mud hide her scent, but it would also disguise her white fur. Heart pounding and limbs trembling, she waited for them to catch up. Growling, they raced by, angry as hell that they had lost her. Panting as hard as she could, Seren collapsed on the ground, her sides heaving, glad that she had shaken them for the time being. 

She knew they would backtrack soon, when they realized she wasn't ahead of them anymore, and circle back. Though her body ardently protested, she forced herself to her paws and trotted briskly back west, loping when she had caught her breath. Seren was lucky, the Wind Runners either were not able to pick up her trail again or had not realized they weren't chasing her anymore, because she neither saw nor heard them behind her. Then again, it was very late and they had most likely been called back.

She could barely pick her front legs up to hop over McGreggor's sagging fence and made it to the porch. The light coming out from the door was the only light on the whole property. Throat dry, caked in foul-smelling muck and dried blood, she assumed her human form without scanning the area and wrapped the towel from that morning around her. She probably looked drunk as she stumbled weakly through the door, dripping blood across the floor. Shifting had reopened most of her wounds. 

"Seren! My god! What happened?" McGreggor came barreling into the kitchen. He grabbed his shotgun off the top of the fridge and stepped outside, looking around for the attacker.

He followed her to the bathroom and stood in the hall until she had undressed and gotten into the shower. As Seren scrubbed away the scum and mud, McGreggor sat on the toilet seat and worried his hands together.

"I made a mistake," she said. "I was chasing a rabbit and got carried away. Before I knew it, I was in Gray Paw territory and they attacked me. They had every right. I ran, but they followed me back into the field. I couldn't come back to the house or go to the cabin, so I ran through into Wind Runner territory. It was the only way to get rid of them. The Wind Runners didn't know I was there until I was on my way back home an hour or so ago. My soap wore off, I'm sure. By the time I shook them off, it was dark."

"Those Gray Paws had no right to come on my land!"

McGreggor was angry that they had hurt her, but he knew there was nothing else they could have done to a rogue except beat it to near death and drag it back to their pack house for interrogation. They both knew it could have happened, but didn't bring the ugly images to the surface.

"I'm lucky I got away before I got any serious injuries. A couple of scratches and bites that are already healing...pft...I got off easy," she said, her voice hoarse. 

"I'll make you a bowl of ice cream," McGreggor grumbled and left her. 

Seren got out and toweled off, glad to be completely clean and smelling of fruit and flowers, her wolf scent masked once more. She threw on a pair of clean sweatpants and a T-shirt, taking the dirty towel to the washing machine and throwing it in. Returning to the kitchen, she saw that he had cleaned up the blood on the floor and was rifling through his first aid bag for some giant bandage pads to stick on over her wounds. 

Sure, she would heal quickly, but she didn't bother arguing with him when he insisted the area should be kept clean in the mean time. As she hungrily shoveled the ice cream into her mouth, he put one of the pads over the back of her neck and two on her ribs where the slash marks were. She made a huge balogna sandwich and limped toward the living room, pulling back quickly when she saw headlights coming up the driveway.

"Who's that?"  She peeked out from behind the wall, not recognizing the big black SUV.

"At this hour? It might be someone from one of the packs. Go to your room and stay quiet," he said, picking his gun up again.

Seren hurried into the guest bedroom she hardly ever used and sat on the bed. It was pushed up against the wall, made of the big logs the cabin was constructed from. Seren had drilled a hole between two a long time ago to listen to the TV when she was supposed to be asleep. 

There was a knock at the door.