Secret Wolf Book 2

SOPHIE

The next day, Bonnie and I went to our university. I had decided to go at least two times a week so that I wouldn’t fall too far behind. Bonnie went the same days as me.

It was nice to be on campus again. A couple of months ago, I’d wanted to focus on becoming a luna, so I’d taken a break from college. But I soon realized that I needed the distraction. So after only one month off, I went back.

On the way to school, I told Bonnie about the phone call with my parents. She understood my worries but was also very curious.

I tried to push all my thoughts aside. It wasn’t easy—it felt like I had a stone in my stomach. Bonnie noticed my anxiousness.

“Soof, I think I can cheer you up. When we come home, I’ll take you somewhere fun.”

That got my attention. “Thanks, Bee. I could really use a diversion.”

But first, we had a busy day.

For one of my courses, I had to write an essay about influencing people. I was paired with another student, Dave. He was a handsome sinewy man.

His red-blond hair was short on the sides and a bit longer on top. His pale-blue eyes darted around attentively. He didn’t seem to miss a thing. He was dressed in a polo and nice pants.

Dave had no intention of hitting on me, but Bonnie wanted to meet him immediately. We wouldn’t want a repeat of what had happened with Will. He charmed her quickly.

Bonnie also had a new friend named Mary. Mary was a shy, tiny, and thin girl. She wore her long golden-blond hair in two braids. She’d been paired up with Bonnie for their essay. Mary and Dave quickly became our lunch mates.

Today was no exception. Bonnie, Dave, Mary, and I went to one of the cute little lunchrooms on campus. Dave told us about his weekend with his family. They’d gone hunting, something he’d grown up doing.

I thought hunting was terrible, but he explained that they only shot animals with excessive populations or animals which were dangerous to humans.

I raised my eyebrows but just let his last comment slide off.

After lunch, we all went to the library. An old poster with Will’s face on it got my attention. It reminded me of the first time I went to school after what had happened with Will. It was horrible.

At the time, Will’s face was still everywhere. After he had been reported missing, posters with his face had been hung all over town. And although they found him after a week or so, the posters stayed up as silent witnesses.

It made me feel sad. It also reminded me of that terrible night when he’d almost killed me. Thank the Goddess Jake was there in time to save me, but in order to do so, he’d killed Will.

The police had found Will, or what was left of him, deep in the forest. They’d concluded that he’d probably gotten lost and attacked by a bear or a pack of coyotes.

By now, almost all the posters had been removed, and a memorial had been made at his dorm.

Bonnie and I never talked about Will; we avoided the subject. I think she was scared that it would upset me too much.

Dave, on the other hand, had no knowledge of what had really happened with Will.

He pointed at the poster and looked at me.

“Did you know Will? That boy that went missing and was found just a couple months ago?”

His question caught me off guard. I swallowed hard and averted my eyes, focusing on the street beneath my feet.

“I knew him a bit, but not very well. You?” I tried to bounce it back off of him.

“No, he was from a different dorm. But I thought you dated him.”

My cheeks flushed a bit. “Nah, just one date, that’s all.”

I frantically tried to come up with a distraction. I took my phone out of my pocket and looked at the screen.

“I’m sorry, Dave. I need to call someone back. Excuse me.”

I let them enter the library while I waited outside, pretending to call someone. My heart was in my throat.

It was hard to pretend not to know anything about Will’s death, but I had no other choice. I calmed myself and entered the library.

Dave was already working hard. He didn’t mention Will again. After a couple of hours, Dave yawned.

“How about we finish for today?”

I nodded. “Sounds good. I’m also done for today.”

We packed our things and said goodbye. I looked for Bonnie—she’d also called it a day.

Bonnie and I went back to our car and drove to the pack house.

“Meet me here in five minutes, okay? Put on something comfortable.” She grinned at me.

I ran to our bedroom and changed into my tracksuit. When I walked out of the front door, Bonnie was already there.

She took my hand and led me away from the training grounds. I was surprised. She looked at me with a big smile. We walked into the forest.

We arrived at an open space. My eyes widened. I felt myself smiling too.

In front of me was an obstacle course for wolves.

“Can we train in our wolf forms?” I squealed.

Bonnie nodded. “We’re not going to fight yet, but we can do the obstacle run. It gives us a good idea of what your wolf can do.”

I was in heaven! Bonnie really knew how to brighten my mood.

She started to strip. I looked at her with flushed cheeks—I still wasn’t very comfortable getting naked in front of people. Especially since we weren’t alone. Several other wolves were already training.

“Come on, Soof, don’t be shy.”

I shook my head. “Sorry, one step at a time for me.”

I walked to a large tree and stripped behind it. I let my wolf take over. Every time I changed, I felt free. Bonnie thought it was because of the fact that my wolf had been suppressed for a few years.

I walked back to Bonnie on all fours. She didn’t speak, but I could hear her voice in my mind.

“Okay, Soof, I want you to follow me. I’ll show you what to do. You just try to imitate me. I’ll take it slow.”

I nodded at her. I thought mind-link was one of the most amazing aspects of being a wolf—especially because you could choose who could hear you.

“We start here, and we will end here, okay?” she said through my mind.

I nodded again.

Bonnie’s blonde wolf started running, and I followed. The first obstacles were very easy—a bit of jumping, crawling, and dodging. But the obstacles became harder.

We balanced on a very narrow beam. It led us high off the ground. Then we jumped from tree to tree on different types of platforms. Then we came across some ropes. We had to swing from rope to rope.

Bonnie stopped and looked at me. “Can you keep up with me?”

“Easily. In fact, you can turn up the pace.”

I could see her eyebrows rise. They looked hilarious in her wolf form.

“Stay here and watch me. Try to see the technique I’m using.”

She took off. Her pace increased.

In the distance, I saw a huge wall behind two trees. She jumped against a tree and pushed herself higher toward the other tree. She jumped back and forth until she was high enough to jump over the wall.

She came out from behind the wall and sat down.

“Your turn.”

I took off, forcing myself to get as much speed as possible. I jumped into the first tree, mimicking Bonnie. Before I knew it, I was high enough to jump over the wall.

That wasn’t too bad, I thought.

As soon as I came out from behind the wall, I saw Bonnie’s surprised face.

“How the hell did you do that? It took me at least a whole year to master this technique!”

“I don’t know, Bee. I really enjoy this obstacle run. It’s easy.”

“Oh yeah, you think it’s easy? Let me take you to the next obstacle.”

Bonnie seemed a bit irritated. I only felt joy.

The next obstacle looked like an arena. It was a giant wooden structure. We walked through a narrow entrance to the inside. Bonnie closed the small door behind me, completely closing us off.

I looked around. The space was oval shaped, about one hundred and fifty feet long, a hundred feet wide, and at least sixty-five feet high. The walls were rounded. It would be impossible to jump out.

“This arena serves multiple purposes,” Bonnie explained. “~It’s used for sparring and as an obstacle. We, of course, will use it as an obstacle.~”

I was curious how it worked.

“The main trick here is speed. Let me show you.”

Bonnie ran away. She started at the edge of the wall. She circled the arena, consistently picking up her pace. Her speed allowed her to get higher and higher up the wall.

After a few laps, she was at the top of the arena. She steadied her breath.

“So, what do you think?”

I cocked my head a bit and looked around. I felt excited.

“I’m ready!”

I started to run. Wind created by my speed brushed through my fur. It felt amazing. I ran faster and faster. I didn’t realize I’d gotten up so quickly. I nearly ran Bonnie over but stopped just in time.

“So? How did I do?”

Bonnie looked shocked. She looked at me like I was an alien or something.

“I think we found your talent, Soof!” she finally said.

I yapped and made a joyful leap.

“The last part of the obstacle run is the way back to the finish. It contains a couple of small obstacles.”

Bonnie ran away, and I followed. The last part wasn’t very difficult. It was like the first part.

When we reached the finish, we both needed to catch our breaths.

“This is fun, Bee.”

“So, what do you say—fancy a competition?”

I nodded enthusiastically.

“Okay, then, but don’t cry if you lose.”

I flashed her my wolfish smile.

“Bring it on.”