FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

To see more of my original work, follow me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/FlightInSnow

Pack Mentality

Summary: In the years after his escape from his family's pack, Tobi has learnt to survive on his own. The only problem is that in this day and age, a wolf without a pack is a walking target. With no alpha to protect him, Tobi spends his days looking over his shoulder until he runs into an old friend. It's a far from happy reunion as Tobi releases just how much danger he's in. This new pack invites him with open arms. Unfortunately, they don't care whether he's interested in staying or not.

--

Chapter Six

Paw Pads and Tail Tips

--

It was with an expression of shock and horror that Holly met with him in the hallway the next morning. Her mouth fell open and her hands came up to her face. She rushed to him, checking him over. When it became clear he was unhurt, she stepped back. He could tell she wanted to ask what had happened but they could already hear the sounds of others getting up and moving about for the morning.

Their conversation would have to wait.

He had to pause several times before they entered the dining room to give Holly a chance to stop shaking. It was obvious that Anton had know about their escape plan. Exactly how and who told was the cause of Holly's fear. They didn't know if the alphas knew of Holly's involvement. He wished he could offer her some words of comfort but his own tongue felt oddly heavy this morning.

He couldn't push away the memories from last night, the enormous black figure lurking between the trees, the breathless chase through a shadowed forest and the sight of the man striding towards him like a breaking storm cloud.

Anton had walked Tobi all the way back to his room. He had half expected the dark hair man to force entry but Anton had not tried to follow Tobi inside. Tobi had stumbled through the doorway into his bedroom, the old door closing softly behind him. He could still feel the alpha though. For one wild moment, he had considered testing the doorhandle and just trying again. A second escape attempt so soon may have caught the pack leaders off guard.

He didn't though. Though he did not yet share the pack connection, he almost thought he could sense the powerful aura of the male close by. Tobi was also achingly tired. It had been two in the morning by the time he had arrived back. He had collapsed onto the bed, refusing to pull the covers down because he had still been covered in dirt and leaves. He had woken stiff and unrested that morning to a 'complimentary' pounding at his door. Apparently, George had been sent to wake him so he wouldn't miss breakfast.

How thoughtful.

When they got to the dining hall it was still mostly empty. Wolves moved in and out, taking their plates and sitting down to study newspapers or phones. He didn't mind the morning meals so much simply for how much more relaxed it felt. Anton was there but so far, the alpha seemed more preoccupied talking to a middle-aged tall man with long braids. Tobi headed over to the food tables with Holly and started dishing out bacon and scrambled eggs. His run had certainly built up his appetite.

Holly made them coffees as Tobi found a place at the immense table to sit down. For a few minutes they were to engrossed in their food to pay much attention to what was around them. This turned out to be a poor choice. Tobi's fingers spasmed against the coffee cup as Anton's voice started in his ear.

"Good morning Tobi. Did you sleep well?" The alpha's voice was a thick melodic purr, enticing him to tilt his head back and offer up his throat. Fuck, he nearly did, his muscles twitching under his shirt in response to the silent command. Tobi grit his teeth and grabbed his mug hard enough for the porcelain to creak in his hands. He had been so taken up with his breakfast, he hadn't noticed the alpha finish his conversation and cross the room.

"Fine thank you. Better after my peaceful walk last night," he snapped the words out as though he could use them as weapons against the man who was currently flaying him open with nothing but murmurs. A couple of the wolves looked up from their breakfast, some curious and other surprised. Tobi had just revealed he had been out at night and come back. Unscathed. Holly sent him a vaguely panicked look.

"I'm glad. Lorena was worried about you when she found out you had left your room." The man's hands settled on the back of Tobi's chair, the proximity making his stomach cramp. The alpha smelt of heavy storms, black tea, musk and tarragon. He wanted to turn his head and bury his nose in the man's shirt to better get the taste of him down his throat.

"How thoughtful of her to check up on me," Tobi croaked. He forced himself to sip the coffee, his palette unable to appreciate the taste now that it recognised a want for something better.

"Lorena always takes great interest in her packmates." At these words, those wandering eyes of the other wolves dropped immediately back to their plates, apparently subdued with the mere reminder of their female alpha. What was she to them? What did she do to them to have them so firmly under her control? Or under his?

He had been holding the cup so long against his bottom lip that he realized he was burning himself. He jerked the cup back, splashing some of the coffee onto the tabletop.

"Oh Tobi, please be careful," Anton purred, taking Tobi's chin in his forefinger and tilting his face up. For one wild moment, Tobi thought the man would lean down and trace his lip with that tongue. It frustrated him to know that part of his body and soul wanted that very much. He had never felt such a visceral reaction to alphas like he did with these two. He wanted to but he also understood that every damn minute he spent under their roof was another minute closer to loosing his freedom forever.

"I can take care of myself," Tobi said, perhaps more coldly then was wise. He could feel everyone intensely listening.

"We can see that." The way Anton said this sent chills up Tobi's spine. He only had today and tomorrow before his pretend alpha was supposed to come and get him. What would happen after that, Tobi didn't know. Even though it was painfully obvious Tobi didn't have an alpha, Lorena and Anton were still playing along. Was this their way of testing him out? Were they deciding if he was worth keeping or killing?

"Let us know when you would like that tour," Anton added smoothly.

"Sure thing," Tobi growled. He had spent to many years being a plaything, something small and weak for others to target. He had been hunting practice for the alpha's sons, prey for them to bite and rip. He knew what it felt like to have canines under his muscle and feel wind on skinless shoulder blades. He had also felt the parting of flesh under his own fangs. The night he had escapes he had rendered the throat of one of those wolves...

Tobi looked down at his plate of scrambled eggs, no longer remotely hungry. He struggled not to drown in those memories. They had distanced themselves in his mind as the years went on but occasionally hearing a specific phrase or catching a particular scent cause Tobi to be flung into his past.

It hadn't always been awful. Children were precious for a pack. The humans outnumber the shifters by such an alarming degree that any successful birth was treated with celebration. They were raised inside the pack by any and all adults who can help. He had grown up with the other pups in relative safety. He had played, more or less, like any other child. He had even been allowed to go to school. It wasn't until he was about eleven that his world had started to fall apart.

That was when his mother had become sick.

There were rumours, whispers and murmurs that Sefina had done it to herself. She was unlike any other wolf in Nathan's pack. Lean limbed and lovely with white silver hair like her son, she was slender and secretive. Her different appearance meant she was coveted by the alpha despite his usual preference for large breasted curvy females. Sefina was not interested though. She had no love for anyone and drew further and further into herself. She wasted away in her sickness until there was nothing of her left, just the bones left to bleach.

With her gone, the barriers of Tobi's world shattered. It was then that the others seemed to notice he, too, was different in both appearance and temperament. Nathan took Sefina's choice to die as a personal insult as well as a failure for him as an alpha. He had refused to give the she-wolf a proper burial and discarded her corpse at a landfill sight, the humans finding the remains of a white wolf with confusion.

That day had been one of the worst in Tobi's young life. It marked the beginning of what would be long years of torture and ridicule before he had been able to fight back and escape. This thought gave him strength. For Tobi to have escaped Nathan's pack was the biggest insult a wolf could ever receive. In some pack culture, for an alpha to lose his or her members marred their reputation worse then a lose in battle.

He was brought from his dark thoughts when Holly gently tugged on his sleeve.

"Come on, let's go for a walk," she whispered. Anton had moved off again and Tobi's breakfast had gone cold. He pushed his plate away and stood, following Holly from the room. As they left, he felt unknown eyes piercing into them from behind but when he looked, he did not catch a single person watching. Holly was practically vibrating as they left the manor house and started on a slow walk into the garden and hopefully away from prying ears and eyes.

"So, what happened!?" she exploded as they reached the tree line. Tobi jumped. They had been so quiet that her sudden shout spooked some ravens from a neighbouring tree.

"I don't really know. They must have been waiting for us to try something because I only got to the road before their howl went out. I ran for a while and nearly met with the sentry." Holly drew in a sharp breath.

"Then I turned into the forest but had to turn around and come back. There were so many traps the further I got from the territory and I didn't know where I was going. Did you know about them, the traps?" he asked in a low voice, sharp eyes studying her face. She was pale as she shook her head.

"No. At least, not with any detail. I had guessed they might have tried something like that but I didn't know of anything specific. What kind of traps were they? I... I never got far enough to see anything," she admitted in a much softer voice then before.

"Barbed wire, holes in the earth, that sort of thing."

"What did they do when they caught you?" Holly asked in a quivering voice. Tobi snorted.

"They didn't, not really. I made it all the way back to the manor before Anton caught up," he said with a small hint of pride.

"Really?" Holly sounded amazed. There was a definite glint of admiration in her eyes.

"Yeah. He didn't call me out on trying to run away either, just... politely took me back to my room," Tobi added. Holly shook her head.

"That's incredible. Maybe because you managed to leave and come back, he was impressed?" she suggested. Tobi looked up at the grey clouds drifting noiselessly overhead. It sounded bat shit crazy but then this whole place was bat shit crazy so she was probably right.

"No idea. The real question is, what now? I'm running out of time," he said, looking around the peaceful gardens.

"I don't understand what they are waiting for," he growled. Holly hesitated, kicking a small rock into one of the small tranquil ponds. They watched it sink gently to the bottom of the dark water.

"Anton and Lorena live for the kill. They don't just enjoy fighting other packs, they invite it. If there is even a chance another alpha will come for you, they will wait for them. You know, this land used to belong to a sleuth of werebears," Holly said as she sat by the pond. Tobi stayed standing, his back ridged.

"What?"

She nodded up at his stunned face.

"I don't know how many there were but Anton and Lorena killed them all. I don't think they even allowed the cubs to survive. That was a long time ago though." Tobi's brain was grinding. He knew, logically that wolves could kill a bear. A lot of wolves could kill one bear. This was...

"I know what you're going to say, that it's impossible," Holly sighed. Tobi just shook his head.

"I understand what you're saying to me, Holly, but I just... I can't..."

"You haven't seen them shift. You haven't seen them fight," Holly breathed.

"Have you?" His voice dropped to a whisper. She nodded.

"Once. This land if quite coveted. The town is lovely and small, the territory is massive and the forest holds a lot of prey. Occasionally, a rival pack will enter into the area and think its up for the taking. Anton and Lorena... they rounded up the last one to try. They killed the alpha in seconds and then went through the pack and picked out the ones they wanted to keep like a stud stallion stealing some young mares. They submitted or they died. I've never..." she trailed off.

"I knew that day that I would never try to escape." Tobi stared down at her, his hands curling into fists.

"Fuck this shit," he spat. Her head whipped up.

"Tobi!" He was already striding back towards the house. He charged back into the foyer, looking around. The house may have been a labyrinth but he now knew Anton's scent. It hadn't been long, only half an hour or so and the dining room still had a few late morning goings. He found Anton without really trying, the man sipping at a cup of black coffee, his sparkling electric blue eyes fixing on Tobi's face. Ignoring his instincts, Tobi stormed over.

"I'm ready for my tour of the forest alpha." Tobi said with much politeness despite his confrontational body posture. He was ridiculously small and slender in comparison to the dark-haired bulk of the powerful man but he stared up at him with all the insolence of the young and foolish. Anton's smirk sent a heated coil through Tobi's blood which he stamped down with pure defiance.

"Of course. By all means, let's Carpe diem, as they say." The wolf placed the mug down on a nearby table, abandoning his coffee now that he something more interesting to focus on. Tobi turned on his heel and marched surreptitiously from the dining room to the shock and interest of the remaining wolves. There was no need to turn around. He could feel Anton behind him, the large man eating up the space between them on horrifying silent tread.

Holly stood stunned and nervous at the door to the outside, her large eyes wide.

"Would you like to come with us lovely?" Anton purred. Holly visibly shivered, her body trembling. Tobi fought down a snarl and sidled in front of her.

"Ye-"

"No," Tobi cut in, startling her.

"You promised me a tour of the forest," Tobi said, glaring up at Anton. The alpha raised a dark eyebrow.

"Indeed. Well then, shall we?" He held an expectant hand out toward the doorway and Tobi stomped off, leaving a shocked Holly behind.

Tobi was walking so fast, his breathes were starting to become haggard. He didn't care though. He was done with their games. If Anton wanted to show him the forest, he could bloody well show Tobi every damn tree. He needed to show this man he wasn't afraid. He wasn't going to be intimidated into submission. He had felt fear, been made to feel small. He had sworn when he had torn out Wyatt's throat and watched the wolf bleed out that he would never be the victim again.

"So where to first?" Tobi said in a falsely calm voice. He turned but Anton was already beside him, the man's longer legs allowing him to keep pace with Tobi's furious strides.

"The creek is lovely. We can start there," Anton suggested pleasantly. Tobi ground his teeth together and stalked after him as the alpha turned into the forest. It irritated him that the swift pace didn't seem to both Anton's in the slightest.

They walked side by side for a while, Tobi trying to keep his panting as quiet as possible. Anton paused at the turn down into a little gully. His sudden pause made Tobi stumble.

"What do you know of traditional pack law?" Anton's asked suddenly. The dark-haired man was looking up into the tress. Tobi followed his gaze. By day, the trees were a vibrant canopy of greens, browns and oranges. The forest was more ancient than Tobi had first realised. The stillness of the space was broken only by the occasional hunting bird or whisp of wind that broke through the entanglement of brush to the forest floor of moist ferns and bracken.

"I know what I was taught. I imagine every pack teaches the laws slightly different to best suit the alphas that rule there," Tobi replied, catching those living blue irises briefly. Anton's lips twisted into a lopsided smile.

"Brutally honest. I appreciate that quality in you, Tobi. I believe the old laws should be taught in their entirety even if what they say does not favour all those who hear them. What did your alpha teach you?" Anton turned to face Tobi. The smaller wolf shifted uncomfortably.

"That the alpha's word is law. The pack always comes first. The pack empowers the alpha and the alpha empowers the pack. We are connected and through this connection we grow. To live alone is to die," Tobi spat the words out with all the venom he held for them. These few sentences had ruled his existence for as long as he could remember. For so long he had believed that no wolf could survive without a pack. Until he had done it himself.

Anton hummed. Tobi was almost grateful when the man began to walk again. The alpha allowed some silence to settle between them for a while just walking. Tobi caught the sound of water and knew they must be getting close to the creek. This was not the same way he had come the night before. He wasn't completely sure but he thought they had walked much further east then he had gone alone.

"That version is more accurate than others I have heard over the year. Of course, we both know parts of that are not true, don't we Tobi?" Anton purred. Tobi said nothing, staring ahead. The alpha chuckled. The gully opened out into a creek bed. Water rushed quick and smooth of curved rocks and polished tree roots. Tobi breathed in the air of the ancient forest, trying to let it settle his nerves.

"This creek runs right through our territory," he commented. Then he turned and face Tobi.

"Why don't we stop playing this game for a moment?" Anton's words made Tobi freeze in place. He looked at the man who was suddenly far to close or comfort.

"Do you have an alpha coming to get you soon?" he asked, eyes half closed. His shoulders were relaxed, his expression faintly amused.

"That's what I said." Tobi had to internally congratulate himself on not allowing his voice to shake.

"And if they don't come, will you choose to stay?" Tobi swallowed down a large lump in his throat.

"No."

"Still so honest. You are a wonder, Tobi," Anton breathed. He stepped in, large hands coming up to settle on Tobi's hips. His fingers twisted into his belt loops and tugged him close.

"Don't you want to be grounded Tobi? Don't you want a place to stay, a place to be?" Tobi was having trouble breathing. He was too close. But just for the briefest of moments he allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to just sink his own teeth into the meat of the man's shoulder, to have Anton throw him down and claim him. The thought evaporated with the next gust of summer air.

"I don't need others to be grounded. I don't need you in order to be whole," Tobi snarled, hating how the words tasted like bitter lies on his tongue. Distantly he wondered what it would be to be human, to be able to act a whole person without the need for a blood pack. He felt disorientated, his body responding to Anton in a way he couldn't turn off or ignore.

"What are you, Tobi, that you resist us so easily?" Anton said, his voice filled with puzzlement. Tobi would have laughed if the sound hadn't choked him. Easily? None of this was fucking easy. He detangled himself from the taller man, stumbling backwards into the creek. He splashed into the water, the cold shocking him from his daze. He looked down, seeing the rushing water properly for the first time.

"You say this creek goes all the way through your territory?" Tobi asked. Anton's blues eyes fixed on Tobi, wild and bright with interest.

"It does." Follow it. Run.

Run so I can catch you.

Tobi shifted, his feet sliding slightly on the slippery stones. Anton watched him hungrily, following after him stride for stride. Tobi felt hunted, even now. He tried to ignore his instinct to rock onto the balls of his feet, knowing if he ran then this little charade would be over. Two days. He had two days to find a way to leave. There had to be away.

It couldn't be impossible.

Could it?

--

END

--