#Chapter 222 – Following the Scent

Victor raises his snout to scent the air, relishing the strength he feels in this form.

He and Ian have been running through the woods for what feels like hours, doing nothing but searching for the scents which they know they have to follow. They haven’t found them yet, but neither of them is frustrated.

There’s no room for that, in the body of a wolf – no room for doubt, or dissatisfaction, or annoyance. Instead, Victor knows that he and Ian simply have faith. They will find Evelyn, and they will find Alvin, they just need to keep looking.

And they have, apparently, all he time in the world for that.

Victor closes his eyes, seeking her, but he snaps his head to the side when he hears a little yelp from his pup. His body goes still with alertness, seeking his son, wanting to protect him from whatever happened –

But Ian just tumbled off a boulder he had climbed to the top of, either to find the scent or just to see if he could get to the peak. The gray pup rolls at the bottom of the rock, looking towards his father with a wolfish little grin, his tongue lolling from his mouth.

Victor laughs inside himself, then, knowing the boy feels no real pain or regrets. Given the chance, he’d climb the boulder again.

Victor moves to the pup, though, giving him a little nudge with his nose, reminding him not to get distracted. Ian shoots him an apologetic glance he doesn’t really mean and then puts on a bolt of speed, running off into the trees. Victor gives a little woof of encouragement and follows, dodging through the branches as he chases his son.

It just feels so good to be in this form, Victor thinks. No doubts, no hesitations, just…action. Movement. Intuition.

He knows that Ian feels the same, darting through the forest, listening to the wisdom of his body and taking immediate action on his impulses.

So much.

form so much. And perhaps he had stayed out of it for

form in months. Years, maybe. God, had it been that long? He shakes himself, knowing that it had been a mistake. He had himself to blame for it, telling himself that being the wolf was a pleasure, a distraction that he couldn’t afford – not when

really, had

have become all too clear the mistakes he had been making in

mind turns, then, as he runs, to Amelia. To his fights with Evelyn

All his fault. Because if he had just listened to himself, to what his body had been telling him

Amelia immediately. He would have turned, instead, to Evelyn and made it clear to her – immediately – that she was the Luna

in his throat, feeling fiercely the mistake. It hadn’t been fair, not to either of them, to hesitate so long. As his wolf, there was no room for

Victor pads to a walk, his lathered tongue hanging from his mouth, his eyes filled with joy. Catching up with Ian, Victor again

make this form more a part of his life. To remember that he is not merely a man who can shift into his wolf, but rather that his wolf is part of his identity. Half of him. And

the freedom and the lack of care. He knows, in his heart, that this is who he is – a creature of rock and stone and forest and

Alvin. Who is a little boy who likes to stay inside

misses his brother terribly in that moment, wishing he were

was where Ian needed to be, feeling this freedom, breathing this air, while Alvin needed to be with their mother doing…well, whatever they were doing. Ian stops, then, and tucks himself beneath his father’s belly, moving to stand between his tall forelegs, wanting his protection in this moment as he

about the differences between him and his

that Alvin

sudden pang of sadness that rings through Ian’s heart as he realizes this difference between himself and his twin. He wants, fervently, for them to be the same forever but…well, in this wolf form, there’s no real space for that kind of wishing. For wanting

things simply are how they

in that. That his love for his brother, his connection to him, is not lessened in any way by the knowledge of their difference.

then, curious, wanting to know if he is okay. Ian happily raises his face to his father, tapping his

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