The forest was quiet. We pushed further into it, our voices hushed. I held tight onto Celina's hand, my knuckles turning white.
"Do you remember how we used to build forts in here?" Celina asked.
I nodded. Above us, the wind blew through the tree tops, making the leaves swirl like dancers. Birds called from just out of sight, their song blending in with the ambient noise of the forest. Celina was smiling. She looked around us, her eyes taking in the lush green of the trees and the earthy brown beneath our feet. She seemed at home.
It's true that most werewolves prefer nature to the humdrum of city life. We lived in the middle of a medium sized town, with enough traffic and streetlights to make the woods seem fresher than they might have done. Usually, we only spent the full moon and maybe some training sessions out in the forest, and that was only ever on pack territory. I understood why Celina liked it out in the Rogue Lands.
I felt my muscles relax as we ventured further in. The air was cooler than usual, easing out the knots in my spine and allowing me to almost sink into the environment. My inner wolf was happy to be out there, as Celina's must have been. It was easy to forget how nice it was, how natural, to be out beyond the reach of humanity. I knew that I wouldn't be able to resist going out there again.
We were now too far out to be truly safe. I checked the time on my phone and saw that I had no signal, but we had plenty of time to get back home, and it wasn't like anyone was likely to call me.
"Hurry up, Toni," Celina said, skipping ahead of me. "I want to see how far we can get."
I laughed and caught up with her -- Celina always was a bit of a handful. We messed around, pushing each other and play fighting as we made our way through the forest. Suddenly, Celina stopped, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Celina, what are you doing?" I asked suspiciously.
"Nothing," Celina said. Her hands were crossed behind her back, and I could see a sliver of green from behind her arm.
With a flash, Celina dumped a pile of leaves over my head and I shrieked with laughter. The leaves -- some dry and crisp, some damp and green -- tumbled through my hair, getting stuck within it or on my shoulders. I glared at her.
"Oh, I'm so going to get you for that!" I yelled, lunging after her.
Celina ducked artfully out of the way, weaving through the trees while I raced to catch up to her. We giggled, Celina smirking the whole time. She was fast, but I was faster -- I pushed myself, crashing through the undergrowth, and regained my position, ready to tackle her to the ground.
Celina yelped as we made contact, playfully wrestling. We tumbled onto the forest floor, hair flying everywhere, and I swatted at her, trying to push as many leaves onto her as I could. I shrieked again with laughter, smiling all over.
Below me, Celina stilled. "Toni, what's that noise?"
"Don't try to trick me," I said, not stopping.
"No, seriously." Her voice was urgent.
I pushed myself off her and listened. Ahead of us, I could hear the thump of heavy footsteps coming near us, and they were fast.
"Who could be out here?" I whispered.
"I don't know, Toni, but I don't want to find out." Celina stood and shook the leaves out from her hair. Her eyes were wide and her lips were pursed tight.
"Do you think they know we're here?"
"Probably not," she said, hesitantly. "We should leave slowly, and try not to draw attention to ourselves."
I nodded, and with that we set off slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. We turned around, heading back the way we came, hoping that whoever it was would go past without realizing we were there. Being werewolves, our hearing was heightened, but that didn't mean theirs was. For all we knew, the people approaching -- and there seemed to be many of them -- could have been humans messing around, like us, or just not interested in two kids wandering about. They probably had more important things to do.
I clung to that hope with a stubborn minded ferocity. There was no space in my mind for doubt; there just couldn't be. I tried to believe, as strongly as I could, that if we were quiet enough we would be left alone. It seemed, though, that I was naive.
The noise approached. It was soft at first, like raindrops against a glass window, but as we hurried through the woods it got louder. It got closer. Raindrops became footsteps, footsteps that belonged to many, heavy feet.
I walked faster, trying to balance speed with keeping silent. I could hear Celina panting, both from fear and from our sudden flight. I gritted my teeth and pushed harder, nearly breaking into a run. Behind us, the footsteps became louder. They were getting close. Too close.
I grabbed Celina's arm. They were coming our way, but it sounded like there was a lot of them -- surely too many of them to bother following us. A bead of sweat dribbled down my forehead. They were loud -- the noise had become distinct, it was the sound of hooves thundering towards us, about twenty of them, all on horseback.
There was no doubt about it, they were coming our way. I yanked at Celina's arm, trying to pull her forward. If we could just hurry a little, maybe we could get to the fence --
Celina lurched headfirst into the forest floor, her foot tangled in a root. I swore and knelt down beside her, trying to pull her back up. No luck. She had blood dripping down her legs and dirt smeared on her palms. The injuries weren't bad, but the fall had slowed us down too much.
The steady ruckus of hooves smashing through the forest got louder and then slower. Through the bracken I could see the riders steer their horses towards me.
I threw Celina's arm around my shoulder and futilely tried to move us forwards. We lurched ahead, but I could see the first rider approach, the rest of his little fleet staying behind.
The rider called for us to stop. Recognizing the voice, I turned around, my shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Antoinette," he said, sounding amused.
"Hello William." I replied.