When Alex walked past the dining room the next morning he had to smile at the sight in front of him. Jayden sat at the table with a phone in his hand, his breakfast untouched in front of him. He was texting with a giant smile on his face, and Alex only had to guess once to know who was receiving those messages.

There was a time where Alex would have gone up to his brother and ruffled his hair. He would have sat down with his little brother and talked to him about girls and school and make him laugh with stupid stories about nonsense. As much as he wished he could do that again, he had already gotten too close to Carter, he didn't need to be putting more people in danger by being around him. He walked past the dining room and straight to the front door.

The moment the fresh, morning air hit his body it felt like he was a new person. Calm, more attuned to the earth and to himself. He picked up his pace the moment he hit the pavement, his sneakers hitting the hard ground with soft thuds as he ran down the street, away from his problems and towards clarity.

His mind seemed to open up with each step and he kept going, running faster and harder, his feet following the lines of the pavement. His destination was unclear, but that wasn't the point. He didn't mind where he ended up when he stopped running, he just wanted to keep going, and if he could run out of his town for just a few hours he would, but he would probably pass out from exhaustion way before he crossed county lines.

A large part of him wanted to turn into his wolf, to feel the wind through his dark as night fur, and feel the hard earth under his paws, but the mere thought of losing control like that, of allowing his wolf free was enough to scare him. He hadn't turned into his wolf in months, and it was itching at his skin, a feeling of being trapped, yet he pushed it back down. Running in his human form would have to be enough for now.

The sun was warm on his skin as he moved, his hair whipping gently around his face with every step. His mind was clear as he was moving, but he couldn't keep going forever. He slowed his pace to a light jog, and then again to a slow walk as he tried to get his breathing under control.

He couldn't help but think of Carter and the way that things had happened the night before. He hadn't meant to open up so much, it had somehow just happened, and now he had probably confused his ex-boyfriend more than before. He had let his walls come down with every laugh and memory that they shared, and it was hard work trying to build them back up again, and god did it hurt. He felt like he was piling bricks, each made of indifference and secrets, it seemed to weigh so heavily on his heart that he could barely take it.

He was doing the best that he could, it wasn't like he could go tell Carter everything, come clean and expect no backlash. Carter shouldn't know about the things in the dark, because he wasn't able to protect him from them, which had been made obviously clear by Archer and Cole. The worst part of all, was that he was one of those creatures in the dark, and to turn on the light would be exposing Carter to more than Alex was willing.

It seemed like he had an unbearable and impossible choice laid out before him. Carter wanted the truth, but he wasn't going to get it. Alex wanted Carter safe, and the only way to make sure of that was to go with Archer and Cole.

He ran again, pushing himself as fast and hard as he could go. He ran past house, after house, each were big suburban homes filled with happy families, he passed corner stores run by old couples who had been married for longer than they could remember anymore. The quiet, suburban streets were where he used to imagine him and Carter living.

He shook his head and ran faster, feeling relieved as his head cleared and he focused all of his senses on the area around him. He could feel the rough, hard ground underneath his feet and the wind on his skin as he ran. He could smell the fresh air as it raced into his lungs and he could smell the tell-tale smells of the forest.

It was then that he realised that he had reached the park, the large lake spread out in front of him, surrounded by green trees. He slowed down to a walk and took in the scenery around him.

He walked up to the edge of the lake and dipped his hand in the cool water.

"Alex."

Alex heard his name being called and stood up straight, turning around to face the person. Jake stood a few feet away from him, looking somewhat sheepish.

"Jake."

He wasn't sure what Jake remembered from the other day, and he definitely wasn't going to fight with him again. He had almost turned the first time, and it was Carter that made him stop, that gave him the power to control it, even if he didn't realise it. He could have really hurt Jake, and Carter as well, and there was no way he would let himself hurt anyone else again. 

"Hey," Jake greeted almost nervously, his hand ghosting absentmindedly over one of the many bruises on his face. "I dropped by your house and your mom said that you weren't home, so I figured you might have gone for a run, and you always seem to end up here."

Alex didn't say anything, he still wasn't sure how Jake was going to react. He didn't seem high or anything, but you couldn't always know with Jake.

"I don't remember much about yesterday, but my mom told me that you were the one who took me home, and from what happened to my face I assume that I did something stupid."

"Yeah, you tried to beat up Carter."

"Oh. I vaguely remember him being there," he said. "Was he the one who did this?" He pointed to his bruised face.

Alex shook his head. "That was me actually."

"You?" Jake asked with wide eyes.

Alex started explaining, "You were high off your ass man, I just-"

Jake put his hand up, silencing him. "Don't explain. You are a level headed guy, and if you were the one who beat me up then I must have deserved much worse. I'm sorry I put you in that position."

Alex nodded understandably. "Come sit down."

The two of them made their way silently to one of the picnic tables scattered around the lakes border. They sat opposite each other and Jake actually looked like he had actual, human feelings for the first time in his life. "What were you two on?"

"I honestly have no clue, William got it off his brother, and it really fucked us up. It was so stupid, and if you weren't there to bring me home, I have no idea what I would have done." Jake ran a hand through his hair. "I could have really fucked things up."

There was no point arguing. "You're right about that."

"I'm going to stop, not all together, but no more of that hard stuff, you know."

"That's probably a good choice."

Just as Alex said that, Jake pulled a joint out from his pocket and lit it up. Some things never change, Alex thought. Jake took a puff and extended his arm to offer it to Alex, who shook his head.

"What's going on with you Alex?" Jake asked. "You haven't been smoking weed like this whole week, and you've turned me down almost every time I've invited you to hang out with William and I."

Alex shrugged. "I just don't want to do that stuff anymore."

It was the truth. It might dull his senses and mellow him, but he couldn't risk being off his A game, just in case something did happen with Archer and Cole. He didn't trust them not to do anything stupid, especially Archer.

"What's going on with you and Carter?" Jake asked suddenly. "l know you guys used to date, but things have been weird lately with you two."

"It's nothing."

Jake laughed. "You are a crappy liar, Alex."

Alex didn't respond, because what could he say? Jake was right, but he didn't want Jake knowing that.

"I heard that Archer is taking him on a date tonight to some restaurant."

Alex's head jerked up. "What?" he growled out. He knew that this was coming, but tonight?

"Uh Alex.."

"Yeah?"

Jake smirked. "Your jealousy is showing."

"Shut up." Alex rolled his eyes.

"He's a little nerd, but if you really want that guy, you better do something about it, and quick," Jake told him.

"Thanks for the advice coming from a guy who has had all of two girlfriends, both of which broke up with you within a few weeks."

Jake laughed. "They couldn't handle my swag."

Alex rolled his eyes. "They couldn't handle your idiocy is what I think you meant to say."

"I will hit you," Jake said in a mock angry voice.

"I'd like to see you try skinny boy." Alex laughed.

Jake's phone buzzed and he sighed as he looked at it. "I may have told my mom I went to the shops to buy milk, and since it's been an hour she is quite pissed at me."

"You should go home."

"Yeah," Jake said, snuffing the end of the joint against the table, 'just don't be a stranger, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, get home mommas boy." Alex smiled teasingly.  

Jake rolled his eyes and left the table, heading back in the direction of the parking lot.

Alex was left alone at the table now, his gaze scanning over the lake and the forestry that bordered it. Alex decided that his run wasn't over, and got up from the table. He jogged further into the forest, past the lake. He could feel the twigs snapping and leaves being crushed under his sneakers as he cross crossed between trees and around logs that blocked his way.

One of the few things he truly enjoyed about his newfound abilities was the way that he could be so attuned to nature, the way that he could hear the birds all the way at the top of the giant trees and he could smell the freshness and nature in the air of every breath he took as he immersed himself in his surroundings.

He was quite deep into the forest now, and he looked around himself, only able to see more tree's. He knew that if he kept heading in the direction he was that he would end up at a road which was only another ten minutes from his house.

He slowed to a walk to catch his breath, and that was when he saw it, two backpacks pushed up against a tree. They were both dark in colour, but they stood out against the light brown tree trunk they had been pushed up against.

People didn't come into these woods very often, especially these sections where the forest was dense and the paths were mostly overridden with growing plants.

He wondered whose backpacks they were, and he looked around him, yet he saw no other traces that humans were in the nearby area.

It was then that he noticed it, the smells and the sounds that told him that he definitely wasn't alone in these forests. The smell of wolves awakened his senses and he tuned his ears to hear for where they were. There were two of them, eight paws making harsh thumps as they hit the ground in synchronisation.

There were only too wolves in the area that he knew of, so Alex didn't worry or move too much, he just leant back up against the tree, the backpacks at his feet, and waited for them to arrive.

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