For several long moments, nobody spoke.
The only sounds were the gentle babble of the stream and the rustling leaves above our heads as the evening breeze drifted through the forest.
Jace stared at me as though I’d suddenly grown wings.
After we was all back in our human form we sat on the field talking.
“I don’t understand,” he admitted, shaking his head.
“That shouldn’t have happened.” “Maybe you’re getting old,” Nelly teased, flicking his ear playfully.
Jace snorted.
“I’m sixteen.” “Exactly,” she replied.
“Practically ancient.” Even through my surprise, I couldn’t help laughing.
Peter eventually wandered into the clearing, breathing a little harder than the rest of us.
“I’d just like everyone to know,” he puffed, resting his hands on his knees, “that I wasn’t racing anyone…
and I’m still exhausted.” Nelly burst into laughter.
“You should’ve transformed.” Peter folded his arms dramatically.
“Rub it in, why don’t you?
“I guess that’s why they call you Peter Walker,” Everyone could not help but laugh even Peter Jace looked at Peter apologetically.
“Sorry, mate.” Peter shrugged with a smile.
“It’s alright.” He looked at the three wolves standing around him.
” I still think you all look awesome.” There was something in his voice that made me glance at him.
He was smiling…But his eyes lingered on us just a little too long.
Almost…Longingly.
I remembered what he’d said earlier.
“I wish I knew what it felt like.” My heart sank slightly.
Jace broke the silence.
“Come on let’s head back.
” I think…” I said with a huge grin…I’m addicted.” Jace laughed.
“I knew you would be.” Nelly zipped up her hoodie every new wolf says the same thing.” Peter raised an eyebrow.
“So, tomorrow morning then?” I looked at him.
“Tomorrow morning what?” He smiled.
“Another run.” I didn’t even hesitate.
“Definitely.” They all laughed.
“I knew she’d say that,” Jace said.
“Instead of heading straight back to the Compound”, Peter pointed towards a narrow woodland path.
“Fancy a little detour?” “Where to?” I asked.
“My favourite place.” Jace smiled knowingly.
“Oh..The lavender.” Peter nodded.
“I need to pick some up anyway.” Curiosity got the better of me.
“Lead the way.” The path twisted gently through the woodland.
Without my wolf, I couldn’t smell every tiny detail anymore, but I could still appreciate how peaceful everything felt.
Birdsong echoed through the trees.
The evening sun filtered through the branches, painting patches of golden light across the forest floor.
It felt…Safe.
Peter suddenly stopped.
“Hang on.” He tilted his head slightly.
A tiny robin landed on a nearby fence post and chirped enthusiastically.
The rest of us waited while Peter listened with complete concentration.
The robin chirped again.
Peter nodded.
“Really?” The bird chirped once more before fluttering away.
“What did it say?” I asked.
Peter scratched the back of his neck.
“It wanted to know…”He paused dramatically.”…whether you’re always that noisy.” I blinked.
“What?” “The bird said it heard you coming from half the forest away.
“Jace burst out laughing.” “I wasn’t noisy!” Peter grinned.
“It also said…” He listened as another chirp echoed from the trees.
“…that the squirrels have already given you a nickname.” I looked horrified.
“They’ve what?” Peter was struggling to keep a straight face.
“They’re calling you…”He bit his lip.”…Thunder Paws.” Nelly began laughing.
“Oh my god.
It’s perfect!” “It is not!” Jace wiped tears from his eyes.
“I quite like Thunder Paws.” “I hate all of you.” Peter laughed.
“You can’t hate me, I only translated it, I wasn’t the one who made it up, I blame the squirrels they’re surprisingly judgemental.” A few minutes later the path opened into another clearing.
The air immediately changed.
A soft floral scent drifted on the breeze.
Stretching out before us was a beautiful patch of lavender swaying gently in the evening light.
Purple flowers danced as bees lazily buzzed from one stem to another.
I stopped walking.
“It’s beautiful…” Peter smiled.
“My mum comes here all the time.” “She says it calms her mind.” He knelt beside one of the plants before gently rubbing the flower between his fingers.
The scent instantly became stronger.
He held it towards me.
“Go on.” I copied him.
The fragrance filled the air.
I closed my eyes.
“It smells…”I smiled.”…peaceful.” Peter nodded.
“Exactly.” He carefully picked a few sprigs before tying them together with a blade of long grass.
“There.” “A welcome-to-the-Compound present.” I stared at the tiny bouquet in his hand.
“For me?” He looked confused.
“Well…yeah.” I took it carefully.
Nobody had ever given me flowers before.
Not once in sixteen years.
“Thank you.” He smiled.
“You don’t have to thank me i wanted to.” I looked down at the lavender in my hands.
Something so small…Yet it meant more to me than he could possibly know.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Nelly quietly nudging Jace.
She raised both eyebrows with a knowing grin.
Jace looked from Peter to me.
Then simply smiled to himself.
Neither of them said a word.
But somehow…I had a feeling they didn’t need to.
Peter stood up “come on i want to show you my all time favourite place”.
After a short walk we arrived at a cave.
Peter lay back against the cool stone with his hands behind his head.
“I could stay here for hours.” “I probably will during summer,” Jace laughed.
“I bet its always freezing in here.” Nelly ran her fingers across the cave wall.
“It’s surprisingly cosy for a cave, i can’t believe i never new about this place.” I looked around properly for the first time.
it was hidden perfectly amongst the rocks.
Moss covered parts of the entrance, making it almost invisible unless you knew where to look.
The smooth stone floor was cool beneath our feet, and rays of evening sunlight poured through small cracks in the rock above, making tiny crystals sparkle like stars.
It felt…Safe.
A strange feeling settled over me.
“This place…” I said quietly.
The others looked at me.
“I don’t know why but it feels different.” Peter smiled.
“I come here when the Compound gets too noisy the birds usually find me here.” I smiled.
An idea suddenly popped into my head.
“What if…”I hesitated.
“This sounds silly.” Peter sat upright.
“Go on….what if…” I looked around the cave again.
“…we made this our place?” Nobody spoke.
I suddenly felt embarrassed.
“I just mean somewhere that’s ours we could meet here whenever we wanted If one of us needed to talk or if we were planning something or just wanted to get away from everyone.” Peter’s face lit up.
“I love that.” Nelly smiled.
“So do I.” Jace looked around the cave before nodding slowly.
“I actually think that’s a brilliant idea.” “You do?” “Yeah.” He smiled at me.
“Our own little headquarters.” Peter immediately stood up.
“No.” “It needs a cooler name.” “Oh?” Nelly laughed.
“What are you thinking?” He folded his arms thoughtfully.
“Hmmm…the Lair?” Jace pulled a face.
“No.” “The Hideout?” “Worse.” “The Secret Headquarters?” “Too obvious.” “The Bat Cave?” We all stared at him.
“What?” Peter said innocently.
“I’ve always liked Batman.” I laughed.
“We’re definitely not calling it the Bat Cave.” Peter sighed dramatically.
“There goes my best idea.” Nelly walked over to one of the cave walls.
She picked up a small piece of chalky white stone from the floor.
“Well…If it’s ours we should leave something behind.” She carefully drew a small crescent moon on the rock.
“There.” Jace stepped forward next.
Using another stone, he drew a wolf’s paw print beside it.
“My turn,” Peter said.
He looked around before drawing a robin.
I smiled.
“Of course It had to be a bird.” “They’re my friends.
“Finally, everyone looked at me.
I picked up the last piece of stone.
After thinking for a moment…I drew a simple four-pointed star beside the other drawings.
“There.” Peter tilted his head.
“A star?” I nodded.
“so that no matter where we all end up we’ll always know how to find our way back here.
” For a moment…Nobody spoke.
Then Jace stepped forward.
He held out his fist.
“No matter what happens this place belongs to the four of us.” Peter placed his fist on top.
“The Four Musketeers.” Nelly laughed.
“Wrong story.” “The Fantastic Four?” “Worse.” I giggled.
“How about just friends?” Peter smiled.
“I think that’s my favourite one.” One by one, we stacked our hands together.
“I promise,” Jace said quietly.
“No matter what happens, if anyone ever needs help meet here.” “No questions asked.” “I promise,” Nelly said.
“I promise,” Peter agreed.
I looked at each of them.
Just a few days ago…I felt alone Now…I had three people promising they’d always come if I needed them.
Tears pricked the corners of my eyes.
“I promise too.” We squeezed our hands together before letting go.
As we left the cave, I glanced back one last time.
The moon.
The paw print.
The robin.
The star.
Four simple drawings.
To anyone else they were meaningless.
But to us…They marked the beginning of something much bigger than a secret meeting place.
They marked the beginning of a family.