Chapter Text
“I think there was a wolf.” Misa says, slamming his locker close. On the other side is Matthew Schaefer, his longtime, childhood friend that absolutely fucking left him deserted last night. He waits for a second, following Schaef ’s gaze to where Viktor Eklund is leaning against a locker, talking to someone.
Suddenly his gaze locks back onto Misa’s, eyes narrowed and the hoodie string dropping from his mouth, “What do you mean a wolf? There haven’t been wolves in California in like, sixty years.”
“Well that’s what I heard yesterday when you abandoned me!” He shouts, ignoring the way they attract attention as he swats at Schaef with his World History textbook, “What’s the point of dragging me out of the safety of my home at ten pm and ditching me at the preserve?”
Schaef winces, eyebrows pinching and mouth dropping to a frown, “Sorry, Matt got to me before I could circle back to you.”
Misa rolls his eyes, moving around him and stalking towards their class. He can hear Schaef grumbling before his footsteps follow, mouth already moving to whatever Matt Martin and his police department found last night.
Last night when Misa had been trying to go to sleep at a decent time and not doomscroll on Instagram, Schaef had popped his head through Misa’s window. This wasn’t exactly new and Cat—a family friend that Misa was staying with while his parents were away on a work trip—had already threatened to lock down Misa’s window if he didn’t start using the door like a normal person.
A quick walk in the preserve ended up being a hunt for half a dead body before they got separated. It really is the last time he lets his best friend drag him into one of his convoluted ideas.
When Misa had made his way to the well-worn path out of the preserve, he had heard a howl and then the following growl that seemed to shake the ground. Deciding that he wasn’t really interested in becoming wolf chow, he slipped into Cat’s car that they had parked in the corner of the visitor’s lot and sped out of there.
Schaef was usually the one getting them into trouble and it was usually Misa and his “kicked puppy eyes and perpetual frown” that got them out of situations. Sheriff Martin was more or less used to the two of them turning up to the police station with opposite expressions: Schaef turning the charm up to get out of the worst of a lecture and Misa who, with just a look of wide brown eyes, is let go almost immediately.
The deputies just think it’s funny when they have to drag them into the station, but are quick to give in when Misa flashes his eyes at them.
The day passes by slowly, class after class until Schaef is picking him up from the only class they don’t share so they can walk home together. Misa misses the rush of summer as they shuffle outside, the gusting wind chilling him to the bone. The weather was turning cold quicker than usual, the once warm fall days being replaced by chilly mornings and colder nights.
He tucks in closer to Schaef as they walk down the street. They live at the opposite sides of the same block, and with Cat out of the house with her hospital shifts, they spend more time at Misa’s place.
The sound of scraping makes Misa’s ears hitch as they get closer to their block, head tilting when he sees a group of guys playing on the street.
“No way! Street hockey!” Schaef says loudly, catching the attention of the guys. It’s four of them, tall and brown haired, each with hockey sticks in their hands. Misa thinks of his tucked carefully away in his closet as they get closer.
“You guys play?” One of them asks, leaning against his stick with his head tilted.
Misa nods, “Yeah, well, it’s been a while since we’ve played street hockey that isn’t with kids almost ten years younger than us.”
One of the other guys nods, a grin already on his face, “Sorry, we’re new here. We just finished moving in. I’m Sam, that’s Macklin, Fraser and Connor.”
Schaef points at himself and then at Misa, “Matthew Schaefer but you can me Schaef and this is Micheal Misa, you can call him Misa.”
The guys echo a hello and Misa shifts awkwardly when Sam stares at him, his gaze heavy as Fraser invites them in for a game.
“Mack and Con take this so seriously,” Fraser says, shaking his head, “The three of us play center and Dickie is a defenseman.”
“Oh, I’m a defenseman too!” Schaef says before nudging Misa forward, “Mees here is our center for our school’s hockey team.”
At the mention of the school’s hockey team, they all whirl to Misa who is half tempted to shove his best friend to the floor. Their town isn’t that big on hockey, but their football and soccer seasons end in November and hockey starts up until lacrosse kicks off in the spring.
The team was alright, but it would be Misa’s first full season on the roster as a sophomore and Schaef’s second season. Misa likes to think he’s done good enough on the team for the games that he did play.
Before they can get assigned to a team, Misa’s phone goes off and he smiles awkwardly before rummaging for it. It’s Cat which is weird because she never calls him while she’s at work. Concern floods through him as he steps away, already pressing his phone to his ear.
“Misa, hey baby, sorry,” Cat greets, her soothing voice easing the initial wave of concern, “I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be home tonight, Kathy called out and I offered to stay.”
“Oh.” Misa says, scuffing his shoe against the asphalt. He hasn’t really seen Cat in a few days, just when she’s getting home and he’s leaving for school. He kind of misses her if he was being honest.
“Yeah, I’m sorry bud. Do you think you can crash with Mattie? I don’t want you at home by yourself.” She sounds worried and he knows that if he says no she’ll find a way to get someone else to cover Kathy’s shift.
Misa rolls his shoulders, letting out a sigh, “Yeah, I’m sure the Martins wouldn’t mind, if anything I'm sure they’ll appreciate the extra hands.”
“Okay honey, I’ll be home before you go to school okay?”
“Yeah, see you, be careful.”
“Always. Don’t let Mattie drag you into trouble.”
He can’t help the giggle as he says goodbye. With a sigh, he pockets his phone and turns to the group. Schaef is watching him even though his attention is split between him and the way Macklin’s hands gesture around. Rolling his shoulders again, he walks over, tucking himself into Schaef’s side.
:::
Sam Dickinson is a lot of things: loud, brash, but right now curious is at the top of his list as he snuffs at the floor. There’s nothing but damp Earth and the scents of humans minding their business as he tries to pick out the scent of the rouge wolf they had trailed.
The smell of oncoming rain marks the end of the dead end, his nose twitching as he hears the sound of humans. He ducks down on his tummy, flattening his ears as he peeks over a fallen long.
There are two guys, both seem to be around Sam’s age as they wander around the forest. Irritation licks at Sam as he huffs, plopping down properly. It was one thing that Toff had moved them here and another that they—him, Mack, Minty and Connor—were seemingly now in charge of pinning down this rogue wolf.
The sudden flash of lights has the two splitting up, one immediately backtrack and the other floundering until the dogs stop barking and Sam can hear the heavy sigh the Sheriff lets out.
“This one belongs to me.” The man says, scruffing the guy, “Where’s Misa? I’m sure you dragged him along to this.”
The guy scoffs, his scent souring with a lie as he says: “Misa stayed home. Something about waiting for Cat.”
The flashlight swings around and Sam presses himself further into the ground as the Sheriff calls out, “Micheal Misa, you better not be out here! And you, Schaef, what have I told you about listening to the scanner, huh? Syd will have both our asses if you get hurt.”
Sam tunes them out as the Sheriff and his search party retreat, dragging Schaef with him. Once darkness settles over him again, he carefully crawls out, his paws muted as he follows Misa’s scent. There’s something about it that has his Wolf entranced as he follows the scent to one of the pathways he and Mack had already mapped out.
Misa is grumbling the entire time, pulling his sweater tighter as he walks down the path. He has very colorful curses for his friend as Sam follows him from a distance. He’s still hidden within the shadows of the forest as the park lot comes into sight.
Before Misa can make his way over to the lone car in the corner of the parking lot, a growl echoes through the forest. Alarm rings in Sam’s head as Misa freezes, one foot a few inches off the floor before he takes off, not looking back as a wolf jumps out.
Sam howls, throwing his head back before launching himself at the wolf. The wolf growls in his direction, blood tainting his face as the rumble of an engine gets farther and farther away.
It takes a few minutes before his Pack shows up, encircling the wolf. Mack growls loudly, his Alpha essence strong enough to make even them shift slightly. The wolf growls back in challenge before Toff shows up, face shifted and claws extended.
The wolf has been causing them issues since they left Vancouver and the stress of a cross country trip was starting to weigh on them. It was by a pure miracle that the town that Toff has decided to settle them in was the perfect hiding spot for the shifty wolf in front of them. They had lost track of the wolf somewhere in Washington, picking up a scent in Oregon before losing it completely again until now.
Toff somehow manages to get the wolf to go back with them but all Sam can focus on is the remnants of mint and apples and something richer.