The wolf was stubborn, Sophia decided as she sat there in the nude surrounded by cold white snow and brightly colored flowers with only the sun’s rays to bring any warmth to her bare skin. For a moment she allowed herself to miss her midnight fur’s warmth. Still the wolf sat across from her with his head on his paws, warm in his fur and seeming to refuse to shift to talk with her. He was the one that questioned first, he should have known she would have asked for the same answers in return. Finally the he wolf stood up and shook out his multi-colored fur before taking a few steps away. With a soft smile Sophia turned her head to the side and closed her eyes to give him the same privacy that he had given her.

With her eyes closed, she tried to drown out the sounds popping bones, stretching flesh, and hair being pulled back into the body that sounded oddly like nails on a chalkboard to her by focusing on the sounds of spring. In the forest she could hear the pitter patter of padded feet that belonged to a rabbit, the high-pitched chirp of birds, and the sliding sound of a snake moving along the ground. While listening to the song of nature, Sophia did not even realize the male wolf was done changing until he said his name. Sapphire blue eyes snapped open and turned to focus on the wolf, now turned man, in front of her.  The man that sat in front of her was not what she was expecting when she saw him in his wolf form. His wolf was large and powerful while the man seemed tall and lanky without the strong muscles that his wolf seemed to promise. Not that he looked weak, just that he was not as strong as she thought he would appear.  Though in a rugged way he was very handsome and his almond shaped eyes really suited his face.

“Hutch.” She repeated softly in a soft-spoken tone as if she was testing the taste of his name in her mouth. “I know of you pack. My brother tried to form a relation with them when we first settled here, but your alpha refused to see him.” Sophia shivered a little and turned her head to look out around the meadow rather than focusing Hutch’s intimidatingly focused gaze. It was not as if she was unused to her pack seeing her naked body, or her theirs, but it felt different when he looked at her. She wasn’t really sure why it bothered her, honestly. Eventually her eyes drifted back to him making sure to look directly back into his eyes so that her own orbs did not wander. 

“I am not truly alone. This is my Alpha and I’s property, and we run these forests as wolves all the time. All I would have to do is howl and my pack would be on my heels within a minute.” She paused for a moment and settled into a more comfortable position so that her feet were flat against the ground. “I came to get away from my pack.” She admitted honestly after a long moment of silence. “What about you? Why are you so far away from your pack?” She tilted her head to motion to the mountains where she knew the Snowden Mountain Pack resides. 

When her brother first went to try and meet with Hutch’s pack, he refused to allow her to come. He claimed it was because he was unsure of how barbaric the pack was and he did not want to endanger her. Not that she believed that was his real reason to keep her from coming. When he finally made his way back down the mountain, Sophia felt his anger before he even walked through the door. He did not talk about what had happened that day that day or any day after. Seth went as far as saying interacting with those from that pack was forbidden. That thought made her turn her head towards he house and listen for a moment just to make sure she did not hear anyone approaching them. Only the sounds of nature reached her sensitive ears so she made herself relax a little as she turned back to Hutch.