The wolves had made good timing, all things considered, paws flying over the fresh blankets of snow. At first, Cassidy had stuck with the others, flanking the newer wolves with her brother, but anxiety had begun fueling her muscles, churning away in her stomach, and she had let her true speed take over, Quickly outstripping the others. Consequently, The white and red she wolf was able to reach the pack's truck ahead of the others and used her momentum to launch herself into the air, leaping gracefully into the bed of the truck with a clatter of claws on the hard plastic lining. Almost at once, she lowered her head and closed her eyes in concentration, gritting her teeth together as the uncomfortable prickle that preceded the change spread throughout her body.

Amid the popping of her own joints, the cracking of her bones, and the squirm of muscles as they shifted and readjusted, Cassidy tried to comprehend the change from another werewolf's perspective. Sure, what she had to experience was painful and uncomfortable, but from what she could understand, it was mild in comparison to what the others had to go through. Part of her wondered if that had something to do with her being born a werewolf instead of being changed into one through a violent attack... She could feel it when the fur receded into her skin, when her tail shrank away into nothing, and when her thumbs popped back into place on her hands, pain prickling over her raw skin as she panted on hands and knees. She took another moment to collect herself and her humanity before pushing back from the truck bed, bright green eyes slowly opening to focus on her surroundings.

The others had arrived while she had been changing, pacing anxiously back-and-forth across the ground, two of the newer wolves whining Saufley. Cassidy listened to them for a moment as she caught her breath before collecting her stack of clothing she had left on one side of the bed and quickly sliding into them, ignoring the small shivers that had started with the absence of her warm winter fur.

"i'm fine." She huffed as someone bumped into the side of the truck, rocking the vehicle slightly. She quickly slipped on her shoes, pulled a sweater over her head, and shook out her frizzy rusty brown hair before jumping out of the back of the truck, using one hand to push herself over the edge. She met a pair of pale blue eyes staring at her intently from a dark face and she repeated herself a little more forcefully. "i'm [I]fine.[/I]"

Hutch simply snorted in response before circling around to the passenger side of the truck. He had obviously instructed the others to get into the back, for the three newer werewolves leapt quickly into the bed, one after the other. Cassidy had to wait a moment for the truck to settle before she was able to retrieve a key hidden beneath the lip of the front wheel and unlock the driver's door. Hopping inside, she leaned across the front seats and yanked on the handle of the passenger door, opening it to allow the big white and black wolf to join her in the cab. He leapt in rather gracefully, using one of his big paws to pull the door shut after he settled in his seat. Cassidy waited for the time it took her to pull her seatbelt across her body before she shoved the key into the ignition, turning the truck on with a roar.

Then of course, Cassidy had to inevitably adjust her seat and the mirrors before she could drive away. Sometimes, it was rather a pain to be so short. Especially when compared to her brother, who had been the last one to drive the truck. Shaking her head and giving her brother a very evident roll of her eyes, she quickly and carefully made the proper adjustments, made sure she could see everything in the mirrors, and finally pulled the truck around in a wide u-turn, Snow crunching under the tires.

[Center]***[/Center]

After her second fishtail, despite the excellent set of snow tires on the truck, Cassidy couldn't help but smacking the back of her hand against one of Hutch's shoulders. At the best of times, she was a pretty good driver and had been making excellent time coming out of the canyon, but her brother and the three wolves in the back had been practically bleeding anxiety the entire time, Making her feel itchy all over and making her foot heavier on the gas pedal. Every now and then, Hutch would release a soft growl, huff impatiently, or whine through his nose. One of these instances had caused her to fishtailed the first time, responding to his stress, and this time was similar, a much louder rumble thrumming from the white and black wolf's throat.

"stop it! Please. You're making me sick to my stomach." Cassidy begged, giving her face a brisk rub with her hands so she wouldn't have to see her brother flattening his ears at her. This was partially true, he was making her stomach ache worse, but she had never stopped feeling unsettled. She had been feeling that way for quite some time now... "keep it together. We're almost there." She finished, dropping her hands back to the steering wheel and coaxing The truck back to a reasonable speed.

Mercifully, the other werewolves listened to her, stifling whines and biting back growls. They never completely stopped smelling of anxiety, but there wasn't much that could be done about that, even when Cassidy tried to soothe the emotion. She was too anxious herself to do much good in that Area at the moment. Instead, she focused on driving at a reasonable speed, hands firm on the steering wheel. It wasn't long before they were pulling into the driveway, right behind a sleek Black Mercedes and a volts wagon beetle. Before Cassidy could bring the truck to a complete stop, the three wolves in back had jumped out of the bed, haring away towards the three-story house that was pack Central.

Cutting the engine, Cassidy quickly opened her car door, jumping out and shoving the key into one of her pockets as she ran around the truck to open the door for Hutch. Immediately, the big werewolf surged out of the truck as soon as the door was open, bounding away after the younger wolves.

Stabbing her finger quickly against the button that would lock the truck, Cassidy hurried after the others in the direction of the house, nostrils flaring as she tried to catch the scent of blood that would tell her if anyone was injured. She caught hints of deer from the hunt and wolves, but not much beyond that... her stride slowed as A strange smell tickled at her senses for a moment and the teenager slowed to a halt for a few heartbeats as she took a deep breath, trying to separate the smell from the scent of snow and Pine. But whatever it was managed to elude her quite thoroughly and she quickly shook it off, breaking into a sprint once more. She had barely begun to reach for the handle of the front door when the door was opened from the inside, a man poking his head out of the gap.

"Hey Cass, I thought I heard y'all coming back." The man drawled in a thick Texan accent, opening the door wider. He was a thickly built man, with large rounded muscles, messy sandy brown hair, and faded blue eyes, these of which were crinkled up in a smile. "come on in out of the cold sweetheart before y'all catch your death." He teased, Knowing full well that werewolves weren't bothered nearly as much by the cold as regular humans, nor could they get sick from it. He was a werewolf, after all.

"Hi Howard. Glad to see you're making yourself at home." Cassidy chirped in response, stepping past the man's big bare feet and giving his sweatpants and hoodie combination a once over. She grinned in response to his ready smile, But quickly found the expression faltering. She cut him off before he could respond. "is everything all right? No one is hurt?"

Howard shut the door before leaning his back against it, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "everyone's fine. A couple o' glass plates fell off the counter, a bookshelf fell over, but I reckon that was just about the worst of it." He reassured, smiling comfortingly.

Cassidy breathed a sigh of relief before she giggled. "Too bad that ugly vase in the living room didn't fall over. Then we could finally get rid of the thing."

A comical look of horror spread over Howard's face. "listen here missy, I bought that vase from a very nice place. It falling over and breaking wouldn't be enough for me to let everyone just throw it out. I'd superglue the thing back together." He insisted, eyes sparkling with humor, breaking his affronted façade.

"I don't remember Walmart being such a nice place." Cassidy murmured thoughtfully before breaking out into a peal of laughter, dancing back from the hands that reached out to tickle her in retaliation. "I'm kidding Howie! Kidding! I'll go help clean up the glass as punishment." She pleaded, dodging around an armchair to avoid another tickle attempt.

"Serves you right iffin ya did short stack." Howard responded, giving his head a shake before releasing a laugh and flopping down into the armchair. "You're lucky your so cute Cassidy, or I might try harder."

"Lucky me!" Cassidy trilled as she moved through an opening on the other side of the living room that took her into a dining room and beyond that into the kitchen.