Moonlit Fur Chronicles: Rising Moon
Chapter 5 Scouting For Red Stripes

Peyton walked out of the Vet Clinic front door. Her shift had ended and she was free to do whatever she pleased. She decided to let Sawyer know about her plan to replace the red stripe wolves. The phone rang and rang but Sawyer didn’t answer. It wasn’t uncommon for him to miss her calls. He worked in a warehouse and couldn’t have his phone on the floor. Peyton sat in her car. She wanted to replace the red stripe wolves. She knew the basic whereabouts of the mansion but she didn’t know exactly how to drive there. After several tedious minutes of searching the map app on her phone, Peyton started the ignition and rolled away from the clinic.

Peyton’s heart beat fast as she followed the roads that lead to the red stripe wolf mansion. A soft voice whispered in her head that what she was about to do was incredibly dangerous and stupid. She ignored it and plunged forward. She turned up the music and rolled down her windows. The breeze teased and played with her hair. Peyton enjoyed rolling around in her car with the music turned up loud. She felt free and happy. The joy in her heart would be short lived once she found the red stripe wolf mansion.

She pushed the intercom button on the front gate. It took a few minutes but a voice asked what she wanted. The voice was unprofessional and kind of mean. She didn’t pay any mind to that. She told the voice that she was here to see the twins. The security gate slowly swung open. Her heart raced and she steered her car up the long driveway. She parked in front of the mansion. She climbed out of the car and bravely marched up to the front door. Peyton waited, butterflies flew erratically in her belly.

The huge door swung open and a giant of a man stood before her. His muscles rippled as he crossed his arms over his chest, “What do you want?” She found the mean voice from the intercom. “I’m looking for the twins,” her voice was soft and meek compared to the deep husky drawl of the man. He scoffed and closed the door. Peyton’s eyebrows furrowed. She really did not like this guy, even though his physique resembled a greek god. She waited impatiently for a few minutes. She raised her hand to knock again when the door swung open and out stepped a man and a woman with bright red hair. They took a large step out onto the patio and swung the door behind them. They moved and spoke as one, it freaked Peyton out.

The twins gazed at her expectantly. Her mouth ran dry. “Um Hi. I am Peyton. Some people call me Toni.” Her anxiety levels spiked. “Wait no, no one calls me Toni.” Her face flushed as red as the twin’s hair. Her breath caught in her chest. “Um,” Peyton had been so confident. Now that she was standing in front of these unknown potentially dangerous werewolves, she was terrified. The twin watched her with expressionless faces, which made her even more nervous. “Ok um, I saw you guys last night.” A deep growl thundered in the man’s chest. They twins glanced at each other before they glared back at Peyton. An icy finger of fear ran down Peyton’s spine.

Peyton took a deep breath, “Yes I saw you in the woods last night. You’re like me. Rather, I’m like you.” The twins stood motionless and Peyton’s words stumbled and fell from her mouth. “Oh I’m messing this all up.” Peyton put a hand on her hip and pinched the bridge of her nose with her other hand. “I was out in the woods the other night and I saw you two. I watched you play together. I watched and followed you. I was so happy to replace someone else like me. I followed you here and watched you turn…turn back into humans. I watched you go in the back door of this house. It’s more like a mansion, than a house really.”

The twins stepped down from the patio onto the first stair that led to the driveway. Peyton stepped back automatically. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. “Um yeah, I got so excited to see someone like me that I howled. When you two bolted out the back door, I got out of there. I was and kinda still am, scared that you will hurt me.” Peyton took another step back. “Please don’t hurt me.” The twins took the second step down onto the driveway. They slowly advanced until Peyton was pressed up against her car. “You don’t know what you saw.” The twins spoke in eerie unison, “You didn’t see anything. You aren’t like us. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Peyton’s heart raced faster and faster. She begged the wolf inside her to come forth and save her. It sat smugly in her chest. Clearly it didn’t feel like it was in any danger which seemed insane to Peyton. Her hand searched frantically for the car door handle. The twins glared at her. Their gaze haunted and terrorized Peyton. She wrenched open the car door and dove inside. She slammed the door behind her and threw the car into gear and sped off. She slowed down just enough for the gate to automatically open before she zoomed off.

Peyton clenched the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were white. She was so sure the twins would bite her head or something equally terrible. Her heart beat slowed as she put miles between her and the twins. The wolf in her chest seemed to laugh at her, as it knew something that she didn’t. Her terror soon turned to frustration and anger. Why hadn’t her wolf come out in a rage and saved her. She pondered this as she drove home. She wondered what Sawyer would think of her little misadventure. As she pulled into the driveway of her house, a dark car pulled in right behind her. Peyton checked the rear view mirror. Had the twins followed her?! She rolled her eyes as she recognized the driver. Jessi stepped out of her car with a stuffed wolf and bottle of wine in her hands.