Pregnant With Alpha’s Genius Twins

Chapter 222

#Chapter 222 – Following the Scent

Victor raises his snout to scent the air, relishing the strength he feels in this form.

He and Ian have been running through the woods for what feels like hours, doing nothing but searching for the scents which they know they have to follow. They haven’t found them yet, but neither of them is frustrated.

There’s no room for that, in the body of a wolf – no room for doubt, or dissatisfaction, or annoyance. Instead, Victor knows that he and Ian simply have faith. They will find Evelyn, and they will find Alvin, they just need to keep looking.

And they have, apparently, all he time in the world for that. Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Victor closes his eyes, seeking her, but he snaps his head to the side when he hears a little yelp from his pup. His body goes still with alertness, seeking his son, wanting to protect him from whatever happened –

But Ian just tumbled off a boulder he had climbed to the top of, either to find the scent or just to see if he could get to the peak. The gray pup rolls at the bottom of the rock, looking towards his father with a wolfish little grin, his tongue lolling from his mouth.

Victor laughs inside himself, then, knowing the boy feels no real pain or regrets. Given the chance, he’d climb the boulder again.

Victor moves to the pup, though, giving him a little nudge with his nose, reminding him not to get distracted. Ian shoots him an apologetic glance he doesn’t really mean and then puts on a bolt of speed, running off into the trees. Victor gives a little woof of encouragement and follows, dodging through the branches as he chases his son.

It just feels so good to be in this form, Victor thinks. No doubts, no hesitations, just…action. Movement. Intuition.

He knows that Ian feels the same, darting through the forest, listening to the wisdom of his body and taking immediate action on his impulses.

So much.

Victor had missed this form so much. And perhaps he had stayed out of it for too long.

Before his first run with the boys, so many weeks ago, he hadn’t taken his wolf form in months. Years, maybe. God, had it been that long? He shakes himself, knowing that it had been a mistake. He had himself to blame for it, telling himself that being the wolf was a pleasure, a distraction that he couldn’t afford – not when he had so much to do – so much on his plate.

But, really, had that been all?

Because, if he had taken his wolf form, would it have become all too clear the mistakes he had been making in his life? Would he have been unable to deny the truths that, in this body, were so self- evident?

His mind turns, then, as he runs, to Amelia. To his fights with Evelyn yesterday, to her frustrations.

Evelyn’s doubts were his fault, he knew. All his fault. Because if he had just listened to himself, to what his body had been telling him the moment he saw Evelyn again…

He’d have left Amelia immediately. He would have turned, instead, to Evelyn and made it clear to her – immediately – that she was the Luna he wanted, the only one.

Victor growls, low in his throat, feeling fiercely the mistake. It hadn’t been fair, not to either of them, to hesitate so long. As his wolf, there was no room for hesitation. Just action.

Ian slows ahead of him, turning to look and ensure that Victor is keeping up. Victor pads to a walk, his lathered tongue hanging from his mouth, his eyes filled with joy. Catching up with Ian, Victor again lowers his snout to the boy’s coat, nuzzling it, letting the boy feel the pride and joy that runs through his body at being able to take this run with his son.

Victor determines, then, to make this form more a part of his life. To remember that he is not merely a man who can shift into his wolf, but rather that his wolf is part of his identity. Half of him. And that the knowledge he learns here is as important as anything he gleans from his time in his human body.

Ian turns in a circle, feeling so happy and joyful like this, relishing the freedom and the lack of care. He knows, in his heart, that this is who he is – a creature of rock and stone and forest and instinct. Not really a little boy who stays inside and reads books.

His mind turns, though, quite suddenly to Alvin. Who is a little boy who likes to stay inside and read his books.

Ian misses his brother terribly in that moment, wishing he were here to share this with him. But Alvin…

The forest knew it, of course. That this was where Ian needed to be, feeling this freedom, breathing this air, while Alvin needed to be with their mother doing…well, whatever they were doing. Ian stops, then, and tucks himself beneath his father’s belly, moving to stand between his tall forelegs, wanting his protection in this moment as he considers…

Well, considers that perhaps the forest was telling him something. Something quite real about the differences between him and his brother. That he truly is a creature of the wild, and that Alvin…

Well, that Alvin was not.

It’s a sudden pang of sadness that rings through Ian’s heart as he realizes this difference between himself and his twin. He wants, fervently, for them to be the same forever but…well, in this wolf form,

there’s no real space for that kind of wishing. For wanting things to be different than they are.

Like this, things simply are how they are.

And Ian realizes, suddenly, the peace in that. That his love for his brother, his connection to him, is not lessened in any way by the knowledge of their difference. That there are simply two of them, where there used to be one.

Victor lowers his snout towards Ian then, curious, wanting to know if he is okay. Ian happily raises his face to his father, tapping his nose against Victor’s and then dashing out from between his legs, sprinting further into the forest.

Because he is okay. He is happy. All is well.

Ian sprints forward, joy pulsing through his limbs at the sheer wonder of it – of running, of freedom, of being so alive –

But a sudden yip pulls him back. He turns in the air, his forward momentum causing his paws to skid and then turning his body over top of them in a little tumble as he looks backwards towards his father.

Victor stands there, in the woods, having skidded to a stop himself, staring intently at Ian. Eager, Ian gets back to his feet and runs back to his father, his expression curious. Why had they stopped? Why, when to run was so delicious –

But then, quite suddenly, Ian smells it too.

The scent grips him, like a hand grabbing his nose and forcing his head to turn west, towards the setting sun.

There.

He smells them and he knows his father does as well. Ian gives another little yip of joy, turning in an eager circle and then standing next to his father, facing west.

The two look at each other, and then, as one, they rush forward towards them.

Towards Evelyn, towards Alvin.

They’ve got the scent now, and the chase truly begins.