Chapter Seven

Anastasia's POV:

After closing her phone screen, a question made its way into her mind. " So, what do you and you pack do for fun around here?", asked Anastasia. " Well, we hunt, go for runs, socialize, go into town, and a few other things.", he replied. " Can we go hunting then? I haven't done that in a while.", she said back. As she waited for a response a shocked expression made its way onto Ryker's face. " Sure. That sounds like fun.", he responded.

As they left the office they headed back to her house. On the walk there it was silent until Anastasia spoke up. " So how do you and your pack hunt?", she asked. " I figured you would have already known how, but we hunt in wolf form.", Ryker said while laughing. Not thinking his reply was funny she sent him a glare.

Coming into her yard they headed towards her back door. She opens the door and walks into the kitchen. In the process of shutting the door she felt it stop. Looking behind her she saw Ryker. Laughing to herself she speaks," Sorry forgot you were there." Causing him to return with a glare.

She continues her way through the kitchen and heads to the linen closet on the left side of the hallway. Opening the door, she pulls out all of her hunting gear. Taking her tree stand and gun into the living room she sets it on the couch. She walks to her room, going to her closet. Grabbing out her camo gear, she heads to her bathroom to change. Coming out she grabs a hair tie from her nightstand, putting her hair into a high ponytail.

Striding back into the living room she slides her rifle onto her shoulder, and carries the tree stand in her other arm. With a smile on her face, she looks at Ryker waiting for him to lead the way. The last time she had gone hunting was with her family. She continued to practice with a gun to not become rusty, but her heart missed the memories.

There were many fun moments that she had shared with her parents. Sadly, she can't create anymore since they had passed away in a plane crash, but she still pressed on. Allowing the memories to still live within her. It was something she had always enjoyed doing, so she wasn't going to let their passing ruin the happiness she had from it.

Anastasia always did her best to stay positive and look on the bright side of things. Though she can be very stubborn when it came to certain things, she still did what she could to not let her parents down. Coming back to her senses she realized that they were already a little way into the woods.

Looking around she tried to find a good spot to put up her stand. As she turned to look at Ryker, she saw him sniffing the air. Her eyebrows began to furrow, and she laughed at his action. Hearing Anastasia laugh caused Ryker turned in her direction. " What's so funny?", he asked confused. Finishing her laughing fit she answered, " You really do act like a dog."

Immediately after hearing her reply, he glared at her, not finding her statement funny whatsoever. Turning back in the other direction he walked closer towards the tree near them. " This should be a good spot. I can sense an animal not far from here.", Ryker stated. Anastasia nodded her head towards him and began to put her stand on the tree.

Stepping in she began to hoist it up higher. After getting it high enough she leaned her gun against the bark of the tree. Looking down she saw Ryker just standing around. " It would be better if you tried to hide yourself instead of just standing there. I don't need you scaring anything away.", Anastasia said jokingly.

" Yeah, yeah woman. This isn't my first rodeo in hunting. But I prefer to be in wolf form." Hearing his reply caused her to giggle. Thinking to herself she couldn't help feeling that someone didn't care for being picked on. Watching as he walked away from her, she felt slightly confused. He went behind some other tree in the distance, and shortly after she could hear a cracking sound. Wincing from the sickening sound it caused an involuntary shiver to run over her body. Shaking it off she looked in the direction of where Ryker was to see a large black and white wolf step out.

Anastasia's eyes grew wide, slightly in fear but the most present emotion was amazement. She still couldn't get over how they can change into such dangerous yet beautiful creatures. Shaking her head, releasing herself from her daze, she watched as he strides over to the tree and stood next to it. Rapidly his head darts towards the direction in front of them. His nose lifts into the air and he begins to sniff.

While watching him she sees his tail start to wag wildly letting out a few yips in excitement. " Ryker ", Anastasia says sternly. " If you don't stay quiet it won't come this way.", she continues. His head turns toward her, and he lets out a whimper. Her features become serious as she speaks to him again," Ryker get your huge wolf ass over here now." Ryker's wolf lets out a low growl causing her to become more annoyed. " Bad boy! Now sit!", she says sternly.

His wolf glares at her and slowly walks to the base of the tree complying with her command, letting out a huff in the process. They continue to remain quiet keeping their eyes open for the unknown creature. Suddenly a rustling sound makes its way to their ears making their heads turn in its direction. Anastasia deftly grabs her rifle positioning it against her and stares down the scope. She comes across part of the animal spotting red fur. Patiently waiting for the animal to make its way into the open.

The animal becomes more visible making her realize it's a fox. A slight grin forms on her lips as she begins to line up a shot. She aims in front of the fox's paw as a plan forms in her mind. Laughing internally, she slides her finger onto the trigger. Out of her peripherals she noticed Ryker having a hard time sitting still.

Her smirk grew allowing her to guarantee that her little plan was going to work. Adjusting her shot from the animal moving to a different spot, she aims right before its front left paw. Taking a deep breath to steady her body more she prepares her ears for the loud bang. Anastasia pulls the trigger making the gun release the round, a loud bang resounding from its escape.

Lifting her head, she watches as the fox frantically runs away. Looking down towards Ryker she can't help but laugh at how hard he is restraining himself. Smirking she says, " Ryker", causing his head to jerk in her direction waiting for her to continue. " Fetch!", Anastasia giggles out. After her words sink in, realization playing on his wolfs face. She sees him rapidly shoot off in the direction of where the fox bolted. After he took off, she couldn't help but laugh. He made it too easy for her to mess with him. It was a perfect plan.

While Ryker was still near her, she couldn't help but want to purposely miss her shot. Seeing how bad he wanted to go after the fox made her want to tease him even more. He was just too gullible. Now she just had to play the waiting game, which had her wondering if he was as good at hunting as he makes his kind out to be.

She sat there waiting for twenty minutes, doubt starting to fill her mind. 'Guess he really needs to work on his skills', she thought. Getting out of the tree she unwraps her stand, closing it, leaning it against the tree with her rifle. A snapping sound catches her attention, her head darting in its direction. Panic began to cloud her mind as she frantically tried to identify the cause of the sound.