What Has Become Of Me?

His red car is waiting not far from the doors. He opens the passenger side for me and then closes the door. My eyes follow him until he slides into the driver’s seat. I’m thankful when he finally removes the muzzle and chocker chain. I bury my snout in my paws.
“Sorry about all that, I would have gotten there sooner but traffic was a nightmare” he smiles.
I study him closely. His dark hair is just as tangled as when I saw him perched atop that car last night. He hasn’t shaved since then either.
“Do I have something on his face?” he asks, wiping a hand across his mouth a chin, “I knew that woman was looking at me in a strange way.”
I give my wolfy equivalent to a laugh and he grins at me. He reaches over to ruffle the fur on the top of my head.
“I knew there had to be a sense of humour lurking somewhere in there.”
I roll my eyes and pull my head away sparing him a glare for ruffling my fur. He raises his hands up as if in surrender. His brown eyes are alight with curiosity as they run over my form taking in each detail. I decide to return the favour. His blue polo shirt is smudged with dirt in numerous spots and is rather worn. The black jeans clinging tightly to his legs are in the same condition leading me to believe it’s been some time since he’s bought new clothes, or washed these. Speaking of clothes, where are the ones he promised me? My eyes catch a peculiar bracelet-like object strapped around his wrist but I push the thought aside as I stand awkwardly in the passenger seat and shake my coat hoping to convey how very ready I am to be back in human form. He watches me for a second before it clicks.
“Clothes!” he realises.
I nod my head showing my agreement as condescending comments long to escape. As soon as I am able to talk again I am going to demand answers. Mr. De Luca leans into the back seat and produces the very outfit I had left sitting with the guys’ clothes before our game of hide and seek. My eyes narrow at him. He’s got a nasty habit of grabbing my clothes.
“Whoa, don’t hate me. I just thought it would be better than sitting here naked” he tries to defend himself then a smirk creeps across his face, “although I wouldn’t have any problems with that”
I give a low growl and snatch my clothes from him with my teeth careful not to tear the outfit.

He sits there watching me. Does he really expect me to Change in front of him? I place down my clothes then growl at him motioning for him to get out. With a roll of his eyes he slides out of the car then closes the door standing with his back to it.
“Better?” he mutters.
I don’t acknowledge him. Instead I turn my back to him as well before closing my eyes. I use the trick of visualization to will myself back into human form. The change occurs faster than previous times letting me know that maybe this whole wolf thing does get easier with time. I pull on my shirt still panting slightly at the energy of changing back. As quick as possible I pull on the rest of my clothing. Once content with how I look, I lean across the driver’s seat to open the door. Mr. De Luca turns around with a smile and slips back inside.
“Took your time” he jokes.
“Who the hell are you?” I ask flat out.
“Oh, how very rude of me” he says and I roll my eyes wanting him to just hurry up, “dear Anika it is a pleasure to meet you my name is Wyatt De Luca.”
Wyatt De Luca. At least werewolves have unique names to suit their own uniqueness. I highly doubt a werewolf parent would ever name their child something plain.
“Why have you been following?” I ask feeling slightly rude after his display of manners but I barrel on anyway.
“I’ve hardly been following you. Except maybe last night when your friend got ice cream, I wanted to meet you then because I had smelt you when passing through town.”
He seems honest enough.
“What about out in the state forest then again this morning?” I ask.
“Purely coincidence, although last night I did mess with you a bit for kicks” his eyes flash in silent laughter as a playful smile lights up.
I study his eyes hard for a moment longer before accepting he may actually be telling the truth.
“Don’t touch my stuff again” I say with a sigh before leaning back in the chair.
“Sorry” he apologises but I don’t think he really is.
“Anything else?” he asks.
A thought hits me.
“Why do you only exist to me?” I ask.
“I’ve hidden myself because not only am I rouge but I’m also just like you” he replies before turning the keys in the ignition.
Instinctively, I lean away from him as if he might suddenly explode or poison me. He was right to have hidden himself, if every pack knew about him the guy would be hunted down. Wyatt gives me a crooked smile and I relax a bit.
“Why are you rouge and how do you know what I am?” I ask more curious than anything else.
“My pack found out what I was, I had the choice to stay and die or run and live,” he replies with a dark look in his eyes before it clears as he addresses my second question, “And it’s not too hard to find another like myself. You’ll always know whether an individual is a werewolf or a Forbidden whilst other wolves aren’t able to.”
I frown in confusion, pushing aside his first answer as it’s obviously a touchy subject.
“I couldn’t sense what you were.”
“You are just a pup” he replies with a shrug.
He has a very valid point. I watch as we turn out onto the main road headed for the large park I’d left the guys in.
“Thanks for bailing me out” I say finally remembering my manners.
“No worries,” he grins, “always wanted to have a pet werewolf.”
I resist the urge to growl as he waves about the adoption papers. Ignoring the fact he is actually driving, I launch forward trying to snatch the papers from him but he pulls them away too quickly.
“Careful, wouldn’t want me to crash and damage my car” he warns as he tucks the papers away out of my reach.
“Those papers don’t mean anything” I tell him as I sit back in my seat.
“Pretty sure they’re legal” he smiles.
“Maybe by human standards, not by werewolf laws” I argue.
“Neither of us had been included in werewolf laws from the moment we were born” he argues back.
I open my mouth trying to find something witty to rebuke him with but I come up short. Maybe I’ve been beaten, for now. Wyatt laughs loudly as we slow to a stop at the edge of the road. The tree line is just a few meters away and I realise I’ll have to Change again to find my way back. Why must humans be so easily lost?
“Don’t stress over it, I’m just kidding” he tells me as I slowly open the door.
“Easy enough for you to say” I mumble as I slide out of the car.
“Look, I leave town tomorrow night but I’d like to have a re-do of my first impression with you. I’ll be happy to meet you at any café in town for breakfast, explain some stuff about being as rare as we are and then hand back the papers, how’s that sound?”
I pause; this could be a great chance to learn more about myself that the boys won’t be able to teach me. Do I really want to meet up with this stalker again? I deliberate for another moment before nodding.
“Alright; there’s a small café just north of the town square called Ryan’s café, I’ll meet you there at nine o’clock tomorrow” I reply and he grins.
“Don’t know if I’ll be awake that early, but thanks for the chance to have a proper introduction” he says.
I don’t respond, instead I just shut the car door and trudge off into the trees. Once I am sure he can’t see me I begin to strip down. My wolf doesn’t hesitate to step forward and I make the Change quicker than I did this morning. With a grin I grab my clothes in my mouth and start to track smells in trying to locate the boys.

“Anika, are you alright” the alpha’s worried voice suddenly sounds in my mind as I trot towards the waiting pack.
They all rush forward to greet me; noses prod all of my sides and tongues attack my nose. I step back and shake them off.
“Everyone Change” Nathan instructs studying me closely.
I sprint off into the trees and Change has quickly as I can. Once dressed, I stumble back out to the impatient guys. Brian and Chase rush me. I can do nothing to stop Brian from scooping me up into his arms. His hug is so tight I struggle to breathe.
“Anika” Nathan’s voice cuts through, “where did you go? We’ve been worried.”
“I didn’t realise there was a main road and I kind of” my voice trails off as I dread telling them.
“You kind of what?” Nathan sighs impatiently.
“I kind of got taken to the pound” I mumble sheepishly.
Jett is the first to decipher my mumblings and he howls with laughter. His whole form shakes as he laughs. Chase and Seb are next, they are doubled over with laughter that leaves them gasping for breath. I stay pouting in Brian’s arms as he laughs with his head tipped back but his arms still clutching me to his chest. Dom is on the floor laughing with tears in his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah laugh it up” I grumble which just causes more laughter.
Nathan chuckles but his eyes show he’s still worried about something.
“How’d you get out?” he asks.
“I may be stupid, but I’m still a werewolf” I inform him.
Nathan nods then allows his chuckles to turn to full on hysteric laughter with the rest of the pack. I squirm around and finally Brian sits me on the ground. Grumbling about the stupid pack and their idiotic laughter, I climb into the backseat with arms crossed over my chest.
“Losers” I mouth to them as they finally seem to finish laughing and all look at me.
Wrong, they all erupt into another round of laughter. As I sit waiting for them to recover, I wonder what I’m going to discover tomorrow at breakfast.