The Last Wolf

I watched the boy leading me. He was strange in every sense of the word. The way he moved, prowling; the way he gripped my hand, gentle and urgent; and the way his eyes scanned everything around us. Following him wasn’t the best idea in the world; neither was going back home. I needed someone to get me out of this forest. Someone to trust. So, I placed it in him; this whole situation could easily be a trap. I death might find me right here. White River said something was coming after me. Was that something supposed to be Colt’s pack?

I sighed while thoughts swirled in my mind. He glanced back before he stopped abruptly and examined me. I shook my head and put on a grin, but the light faded from his warm eyes. Colt knew. Everything in my world got rocked the moment the people who I called parents drugged me and tied me to my bed. He could see the fear never left, and the worry wouldn’t cease.

So many questions raided my thoughts. Most of them about Colt. How could he read my thoughts? Why did I see that vision of his family? What is it like to be accepted? I did wonder about his pack too. What were they like? Would they hurt me too? I thought I saw him shrug his shoulders and shake his head as we past a tree.

“How much further is it?” I needed to hear something other than the rants screaming through my brain.

“Can’t tell just yet. It’s harder tracking in this form.”

“Tracking?” Why would he have to track his own pack?

“I told you, I come and go as I please.” He turned towards me and took an exasperated breath. “The pack moves a lot. We don’t like hunters so we avoid them, and that means I have to track them to find my way back.”

I wiggled my hand lose before rubbing my wrist. “Use the wolf.”

“Can you keep up with me?”

My eyes burned as a growl rumbled in my throat. He smiled and nodded as he popped his joints out of place. I grabbed his jeans when he pranced forward sniffing the air as he went. “Hurry, I want to be near a bed soon!” He cocked his head to the side before trotting off in the direction we were already going.

After about an hour of walking, we came to a clearing. He popped through the bushes howling. I peeked through after him. Two girls about my age, a redhead and a brunette, sat on a tree stump laughing as he bounded to them. “It’s about time Shadow. We were beginning to think you weren’t coming back this time.

He shifted while laughing. “Next time don’t piss me off so much.” He looked in my direction and waved. “Come on, Dahlia. If you stay there…” A giant growl shook the tree I leaned against. I peered over my shoulder before I rushed to Colt. “Thanks for grabbing these.” He took his jeans and wiggled into them. I stared into the forest. “I told you, Bear is a grizzly.” The girls laughed wildly.

“I-“ another growl cut me off. My eyes stung as something primal flowed through my blood. Colt reached to touch my arm one moment, and the next he was on the ground rubbing his cheek.

“I don’t like this,” a voice that didn’t quite belong to me growled.

“Calm down,” he spoke softly. “Just relax. No one is going to hurt you. I promised, didn’t I?”

“Who’s to say your word’s good enough?” I wanted to shove the voice back inside me, but I couldn’t. It was in my blood.

“Shadow?” The girl with long red hair questioned

“Hey,” he whispered getting off the ground. The rumble rose from deep within me before he stumbled back down. “Don’t make me fight you!” His voice was threating.

My eyes grew hotter as I crouched down close to him. My teeth ached for something I wasn’t sure of before I hissed, “I’d like to see you try!”

Footsteps plopped across the ground while my eyes stayed with Colt. A familiar scent filled the air. “Dahlia Waters?”

I turned toward the man speaking. “Oh, what have they done to you?!?”

“What’s the deal with this girl? Do you know her,” the brunette asked.

“Yes, Viper. She’s my werewolf.”

The smirk that crossed my face was unintentional. “I’m not yours, River.”

“She’s not ready for this,” he hissed at the other kids.

“We didn’t bring her,” the girls stated in unison.

“Come, Dahlia. Let’s indulge the beast.”

I sniffed the air. “I don’t like that word.”

“Right now, no one likes you.”

I growled once more before I followed White River to the small shack in the field. He put a cup in front of me and filled it with a dark yellow liquid. I took the cup and drank. It burned my throat, and eased the ache in my teeth. “Rest, wolf.”

My eyes grew heavy as I drank the last drop. “You can sleep here.” He opened a room that had a bed made of straw. “Rest, I’ll come for you later.”

“I don’t trust those people, River.”

“They will not harm you; I refuse to let anything happen.”

“You took me back.”

“I didn’t know Sam would let that happen to you.”

“She’s human. All they want is me dead.”

“You will not die here.”

I nodded and closed the door to the room. As soon as my head rested on the hard pillow I was asleep. Instinct trusted River, but a stronger feeling told me to watch out.