1
It was a clear starry night. A full moon rose high above the many trees that surrounded me. The spring breeze made my skin prickle. The air smelled like the wet brown leaves that covered the forest floor. The wind whistled past my face and every once in a while caused me to shiver. I peered out from behind a tree where I stood silently. I looked intently around the area. Nothing moved except for the swaying branches of the towering trees.
Suddenly a high-pitched howl split the near silence. I froze my ears at full attention as I listened carefully. The howl was a call, a beckoning with a sense of urgency and danger. When it was silent again I scanned my eyes around me. Still nothing moved except for the vegetation, I was safe. I darted out from behind the tree and headed at a full sprint through the forest. The howling continued up again and I headed toward it. I was focused, ready. Really focused, really ready. I squeezed my eyes shut and concentrated. I concentrated hard. All of a sudden a ripple of pain shuddered through me. I opened my eyes again to find my eyesight a foot shorter and the wind no longer hitting my bare skin. No longer did my two ragged, old tennis shoes hit the ground, but four extremely large paws, fully equipped with long, blade-like claws. I felt stronger now. As a wolf not only could I tear people to shreds with my teeth and snap their spine with one pounce, all of my senses got 50x better. I could hear up to five miles away, I could smell up to ten and clearly distinguish what it was and my eyesight got sharper. I couldn't necessarily see farther, but everything around me became clearer. I could detect any movement around me and when I could see anything up to at least a mile away it was easy to determine what it was.
One of my favorite abilities as a wolf though, was being able to run. Yes I could run as a human and I could run extremely fast, but not like as a wolf. When in wolf form, a normal werewolf could reach speeds up to 200 miles per hour. As a Speed Demon or King werewolf we could reach up to 300. Werewolves are, like, the definition of speed. Pretty much, if you looked up speed in the dictionary you should find us. I'm very surprised that all werewolves haven't changed their middle names to speed, speedy or fast. It would make sense. In fact, it would make a lot of sense since more than half of the werewolves that exist today have changed their last names to something relating to us. Take me for example, I used to be Madison Riley and now, as a new werewolf, I'm Madison Wolfe. Yup, we are speed so there's a good reason to change our middle names, in my opinion.
The howling was coming closer and closer by the second. About a mile away I started to distinguish each individual thud of paws as the rest of my pack gathered as well. We were all headed to the same place, a small clearing in the forest with a den that-occasionally-we called home.
I wonder what it is…
Yeah! We never find anything!
Maybe someone's just passing through…
Everyone just calm down! Just get to the den so we can find out what's actually going on! Jeez. The pack could get really annoying sometimes. They never really saw the big picture. They never seemed to get the importance of things. Well, what can I say? They're just a bunch of guys!
C'mon Mads! Is that really necessary? Cody whined.
Well Cody you are! Or do you finally admit that you're a girl? I shot back.
NO! But you were just mad at us for not concentrating now you're crackin' jokes! Patrick defended his brother.
I growled at him. I wasn't cracking jokes! Jeez! It was a personal thought but since you can read them right now you just happened to hear it! We're all concentrating on the problem now got it?
We all reached the clearing at about the same time. The tension between us lightened. All of our bright golden eyes stared at Jack. He was pacing back and forth very slowly. As our tech man he didn't really know much about other wolves or fighting, so he was a nervous wreck. "What is it Jack? What's wrong?" I asked him. "And stop pacing! You're making me dizzy for crying out loud!"
The gangly chocolate brown wolf paused, looked at me, and then sat down. He stared at his feet. He was shaking like he was freezing or something. But we all knew that wasn't possible. From all the running he just did there was no way he could be cold. There's another pack. They're about two miles up the north side. They're coming fast Mattie. Fast. Jack was so worn out from coming to warn us that he couldn't even speak. Huh. They were annoying, but at least I could count on them.
"Nice work Jack, thank you. Wait, do you have a radar system set up on these guys?"
"Yeah." Poor Jack. He never really ran patrols. He was new to this sort of thing. But he definitely wasn't bad at it. I put my nose to the north to try and determine who this pack that was heading toward us was.
"It's the Colorado Mountain Pack and it doesn't look like they're here to have tea. They have a few new members too and one of them's a Shredder. He's really strong so we have to watch it. They're taking the forest trail on the east side. We'll head 'em off between here and Rachel's house. Blake right flank, Justin left. Off of Ryan let's have Max, Sam, Cody, Patrick and Brian." I knew Brian, our Speed Demon, would be able to get around the other pack undetected. He was just, well, good at that. "We're gonna catch them on a circle and find out what's going on. Brian, Patrick and Cody keep it close so we can still connect, 'kay? It seems like this might be bad so be on the ready for attack. Jack just watch them okay? Howl if there's something we need to know." With the pack informed of the plan we headed out, Justin in the lead.
Good luck. I'll be watching. Jack's mind left everyone else's except for mine. I have faith in you Mads. I know whatever happens out there tonight it will end in your favor.
I sent him his own mental message. Another sweet werewolf thing and the only time nobody else can hear what you're thinking, if you direct it at one person in particular. Thanks bud, but I kinda owe it to you with your awesome lookout skills.
He laughed in his mind. He was a good kid, and I was glad to know he had my back.
Back to reality Mads. What do you think this pack wants? Justin always found an excuse to talk to me. Sheesh. Another guy thing I guess…
I don't know but whatever it is I hope it doesn't involve fighting. Rachel will flip if I show up to school tomorrow with a single scratch on me. She always does.
Why? That makes no sense. And if she knew what you actually were, well, she wouldn't flip about small things like that anymore.
I don't know why she does it. It's just her thing. And you know, Justin, I've always been worried about that so it's not funny! It is definitely not something to joke about.
Both of you guys c'mon. Let's focus on the task here Miss Alpha! Blake always did that. Used a joke in a serious situation. Ahh… good ol' Blake. It wasn't good that he did that but I loved it anyway. Justin grunted and I could see the torn look in his eyes as he sped up. Poor thing never got over me choosing Blake over him. He's always been jealous of Blake and his position.
Well, maybe Justin this is your time to prove yourself. Especially if a fight breaks out between the two packs. Just keep your eye on the prize kid. I loved Justin as well as Blake but Blake's aura had just appealed to me more than Justin's. It was unexplainable. It just happened to be that way. Blake might not be as good a fighter as Justin, but his role as my mate made him the second alpha. That's one really good reason Justin doesn't approve.
It made Justin laugh though. You still know you'll never choose me. Heck, if a werewolf destroyed the whole world except for me, you and Blake then I saved you from his evil wrath you'd still choose Blake hands down.
Yeah, I probably would, but you can still dream. Who knows? I could always change my mind.
At this Blake growled.
C'mon Blakey I'm just joking. Jeez! Someone's always mad at everything I do! I can compensate your position and give it to someone else! I'm capable of that!
Blake and Justin both snorted a laugh. That's better. As I actually focused back in on our mission, I realized we were passing the Mountainers. A second later I could hear Brian starting to break off farther away. Go Justin! Go now! That was all it took to get Justin darting at a slant across in front of the Colorado pack. I followed and stopped the alpha in his tracks. The rest of my pack fanned out to their positions. The alpha snarled. He wasn't happy. And he was definitely not ready to negotiate with a girl.
He snarled ferociously. "Who are you? What do you want?" He eyed me with great suspicion. I knew that he was aware of exactly who we were and why we had stopped them.
I spent a second eyeing him as well, trying to think of a good retort to shoot back at him. I couldn't come up with much so I just said, "A better question would be who are you and what are you doing here?" I sneered at him. I knew he was after the diamond. They were headed in a straight forward path toward Rachel's house, toward the diamond, toward world domination. And I was pretty sure once the pack got world domination, the Alpha was going to take the others out and keep it to himself. That's pretty much how world domination happened when there was a group involved.
"I asked you first girly! Or do you want me to beat it out of you?" He snarled and took a nip at my neck, but skidded gracefully out of reach. This made him extremely unhappy and caused him to snarl and growl.
I gave him a toothy grin. "I'm Mattie, the leader of the Montana Forest Pack. I have come here to see what is so important that you have to wander on our territory." Though I believe you already know why am here and now we're just wasting a bunch of time. Now I snarled trying to get him to give me an answer, and quickly.
The Alpha who still didn't answer just gave a heavy huff. "My name's Freddy but I'm better known as Fang. You should know why I'm here. Or have you been living on this land all this time and not know that the diamond is located here just a half a mile up?" So he was here for the diamond. That part I kind of figured but now I needed to test him. Get him worked up till the right moment, to the point where he wouldn't see an obvious plan coming. Then I would put my plan into action and we'd be on. I knew a battle was coming. I just wanted to be the one to start it. I wanted to make sure I had this fight in my control. But that wouldn't be a problem with this fool.
"What diamond would that be?" I asked suddenly turning proper. I gave him an inquiring look. Of course I already knew he was talking about King's Diamond. Kings Diamond was first discovered by Marshall King, the most powerful, extraordinary King wolf of all time. When he realized the diamonds powers he buried it deep beneath the ground under, what later became Rachel's house. Though he never knew it was going to later be discovered. That's something he didn't expect or want.
"King's Diamond! Stop playing dumb," Fang snarled. "You knew what I wanted! Now that I'm absolutely positive that you know what I want, get out of my way so I can get it. I'm not going to let a girl stop me from getting to that diamond first!" he started to lunge at me, his sharp teeth showing clearly. It was about time for that plan of mine.
"OK, but how did you find the diamond? How did you know to look here? In this little part of the world?" I was honestly curious how the Colorado Mountaineers found out about King's Diamond.
"Someone learned where it was and the news spread like wildfire. I don't know how they found it but they did and now we're here and we want it. NOW!" He was really getting irritated. It was the perfect time for operation save King's Diamond from a lunatic.
Blake, I'll distract him and when I give the signal make your move. He had seen my plan through my mind and though he thought it was dumb and a smarter pack would never fall for it, he agreed and I slowly started to back away toward the far side of the Mountaineers. Fang followed me, snarling predatorily all the while. All eyes were on us and just a few feet behind Blake followed Fang, as quiet as a still air.
To help him out I made as much noise as possible when I moved. I growled and jumped and made as much distraction as possible. When it seemed like there was a spotlight on Fang and I, the signal was made. Now. Blake smiled at me, a sneer he liked this plan despite how stupid it was. He crouched down and I continued to be a distraction.
In his mind he was laughing, but Blake was the total image of an angry wolf. The fur on his back was raised and his bared teeth shown in the light of the full moon. His ice blue eyes glared fiercely at his target. Then as quickly as the command had been, he sprung. And he had done it perfectly. He landed directly on the back of Fang's neck. The fight was on.
Blake clung to Fang like glue. Fang, all the while screeching in pain began to buck Blake like a bull. Immediately the rest of the Mountaineers sprang into action, all ten of them attacking fiercely. Three of them, including the Shredder, all took on Blake trying to pry them off their leader. The other seven each grabbed another of my pack.
My fight was short and quick. There was a newcomer who came to challenge me, and the fight lasted only seconds. He lunged, rather timidly, at my hind leg. Upon grabbing a slight hold on it I spun and in doing so, threw my back legs up and threw the wolf with amazing force against a hard tree. Despite his back snapping, the young wolf managed to get up and teeter toward me. I gave him a donkey kick to the head and he fell, morphing back to his human form. He was rather young for a werewolf, about 12 or 13 years of age by the looks of it. He barely had any build, so I had probably killed him with a few blows like that.
That's the thing with werewolves; you kind of know when they're just about dead because they go human. There have been a few circumstances though where this has happened and the wolves just barely survive. So it just sort of happens when things are in pretty bad shape. Justin told me about a time when he was injured in his old pack. He said he was barely alive just laying there, a bloody human. He said he tried relentlessly to morph back, but he couldn't. Eventually he healed and was okay, but he said that was the worst moment in his life. The time he felt like a normal, powerless human, fighting for their lives in a world of god-like creatures.
Now I tried as best as I could to free Blake from Fang's powerful apprentices. Though Blake's grip was still unbreakable, he was slowly losing it. The shredder had a hold of his shoulder, another wolf was dangling from his ear and the other had a grip on his hind leg. He's ripping my ear off! Ow! Mads please get him off! Please! Blake actually began to whimper. The shredder heard it and clenched harder, but the other two didn't pick up on the clue. I lunged for the one still dangling from Blake's left ear, grabbed him and ripped him off of my mate. Upon being released, the nice blonde fur that I had always loved was a deep red.
After taking care of the tormentor (which took only about a minute or so), I looked to Blake for my next mission. I listened to his thoughts and they upset me. Not only that, they angered me. They were slowly hurting him. They were slowly getting him to give up and let go of their Alpha. I wouldn't take it. Not at all was this acceptable in my mind. First I shot toward the wolf on Blake's leg and tore a patch of fur and skin from his body. This caused him to yelp and let go of Blake. Then I moved toward the shredder and attacked him head on. The blow not only took out the Shredder, but Fang too.
Fang fell to the ground and didn't get back up. It was down to one on one combat for Blake and me again. I took the Shredder, naturally, being the high Alpha and Blake took the other. The minute the Shredder looked at me he gave a confident snarl, revealing his dagger-like teeth. They were covered with blood. Blake's blood. Blood that should have never had been shed. He was going to pay for making it happen.
We circled each other, slowly, and then we sped up and began to snarl. His forest green eyes pierced mine, building up the anger inside of me and then I released it with a mad fit of growls. Then the shredder coiled and sprung at me, his white teeth poised to strike. I skidded out of the way then came back to lunge on top of him. Before landing, the Shredder managed to flip on his back and he dug his claws into my chest. It hurt. It hurt real badly, but I got back up immediately. I couldn't let any emotions escape. I couldn't show him if I was in pain or if I was afraid. I jabbed my paw forward and I accomplished what I was trying to. The Shredder came forward and became off guard and I pounced on his back and got a good grip on his shoulder with my teeth.
The Shredder grunted but staggered. He couldn't shake me. I had a death grip and wasn't even close to letting go. He pounced and bucked and did everything he could to shake me, but he just couldn't. The weight on his shoulder and being unable to shake me made him howl in frustration. But I wouldn't let go and I would show no emotion. All I could do was not let go. For the pack's sake. For Blake's sake, I could not let go, so instead, I tightened my grip.
He continued to pounce and try to shake me, but all that the shredder got was a tighter grip from my teeth. At one point one of his pack members tried to rip me off him, but the Shredder was in hysterics and kicked his own ally away. Then the Shredder tried to use his surroundings. He ran me sideways into a tree, but all of his strength was gone. The blow was just like a small thud to my sturdily built body. After of few attempts at this the Shredder gave up and dizzily made his way back into the middle of the open.
Finally he collapsed, unable to take another step, unable to hold himself up any longer. I gave one last tightening of my jaw, threw the Shredder against a tree and gave him one last kick for good measure. Then I turned and trotted toward Blake who had just finished off his opponent as well. Behind me the Shredder morphed back to his human form, a strongly built boy with a good amount of muscle on his arms and large, very large, hands. He took one last shuddering breath then fell silent and still.
The rest of my pack was slowly but surely overpowering the Mountaineers. The numbers were finally even. I sent Blake to help Sam with one of the two wolves he was facing and I went to help Justin. When I arrived there was a giant dog pile, Justin in the middle. I tackled the young wolf on Justin's back and sent him tumbling to the ground and near a tree. Though he got up immediately, his injuries from earlier on proved that he had little strength left in him and he was shaking. I began to chase after him and for a minute he was able to put up with me, but then he dropped to the ground, his belly in the air and his tail tucked between his legs, and showed his surrender.
I huffed at him and he got up and sprinted away. I thought it was going to be a trick, but it wasn't. Away he ran, farther and farther. He didn't interfere with any other fights, he didn't bug anyone, and he never once looked back. I knew he was my opponent and I might not ever be able to trust him, but, in a way, I wished I could ask him to become an ally. He was loyal. There was no doubt about that.
As he began to run away, in the opposite direction of Rachel's house, one of his pack members shouted after him, "Hey! Luke wait up! C'mon man slow down!" He was finally able to break away from Sam and darted after the loyal wolf. Slowly the rest of the pack began to follow them and soon they all broke away and began to run back to where they had come from.
Should we go after them? Justin asked me, already beginning to chase them.
Leave them be! They're not much of a threat to us now. They only have 10 left and their strongest are gone. The worst possible thing that can happen is they split up and make other packs a little stronger but I doubt that they'd do that. I answered.
Justin gave a low soft growl of disapproval, but then let the matter drop.
As the last member of the Colorado Mountain pack disappeared in the darkness, Justin decided to take a leading role and started a low, long, and loud victory howl. Slowly, everyone joined in. Even somewhere in the distance Jack's slightly higher pitched howl was able to be heard, congratulating us on our victory over the mountaineers. Blake looked at me for a moment, his ice blue eyes looking at me with an unreadable, but somewhat pained expression. Then he, too, raised his head to the sky and began to howl.
I sat in silence for a moment before I followed the pack's lead. I had too much on my mind. First of all, news on King's Diamond's location was out. If that information was out, it was all over the country, passing from werewolf to werewolf. If every werewolf knew where King's Diamond was they'd be after it and they'd be willing to kill anyone who got in their way, which included Rachel who was living above it. All I could concentrate on was that Rachel was in danger. And we weren't extra careful, one of them would get to her. At any time, Rachel could have to look death in the eyes, and face it head on.
2
On and on I ran. Just now it was beginning to get dark. I still had no idea where I was going, let alone where I had already been. The night time forest was beginning to play tricks on me. I saw things move but just from the wind, not them. As the minutes ticked by I could see less and less, the darkness was closing in around me. Branches and leaves began to hit my face as nothingness replaced my clear vision.
The forest was like a maze, in darkness and out. You just ran around anywhere, hoping to find the exit. But you never really knew which way to turn. You never knew if your escape was to the left or the right, in front or behind you. You just followed a path and hoped to escape before other people could figure out the second turn. You wanted to make it out fast, but you're happy on just making it out.
But this was very different than a normal maze. The amount of time it took me to complete this maze was the difference between life and death for me. If I could just make it to the exit I'd have a chance. I'd have a chance to live. But I didn't know this forest. For me, it was impossible to navigate. But I had to put that aside. I had to find a way out, because I couldn't die. Not with Mattie being the one to suffer all by herself.
All of a sudden I realized that escaping might not be that easy. I could hear them coming after me now. Their heavy panting and pounding feet slowly came closer as I sprinted, with all of my force, forward. Not only could I hear them, but I could feel them. Their aura was radiating off their bodies like the heat they were producing. And just like the coming darkness as time went on, all of it slowly became closer.
I began to panic. I could barely see the outlines of things and only when it was too late. I ran into trees and branches many times causing me to close my eyes altogether. Decisions were becoming very difficult. Should I turn right or veer to the left? Or should I do neither and keep going straight? One thing was for sure, I would not turn around, not even to look to see if they were coming. All it would do is slow me down. And a split second might be all I need to escape.
I continued on, but all sight was lost. I was lucky if I was able to catch a glimpse of the moon through the thick trees. Branches were starting to hit me so hard in the face that they were cutting me. There were so many things on the ground that it was almost impossible to try and step over one because you'd just trip over the next. Despite all of this I knew I had to keep going. A sprained ankle or scratches were a lot less bad than the death that I was sure to face if I stopped.
Then I saw it. I could see the moon all the time. Sometimes not fully, but I could always at least see some of it. The trees began to lighten. I was almost there. I had to keep going. I sped up, the end was near and this gave me encouragement. But I was also at a disadvantage. They were still getting closer. In fact, they were so close that I could almost feel their deep breathing on my heels. I could hear the pound of their steady paws and deep panting now.
Five minutes and I'd be dead, if I was lucky enough to live that long. If I could get to my house, which was just past the clearing, in less than five minutes, I'd be okay. I sped up, my eyes locked on my target. But this caused me to miss the small fallen tree in my path and I tumbled over. I hit my head on the way down and got dizzy. I tried to get up but everything was spinning and I just ended up falling back down.
When my vision was finally focused again, I was staring at a giant, grey wolf. His golden eyes locked with mine and we both stood there staring at each other. Our gaze didn't break until I heard the rustling all around me. Altogether there were about twenty wolves that had surrounded me, all shoulder to shoulder. But the one who had caught my eye had to be the alpha. He was by far the biggest, looked the strongest and started howling and barking at the others.
After a minute the alpha lowered himself and sat back on his haunches. He sat there and looked intently at me as if expecting me to give him a bone or something. The rest of the pack did the same. I slowly turned and looked at each individual wolf. They all gave me the same inquiring look. I wondered what they wanted. Maybe they meant no harm at all. It was just a friendly game of chase. They had caught me, they'd won the game. I laughed at the thought and the alpha's ears pricked forward. Maybe I could just stand up…
I rose and so did the alpha but the other wolves remained sitting. "Whoa!" I said out loud, to know one in particular. I took an automatic step backwards. The Alpha growled and gave a short howl. The other wolves rose. I gasped. The alpha had his teeth bared and they were like no teeth I had ever seen before. They were so white, like they'd never been used before and they were sharper than knives.
I turned and ran. I didn't care if it was away from my house. I didn't care if it was towards other wolves. All I wanted to do was escape those scary teeth. As I ran the wolf I was headed towards sprung but he didn't reach me before the edge of the alphas teeth reached my neck. It wasn't long before I could feel the nothingness that preceded the alpha snapping my spine.
I bolted upright, sweating and panting. I was alone in my quiet bedroom, sitting on my small bed. I took a few big breaths and tried to calm myself. Then I peered at the clock, which read 11:42. It was only the middle of the night. I had been dreaming. Everything that had just happened to me had all been a nightmare. I hadn't been running outside, I hadn't been trying to navigate my way through the woods, and I hadn't, thank God, I hadn't been being hunted by wolves.
I shouldn't even be afraid of wolves in the first place, really. I mean, I lived in a house that lied on the outskirts of a deep forest. The woods had tons of wolves in it. Mattie had showed me multiple wolf dens in there. And only once had we actually seen a wolf with our own two eyes. And that time it didn't even come near us.
It was about two weeks after Mattie had moved here, to Glacier Point, MO. It was a little more than a year ago. She was over at my house one afternoon and she said, "Hey, Rachel?"
We were in my room playing a game of checkers. "Yeah?" I responded.
"I found this really cool hawks nest yesterday while I was looking around the forest," she told me. "Do you want to come see it?"
I paused briefly. I hadn't told her that I was afraid of wolves and that I wasn't too sure about forest either. I didn't know what I should say so I just said, "Uh…"
Mattie realized my hesitation and added, "It's not really that far. It's probably only about like a five to ten minute walk from your house, in the light part of the woods."
I looked up from the board and turned my attention toward her. She was looking at me, waiting to hear my response. That was the first time I had actually looked at her face. I mean I'd looked at her, just not really focused and never for very long. There was something about her that had always intimidated me, but I wasn't really sure what. I mean, she had wanted to be my friend and I had wanted to be hers, so what was the big deal?
But as I looked at her closer and looked at her face, not at her feet I began to wonder I why I had been so afraid of her. She had light red hair, at a little past shoulder length, but that part I already knew from glancing at her. One thing I hadn't noticed though was the perfect light brown freckles she had to match. They were scattered all over her nose and cheeks. I also hadn't noticed her eyes. They were an emerald green color and it reminded me of early summer when the grass is at its greenest.
"Um…" I hesitated again. I glanced quickly back down at the board. All the pieces lay perfectly where we'd left them. My eyes moved back up. "Sure. Why not? It's only a couple of minutes. Then we can come back and have a snack and finish our game."
Mattie smiled at me revealing perfect, snow-white teeth. "Great! Let's go then! We're burning daylight just sitting here!" She jumped up from the floor we had been sitting and grabbed her sweatshirt from my bed. I got up as well and sauntered over to my closet and grabbed one of my heavier sweatshirts.
I led the way out the door and to the right. Then we started down the stairs. At the bottom I asked Mattie, "Front door or back?"
"Well I believe it's straight out the back door so I think that would be easier," she answered me.
"All right then," I said. We weaved through the hallways of my house and into the kitchen then out the back door. We strolled through my backyard straight towards the forest. There were about thirty yards to cover before we hit the first tree. Nobody made a sound until we neared the tree line, but as we did Mattie drew a sharp breath.
At first I thought she might be just a little scared like I was. But then I followed her gaze about a hundred yards to our left. There I saw a giant, chocolate brown wolf, probably standing at least 5 feet high. I froze. Where had it come from? What was it doing in the open instead of in the safety of the trees?
At first when the wolf saw us it slowly backed up a few paces. Then it paused and looked at us curiously for a second. After that it sat back on its haunches and looked at us. Like it was waiting for us to leave before it passed. Then its eyes met mine and we locked our gaze that way. I was expecting it to attack at any second but it didn't. The wolf just sat there watching us, only about a hundred yards away.
After about a minute of standing like this Mattie started tugging on my arm. "C'mon Rachel!" Mattie pleaded, "He's waiting for us to leave. He doesn't want to come near us." The wolf's golden brown eyes flickered to Mattie for a second then back to me. I wasn't about to turn my back on a killer animal and just walk away. What the heck was Mattie thinking? "Rachel!" Mattie whined loudly. She began to tug on me harder.
Finally she let out a deep sigh. "Fine, whatever," she said before starting to walk away. She headed into the forest and didn't look back. I was afraid to make a single movement. I weighed my options. I could either stay here and hope that the wolf just leaves in the opposite direction and possibly get eaten if he's impatient, or I could run and catch up to Mattie. I was out of there in no time at all.
"Uh, Mattie!" I shouted as I ran after her. "Wait up! Please! Don't just leave me here!" About ten yards ahead I saw her stop and turn around to wait for me.
"Finally you decided to follow! Jeez for a second there the way you two were looking at each other I thought you might've been falling for one another!" Mattie retorted. She smiled to herself and gave a little chuckle. Then she glanced over my way and her expression turned from happy to worried. "What's wrong? C'mon Rachel it was just a joke!"
"I know," I replied softly. "That's not what I was thinking about."
Now Mattie glanced down at the leafy, branch-covered ground, then back up at me, her expression now curious. "Then, what are you thinking about?" She asked me.
I sighed. I didn't know if I really wanted to tell her about my extreme fear of wolves yet. I didn't know what to say so I just stammered, "Well, that wolf…"
"Yeah…?" Mattie prodded.
"Well, it was like… Huge." I told her finally.
"Oh," she answered. "Yeah, I guess it was pretty big. It was probably one of the bigger wolves that I've ever seen personally. But I've seen bigger ones too. I've even seen some over six feet." Mattie said this all kind of quietly, almost to herself. She stared down at her feet as we continued to walk slowly through the forest. Her expression was lost, like if I said anything to her she wouldn't even hear me. She was in her own world, lost in her thoughts.
Mattie stopped abruptly, without looking up. I stopped as well and looked at her. She leaned against the tree nearest to her. She was still thinking, still staring down at the ground. Like she didn't even know I was here. "Um, Mattie?" I asked, "Why are we stopping? Is something wrong? What are you thinking so hard about?"
She didn't move but glanced up for a moment. "Nothing. I'm not thinking of anything important. "We're here. See? There it is." Mattie gestured up toward the top of the tree she was leaning on. I looked up but there was a lot of sunlight streaming in through the tress and it was hard. I moved around the tree, squinting at the top and finally found a good position. I squinted still, but I could see the highest branch.
A little to the left of me was a giant nest. Sitting inside, peering over the edge of it was a large, magnificent hawk. For a moment there was silence. The hawk and I stared at each other and Mattie glanced up, still leaning against the tree. Then the hawk let out a loud screech and Mattie jumped up from the tree. The hawk spread its wings as Mattie yelled, "Hurry! C'mon Rachel run! Let's get away before we get turned into a human hamburger for hawks!" She began to run away from the hawk's tree, still laughing.
I giggled as well and began to chase after her. I have to admit, Mattie was a very fast runner. I was running at a full sprint, just trying to keep up but I knew that she was only at about 80% speed. The way she was able to navigate through the woods and still maintain a good pace was incredible. She could jump or dodge any fallen trees or strewn branches, while I slowed down and tumbled over them.
Finally I broke through the edge of the trees, still laughing but breathing heavily. Mattie was lying on the ground, in hysterics. "That-was-so-much-fun!" she managed to say in between laughter. I flopped down next to her and laughed a little more before sighing and going quiet. We had so much fun that day. And yet we were still almost like strangers. My mom had made me invite her over. And I was glad that I did.
But I'd never forget the moment of terror that had risen up inside of me when I had seen that wolf. He was enormous, clearly capable of killing a human or even another wolf. But he hadn't even come near me. In fact, the only movement the wolf had made was backing away from us and then the flicker of his golden brown eyes. No aggression was shown toward either of us. So why was I so afraid of these creatures, if they were afraid of humans and respected their power? As if to answer my question, a loud yelp was able to be heard through my window. I sat frozen for a moment, but then more came and I jumped out of my bed. I ran straight to the window, threw it open and stuck my head out.
At first there was silence. I strained my ears to hear what was happening outside. After a minute I even considered to go out there. But the sound of human voices caught my attention and I stopped and listened carefully again to the noises outside. The human had seemed to be yelling something. After that there were a few soft barks. What are people doing out there? Don't they realize that those wolves could kill them at any moment? I was again considering going outside, but this time instead of investigating I wanted to go out there and warn them what they were getting themselves into.
I continued to listen outside. There were no longer any noises. Just an occasional bird call, a rustling of the wind or the sway of the branches of the nearby trees. I finally gave up listening and ditched the idea of going outside. Fatigue had long overcome me. I decided to finally listen to my body and crawled slowly back into bed. I buried myself in my covers and began to relax. As I began to slip back into unconsciousness, a long piercing howl split the night air. The noise, probably not even a half a mile away, drove me straight back into the death chase.
3
All around the den, my pack was on full alert. Jack was busy at work on his computer, doing who knows what to try and help us expect when other packs were planning to make a move. Already, the tech man had set up radars and all sorts of tracking devices and doodads that I couldn't name. "How's it coming Buddy?" I asked him.
"Great! I got a profile on most of the wolves that escaped from last night." He answered, waving a file up in the air. We were in our human form, better for communication purposes and handling things.
"Sweet!" Then pointing at the file I asked, "Do you mind if I skim through this?"
"That's what it's here for, Mads. I would get all this information and hide it!" Jack laughed and handed me the file.
I peeked through it really quickly. I saw nothing that labeled the pack as a threat to us so I handed it back and told him to store it.
"Alrighty." Jack said as he stuck the file in one of the many filing cabinets that were in his lab. "I think Sam and Brian could use a break when you get the chance to find someone too."
We had two people running patrols now, constantly. Sam and Brian were out there now. "Okay, will do." I told him and walked out of his lab and then wandered through one of the many tunnels in our den. I was the only one who didn't run patrols. My job was to keep an eye on Rachel, all the time. It was night time now so I gave her a little bit of privacy and only looked in on her every half an hour.
The day after the fight with the mountaineers, Rachel had looked completely awful. She seemed like she had barely slept at all. "Jeez, Rachel! You're a giant mess!" I had exclaimed when I saw her in the hallway before first period began. "What'd you do? Did you try to pull an all nighter without me? 'Because you know that wouldn't be fair!"
She flashed a very tired-looking smile. "No," she admitted while giggling a little. She sighed. Uh oh, this is not good. "I had another nightmare last night. 'They' were after me again." Sadly the 'they' she was referring to were a pack of wolves. Rachel had confessed that she had been having nightmares about wolves long before I had even moved here from Florida. "Then I woke up," she continued, "And it was, like, real almost. There was yelping and howling… But what confused me was the fact that there were also human voices outside along with the wolf noises. They were yelling to each other."
I looked down at the bottom of my locker. She had heard the mountaineers call after Luke. She had heard some of the fight. Some of the yelping that came from my opponents. And she had heard the howl that took place afterwards. I slammed my locker shut. Rachel gave me a quizzical look but stayed silent. She had learned long ago that I didn't give straight out answers to most questions. But she never really had seemed bothered by it. That's one thing that was good about our friendship. She never questioned me.
I finally reached Justin's chamber of the den. We were on opposite sides and the chambers were constructed to run a mile wide. He was lifting weights when I walked in. "Yo! Macho Man! Go grab Max and relieve Brian and Sam!" I told him.
Justin let out a slight laugh. "Yeah, sure Mattie, whatever you say. But you should be on your way to Rachel's house as well. You're going to be late for dinner again and I don't think her parents are gonna be happy if you are." Justin set down the hundred he was holding and looked at me expectantly.
"I'm right behind you, J. But you got to move before I do." I started to shove him out into the tunnel that would lead us to the mouth of the den.
After we exited Justin morphed into his wolf form and barked at Max, "C'mon Maxie, Speedy's getting tired and needs our help!" A moment later Max bounded out of the den, already in his midnight-black wolf form. He jumped on top of Justin playfully, then off his back and over his head. Max began to run, following his nose out to Sam and Brian, laughing all the while. Justin growled, "Get back here, mutt!" Then he ran after Max.
I laughed and rolled my eyes. The guys could be weird at times, but they were good company to have. We made a good family. "See you guys, or uh, wolves later!" I called after them, and then I began to run through the trees toward Rachel's house. When the noises of the guys finally began to fade, I closed my eyes and willed for the change to begin.
When it started everything seemed to be happening in slow motion though to the eyes of others it only took a second, or even less. I could feel myself hunch over a little. My back extended into a tail and my legs and arms grew longer. My hands curled into giant paws, and out of them came long, knife-like, claws. A furry muzzle emerged from my face, and with it, a set of vicious fangs. The warmth of my, now fully grown out, red fur was useful in the chilly springtime air.
When that long second or so was over I felt free and happy. When I was a wolf, the forest was my world, my place of peace and happiness. The smell of wet leaves and mud soothed me, the snap of a stick excited me and the protection of the trees allowed me to happily drop my guard a little. Whenever I was outside of the woods, I could clearly see the moon and all of the stars. I could observe them in peace and quiet.
The way the moon was able to make everything around me bright and silver, fascinated me. It made the normally green grass shine and made the top of trees illuminate in light. It shone on the surface of the water and the light danced with the movement of the water. On nights of a new moon, my pack usually stayed inside the den. Without the moon there was little light and no happiness. Tonight was just a few nights after a full moon so there was plenty of light and enjoyment and I ran on the edge of the trees to take it in.
After the five minute run, I reached the back of Rachel's house. Still in the cover and protection of the trees I transformed back into a human. I tried to fix my messy, windblown hair before I walked to the door. The wavy strands were tangled together but after a few minutes of messing with it, I gave up. I walked around the house to the front door. I knocked on the door rapidly. I always knocked quicker than other people so they had some idea who it was. From inside the house I could hear Rachel's mom, Carol, yell up to Rachel. "Rachel! It's Mattie!"A muffled voice yelled back, "Coming!"
I rocked back and forth on my heels. Humans always had to make things so complicated. They were too slow. I could hear Rachel still shuffling around upstairs. After about another minute she started to come down the stairs. Then she finally threw open the door. "Hey Mattie!" She greeted me. "Come on inside! Dinner's just finishing up. Hey, uh, aren't you sleeping over? Where's your stuff?"
Dang! I forgot my stuff back at the den! "Uh," I stammered, "I guess I forgot it. I can run home after dinner and get it. Don't worry it'll only take a few minutes." I stepped inside and kicked off my tennis shoes.
Rachel looked confused. "Okay, you have a license and a car right? Why don't you use them? Why do you always run everywhere? Cars are quicker and you don't get tired. Plus you have protection if it rains and storms and stuff."
I could outrun a car any day! "Well," I started like I was about to give a long speech, "Running's healthier for me and the environment. It's good exercise too. You should try it sometime." We started down the hallway toward the dining room where Rachel always ate. From the kitchen came the fresh smell of rather large steaks, one was cooked rare. That was my favorite whenever I came here but I rarely got it. What do they want from me this time?
"You know, you've never really told me where you live. I've been curious but, I don't know, I guess I just didn't feel like asking. You have to be pretty close to everything if you run everywhere." Rachel looked at me curiously. Carol had just finished setting the table and Rachel and I sat down in our usual spots across from each other. This was kind of like a second home for me. This was my human spot; the den was my wolf zone.
"Nah, I don't really live close to a lot of things. I don't even live on a street really. It's in the middle of nowhere." I told her. "I used to run everywhere in Florida. We lived in such a small town, so most people traveled by bike or foot." This was half true at least. I did walk a lot of places but I never really ran and I did use cars occasionally. About three-fourths of the people in my old town had cars that they used to get around.
Rachel nodded slightly in comprehension, obviously lost in thought. "So, Mattie," Carol said, trying to start conversation. At the same time Rachel's dad, Mitch, started bringing in the food. "We were thinking about vacationing to Florida this summer. We were wondering if you could tell us a little bit about where you lived we might even stay close to your old house. So, tell us everything we should know."
So, this was what they wanted. The same as they normally pestered me about. They wanted more about my life, my home, my family and friends. "Well, when I was eight we moved across town to a house right along the beach. I, like, totally loved it. It was the best place to stay probably in the entire town. My parents did an awesome job picking it out. I told them five times a day, for practically a year, how much I liked it. So, if you're going to stay near any beach, I'd suggest staying on the beach. It's a lot of fun, and you get a nice view." I answered honestly. Mitch had finally brought in all of the food and so I took my steak and began to cut into it.
"Now, your parents," Mitch began as he sat down, "how would you describe them? Like, how are the people down in Florida?" Mitch took his own steak and some sides.
My parents were the hardest thing for me to talk about ever since the accident. I hadn't talked about them until now. "Um," I hesitated. Three pairs of eyes stared at me, waiting, expecting an answer. "Well, I guess you could say that they were nice, kind-hearted people." I answered honestly, but then immediately looked down at my plate again. I began messing with my food. I glanced up at them slightly.
Mitch looked confused. He sat there, a puzzled expression in my direction. "Wait, they were nice, kind-hearted people?"
"Uh," I almost started crying, then and there. How could I have been so stupid to say that? In my mind I heard the sounds of shattering glass, the tearing of metal and an explosion. I closed my eyes; the images were rushing back to me. I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself and regain control. Finally I was able to open my eyes and I looked at them again. Of course they were staring at me, expecting an explanation. I managed to fake a laugh, "Were, are, does it really make a difference?"
They thought about it for a second and then Carol shrugged it off. "What about the scenery? Is it any good? What kinds of things can you see down there?" Carol asked, looking lost in thought as if she was trying to picture it.
"The scenery? Aw, man it's awesome!" I almost yelled. "I remember when my group of friends and I would sit on the beach and watch the sun set over the water. It was the most beautiful shades of pink, red and orange. In my opinion, you have not lived until you've seen a Florida sunset." I heard Rachel sigh from across the table, lost in thought, imagining what I was seeing.
"How about the food? Is it any good?" Mitch asked, still not very fond of the giant slab of meat in front of him. I on the other hand, had nearly finished mine, and only a few more bites remained on my plate.
"The food's really good down there. Well, I mean, its food. But when you're down there I'd stick to the smaller restaurants. They're more reasonably priced and the quality of the food is better. There's this one pizza place in my town where my friends and I used to always go when we were hungry. Their food was so good and we went there so often they even started giving us the family and friends discount!"
Rachel began to laugh. "Wow! You should tell us where it is and maybe we can eat there too!" She suggested.
I sighed and answered, "No. It went out of business two months ago. I go down there to visit occasionally when you're busy for a while."
"Aw. That stinks," Rachel mumbled.
"You keep mentioning your friends," Carol said, changing the subject. "Are they nice too? I don't want any teenagers to be rude. I don't like it when kids ruin things like that."
Just like that, I was back in time. And just like it was yesterday, the events of a day about a year and a month ago came flooding back to me…
I was slowly climbing back to consciousness. I began to open my eyes. I was in a very bright, white room. My vision was blurry but I could make out the general shape of things. It felt like there were a ton of bricks on my chest. I could barely breathe and every breath I did take hurt. I felt sore all over, but nothing was worse than the unbearable headache caused by the light.
His voice was very faint. It sounded far off in the distance, but I could see him sitting there. I knew who it was. I knew he was there for me, that he'd never leave my side. "Mattie? Are you okay?"
I wanted to answer him so much. I wanted to assure him that I would be okay. I wanted to say yes, just to get rid of the worry that was clouding up his voice. I slowly opened my mouth to answer. The only noise that came out was a low moan, and I closed my eyes.
He came over to me now, and took my hand in his. "I'm so sorry Mattie. I love you. I'm so sorry that this has to happen." Something was missing. There was something different about him, but I couldn't place my finger on it. I could hear him shuffle back and forth for a second. Then he leaned down and kissed my cheek softly. Again, it was different than before.
After that everything was lost. I could barely remember anything. After a minute I could feel a giant weight thrown down onto my chest. Then there was nothing, I fallen back to unconsciousness. It wasn't until later I had figured out the difference. When he had touched me, the warmth that usually brought me closer to him was no longer there. Our temperatures had been the same.
"Mattie? Mattie? Hello? Are you okay?" I came out of my daydream and back into the present world. When I looked up I saw that Rachel, Carol and Mitch were all staring at me. I was getting dizzy, and I felt confused. My world was spinning in circles. I didn't really know what to do or say, but I ended up shoving the rest of my steak in my mouth and saying, "Thanks for dinner! It was great! I'm just gonna go get my stuff now. Be back in a little bit!"
I got up and just ran. I didn't take my pate to the kitchen like I should have. I didn't even stop to put on my shoes. I just grabbed them and ran straight toward the forest. The woods where I could take cover and be myself. Probably one of the only places where I could calm down in a matter of minutes was in the safety of the trees, away from all eyes. Once I reached the first of the trees and was sure I couldn't be seen from Rachel's house I morphed. I was still dizzy. I teetered around for a few minutes before I collapsed on the ground.
Rachel was running after me. She got closer and closer and I could hear her yelling, "Mattie! Mattie, wait up! Come back here! Wait!" My mind was so clouded up with thoughts from the accident, I couldn't think straight. I shook my head back and forth trying to clear my thoughts. Rachel burst through the trees. "Mattie where-" Rachel froze. She stared at me for a second, a look of terror on her face. I was about to ask her what was wrong when I realized that I was in my wolf skin.
Uh oh. For a second we were frozen just staring at each other. Then I turned and ran. I heard Rachel scream and I turned and saw her running as fast as she could toward her house. I kept running on and on toward the den. When I became within a half mile I could start hearing my pack's thoughts.
Mattie what happened?
Why was Rachel screaming?
Is something wrong? What's going on?
Why are you back here? Is there trouble?
I couldn't take all of the thoughts at once. Guys shut up! There was silence.
After a few moments Blake asked, Can you tell us what happened? Is Rachel or our pack in any danger?
We had all met about a fourth of a mile from the den. We were sitting in a circle, facing each other. No, no one is in danger. She saw me as a wolf and freaked out. Nothing happened, really.
Justin growled and looked at me angrily. How and why did she see you in wolf form? Are you trying to get us exposed and killed Mattie? You know if someone finds out we're best off to just write what we want on our graves!
Nothing happened Justin! I just, freaked out, and so I came back here and when I got into the forest I morphed. But then I fell over and she came into the trees and saw me and she freaked out.
Everyone got confused then. They all stared at me with questioning faces. Okay, you freaked out? What's that supposed to mean? And you fell over? You're just confusing us Mads. I was happy when Cody used my nickname. It helped calm me down.
They had one of those days where they were bugging me about my life. You know, bribe me with the steak and pretend like they're asking for a different reason but all they're trying to do is learn more about my life? I thought about something, and, I don't know, afterward I got dizzy from thinking about it. So, I freaked out, ran from the house and collapsed. Even just mentioning the moment made me think about him again. The way he talked to me to calm me down when I was upset the way I'd always turn to him when I was lonely or needed someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on. I began to miss him.
I forgot where I was for a second, but came back when Blake shared the pain he was feeling. Before I realized what had happened he was off running toward the den. My instinct told me to get up and run after him. "Blake! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset you! I don't even know where he is anymore! I'm sorry!"
Shut up, Mattie. Just let me be. Blake ran into his room of the den. I sighed but did as he asked and just let him be. Instead, I went to my own room packed a little bag of the stuff I needed and high tailed it out of there, back to Rachel's house. When I got a quarter of a mile away I morphed back to a human just to be sure Rachel wasn't trying to look for me again. Upon nearing the house, I heard some noises.
I stepped around a tree to find Mitch pointing a gun at me. He was just pulling the trigger when he realized it was only me. A shot went off but I managed to drop to the ground before it hit me. "Geez, Mattie you scared the hell out of me! Why are you out here in the middle of the woods anyway? Rachel said there was a giant wolf out here! Go get inside, while I try to find it!"
I tried to pick some of the mud off of my shirt. "This is a shortcut between your house and mine. And no wolf out here's gonna harm anything. I've come across some on more than one occasion. One time there was a whole pack. They didn't bother me. There's nothing to worry about. And by the way you might want to practice your aim. If you can't hit a sixteen year old girl, I don't think you have much of a chance against a wolf."
I started walking back toward Rachel's house. Mitch huffed behind me, but the followed soon after. We reached the house and I opened the door and went inside, Mitch just a step behind me. Rachel was nervously sucking on an ice cube in the kitchen. "Did you get it dad? I heard your gun fire." Jeez. She was a complete wreck. Over seeing me in the woods.
Mitch huffed, and then gave what seemed like a growl. "No. Mattie said that there was nothing to be afraid of. The wolf isn't going to bother you." He said it in a way that made me feel like he was mad at me for ignoring how worried Rachel was.
"Yeah, but he almost took my head off. It was pretty exciting, you should have been there. Talk about adrenaline rush! Seriously, don't worry about it Rachel. Those wolves are nothing to be afraid of. They're very human friendly. I've even touched one before and look I'm still here, in perfect condition." I tried to be a little funny, to put a smile on her face but she just went back to sucking her ice cube. "Let's go upstairs," I said motioning with my head towards the staircase. She didn't answer me but got up from the table and followed me up to her bedroom.
She stood there silently for a second. Then she asked, in a Quavering voice, "Can we just get our pajamas on and go to bed? I'm tired anyway." She looked at me and I could see how scared she was. I felt bad, even though it seemed a little childish.
I just stood there looking at her for a second then sighed. "Sure. That's fine."
Rachel went to her closet and picked out a pair of soft shorts and a fuzzy t-shirt. "I'll be right back," she said, "I'm going to go change in the bathroom and brush my teeth and stuff."
She left the room and when she was gone I took off my clothes and got into my normal nightwear. I pulled out and older pair of jeans and a baggy tee and slipped them on. After that, I pulled out my phone and went to the internet to check my e-mail. I had one message from Veronica. She was one of my best friends back in Florida. I read the e-mail then responded:
Hey, thanks for the e-mail. I'll come visit as soon as I can. But meanwhile can I ask you a favor? I want to know how everyone's doing so just tell everyone I say hi and tell me what everybody's up to. Talk to you later!
-Mattie
I could still hear Rachel banging around in the bathroom so I just sat and waited. But not too long after I got a response back.
Mattie-
I'm with everyone right now. They all say hi back and hope you're doing as good as we are down here (well, without you it's not as good as usual but…). Everybody misses you and can't wait until you visit again. Austin left a long time ago. We don't know where he went but one day he was here and the next he was gone. We didn't know how well you'd take it so that's why we didn't tell you until now. We didn't know if he'd come back or not so we tried to put it off. We're sorry. I'll talk to you later. Bye.
-Veronica
So, he was gone. Disappeared long ago without telling anyone where he planned to go. Like everyone else, I began to wonder where he was at. I sat there and thought about it for a minute before Rachel came in."Good night," she mumbled before crawling under her covers and going to bed.
"Yeah," I answered. I set my pillow on the ground next to her bad and laid down on it. I probably was lying there for about an hour before a finally started to drift off to sleep. I was tired and I didn't might the unconsciousness like I usually did. My eyes closed and I was just about to fall asleep when a piercing scream split the quiet night, and woke me up to full alert.