Chapter 11
I crawled through my window once again and snuck out to go see Liza.
She seems to be getting better each day and she is actually back to her normal routine at school.
Her friends seem happy that she's socializing and eating again.
As I make my way over to her house I suddenly get a sickening feeling in my gut that tells me Grace is in danger.
It's probably my imagination or something I ate, but I have to go to her house and check to give me peace of mind.
Quickly I pull off my clothes, put them in my bag, and phase so I can reach her faster.
As I get closer I can tell which house is hers.
I can hear her sobs and yelling from her dad.
I phase back and put on my shorts in haste.
I break the door in and see her mom on the floor in tears and a pale skinned man with his hands on Grace.
He turns and looks at me in shock, but I don't hesitate.
I grab him off of her and throw him to the ground.
My body is getting hot and starting to tremble, I can feel I'm about to lose it.
I raise my fist to punch him when I feel her hand on my back.
"Please, don't hurt him. I'll call the cops and let them take him in. Just please don't." Grace pleads desperately.
Her voice calms me and my urge to phase is suddenly gone and naturally I follow her request.
I hold him down until Chief Swan arrives.
We all stand outside watching Charlie roughly put him in the back of the cop car and drive away.
"I don't know why you were near or how you got here, but I don't care. I'm glad you were and thank you for your help. I don't know what we would've done without it. That was Grace's dad, he's never placed his hands on either of us before, it's only been verbal abuse, but his drinking has been getting worse lately along with his anger." She says with tears starting to form in her eyes.
She looked to be in her late 30's and she was obviously a member of the tribe.
She had long dark hair with defined cheek bones and russet skin.
She was short and her face was tattered with a few wrinkles.
"Maybe he will get some help and get better. I can't stand seeing a man put his hands on a woman. I'm just sorry that you and Grace had to go through that. I'm Mason Clearwater by the way."
"I'm Grace's mom, I've heard a lot about you. You've become quite the celebrity on the reservation."
"Ahhh…I'm not that popular." I say sheepishly.
"Do you and Grace ever see each other at school?" She asks.
"We see each other sometimes, but not much since we are in different grades."
"She never brings any of her friends over. You should some over and have dinner Friday. It's the least I can do." She insists.
"Sure, I'd be happy to. I'm not one to turn down a meal."
"I'll see you then. I'll just leave you and Grace alone to talk a little bit. I'm sure she thinks I'm cramping her style."
Grace's mom walks out and Grace starts to walk over there towards me picking up a notebook that had been thrown on the floor.
As she closes it, I notice drawings of some type of animal.
"Do you mind if I see that?" I ask.
She hesitantly hands me the notebook and I begin to flip through it.
I can't believe what I'm seeing, on every page it's very detailed drawings of a wolf.
It's almost haunting to see, it looks just like me.
The first time I saw myself was when Jacob was helping me phase back.
Our wolf telepathy allows us to read each other's minds.
The wolf was Grey with a white undercoat and white paws.
It had one white spot going around its left eye.
She had pictures of it standing on a hill.
She had pictures of it howling at the moon.
She had pictures of her standing beside it with her and on its head.
My favorite one was her standing off in the distance with the wolf's face behind her watching over her and the words protector written beside it.
Has she seen me before?
How would she know what I look like as a wolf?
"These drawings are incredible. Do you mind if I ask you what your inspiration is for them?" I ask.
"If I tell you, you'll think I'm weird."
"No, I won't, I promise."
"Some nights I cry myself to sleep because my dad tells me how big of a nerd I am and how I will always be a loser, but for some reason I'm always anxious to go to sleep because of a recurring dream I have. Almost every night I dream about this particular wolf constantly watching over me and protecting me. He is always there for me and makes me happy no matter what. Because of him I always wake up smiling. He sees me as the greatest person ever and doesn't even say a word. His actions say it all. I guess you think I am even weirder now that you know my best friend is a wolf from my dreams."
This is my chance.
Maybe this is the moment I've been waiting for, maybe if I show her I'm that wolf she'll want to be around me more often.
"I've never saw you as a loser and I don't understand why you don't have any friends. Sometimes our sub conscious can prepare us for our reality…You say your dreams are better than your reality, but I want to make your reality better than your dreams. I can do that for you if you'll let me. I can't stay away from you and I want to tell you everything starting with this."
I grab her by the hand and softly pull her out to the woods.
Please just trust me, I promise I'll never hurt you.
Just remember your dream.
Instantly I phase right before her eyes showing her the wolf she's been dreaming of.
