Chapter Two
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed I wandered off the path and deeper into the woods where a large wolf was lapping water from a stream. My breath caught in my throat. I had heard of the wolves but never seen one. They were larger than I'd been led to believe them to be. As he hadn't noticed me yet, I started backing away slowly. I was almost back to the clearing when I lost my footing and snapped a branch. The wolf's massive head snapped up and set his gaze upon me. There was a brief second of silence before he started charging towards me.
I turned to run, fumbling with the pouch on my belt. When I found the knife my father gave me, I turned and pointed it in front of me. But to my surprise, the wolf was gone. I looked through the tree but the animal appeared to have vanished. I kept my knife out and my wits about me as I continued on towards Grams' house. I was about halfway there when I heard something snap behind me. I took off running once more, stopping when I saw a young man leaning back onto a tree, appearing to be sleeping.
"Hello over there? Are you okay?" I called out as I approached.
"I am fine, just a little tired. I have travelled a long way" Came the response. He still didn't lift his head but I felt a bit safer approaching him.
"Are you hungry? I have some sweet cakes and a bit of water." I offered to him. He quickly sprung to his feet and grabbed my arm, staring into my eyes. I quickly pulled my knife out and stuck it close enough to his side that he could feel it against his ribs. He looked down at my feeble attempt to injure him and smirked. "Don't hurt yourself with that thing, Red."
He was a cocky one but handsome. He appeared well over 6 feet in height and looked to be maybe 19 or 20 but had a childish roundedness to his face. His long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the band at the nape of his neck; his skin was a beautiful russet color. But his dark, piercing eyes were his most intriguing feature.
My mother warned me about speaking with strangers but I never thought I would ever need to heed her advice until now. The stranger in front of me was enigmatic, which fed into his charm but I had never seen him in the village which meant he was not to be trusted. I pulled the knife out of his side and tucked it into my basket before running off into the woods, not stopping until I reached Grams' house.
Once I calmed myself, I told Grams of the decision for me to marry Riley in the spring.
"And what is it that you want my child?"
I sighed happily. No one understood me better than Grams. She herself left her family and the village she grew up in when her parents didn't approve of the man she chose for marriage. They lived here in this house after their marriage. It was the house my grandfather died in. The place where Grams lived in peace, free to be whoever she chose.
"I want to be free to decide what I want for my life. Riley is a fine man and he will make a great husband and provider, but I am uncertain if that is what I want for my life."
Grams nodded her understanding. "I admire your fire and spirit but don't take my life for the glamorous existence you think it to be." After that, we spoke nothing else of the matter, moving on to other topics. But there was one in the back of my mind that I had yet to divulge. The mysterious stranger from the woods. There was something powerful about him. He had a certain something that drew you in and evoked feelings that you otherwise would deny.
My thoughts were consumed of him until the wee hours of the morning and my dreams were hardly pure as he invaded those as well. A part of me hoped to see him on the journey home but I quickly quelled the thought. Grams told me that she chose her existence as the man her parents wanted her to marry was less than honorable in his intentions. She chose my grandfather out of love but also out of honor and respect for her parents and herself. Riley was a good and honorable man. All he desired was my love and loyalty.
So after the two days passed and Grams was feeling a lot better, I set off for home with the intent of giving Riley his answer. I was once again at the halfway mark in between my two homes when I decided to break for lunch. I had just settled when the stranger stepped out from behind a tree. I pulled the knife from the basket and tossed it towards him as he approached. It just barely missed him, lodging in the tree just by his ear.
"Whoa, easy there Red." He smirked as he pulled it swiftly out of the tree. He held it flat in his hand as he approached. "Sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. I have been known to be a bit extreme and brut like in my nature. But I have to wonder what a girl from the city is doing so far out in the woods and so close to the Quileute reservation." He smirked as I snatched my knife from his grasp.
"How did you know I was from the city?"
"Your clothes suggest such. Where I am from, the women do not wear such items with the intent of drawing attention to their…womanly features." He leaned forward, pinning me with his gaze. I looked down at my attire. I was dressed like the other women in my village, a simple tan corset and full length skirt. On my back I wore the red cloak Grams gave me as a present on my 16th birthday. But he was dressed more modestly. His pants and vest were a dark green color, matching the forest; his arms free of any clothing save for his hunting cloak.
"You have such an untouched beauty about you Red. Your caramel skin and brown eyes seem to want to draw me in" I glanced up and the expression on his face shocked me. His eyes bore into my, a feral and predatory look in them. It made him irresistible. I invited him to join me for lunch, feeling a strong attraction to him.
We sat there dining on bread and cheese as I learned more about him and his village.
"I'm Jacob. I live in the village close to the North."
"Then you might have seen the wolves that continually terrorize our village. My father has led a many hunting groups into the woods in the hopes of finding their den."
"The wolves are not the problem. You're village is expanding and encroaching on their territory. You can't blame them for relying on their animalistic instincts to defend their lands. You have no need to be afraid of them so long as you don't bother them." He stated, a little on edge.
I left the subject alone, packing up my lunch. The sun was setting and I needed to be heading back. "It was nice to meet you Jacob. Maybe I will see you again when I journey back to my Grams' place."
He rose to his feet and nodded, pulling out a wooden object from his belt. "Should you find yourself in trouble while out in the woods just blow on this and I will come to aid you." I took it from him, rolling it over in my hands. It was a whistle; hand carved with thee end the head of a wolf. I smirked and waved goodbye as I continued on my way.
The journey home was taken at a leisurely pace. But when I came through the woods, I was shocked to see the community in such an uproar. Something had happened.
