*waves timidly* So, the boring pre-wolf stuff is over with. Anyone care for some Ghosty?

LONG CHAPTER WHOO!

~ΨΩΨ~

Chapter 3: Shadow

Will returned to his regular schedule once Clara had to return to school the following Monday. He wasn't behind on his work just as Kayla had promised, but the fact that he wasn't ahead twisted him up worse than anything. He couldn't help as many people as possible if he spent all of his time with his daughter and his impromptu wolf patient. Even if what he did made him a better father.

The wolf was adjusting to life in the mansion about as well as Will had expected. That is to say: he could only hold still from struggling against his bonds whenever Clara was sitting with him in his small corner in the dining room. Will had told the chef to give the wolf only real meat, no dog food, to which the wolf ate, but he ate disdainfully.

The wolf did not have any problems that any unbroken animal would have had—a small mercy—but other than that, Will had no clue how they were going to make it through the week with Clara going to school and Will going to work. The housekeepers were very wary of the wolf, and with good reason. The beast would flatten his ears, tuck his tail between his legs, and growl when anyone other than Clara was near.

That Monday morning, Will had gotten up with his alarm at his usual 5 o'clock. The sky out of his window was completely dark, save for the stars scattered across the sky and the waning moon.

He got ready for work, unusually groggy, but he blamed that on getting used to sleeping in. Showering and getting dressed, Will picked up the manila folder on his dark oak desk and flipped through the papers within. If he was going to be able to catch up, he'd have to work late for the entire week. The thought wasn't so appealing to him anymore.

Sighing, Will stuffed the folder into his bag and headed to the kitchen in complete darkness, knowing not even the housekeeping staff would be awake at that time. He shuffled down the labyrinth of hallways easily in the dark, having grown accustomed to walking that path over the years.

When he reached his goal, he flipped on the light of the kitchen and started the coffee brewer. There was a mug already under the nozzle as always, as the chef always made certain that Will didn't accidentally stain his beautiful countertops again.

Will took his coffee without cream or sugar, the harsh bitter taste helping to wake him up. He stumbled to the dining room, plopped down into a chair, and eyed the digital clock gleaming in the darkness. 5:42 AM. He still had a bit of time before he had to leave.

A grumble from the corner almost made Will spill his coffee in surprise. He set down his mug and glanced over, meeting eyes with the wolf in the dim lighting.

The wolf seemed rather irritated at being prematurely woken up. He snorted, ears flattened, and buried his nose in the extra-large doggy bed that Clara had chosen for him the day they had taken him home. It was a pleasant navy blue color with a brown hem, and the wolf nearly blended in with it in the dark room.

Will was tempted to apologize to the wolf, but he held himself back. What use was there to talk to an animal that couldn't understand him?

Even though the wolf had eyes far too intelligent for his kind, Will didn't yet understand the full extent of "Ghosty's" knowledge.

That changed over the course of the next several weeks.

~ΨΩΨ~

Will Solace was terrified.

And why shouldn't he be?

He was certain by then that they were watching him from afar. Though he never had the guts to actually properly scrutinize them, he could figure they were male.

And very large.

It wasn't even a large as in six foot seven football players. Something about them was taller than the tallest men, and much burlier than any man Will had ever seen, and he was almost certain that the strangers were wearing fur cloaks rather than modern clothes. Like they were cave men or something.

That coupled with the fact that they had been spying on him for three weeks was really starting to make Will feel agitated. But what could he do? He had work to do. He was waist-deep in surgeries and paperwork and had no spare time to bring the police into the mix.

Especially after Kayla had claimed Will was only seeing things.

But the question was—was he? Was it just a hallucination? He hoped so. He was really starting to get sick of looking over his shoulder every five minutes in fear of the men in fur somehow teleporting right behind him or something.

The men hadn't confronted him or anything. Not yet. They actually usually left before the sun sank below the horizon, before Will could take off work. He'd been kicking in the latest hours he could to get back into work and quit thinking about that wolf. But that didn't stop the man's constant worries from calming down. Their stares unnerved him. What were they thinking? Where they plotting to kill him or something? What the hell for?

Before Will could lose too much sleep over the issue, they came up to him to answer his questioning. That one night, they had actually waited for him to leave work, circling him the moment he was too far from the door or the car to flee. He didn't try to run. He knew he stood no chance. He just stood, transfixed with alarm bells ringing in his head, as they spoke.

And their words had struck a chord within Will that had only heightened his terror.

When he was finally released to return home that night, he did so in a daze. He couldn't even breathe a weak greeting to Fenwick as he stumbled off, pale as a sheet, to his room. How had he survived that encounter? They were obviously not right in the head. Or the body. They could have torn him to shreds in an instant, and yet they had only held him in place as they asked him questions.

'Do you know where he is?' he remembered one, the sole female in the group, asking him. She had seemed the scariest of all of them, her night-black hair and silver-tinged eyes reminding him vividly of the wolf when Will had first encountered him, glaring when the man had pressed his wound wrong.

Will sat on the edge of his bed, staring into space. His mind was buzzing too fast for him to sleep. He couldn't even dream of the idea. What if they followed him home? Figured out his lie?

His heart froze. Clara. Fenwick. Judith. What would become of them if he had angered those otherworldly people? Did he just sign their death warrant? Should he have told them the truth?

A sharp thwack against his leg made him jump a foot in the air. He just barely managed to hold back a high-pitched scream. Did they find him?!

Will looked down.

Ghosty stared back.

Not the strangers. Just the wolf. Just Ghosty.

Slowly, Will's heart rate went back to semi-normal. He counted his breaths and tried to organize his thoughts. But he couldn't think. Not with the danger they could be in. This time it was just the wolf, but what about next time? And how did the wolf even get in his room in the first place? Hadn't Will closed the door?

Ghosty nosed Will's knee, making a humming noise in the base of his throat.

Will's skin felt cold and clammy. His bangs stuck to his forehead, and he was certain his face was a sight to behold. At least he didn't have to worry about interrogative questions from a wolf.

Ghosty nosed Will's knee again. He stamped a paw on the ground and met Will's eyes.

The wolf had made an unusually swift recovery from his injuries (at least according to Michael). He was already almost entirely recovered, his stitches removed and his movements strong and graceful. Clara had decidedly removed Ghosty's collar and leash as soon as Michael came over and claimed that the wolf was finally strong enough to move around freely, and Will had been certain at the time that they would never be able to catch the beast again.

The wolf had taken full advantage of his freedom. Though he always returned, he and Clara would often go out to the courtyard or the backyard and just run. Will had never been home to see it, but Fenwick and Judith had told him enough stories of the duo's grand adventures for Will to get the gist of how the wolf was handling his recovery.

Will still had no idea why the wolf hadn't bolted at his first chance at freedom. But that wasn't the main concern on Will's mind at that point.

Ghosty grumbled and closed his teeth gently over Will's knee, drawing the man's attention for the third time. Will wasn't alarmed by the action. He knew the wolf had no intention to hurt him. Those strangers, on the other hand…

Will exhaled. "Why did they want you…?" he muttered.

Ghosty tilted his head.

Will had no idea why he was telling the wolf what happened, but for some reason instinct started to take over. If he didn't get this off of his chest to someone, he felt like he might explode. Or at least become an insomniac. One of the two.

Will clasped his hands together in his lap, staring at his fingers. He felt the slight dip of the bed shifting beside him, and the wolf settled down on Will's bed a fair distance from the man. His eyes urged Will to keep talking, and he did.

"I don't know how long they were watching me," Will began, not looking at the wolf. "But once I realized they were there, they were the only thing I noticed whenever I looked out of the window during daylight hours. There were, uh, five of them? Six? There might have been more. I don't know. But they were always outside watching me work. Like they were waiting or something."

Ghosty's ear twitched.

Will laughed, but the sound sounded hollow and weak. "They cornered me today. After work."

Will's voice faltered. His hands trembled in his lap.

Ghosty's shoulder brushed against Will's arm. His head was tilted up at the man, as though he was intently listening. It was a look he had whenever Clara would tell him stories about her school life. No matter if the stories were boring or not, he always watched with his ears pricked. Transfixed. Understanding.

It drew Will to keep speaking, even though dread had already claimed his stomach. He gagged into his fist, and when nothing came up after a couple of moments, he forced himself to continue. "They asked me if I had seen you. A black-furred wolf with multiple lacerations. I—I tried to ask them why. They kept demanding to know if I knew about you or not. Because I smelled of wolf. That's why they had apparently watched me for so long."

Ghosty pressed his muzzle against Will's chest.

Will offhandedly wondered if he could hear the man's racing heartbeat. Would he even care? "I…I lied to them. I claimed that you, uh, had been with us for years. That I had raised you from a pup when I found you alone in the woods. It's, ah, not as strange as you might think. I was all about helping anyone hurt I came across. I probably wouldn't have stopped with a wolf pup when I was younger." Will was babbling now, but he couldn't stop himself. The fear of the strangers tracking him home and finding that he had lied—

Ghosty pulled back his head and looked Will dead in the eyes. He hummed and reached up to touch his nose against Will's cheek. It was cold and moist—healthy.

The touch was far more comforting than Will was expecting. He found his shoulders sagging, his muscles aching from where they had been set stiffly for so long. He blurted his thanks for the comfort, and the wolf grunted in answer. Ghosty stood on the bed, pushing at Will with his paw.

The man was so disoriented that he didn't even question the wolf's action. To him, it seemed like Ghosty was saying: you're exhausted. Go to sleep. Everything will be fine.

Will was too exhausted to argue.

~ΨΩΨ~

Will tapped the butt of his pencil against his office desk, staring at the papers in front of him. It was difficult for him to focus with the prospect of those strangers from last night cornering him again, but somehow he managed to work at a slightly slower pace than normal. He still glanced out of the window of his office every few minutes, but they weren't there. Like they had vanished after last night, their point made. For some reason, that scared Will more than seeing them.

What if they had found their way to his home? Found Ghosty? He was almost certain that the wolf was the one they'd been looking for. What would happen to the others in the mansion when they found him? Why did the strangers want Ghosty?

Were they trappers? Hunters? Was Ghosty being hunted? That would make sense; his injuries had been far too deliberate and severe to be done by another wolf. Or, that's what Will supposed. He wasn't much of an expert on animals. Humans made more sense to him. Everything concerning Ghosty was foreign to the man.

Will tilted his head to look at the window. No one.

He turned his attention to the clock instead. It read 12:34 PM. No unusual calls or anything had been made. No patients had arrived for him, either… But it was still pretty early.

Will glanced out of the window again.

He chewed the end of his pencil, his nerves going haywire. He couldn't concentrate under these circumstances. What the hell was with those people last night?

Will was almost tempted to go back home to check on the place. Make sure everything was normal. But he held himself back. There was work to be done, people to take care of.

Just as he thought that, he was called to check on a recovering surgery patient. He grunted as he stood, not able to help his eyes glancing one last time towards the window, and turned to leave.

Wait.

Did he just see something by his car?

He turned back.

Nothing was there.

Will narrowed his eyes, heart rate starting to pick up. Was one of the strangers there, still watching? Maybe going to try and steal his car? Something about that thought seemed odd, like those strange cave-men-like people were too out of the norm to do anything to his car. But the thought did nothing to soothe him.

His hand twitched to his pocket. His phone was still there. Good.

He turned and went to check on the patient.

Nothing was unusual about the girl when he checked over her injury, a nurse by his side. She had a broken arm from a sports accident which was setting properly, and her multiple bruises were fading. Will told her that she'd be able to go home today, just as soon as her parents came to pick her up.

The girl brightened at that, beaming at him.

Will smiled back.

A hand tapped his shoulder. He looked up and frowned at who it was. She was supposed to be checking on supplies on the other side of the building, not standing behind him with a troubled look on her face. "What is it, Kayla?" he asked her, the nurse beside him handing the injured girl her lunch tray.

"I think you might want to see something, Will," Kayla said. She sounded uncertain, as though she didn't quite believe what she had seen, either.

Will stood from his chair beside the injured girl, raising an eyebrow. But inside his heart was frozen—did she see them? Was she finally able to see them, when Will couldn't? He forced himself to push away those thoughts and somehow stayed calm. "What is it?" he repeated, his voice strained.

Kayla shook her head. "Something in the parking lot. Come on, I'll show you." She disappeared out the door.

Will exchanged puzzled looks with the nurse before she told him to go ahead and follow Kayla. The woman was well-known throughout the hospital, and it was a common known fact that she was never startled easily, and the way she was acting was highly suspicious.

He nodded at the nurse and, after telling her to keep the injured girl company and contact her parents, followed after Kayla.

Whatever the man had been expecting, he had not expected to be taken to the exit of the building. To the parking lot. What if she had actually seen the strangers? Was she leading him right to them? He grabbed her arm and stopped her before she could open the door to the parking lot. "What the hell, Kayla?" he said, struggling to keep his voice down. "Why are you taking me to the parking lot? What did you see?"

"You'll see," she insisted, tugging her arm to no avail.

Will's eye twitched. "What if it's dangerous, Kayla? I have no clue what you're dragging me into—what did you see?"

"Nothing dangerous," Kayla said, giving him a sharp look. "In fact, from everything I've heard, exactly the opposite. If I didn't hallucinate or something, I'm pretty sure there's a friend of yours outside."

"A friend?" Will asked, doubtful. The strangers?

Kayla nodded. "Yes. Now let go of me, you oaf."

She tugged herself out of his grip and opened the door.

Will flinched, expecting to be jumped the moment the door swung open, but nothing happened. Snow dusted over their shoes, and the cold snuck its way through Will's thin clothes. He hadn't thought to bring a jacket.

Will crossed his arms tightly across his chest and glared daggers at Kayla. She pointedly ignored him, taking him by the wrist and all but dragging him into the snow-covered abyss.

"What the hell is this, Kayla?" Will growled. "You know I hate the cold! You could have warned me before I had to go out in the cold without—"

Will stopped, staring.

"Wait." Am I seeing things correctly, or is that…? "…Ghosty?"

Said wolf huffed, ears flattened at being caught, and trotted from his hiding spot behind Will's car.

Kayla let go of Will's wrist, putting her hands on her hips. "As I said. Friend."

"Friend," Will repeated dumbly. "Right."

Ghosty sat down in front of Will, his black fur clumped with little mounds of white.

Will forgot for a moment about the cold, and kneeled down in front of the wolf. "What are you doing here, Ghosty?" he wondered quietly. He looked around, as if expecting his daughter to be there too. "Did someone bring you here or something?"

Grunting, the wolf curled his tail over his paws. A sudden breeze made Will shiver.

Kayla bent down to pet Ghosty, and the wolf flattened his ears even more and bared his teeth at her, growling. She retrieved her hand quickly, startled by the violent behavior. "Uh, I don't know about friendly, though." She giggled nervously. "This is him, though, right? The wolf you took in last month?"

"Yeah, this is him," Will said, his voice tinted with confusion. "Though I have no clue how he's here. Weren't you in the mansion before I left? Did Fenwick let you out? How the fuck did you get all the way out here without being run over by traffic?"

If Will had expected an answer, he didn't get one. The wolf just pricked up his ears the moment Kayla backed up a safe distance and focused his eyes on Will.

Will's eyebrows furrowed, but the cold was becoming too much to bear to worry about the wolf any longer. His breath puffed out in a cloud of mist, and he turned to Kayla with a shiver. "The building has a no animal policy, doesn't it?" he asked halfheartedly. He already knew the answer.

Just as he thought, Kayla nodded.

Will pursed his lips and looked back down at Ghosty, who was watching him intently. "I have no idea how you got here, but I think you ought to go back to the mansion before Clare gets back home." Not that Will was expecting the wolf to understand. "But if you're still here by then, I guess I might as well call Fenwick or Judith and warn them so Clare doesn't get worried…"

Ghosty stood and shook the snow out of his fur, getting Will drenched in the mush. Will jumped up with a shout, rubbing his arms in an attempt to dry them.

"What the hell, wolf!" he barked. "I'm already cold enough as it is! Why did you have to go and do that? Ugh, now I'm going to get hypothermia or even worse, a cold."

The wolf seemed to laugh, shaking himself again. He walked forward and nipped Will's fingers, his warm breath unfreezing them temporarily.

Will grumbled at the wolf. "If you get me sick, you'll never be forgiven," he muttered. "Ever."

Ghosty's tail lifted and twitched, the warm flank of the wolf pressing against Will's legs.

Will sighed, nudging the wolf's head with a knuckle. "Really, though. How did you find me all the way out here? It doesn't make a lick of sense."

Obviously amused, Ghosty licked Will's hand.

Will made sure not to overreact that time—he kind of saw it coming, if he was going to be honest with himself. The wolf was way too intelligent for his own good, and usually made sure to make fun of Will whenever he could during the early mornings and late nights when Will was home. Whether just a way he pronounced something or something he had said or done, Ghosty was very keen and usually not only understood, but made sure Will absolutely knew that the wolf had caught on.

Will wasn't surprised by that much—but Ghosty following him to work?

"He seems to really like you," Kayla mused behind him.

Will looked up. He had forgotten she was there. "Oh, uh, yeah, I guess. I mean, I don't know about him liking me, per say. But he tolerates me. Clare has always been the favorite."

Kayla was close to laughter. "And he tolerates you by following you to work?"

Will huffed. "I have no fucking idea, Kayla. Maybe he was just bored and wanted to see if he could find me or something? Though he could have easily gotten lost."

Ghosty snorted.

Will nudged the wolf on the head again. "I guess I'll take him home," Will said, "so Clare doesn't have a heart attack when she realizes that he isn't home."

Ghosty hummed and stepped on Will's foot.

Kayla nodded at the man. "That sounds like a good idea, Will. Just be careful on the way home. The roads are a bit slick today."

"I noticed." Will sighed. "I'll go back inside and get my stuff and sign out early. Can you stay out here and watch him for me?"

Ghosty growled, butting Will in the leg with his muzzle.

"Don't give me that, Ghosty. You shouldn't have come out here in the first place," Will snapped. "Now I'm going inside to get my coat. Kayla, stay. Ghosty, don't hurt Kayla while I'm gone. Got it?"

Ghosty growled again and bit the end of Will's pants, tugging him as he tried to walk back into the building. The wolf made an irritated sound, ears flattened. He looked very offended by Will's lack of trust in him.

"Ghosty," Will said, glaring down at the wolf. Challenging. "Let go."

The wolf growled again, but he released Will. He pawed the ground, scratching the ice, and grumbled.

"Thank you. Now, I'll be back. Behave."

He gave Ghosty a pointed look before returning to the building.

He was only away for a few minutes, but Ghosty already looked as though they had wasted an hour by the way he was pacing through the snow, Kayla standing back a respective distance with her arms crossed against the cold.

"Thanks, Kayla," Will told her as he came within speaking distance. "You take care, alright? Don't get in any trouble because of me."

"Don't worry, Will. I won't. You deserve to take a break just as much as the rest of us."

Will was about to argue that no, this isn't a break, but Ghosty bumped into him and cut him off with an accusing growl.

"Oh, don't you be giving me that again," Will said. He kicked the wolf gently against the side, and Ghosty bit him in reply.

Kayla laughed at the exchange. "Well, I'll be going now," she told Will. "Take care on these roads, alright?"

Will nodded. "I will. See you tomorrow, Kayla."

Kayla smiled and disappeared into the hospital.

As soon as she was gone, Will turned back to the fuming wolf. "Let's get you home, then."

Ghosty glared at him.

Rolling his eyes, Will headed to the car with the wolf trailing behind at a sluggish pace. He opened the door behind the driver's seat. He gestured in. "In you go," he said.

Ghosty hit him with his tail on the way in, and had jumped into the passenger's seat by the time Will had closed the door and opened his own.

Will just sighed. He wasn't worried about ruining the crisp white seats with the wolf's black fur, but the action alone told him that the wolf was not pleased. If he was going to go out of his way to rub Will the wrong way, getting angry was the last thing he wanted to do in response.

So Will just threw his bag into the back seat and started the vehicle, Ghosty sitting regally in the seat beside him with a haughty expression.

"You think you're so smart, don't you?" Will murmured.

Ghosty huffed proudly.

As Will drove out of the parking lot and headed for home, he just couldn't help but laugh, earning him a glare. He was relaxed now, watching the world speed by, without a care in the world. All because the wolf had come to find him.

Because no matter how the wolf had found his work place, at least it wasn't those hunters.

~ΨΩΨ~

*smiles evilly and slinks away*