The day they anticipated finally came and the cult of friends prepared to leave to Mount Manuka. It was a 3 hour drive from their home and by the time they arrived, the sun had begun slipping under her blanket. It would be midnight by the time they hike up to the tip, blinding nature’s beauty with darkness.
Hence, they camped at the mountain foot, lit a bonfire, and sat talking until late at night. Old buried, happy, embarrassing, and some terrifying memories of 5 of them from childhood till today preoccupied the ambiance. It was the ideal stress relief that the group needed but a slight agitation kept creeping under Selena’s skin as she felt a sharp gaze on her. She constantly flustered around and even doubting her friends, but she couldn’t figure out the burning goosebumps on her back. She brushed it away before settling down to sleep inside her camp.
Inside the tent, she tossed and turned till 1 am in morning. That’s when it hit her. A mild perfume with a vanilla high note, getting stronger and stronger by ticking seconds–an addictive or rather aphrodisiac scent of vanilla mixed with orange. The stronger the smell, the more it stirred Selena’s hormones, flicking the flock of butterflies to spring from the bottom of her tummy. Her body heated up slowly, stringing her nerve. She slowly sat up with knees clutched against her chest, constantly rubbed her neck trying to knock the feeling off. Despite the tremor igniting her within, her hands involuntarily slide down, aiming at her breast–searching for some sort of gratification. She wouldn’t dare to touch her sensitive part, between her legs, as she is prefixed with the idea that it’s going to hurt. Her body felt limp, and she seem to be in high as if been drugged. The scent drove her crazy, rampaging her breath as she squeezed hard on her plum breast, letting out a soft moan while biting her lower lips. She can feel a slip of wetness between her legs.
‘What is this, what is happening?’
Confused and terrified of the sudden perfume amidst of mountain foot but at the same time, helpless to fight as her body continued betraying her. After what felt like an eternity, the smell slowly faded away. Finally, Selena was at peace as she plopped down to the ground–paralyzed and snoozed off very soon.
“Wake up sleepy head!!!” a familiar voice brought Selena back to earth and she blinked her eye open. As soon as she was sober, she shot up to a sitting position with a sharp gasp. Jeffry shook her shoulders again and again, but all Selena could hear is muffled rambling, as the memory of last night came flooding her.
‘Was it just a wet dream? Yes…. YES!!! it must be a wet dream…’
Her thought calmed her a bit
‘Wait!!! Can you smell in your dream?’
Back to worried state, she snapped her head at concerned Jeffry which effectively made him quiet.
“Can you smell in your dream?”
“WHAT???”
“Can you smell in your dream, Jeffry?”
“I don’t know!!! I never had smelt anything in my dreams. For fucking sake, I hardly get any dreams” Jeffry exclaimed
“What is going on here?” Jewel barged into the tent
“Can you smell in your dream?” both Jeffry and Selena spat out at the same time
********
After packing up their belonging, cleaning up the bonfire, and having a simple breakfast, the group started their hike up Mountain Manuka. Selena wasn’t feeling herself and often slip into interluding recollection about last night. Although her brain realize it was creepy, but her heart longed for the scent, again and again, giving her no peace of mind. Her friends, however, didn’t fail to make her smile.
Halfway through the hiking, they heard a water rustling sound and followed it to find a waterfall, among large rocks, falling from the sky or what it seems like. All five exchanged a mischievous glance, knowingly what is next in their agenda. Soon, they were all submerged into the water, splashing water against each other, yelping and giggling. Selena and Jeffry are qualified divers, given the place they work and went down to the deepest pit ever so often.
Something sparkling caught Selena’s eye in one of those dips, and she treads herself towards it. It looks like a special stone, beneath some pebbles. She dug it out and resurfaced, gasping for air. Her friends were far behind her. She pulled up her hand out of chin-level water, lulling her gently, and frowned at the sight. It was a long leather strap neckpiece. A silver locket is attached to the leather strap. The locket was very peculiar, made out of a turquoise stone that bounced sunlight, shining beautifully. A crescent moon was placed on the top of the stone and a pair of feathers – one short and one long– hung dangling under the stone. She stared at the stone deep enough to notice a gold pencil line running through it. Deciding to keep it, she swam up a large rock to the bank.
She couldn’t take her eyes off the gem until Oliver had to tap her shoulder to bring her out from the trans. She snapped up with a frown at the terrified faces of her friends. They seem to be looking at one direction and Selena followed their eye line. Her eyes widened with fear of the sight in front of her and jerked back a few steps. A pack of wolves standing on the opposite bank, growling and pretty pissed off at them. All five friends shuffled their steps, closing their circle when they realized they were actually surrounded by predatory wolves, not only across the bank but all around them. Vicous eyes and snarling sharp teeth dictate the whole waterfall.
“Tell me you can tame these dogs?!?!?” Noah whispered to Selena
“They are not dogs… They are wolfs… Wild wolf in a pack. You know why they gather in a pack?” Selena voice low and husky
Noah shook his head signaling ‘NO’
“To hunt… and you know what they eat?” Noah trembled at the thought and swallowed audibly.
The wolves paced slowly towards them. They looked bigger than any regular wolf would but one stood out with a larger body and leading them at the frontline. Selena figured he must be the alpha, leader of the pack but she had no idea how a wolf becomes alpha– how their system works–by just showing dominance or by head budding?
“Can you at least try?” Jeffry’s voice trembled.
“50 plus vicious wild wolf to be tamed in 5 minutes. I don’t think so…”
One of the wolves snapped with a growl at them. Eventhough she said no, but she couldn’t stop trying as it is their last strike to survival. Slowly, careful not to alarm those animals, she took a defense stand with crouching halfway down–left foot stretched in front of her. One hand in front of her while the other holding the necklace somewhere near her ears. She calmed herself first and exhaled slowly. She focused her calmness towards the assumed Alpha.
“Easy boy…. easy….” her voice was as soothing as a mother’s voice, light as the flute through breeze.
‘Calm down…. Calm down… these are nothing but overgrown puppies… and I am their master, petting and scratching their belly to comfort them.’
She started having an effect on the wolf as some started shaking their head, being uncomfortable obeying someone else other than their alpha. Before she expand her attempt, a large shadow jumped from no where, landing perfectly on a taller rock with a thud, about 10 feet from Selena. A pitch-black wolf who is bigger than the rest of the pack, gold eye and silky coat that dances in coherence with the breeze– looking down at her with calm yet dominating eyes. His towering posture might fool anyone to thinking he legally owns the whole mountain.
“Holy shit, that’s the Alpha” Jeffry panicked next to Selena.
Before Selena could interpret her surrounding, the black wolf jumped down from the rock and landed a few feats away from Selena, spooking her as she drew a ragged gasp and lands on her butt with her hands at the back supporting her. The wolf paced step by step with a murderous look, effecting Selena felt a cold sweat dripping from her whole body.
A swept breeze from behind the wolf hit her in the face.
‘That’s it!!!’
The same perfume from last night. Selena’s eye widened even more at the dawn of realization. It was a wolf lingering around her tent. Only this time, she couldn’t stop and savor the perfume as the terrifying beast is approaching her, step-by-step. Her heart thumped as a racing horse in her chest when the wolf’s snout stopped so close, nose to nose with her. A pause as his eye fixed on her’s. It moved softly to the left of her, sending Selena to a yelp as she shut tight her eyes and snapped her head to the opposite side. The wolf snuggled to her neck, gently rubbing its fur against her skin– cooing affectionately. After a few moments, he retrieved from Selena and turned to walk out of the place, through the wolf pack. As if a remote control was switched on, all the other wolves followed the Alpha silently. Within the next minute, the whole place was back to its original serenity, leaving the friend speechless.
They scrammed off the waterfall, not even bothered to change their wet dress, heading downhill. They ran as fast as they could downhill, missing a turn and lost their way back
“Are you sure this is the way?” Jewel questioned under her breathy voice.
“Of course!!! Don’t be silly. Just another 30 minutes. Come on now” Noah urged all to keep walking. The sky was getting darker and darker under the green canopy by the second and the memory of wolves lurking around the tent sent Selena’s body shuddering
“Guys…wolfs are supposed to smell like wet dog or at least like Rocky, right?” Selena leaned by her butt on a tree trunk, taking a brief rest. All of them looked at her like they are witnessing a freakshow.
“What??? What is this new obsession with smell?” Jeffry exclaimed and soon there were random ramblings from the friends, resulting Selena to shut her ears with her palms and squeeze shut her eyes.
When she opens again, Jeffry was looking up behind her in an amused look, talking about something. Selena quickly turned around to see a few men walking towards them
“Are you guys lost?” a guy with a beard and man bun asked towards Jeffry.
“I think so. Can you guys please direct us to the right way?” Jeffry voiced out. A guy with black hair, tall, masculine frame and prominent shoulders crossed his arms across his chest as he leaned sideways at the same tree trunk Selena is leaning on. He kept it casual, avoiding Selena’s scrutinizing gaze.
“We can but you won’t make it downhill before night. If you want, you can come back to our place. Just 25 minutes hike uphill, a little tracking and you guys can climb down in the morning” what a relief. They agreed and followed them back to their place.