Chapter 16
SHANE
I finish eating my energy bar and get up from the bench where I am. I start walking back toward the cabin. The town looks nice; some people walk by me and greet me, to which I respond with a simple smile and continue on my way. I haven’t taken more than 20 steps when small drops start falling on me, quickly turning into a torrential downpour that doesn’t even give me a chance to run to the cabin. So, as I keep walking, I begin to feel the sensation of being watched. I glance over my shoulder a couple of times, but I don’t see anyone. The rain doesn’t help with visibility either. A few cars pass by, so I try to quicken my pace, but the feeling doesn’t leave me. The skin under my sweater prickles, and I don’t know if it’s due to the rain soaking my clothes or the heavy sensation that someone is watching me. I slow down to look around, trying to see… And then I see it, on the other side of the road, among the trees. A black spot moving quickly. I come to a complete stop to try to observe.
A bear?
Are there bears around here, so close to the town?
I try to focus my vision, shielding my eyes with my hand to avoid getting water in them and see better. The black spot stops, and this time, it turns to face me and starts walking. When it comes out from among the trees, my breath catches at the sight of such a majestic four-legged creature, completely jet black. I back up so much that I almost fall, but I stabilize myself. I don’t scream, I don’t move, I do nothing; I wait to see what the creature will do. But then, it does the silliest thing in the world; it sits on its hind legs and cocks its head, watching me. The wolf is beautiful, with spectacular fur; its red eyes are too bright, and its tail wags excitedly like a puppy waiting for its owner at the front door. I decide to keep walking, completely ignoring the wolf. Maybe this way, it won’t decide to attack me or anything like that. But when I take a step, out of the corner of my eye, I see that it also moves and looks around intelligently before crossing the road. Seeing it do that, I don’t think twice and step off the road, starting to run through the woods. Then I hear a bark that doesn’t sound like a normal bark. It doesn’t seem very threatening, but I still feel like it’s a warning of some sort. So I don’t stop and continue running, getting muddy and slipping every few moments. I weave between the trees, scraping myself on the branches, but that doesn’t stop my flight. What does stop me is a stupid root that I don’t see, and I trip over it, falling face-first to the ground. But before I hit the ground hard and thud my stomach, I turn to the side, taking the impact on one side of my body.
“Shit!” I scream, pain coursing through my entire body, but I don’t have time to check if I’ve broken anything or not. I don’t want to stay here laid out, so I roll over and sit up, and as I do, I come face-to-face with the wolf that is approaching-“Stay still, good puppy! Don’t move any closer,” I plead, as I scoot back, leaving my purse forgotten somewhere and dragging myself through the mud. But the wolf doesn’t stop. In fact, it keeps advancing, and when it’s too close to me, I can see it’s larger than an ordinary wolf, the kind we would see on television. No, this is not a small wolf; it’s between the size of a horse and a “normal” wolf, and it’s still imposing. I start using my hands to push myself back as much as I can because every time I try to stand up, it growls at me, and I fall back down to the ground-“Stay still, please, don’t come any closer! Good puppy, stay there!”
Why the hell do I keep calling it a puppy if it’s not a puppy, it’s a wolf? But the animal completely ignores me and reaches where I am, pinning me down by climbing on top of me, caging me with its paws, as the rain falls on my face and it’s hard to see it. When it lowers its head and sniffs me, I shut my eyes tightly, firmly believing that if I don’t look at it, it isn’t there since its fangs look extremely terrifying. Damn my luck! Give me a break! I scream in my head at the universe that seems to be against me. I’m totally lying on the ground, my hair getting muddy, completely at the mercy of this majestic creature. I just hope it bites my jugular so the process is quick. Suddenly, I feel a wet tongue licking my cheek, then both cheeks, until it licks my whole face and then goes to my neck, starting there too with licks and sniffs. Then, the realization of what is happening hits me so abruptly that I open my eyes and see the wolf’s red eyes, and then I know: it’s him.
“Liam, is that you?” My voice is filled with surprise, my head tilting back as I howl, and I’m going to assume that’s a yes. He looks back at my face joyfully before getting off me and wagging his tail energetically in the air in a friendly manner.
I take a deep breath to try to calm my breathing and let the scare pass. I slowly sit up, both of us getting soaked in the rain.
“Little wolf.” A gasp escapes me as I perfectly hear Liam’s voice in my head. I stare at him with wide eyes and my mouth agape.
“How-how did you do that?” I ask him.
“It’s a privilege that comes with being my mate. It creates a mental connection that allows us to communicate without the need to speak.”
“Are you telling me I can talk to you without actually talking to you? Or can you only do it with me? God, this is so confusing,” I massage my temples, feeling a slight twinge of pain in one of them.