Lauren hopped down from the bathroom window on the first floor and landed on her feet, unscathed. She crouched and waited in the bushes, hoping no one saw her make that brave leap. Slowly she counted to twenty, stood and walked slowly out of the bushes.
She made her way to the parking lot where her bicycle was parked, unchained it and tore out of the parking lot. She could feel her phone vibrating in the pocket of her hoodie but she ignored it. Her thoughts were with the caged werewolf at the station and how she could free it.
In a matter of minutes she arrived at the station and saw a group of policemen gathered at the entrance, sipping coffee from mugs and talking. She approached them with what she thought was an innocent school-girl expression and cleared her throat.
“Yes, miss?” A dark-skinned one asked.
“Good morning, officers. I heard a wolf was captured last night? I was wondering if I could be allowed to take a look at it.”
The dark-skinned policeman looked at his colleagues, then back at her “Shouldn’t you be in school, girl?”
“Well, yes–”
“Then go back to school!” The cop snapped.
Lauren groaned and turned towards her bicycle. Halfway there she stopped and sniffed. Her reliable nose had picked up a scent of animal fur. Of course it could be from the many police dogs patrolling the area, but she decided to take her chances and trace the scent.
The scent led her to the back of the station, where the dog cages were kept. The cages were lined side by side in an orderly fashion, and the dogs, on seeing her, began to let out barks and snarls. However, at the last cage sat an animal, quiet in the midst of its fellows’ barks. Lauren slowly walked to the cage and crouched before it.
The animal had lustrous black fur and glowing green eyes. It was enormous–almost twice as big as some of the dogs in the neighbouring cages. It whimpered as it set Its eyes on Lauren and raised a paw, as though in recognition. It wasn’t a dog, or even a wolf. It was a werewolf.
Lauren stared in awe as the werewolf blinked it’s beautiful green eyes and looked at her sadly. “Hello,” she whispered. “How did you get here?”
The werewolf licked its left paw and yowled. Lauren could see long wounds left from the trap, although they were no longer bleeding and almost healed. She stretched her hand through the cage and patted its paw “I’m gonna get you out of here.” She said, then examined the padlock on the cage. With a grunt she tore it apart with her hands and the padlock fell to the ground with a clang.
She stopped while opening the cage door as her ears picked up the sound of approaching policemen. After failing to shush the barking and growling of the other dogs, she closed her eyes and waited for them to find her.
Just before the men could turn the corner and catch her, she felt a tugging at her leg and opened her eyes to see the werewolf looking at her meaningfully. She sighed and nodded in comprehension.
Two policemen–one of them the one who had sent her away–approached the kennels. But instead of a werewolf in a cage, what stood before them was two huge, growling werewolves.
“What the–” One of the policemen stuttered.
But before they could make any move, the two werewolves, in a combined low snarl, raced at the policemen who crouched instinctively, and flew over their heads, over the station fence and into the neighbouring woods.
☆
They kept running deep into the woods, meeting no other living Thing save for a very frightened rabbit and a pond full of bullfrogs. After two hours of continuous running, Lauren slowed her pace to a steady trot, falling way behind the other werewolf. The werewolf stopped and waited for her, its glossy black fur dividing the sunlight in the forest and casting it on nearby leaves.
Lauren caught up to him and morphed back into her human self. She was barely out of breath as she crouched and took his injured paw in her hands.
“You know we don’t stay injured for long, right?” Lauren looked up. A striking teenage boy with rich black shoulder-length hair knelt before her. His uninjured left hand was in hers, his green eyes piercing her with it’s beautiful gaze. Instinctively she blushed.
“I know. Sorry, I almost thought you were a normal wolf.”
The boy stood up, offered her his hand and helped her up. She brushed the leaves and debris from the knees of her Jeans. “We should probably leave these woods. The policemen may come back for us.” He said.
“No they won’t.” Lauren said. “Honestly they might even be relieved that you escaped. Apparently nobody has seen a more beautiful wolf than you in this town. Albeit all its charm, a beautiful animal comes with its challenges. I know a little cabin not far from here. Tonight’s the full moon, so you might wanna stay there.”
The boy stared at her, intrigued, then smiled. “Thanks, uh–”
“Lauren. Lauren Sommers.” She replied and began to walk up a little trail in the forest. The boy followed her, and after minutes of silence, he spoke up. “So you won’t ask me what I’m doing here? Why I was captured?”
Lauren looked up at him. He was at least three inches taller than her, and with her 5 foot 7 frame, that was saying a lot. “I don’t think I wanna know. A striking werewolf such as yourself must have a lot of adventures up his sleeve, but I think I’d rather remain uninformed.”
The boy laughed. “At least ask me which pack I come from.”
“No. Let’s just get you a safe place to wait out the full moon.”
“You don’t even know my name!” When she didn’t reply to that, the boy grabbed her arm and forced her to look at him. “What if I’m a kidnapper, hmm? What if I want to kill you?”
Lauren stared into his eyes, unyielding “If you’re going to kill me, you would have tried several times already. If we’re going to be friends-and the possibility of that grows even slimmer with every unnecessary question you ask me-there would be ample time to know every detail about you, wouldn’t there?”
The boy said nothing, just smiled at her and shook his head slowly. “Fine!” She said and rolled her eyes. “I suppose I’d like to know your name.”
“It’s Aidan.” The boy said, his face hardening “Aidan Boris.”