Page 10 of Entering a New World

My chest puffed out in pride, warmth crashing into me like a tidal wave.

Maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t fucking this up completely. Maybe me being here was actually a good thing.

Still, I had no idea how to turn the situation around, how to introduce my human self to him, how to save him, how to explain the whole mate thing.

Eventually, I would have to figure all of this out. But right in this moment, I could just bask in the knowledge that my presence cheered him up and chased away his fear.

“If I survive this whole thing and you actually get to watch all the videos I’m filming, you can judge me all you want for following a wolf into the forest or wanting to hug him. Fact is: I’m still alive, and Wolfie is back. I honestly don’t care about anything else right now. So all the biologists that are about to tell me he’s probably sick and giving me rabies… I don’t care. So bye.”

He waved at the camera before turning it off, then focused his attention on me, a smile still curling his lip upward, showing off a set of dimples in his cheeks.

“Good morning, Wolfie,” he greeted me. “I hope it’s okay for me to call you Wolfie. I tried coming up with a different name, but names are hard. Seriously. When I started this whole vlogging thing, I wanted to create a stage name so people wouldn’t immediately know who I really am, but…” He shrugged and snorted. “I couldn’t decide on one. It took me four weeks of checking every baby name site in existence to realize I’m not good at choosing names, so in the end, I went with my real one. Anyway… I’m glad you’re back. I was hoping you would be. Yeah, I know, you can’t understand a word I’m saying, but I’m nervous and relieved, and I think that gives me an adequate excuse for the rambling.”

Letting my tongue loll out of my mouth, I cocked my head at him and waited for him to continue talking. He was wrong because I definitely did understand him, but I couldn’t very well tell him—especially since I couldn’t talk in wolf form. Neither verbally nor mentally. I could sense certain things via my pack bond, but not words. More like emotions. If there was danger, I could sense it. If Gray needed us all to come back to town, I could feel it as a command, but I was not hearing his voice inside my head or anything like it.

“I was waiting for you, hoping you’d show up again because I need to fill up my water bottles. Now, I think I still know the way, but I was hoping you could accompany me. Also… do you think it’d be fine for me to wash myself in the lake? Or would I contaminate the water that way?”

While his rambling was adorable, it sucked I couldn’t answer him.

No, as long as he didn’t use soap to wash himself, jumping into the lake would be fine. He should probably just fill up his water supply beforehand.

How could I let him know that?

I couldn’t.

It was too late anyway because during the time I’d spent thinking about a possible way to answer his questions without giving anything away, he’d gone back to the cabin.

Slowly, I followed him and his scent, but he was back outside before I’d even reached the cabin he’d picked for himself, his backpack slung over one shoulder, the camera loosely dangling in one hand, and a water bottle in the other.

“Okay, I’m ready to go. Are you going to follow me?”

I’ll follow you to the end of the world and back, I thought. Out loud, I just yipped and jumped up and down like an excited puppy would.

Chapter 4

Levi

“It’s day four guys,” I told the camera, my teeth still chattering as they had been ever since I’d gotten up. Maybe even beforehand. It was fucking cold. According to the sleeping bag, it was supposed to work in sub-zero temperatures, but according to my body, that was a fucking lie. Either that or the fine mist of ocean water that appeared to be permanently moistening the air had managed to soak through the fabric. Probably the latter one, I thought as I pulled on the sweater and shuddered. It was cold and damp—just like everything else.

Stepping out of the cabin to stretch my muscles a bit, I was hit with a strong gust of wind. Salty air mixed with mist hit my face. It felt like needles piercing my skin, and a shiver ran down my spine.

Looking up, I found the sky a dark, looming grey.

“Today doesn’t look like it’ll be as beautiful,” I said, raising the camera to let my viewers see what I was seeing. Yesterday, the sky had remained a beautiful azure blue, streaked with puffy, white clouds. The sun had shone down on me until I’d felt like I might get burned if I didn’t step into the shade, though it hadn’t been powerful enough to dry my clothes. I needed to get a fire going for that, but no matter how much my Wolfie had whined at me and urged me on to keep trying, it hadn’t worked.

My stomach grumbled, and I pressed my free hand against it.

“The hunger is back,” I said, speaking into the camera. It was almost instinct to do so; the camera being my personal diary to document this torturous adventure I was involuntarily caught up in. “I need to get more water. Though, to be completely honest, drinking water to sate hunger is something that only works for fitness or weight-loss influencers.” I giggled. “It certainly doesn’t work for me.”

As if my stomach had just been waiting for my command, it let out another loud growling, gurgling sound, cramping just for good measure. I winced, curling in on myself.

“It’s been… about seventy-two hours since I’ve last eaten something, and my stomach is not happy. Neither am I. I think I’d kill for a burger. Hell, I’d probably kill for a bit of plain toast.”

The wind picked up, whipping more wetness right into my face.

“Ugh. I have to go back inside and get my jacket.”

Shivering again, goosebumps spread across my arms and all the way down my torso. I hastily retreated inside the wooden cabin and let out a sigh of relief as the wind eased up a bit. If only the windows were still intact.

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