Page 9 of One True Mate

It hadn't been easy losing my parents at such an early age, and while I had told him they were murdered, I still couldn't bring myself to mention the details about the wolves who attacked us. Subconsciously, I caught myself rubbing my upper right thigh where I knew the ugly purple scars would forever be. It had taken the doctors eight rounds of skin grafts to close it back up and the skin around that area was still thin and ugly. I had to be careful not to nick it or it would bleed easily. A constant ugly reminder of that terrible night and the terrible monster they had turned me in to.

I had lost more than my parents that night. I had lost my childhood and innocence, and I had lost my future all in one.

I could be very off about Kyle's feelings for me. Heck, I probably was. But it didn't really matter because no matter what, I could never ever let him know my secret, and we could never ever be together with that between us. Still, I longed for him to wrap his arms around me and hold me close. My body shivered just at the memory of the brush of his arm or him rubbing my shoulders after a long hard day. My body craved those little moments, but what did it matter when I could never let it go any further than that?

I looked back out towards the woods. Still no sign of the wolf. I couldn't help but worry about where he was. It wasn't like him to go missing like this. I sighed and stood up to let myself in. The familiar comfort and smell of my home washed over me in happy greeting, but my wolf was agitated more than usual. I couldn't remember the last time I had let her out for a good run, and thought maybe it was time I did.

In my mind, I could see her prancing for joy at the thought. So, I cracked the back door and quickly stripped, leaving my clothes in a pile on the floor and gave myself over to the change. I had barely hit the floor on all four paws when she was nosing the door open further and out, running at full speed towards the woods where the brown wolf usually stood.

When I reached the spot he normally stood guard, I sniffed the ground thoroughly, memorizing his scent. A feeling of familiarity swept over me and I was off and running again, this time heading deep into the woods. I followed the scent to the edge of clearing. My wolf jumped excitedly and howled before I could stop it from escaping. There was a cabin in the clearing and I didn't want to scare the people there and I was suddenly very afraid of what my wolf might do to the people inside.

It took more effort than I'd ever had to use to gain even a little control over my wolf side, but I had to do it and get us out of there. It had been a mistake to let her lose. It had been too long, and I prayed we wouldn't hurt anyone. I managed to turn us back around and head back into the woods, but not without a constant power struggle within.

My wolf finally laid down and whined. She whimpered like that often cooped up in the den when the brown wolf was outside. I sniffed the air and could smell his scent stronger than before, and it frightened and comforted me at the same time. I had to get us home and quick.

I managed to make us stand and started walking back towards my house, but we didn't get far before I felt eyes watching me. I turned quickly and the fur on my hackles stood up as I bit back a snarl. There was a new scent in the area that I didn't recognize, male and growing stronger, heading my way. Then another and another. An entire group of wolves were headed my way, and I instinctively knew it was too late to turn tail and run.

I backed up into the thick brush of the forest and laid low to the ground as they approached. I could see them clearly, four in all, and watched them sniff the air, knowing they had caught my scent and were looking for me. In two years, I had only ever seen the one brown wolf in the area, but I should have known. Wolves never ran alone, always in packs, well, except me, I thought ironically. Why did I think he would be like me?

I knew as soon as the first wolf scented my location. My back-end raised up and I snarled a low menacing sound his way. The others took notice and followed as they tried to surround me. Just as I started to pounce on the first wolf, I saw him. It was almost like a dream. That big brown wolf I had grown to love so much came seemingly out of nowhere and jumped over the first wolf to stand in front of me. His back was to me and he was growling and snapping his teeth at the others. I had been right all along. He was protecting me like my own personal guardian angel.

The first remained, even as the other three turned and ran off. The first growled back at my brown protector and started to make a lunge, but the brown wolf moved just in time and jumped on top of him, snarling and snapping his jaws. Leaping back, he started to come at him again, but the first wolf did the strangest thing. He looked right at me, then he stopped still and looked back at the brown wolf before lowering his head to the ground, then bared his neck to the large brown wolf who made a snorting sound and seemed to motion with his head for the wolf to leave. Their actions were almost human-like, and I was fascinated by it. Never once did I consider they too might be werewolves.

The large brown wolf turned toward me. I was surprised at just how much bigger he was than my own wolf. I kept my head lowered and averted looking directly into his eyes as I scooted out from my hiding place and stood before him. I dipped my head lower and bared my neck to him as I had seen the other wolf do. Something inside told me it was the right thing to do, that this wolf was something of importance. I couldn't begin to say how I knew it, I just did.

When I finally chanced a look, the wolf sat back on his haunches and quirked his head to the side studying me. Something about the motion reminded me of Kyle Westin and I laughed, but in wolf form it came out as a weird growly sounded that startled both of us. After the initial shock, I could have sworn the other wolf smiled. Can wolves smile? Surely, I must have imagined it.

I stayed mostly still as the wolf began circling and sniffing me. It irritated me feeling like I was being treated like a dog, and so I turned and huffed off, clearly surprising my self-appointed guardian. He snapped out, but I kept going. He growled, and it scared me, causing me to take off in a full sprint. It wasn't long before he had caught up to me, though, and the beast jumped on top of me, knocking me to the ground. I'm not sure if it surprised me or him more, but I pushed back and soon had him pinned to the ground on his back. His hazel eyes full of shock, but not of aggression. I no longer felt any threat from him.

He knocked me off balance and pinned me to the ground. I responded in kind before allowing him to stand as I began a slow trot back towards my home. He followed, keeping pace beside me. When he moved to brush the full length of his body against mine, a shockwave hit me. I felt a connection like I had never felt before. Like I belonged here with this beast. I had missed him while he was away and wondered why he had not come to see me the past two nights. I wished I could ask him. A part of me wanted to remain in wolf form forever, knowing he would keep me safe. I rubbed up against him and curled my head into his neck taking a deep breath and allowing his scent to wash over me. The wolf sat back and howled at the night sky. I had never seen anything more beautiful.

We spent the remainder of the night running and splashing in a narrow creek. I could not remember ever having so much fun in wolf or human form, but as the moon lay low and the sun began to rise, I knew I had to leave him. I had work in a few hours, and I would not be late.

I tore off at full speed giving him chase, heading for my house. We stopped at the edge of the woods and I sat back and howled. He responded the same, only when I moved to head towards the house, he remained at the edge of the woods. I prayed we'd be able to meet up again sometime soon.

Once inside the house, I wasn't sure what to do. I was still in wolf form and while I could change from human to wolf form with ease, I had never consciously changed from wolf back to human form. I had always stayed in wolf form until I fell asleep, waking in my naked human form. I looked up at the clock and knew I didn’t have time for that. Pacing back and forth across my living floor, I began to panic.

I closed my eyes tight and thought of what I could possibly do while a strange, somewhat familiar ripple coursed through my body. I felt disoriented and cold. Opening my eyes, I realized I had shifted back to human form. I was naked, still on all fours on my living room floor.

I laughed out loud. "Well, that wasn't too bad," I announced to the empty room. Jumping up I ran for the shower and dressed as quickly as I could for the day. It was 8:01 when I sat down at my desk. Exhaustion nearly crippled me. Note to self: next time I decided to run with a wolf, do it on a weekend so I could sleep the next day.

I didn't really think Kyle would say anything about me being one minute late, even if he was used to me being at least a half hour early. I quickly started up my computer and ran to make coffee while it booted. God, I needed it if I were to survive the day.

With two fresh cups of coffee in hand, I headed for Kyle's office and knocked on the door. No answer. I set my coffee down on my desk and knocked a little harder. Still nothing, so I opened the door and peeked my head in. The lights were still off and there was no sign that Mr. Westin had been in so far that morning.

"Okay, well, I guess he won't even notice I was late."

"Why were you late?" Came a sweet voice I loved, but nearly gave me a heart attack.

"Don't sneak up on me like that, Lil. You nearly scared the daylights out of me."

She just laughed. "Did I really hear you say you were late this morning?"

"Yeah," I scowled. "I got here at eight oh one. Don't worry, I'll tell your brother as soon as he gets in."

The last thing I wanted to do was lose this job. I had just graduated a few months earlier with my business management degree and knew eventually I would move on, but I couldn't even think of it yet.

Kyle and Elise had taken me out to a fancy dinner the night of my graduation and told me how proud they were of me. It had been one of the best days of my life. Lily couldn't make it as she had already taken off to Europe to spend the summer with friends. I didn't envy her, though. I much preferred home to traveling, but I was thrilled when she returned just two weeks earlier.

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