Page 22 of The Alpha Dire Wolf
The damnable wolf eyes. Misty ice blue. Glittering amber gold. Always staring right at me.
In that moment, I knew I had to go back into the forest. To prove that the wolf encounter had been random, nothing more. Was it crazy? Maybe.
But believing in magic was even crazier.
Chapter Nine
Sylvie
The closer to home we got, the stronger the pull of the forest became. My instinct had always pushed me onto the right path, steering me clear of danger and bad decisions, but this was something new. This time it was in control, and I was merely a passenger. Ihadto step foot among the trees once more.
“Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
So caught up in my need was I that I’d forgotten about Charlene’s presence in the passenger seat entirely. She looked at me now, her eyes examining my face, full of concern.
“You haven’t said a word since we left Agnes’s.” She looked out the windshield and then back at me. “Did I do something to make you mad at me?”
“What? No, absolutely not!” I said. “I’ve just been distracted, that’s all. I promise. It’s been really, really good to see you, Char. All my other friends are back home, so it’s nice to have someone here, in person.”
“Okay.”
She wasn’t convinced, I could tell, but I didn’t have it in me to argue more at that moment. My focus was elsewhere, ontall thick-trunked trees and dead leaves crunching underfoot. Lichen-covered rocks and the call of wildlife all around me.
The gravel under the tires as I pulled into my grandmother’s driveway was a jarring shock to that peaceful tranquility. In hindsight, it was impressive I’d guided us home safely.
“Look, I’ll call you later. Is that okay? I just need to be alone for a bit right now. That’s all. But I really would like to continue catching up with you.”
Charlene nodded. “Yeah, that sounds really nice. I’d like that too.”
We smiled and embraced, and then I watched her head down the driveway to where she’d parked her little red Mazda against the curb. Putting on a smile, I waved goodbye as she pulled out, hoping my impatience didn’t show.
The second she was gone, I turned around, my back to the street, looking out past the big oak with its tire swing as well as the old wooden playset nearby with its slide and bars and another swing. Beyond the shed with the garden tools and lawn mower. Past the edge of the grass and into the depths beyond. I looked left and right, peering as deeply as I could into the cover of undergrowth, searching incessantly for—
What the hellwasI searching for?
Blue and gold circles. That’s what.
I’m losing it. This is nuts. There was a rabid bear the last time you went in there. Only the random kindness of a wolf saved you.
A wolf that had tackled me out of the way. It hadn’t attacked me. I’d suffered no wounds, no cuts from its claws, no bite marks. The wolf had intervened on my behalf.
A guardian?Theguardian?
“Lead paint in the walls,” I said, trying to justify my imagination. “Asbestos maybe, in the kitchen tiles? Has to be. Maybe toxic mold somewhere. A carbon monoxide leak?”
I frowned. My grandmotherhaddied unexpectedly to everyone around her. Was it possible it was something that simple? Other than the encounter with the wolf, nothing else around me was proving problematic, but I made a mental note to replace the fire and CO2 monitoring system in my grandmother’s house anyway. I’d rather be safe than sorry.
And it would explain a lot.
But if it wasn’t that, what explained the wolf? The blue-and-gold-eyed wolf. Nothing explained it.
My feet started toward the forest on their own. I could never recall making the decision to head there. The pull was too great, a maelstrom I was being sucked into.
“Crazy,” I muttered, my feet still moving. “I’m crazy.”
The trees grew nearer.
