Page 3 of Wild
But I didn’t. Instead, I did something foolish.
Holding the knife out as if I were some badass ready for a fight, I moved around the trees and approached the fire.
Initially, I’d thought maybe the animals were wolves. But that wasn’t the case at all. The three male wolves stopped and turned their attention toward me. They comically looked at each other and then back at me. They were also confused by my bravery.
John and the woman turned.
The wolves separated and started moving around me.
Something moved through the trees to my right, and the wolf that had cornered me at the RV appeared. The three other wolves retreated.
“Help us,” John said. Seeing fear on his face made up for everything he’d done earlier.
“I’m sure you would have helped me. Right?”
The wolf moved between John and me. It sat on its haunches. The other wolves laid down on the opposite side of the fire.
“Don’t be such a bitch, Liz. Help us.” That was not the way to get himself rescued.
The wolf turned to John as if he understood what John had said. He then turned back to me.
“Let them go,” I said, almost laughing at how ridiculous my request sounded. But maybe the beast did actually understand what I was saying.
The wolf nodded at the other wolves, the animals communicating through simple gestures.
“You actually understand me?”
The wolf moved to all fours, his shining coat glimmering beneath the glow of the fire. His eyes reflected the moonlight. He slowly padded toward me as if he were more afraid of me than I was of him.
The other wolves nudged John and his hoe away from the fire. They were actually going to let them leave.
“What the hell’s going on?” John asked, never the one to see the obvious.
“You left me with a flat tire in the middle of nowhere.”
“You fucking deserved it.”
“Why?”
John said nothing because there was no reason. The wolves nudged them again, and they stood. I guessed they were as tired of listening to him as I was.
“You’re letting them go?”
The wolf approached, and I went stiff, my hands at my sides. I heard never make eye contact with an animal that may attack, so I stared at the fire. The wolf padded next to me, rubbing against my hand and leg. His fur made the tiny hairs on my arms stand at attention. He moved behind me and jammed his snout between my legs, holding it there. It really was my lucky day—getting the horniest of wolves. His nose was cold, his breath hot. I didn’t move. He pushed harder, and I gently moved my feet apart, letting him get a better sniff.
“What the fuck, Liz?” John watched with a disgusted look on his face. “What’s wrong with you?”
“I think they’re allowing you to leave. You should probably do that.”
The wolf moved its nose higher, sniffing my ass. I would be lying if I said it didn’t turn me on a little.
John and his new woman shuffled their way toward the trees, leaving me to wonder who had built a fire. It couldn’t have been him.
“You’re going to leave me here?” Of course, he was. I wouldn’t have expected anything less.
John shared a familiar smirk. Once an asshole, always an asshole. “You shouldn’t have come.” And then the two took off into the woods.
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