Page 13 of The Boy With The Sharp Teeth
"Iwas wondering about something," Sana wasn’t sure how to phrase thequestion that sounded strange to her now that she intended to put it intowords. "Are the wolves around here dangerous?"
Astillness settled over the three women that immediately made Sana feelself-conscious.
"Imean, of course, wolves are dangerous," she hurried to correct herself."But umm…I mean, I keep seeing the same black wolf each night, so I wasjust wondering…"
Visiblyrelaxing, Sandra smiled. "Don’t worry, the wolves around these parts ofDruthers Forest are very docile and protective. You have nothing to worryabout."
Laterthat night, Sana sat on the edge of her bed after getting out of the shower andgrabbed the jar of lotion she kept on the nightstand. Opening the jar, shedipped her fingers into the thick creamy lotion and smoothed it down her legs.Letting the towel fall away, she continued spreading the lotion across herskin. Sandra's answer to her question earlier still lingered in Sana'sthoughts. Protective, what did she mean by that? Was she saying that the wolvesaround her here were dangerous, and she simply referred to that violence asprotection, or did she mean something else? It was an odd answer, one that onlymade Sana dissect the words more.
Walkingto her dresser, Sana pulled out a pair of underwear and a flannel pajama set.Although it wasn't yet full-blown winter, the crisp fall temperature outsidemade the large house more than a little chilly. The problem was she was justtoo darn cheap to turn on the central furnace. She didn't need each room in thehouse heated, she only needed the rooms she was currently occupying heated—andthat was what space heaters and heating blankets were for. Pulling on a pair ofwarm socks, Sana glanced out the bedroom window.
Sittingin the circular driveway was the black wolf. Even with the darkness of night,she could easily make out the large lupine figure sitting perfectly stillbelow. Moving from the window, she quickly went downstairs, stopping at thefront door. Looking through one of the narrow decorative windows that sat oneither side of the door, she could see through the matching vestibule windowsas the wolf walked up the porch stairs and stopped.
Theglow of its nocturnal eyes gleamed against the darkness as it stared back ather through the glass, calm and patient.
Whatdid it want from her? Sana couldn't understand it. Why did it keep visitingher? Remembering what Sandra said, Sana opened the front door and stepped outinto the cool enclosed space of the vestibule.
Ableto see the wolf much clearer now through the decorative glass of the outerdoor, Sana paused. Just like the night before, the wolf watched her hesitationand cocked his head before laying down. Reaching for the doorknob, Sana ignoredher frenzied heart and turned the knob. Its tail lifted in expectation andbegan to slowly wag back and forth as if it were tempering its own reaction.With the door open just a crack, Sana bent her knees and lowered to a squatpartially behind the door and the small opening. She wanted to be able to slamthe door shut if she needed to. Now eye level with the beast, she could see thebeauty of its golden eyes set against its pitch-black fur.
"Hithere," she whispered.
Itstail flagged harder behind it as it craned its neck forward, reaching in silentrequest for a pet.
Encouragedby the beast's seemingly gentle nature, Sana gathered her confidence andextended her left hand towards its big fuzzy head. Sinking into the soft downyfur and resting on top of its warm head Sana let out a shaky relieved breath.Closing its eyes, the wolf seemed to be just as pleased as it discreetlycrawled forward on its stomach, pushing itself further into her hand. Obligingthe silent demand, she smiled as she petted the beast further. Enjoying hertouch, the wolf laid down further and began to roll onto its side.
"Oh,you poor, needy thing," she laughed, letting go of the door handle thatshe had been holding onto with her other hand, she allowed the door to openfurther as she rubbed its chest and stomach with her other hand. "You werejust asking for a belly rub all those nights. Was that all you wanted?"
Atsome point, the sneaky beast had worked its head partially onto her lap as itlaid with both paws upward and eyes closed at her ministrations. She couldhardly believe this was happening. Here she was kneeling in her open doorwaywith a massive black wolf happily snuggled up on her lap while she gave itbelly rubs. From this position, she could tell the beast was male, and judgingby its shiny coat and weight, in seemingly great health. On nature shows,wolves always seemed tall and skinny. Not this one, she could feel the strengthof his form under her fingertips, a testament that he wasn't missing any meals.
"Ok,Mr. Wolf, I have to go," she cooed gently, giving him a few finalscratches behind the ear. He seemed so content she was afraid he might not wantto move.
Surprisingly,he turned back over and lifted his head, freeing her lap so that she could pullaway. As carefully as she could, she got up without making too sudden movementsas twin golden orbs watched her movements.
"Areyou going to come back again, or was this just a one-time belly rubservice?"
Pushinghimself up with his front paws, the wolf returned to its regal sitting positionand stared at her silently in answer.
"Okthen, goodnight," closing the door softly until it clicked shut, she tookone last peek at the wolf before returning to her room.
Chapter 6
Sanawasn't sure how it ended up this way. It started out with a few innocent petshere and there and some scratches behind the ears every few nights. Gradually,the wolf took more. Walking past her with padded steps, he breached the innersanctum of her home little by little. By the fifth visit, he was fully insideof the vestibule enclosure, giving off low growls of content. The night afterthat, he sneakily nosed himself inside the partially opened front door and satobediently on her entryway rug as he tilted his head back in expectation forscratches. With a heavy sigh and little choice, Sana resigned herself to herduty and petted the beast. By his seventh visit, the large black wolf had madeitself comfortable on her living room floor.
Givinghim a narrowed look, she shut the front door behind him.
"Isee what you're doing,” she informed him as she cautiously walked back to herseat on the couch. She had been sitting and enjoying one of her old horrormovies and a small bowl of popcorn when she heard the familiar howl coming fromthe porch.
Althoughshe was pretty confident at this point he wasn't going to hurt her, Sana stillkept a watchful eye on the wolf and moved around him in caution.
"Youknow that I'm still afraid of you, and you know that means you can just getaway with practically anything at this point."
Asif understanding her, the wolf dropped his head onto her lap and gave her asweet doleful stare. Shaking her head with a resigned smile, she scratchedbehind his soft ears.
"Luckilyfor me, you're pretty good about leaving on your own," she said, thinkingof the previous night when he simply walked to the door and gave her anexpectant look before trotting off into the night. "I couldn't imaginehaving to call the Sheriff or even worse, Zach, to save me from a wolf I let inmyself.“ Just imagining Zach's evil glee to her embarrassment made hercringe.
Thewolf gave her an unexpected whine in response.
"Don'twhine for him, he certainly doesn't deserve it," she said, smoothing thesoft black fur from between his golden eyes back down the slope of his bighead.
