by Rebecca Foxx
“Does anything hurt?”
“My ego more than anything else,” I said.
We both laughed.
“Well, you’ll probably be all right then,” he said. “Do you want me to help you up?”
“Yes, please. I would really appreciate that. Thank you.”
He reached down towards me with both his hands. I grimaced as he lifted me off the ground. I had dirt, grass, and little pebbles up and down my arms.
When I got to my feet, I had a good look at his face. It certainly wasn’t the kind of face that you saw around town much.
I realized that I had been gazing into his dark green eyes for several seconds without saying anything. I lowered my eyes and began blushing. This was so embarrassing. I never acted like this around guys.
“Are you sure you don’t want an ambulance?” He said.
I shook my head from side to side. There was no need to add to my embarrassment. I was pretty sure that I hadn’t done any serious damage—no broken bones or anything like that.
“No, I’m fine,” I said. I could no longer hold back my curiosity. I had to know more about this mysterious stranger. But before I could get the question out of my mouth, I heard the sound of feet running towards us.
We were both startled. It was so easy to think that you were completely cut off from the world out here.
As the jogger came towards us, I could clearly make out that it was a woman. And when she got to within about twenty feet of us, I knew exactly what woman it was.
Sarah had slipped her skinny body into a skimpy running outfit. Her long thin legs were on full display. Sweat glistened on her skin. Feelings of jealousy surged through me. Being near a woman like her made me feel fat and bloated, no matter what diet or exercise program that I was on.
She came to a stop in front of us. She brushed a tangle of hair from her face and smiled.
“Good to see you out here Samantha,” she said. “I didn’t know you enjoyed exercise so much.”
I felt my face turning red. If we were alone, I might have given vent to my feelings. I was sick of having to play nice with her. I was sick of having to pretend that I didn’t sense the insult in everything she said to me.
“I love to be out on the trail,” I said. “I always have. Ever since I was younger.”
“Yeah, I guess we didn’t hang out much back then,” she said with a smug smile. “But I see that you’ve met Frederick.”
I looked at the jogger. I said his name under my breath.
“No, I don’t think we’ve met,” I said looking towards him.
I expected him to smile back and introduce himself.
“I’m sorry, ladies.I really have to be going, he said.”
“Frederick, there’s no need to be afraid of us,” Sarah said inching closer to him and placing her hands on his chest.
My stomach sank when I saw the way that she touched him. Her eyes were filled with lust. I had the sudden urge to reach out and grab her by the throat.
Frederick blushed and began darting his eyes around the forest. After a few moments, he backed away from us. And within seconds, he took off running.
All I could do was stare at him as he disappeared.
It was just Sarah and I standing there. She had a sly smile on her face.
“So that was the mysterious jogger you saw yesterday?” She said.
I crossed my arms against my chest and stared at her.
“Yes, that’s the guy,” I said. “I thought that the description didn’t ring any bells.”
She started giggling. “I didn’t think of Frederick.”
“Why not?” I asked. She was clearly hiding something from me and I needed to find out what. Her sly looks were making me very uncomfortable.
“I would recommend that you stay away from him,” she said. Her eyes suddenly became very hard.
There was one question, and one question only that I wanted to ask her. But I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to handle the truth.
“Any reason in particular?” I asked.
She walked very close to me and pointed her finger in my face. “I’m happy that you’re not the whiny fat girl anymore,” she said. “That would be so pathetic. But I hope you don’t think that a man like that would ever go for a girl like you.”
I should have turned my back on her right then. I must have been a glutton for punishment because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.
“Why not?” I asked. “Why wouldn’t he go for a girl like me?”
“I see you’ve grown some backbone over the years,” she said. “I hope that doesn’t end up getting you in trouble.”
She pressed her finger into my nose and snickered. Then she took off running.
Twenty minutes later, I got back home. I was completely exhausted. I had gone through so many different emotions during the last couple of hours. The last two days had been some of the strangest of my entire life.
As dusk approached, I felt a tingly sensation spreading throughout my body. I didn’t quite know what was going on.
But then I remembered the wolf from the night before. I had promised myself that I would wait for him on the back porch. I wanted to make sure that I had enough energy to stay up and wait for him, so I went to my bedroom and lay down for a nap.
Chapter 4
I set the alarm for 10 pm. That would give me a few hours of sleep. I would be rested and I would have no problem waiting all through the night until the wee hours of the morning if I had to.
Several hours later when my alarm went off, I shot up in the bed. My entire bedroom was dark. At first, I was afraid that I had overslept. But I looked at my phone and realized that I had woken up just in time.
I breathed a deep sigh of relief. I wasn’t sure whether or not I would see the wolf again that night, but I wanted to get some food ready for him just in case.
I went down to the kitchen and searched through the fridge. The only thing that a wolf might have enjoyed was the roast chicken I’d bought a couple days ago. But I decided that it would probably be better to give nothing than such an unsatisfying meal.
I pulled a half-full bottle of chardonnay out of the fridge and poured myself a glass. The wine would help me remain patient while I waited for the wolf to arrive. It would also help keep me calm once he did show up.
I knew that if I was afraid, he would be able to sense it. There was no way that I would be able to fool his animal instincts. He would immediately pick up on any sign of weakness. I wanted to show him that I wasn’t like the other humans that he encountered.
I took the bottle of wine and my glass out to the back porch. The night air was cool and comfortable. After finishing my first glass, my mind began to wander.
I thought back to the encounter I’d had earlier in the day with the jogger. He looked so uncomfortable when I asked whether he was from the area. That still didn’t make sense to me.
A sound coming from the bushes caught my attention. I pushed all of the wandering thoughts out of my mind and listened. A few moments of silence passed before I heard the sound again. It was clearly coming towards me.
I considered going back inside for my flashlight but I quickly decided against that. There was enough light coming off the back porch for me to get a good look at anything or anybody that wandered into my backyard.
The sound came closer and closer. I stood up so I could get a better look into the bushes that ran around the perimeter of the yard.
My eyes scanned the darkness. I didn’t see anything at first. But then I saw something that nearly made me jump out of my skin.
There was a pair of eyes, dark green eyes staring at me from the bushes.
The wolf!
I didn’t know whether to call out to it or wait for it to come to me. And I couldn’t figure out why he had come so close to the yard and then stopped.
My entire body sizzled with excitement, yet I was also anxious and a bit nervous.
It took a few steps forward and its head eme
rged from the clump of bushes. I could tell by the way it stared at me that it was the same wolf.
It came all the way out of the bushes and continued towards me. I was frozen to the spot but my brain was racing in a million different directions. As the wolf came closer and closer I began to back up on the porch. I was seriously considering turning and running back inside.
But before I did something strange began to happen, something strange that I can hardly explain. The wolf raised its head and let out a loud howl towards the full moon. The sound made shiver.
I had never heard anything like it from so close a distance.
After the sound died down, the wolf fixed its eyes on me. And then its form slowly began to change.
It was the most extraordinary thing I had ever seen. I stared with my mouth agape. A large light shined in my eyes and when the light disappeared a few seconds later, the wolf was gone.
But there was a man standing before me. I was certain that it was the same man who had come to my rescue earlier in the day.
He began walking towards me. I couldn’t see all of his body because of the darkness but I could sense that he was naked—completely naked.
When he got to within a few feet of me, he stopped walking and stared at me.
“I hope I haven’t scared you,” he said. His eyes shined brightly through the darkness, I was completely mesmerized. All I could think to do was to open my arms to him. I wanted him to embrace me. I wanted to feel his strong, masculine body enveloping me.
When he got to within a few feet of me, he stopped walking and stared at me.
“I hope I haven’t scared you,” he said. His eyes shined brightly through the darkness, I was completely mesmerized. All I could think to do was to open my arms to him. I wanted him to embrace me. I wanted to feel his strong, masculine body enveloping me.
Before I could fall into his arms, I heard something rustling in the bushes. Frederick’s eyes were filled with fear. I had no idea what was going on.
“What is that sound?” I asked.
He didn’t respond. But he kept looking in the direction of the sounds.
“You should probably go inside,” he said.
“Why what’s wrong?” I asked.
“Please, go inside,” he said. “Before it’s too late.”
Seconds later, I saw something coming out of the bushes. It was another wolf. Frederick’s whole demeanor changed. He had a menacing look on his face.
The other wolf kept its eyes locked on Frederick. I wanted to run inside. I wanted to scream. But my body was frozen and I was unable to form any words. Fear had taken hold of me.
The wolf stopped in the middle of my backyard. Without making a sound, it opened its jaw. The sight of its teeth made me tremble.
“Get out of here,” Frederick yelled at the wolf.
The animal didn’t show any fear. It continued walking towards us. My skin began to crawl. I felt like I was going to throw up.
“I told you to get out of here,” Fredrick said. “Be gone!”
The wolf growled at us. It was a low, menacing growl.
That was all Frederick could take. He howled at the moon. A bright light flashed. And when the light went away Frederick had shifted back into a wolf.
The two wolves eyed each other angrily. I didn’t want them to hurt each other. I especially didn’t want Frederick to get hurt.
The other wolf leaped at his neck and pinned him to the ground.
But Frederick quickly shook free of the hold. Then he lunged at the wolf and sunk his teeth into its neck. He didn’t remove his teeth from the animal until after it had stopped breathing.
When he took his teeth out of the other wolf, I noticed that something strange was happening. The wolf wasn’t dead. It was shifting.
Another bright light flashed. The wolf was gone.
In its place was a woman. But it wasn’t just any woman. It was Sarah. She was staring at me with fear and anger in her eyes. Before I could say anything, she took off running into the woods.
I think that’s the moment when the shock overwhelmed me and I passed out.
Chapter 5
When I woke up the next morning, I was in a bedroom that was not my own.
Sunlight was streaming in through a large window. The bedroom was huge with a high ceiling. Before I got a chance to look around anymore, I heard footsteps coming down a hallway and toward the bedroom.
I sat up in the bed.
The doorknob turned and the door slowly opened.
It was him—the mysterious jogger.
He had shaven his facial hair and there was only a slight bit of stubble on his face. His hair had also been cut into a neat, clean style. He seemed like a different man, but it was still surprisingly easy for me to recognize him. Maybe it was the look in his eyes—those intense, dark green eyes that he had locked on me.
“How are you, Samantha?” He asked, with a wide smile on his face. He was wearing a very stylish three-piece suit that perfectly complimented his slim but muscular physique.
How did he know my name? I didn’t remember telling him. But there was so much that I didn’t remember.
There were so many questions that I needed to have answered.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I said. “But I have no idea where I am.”
He laughed and smiled at me warmly. “Yes, I thought you might ask me that,” he said.
“You are in my mansion.”
“A mansion?” I said in disbelief.
“Yes, it is located very deep in the forest, much deeper than you have ever been. I am sure of that.”
He came over and sat down on the bed.
I swallowed hard and had to look away from him. This was all too much for me.
“Have you recovered from the fall you took yesterday?” He asked.
It took me a minute to recall what he was talking about. So much had transpired in my life, so many strange things, during the last twenty-four hours.
“Yes, it was nothing,” I said. “And thanks again for coming to my rescue. I’m not sure what I would have done without you.”
“I love helping beautiful souls,” he said while staring directly into my eyes. I almost melted beneath the intensity and the passion of his gaze.
I began blushing. My pale face turned deep red.
“It’s true. I could tell there was something beautiful about you when I first saw you. Many, many, years ago.”
I looked up into his eyes.
“We both grew up in this town,” he said. “I saw you many times when you were a young girl. You were always a little bit chubbier than the other girls. And you were the only one that I was really attracted to.”
I couldn’t help smiling. That was such a sweet thing to say. What girl could resist such a compliment?
“I knew that you were different because you would always say hi to my father.”
“Your father?” I said. “Now I’m really confused.”
“Yes, my father. He would often walk through the forest disguised as a homeless man. He was not homeless. He was a very good businessman and he made a tremendous fortune for himself at a young age. But once he had obtained the money he discovered that he was no longer happy. He yearned for a simpler life so he began a search for the perfect location. The search stretched over several years but he finally found this location, deep, very deep inside the forest. This is where I have lived all my life.”
I had nothing to say in response. It was still hard to make sense of what he was telling me. But it was clear from the look in his eyes that he wasn’t lying.
“So was your father a—” I couldn’t quite get the words out. Maybe I was afraid to offend him. Maybe I still couldn’t believe that the wolf and the man were the same being.
Thankfully, he didn’t have trouble understanding what I was trying to ask him.
“A wolf, you mean,” he said with a smile. “Yes, he was a wolf as well. That’s why he chose to live so deeply in the woods. This is where we wer
e meant to live. I feel at home here.”
He turned his eyes away from me and sighed. Suddenly it seemed like he had been overcome by an extreme sadness.
I reached out and touched his arm. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
He took a minute before answering. I feared that I had done something to upset him.