The Armored Wolf

by D Wolfe

  Ellie looked at him. She hoped that she was calm enough to tell him everything. Her heart was beating very quickly. “Jared is here. He might try to hurt me again.” She answered in her head.

  The armored wolf growled. “We have to get you to the chamber.” He said. Ellie climbed onto his back and held onto him. The armored wolf looked at Mrs. Wolfe. “Keep Jared away from the kids and the forest. I’ll protect Ellie in the temple.” He told her in her mind. Mrs. Wolfe nodded. She then returned to the dining hall.

  Darian carried Ellie to an old building. Ellie looked at the building. It looked like a temple. “Is that the place?” Ellie thought and looked down at Darian. Was this the place that they were supposed to keep her safe in?

  The armored wolf nodded. “ We rebuilt this place when we discovered this land but managed not to disturb the original design.” He explained to her. He carried Ellie into the temple.

  Ellie looked around as they went in. All around them were stone statues of armored wolves. Ellie slid off of Darian’s back. “This place was built to honor the armored wolves?” She asked. She thought it would have been torn down a long time ago.

  “Yes.” Darian answered in Ellie’s mind as he sat down. Ellie looked at him. She thought of something. “ Why is it that whenever you’re in human form, you don’t speak a lot but as an armored wolf, you don’t mind talking?” She asked curiously.

  Darian looked at her before he shifted into his human form. “I find it easier to think as an armored wolf.” He answered.

  Ellie went up to him. “I think people wouldn’t think you’re strange if you did more as a human.” She said and smiled. Darian laughed quietly. Ellie sat down in front of him and looked at Darian. “Why did you choose me to protect?” She asked.

  Darian looked at her. “When I first saw you at that school, I knew you were in need of protection. I thought if you were here, you would be safe for a while. I didn’t count on Jared coming here to the camp.” He explained. He then took Ellie’s hands in his. Ellie looked at their hands before she looked at him. “I’ll do all I can to protect you.” Darian told her.

  Ellie took out her breakfast and began eating it. Darian looked towards the entrance of the temple towards the camp. He then turned into an armored wolf without warning. Ellie looked at him. “What is it?” She asked, startled.

  Darian went up to her. “It’s Jared. He got past Denthro and is heading into the forest. Denthro, Demeter and David will try to stop him from finding us. Derek and Diane are coming here just as a precaution.” He thought to her. He then turned to the entrance as Diane and Derek ran in. Ellie went up to Darian and held onto him. She wasn’t going to let go of Darian if it was Jared unless Darian ordered her to. Darian returned back to his human form. Ellie took his hand. “Is he headed this way?” Darian asked.

  The two siblings nodded. “He claimed he found her trail.” Diane answered.

  Darian frowned. That didn’t give them much time. “Stay here at the entrance. Act like statues if he comes. I’ll try to hide Ellie in one of the special statues upstairs.” He ordered them. The two nodded and turned into armored wolves.

  Ellie backed up a bit and gasped when she saw that. Diane was a slender grey wolf with silver armor. Derek was brown with brown armor. Darian turned into an armored wolf and looked at Ellie. “Get on.” He told her. Ellie got onto his back and the two went upstairs.

  Darian took Ellie to the top of the old temple. There were four stone statues of armored wolves. They were facing the center of the room. There was a giant stone armored wolf in the center. He looked like he was about to jump into the air. Darian took Ellie to the center statue. “Get off.” He told her gently in her mind.

  Ellie slid off. Darian turned back into his human form and went up to the statue. He got up onto a pedal stool and pushed the wolf’s nose. The statue opened up to reveal a human size slot.

  Darian got off and looked at Ellie. “You can get into it now.” He told her.

  Ellie looked at it. “Is it safe?” She asked, worried. She didn’t want to get trapped in the statue.

  Darian smiled and took her hand. “It is safe.” He told her. “And I’ll make sure that you don’t get hurt or trapped.” He answered.

  Ellie went up to the statue and entered it. She looked at Darian. “Thank you.” She said softly. Darian nodded and turned into his armored wolfe form. The statue closed around Ellie.

  Ellie sat down. She began to think about Darian. There were three things about him that she knew. One was that he was an armored wolf. Two was that he acted mysterious around everyone to try to keep it a secret. And three was that she had feelings about him. “Darian?” She thought.

  “Yes child?” He responded in her head.

  “Who are Denthro and Demeter?” Ellie asked. She hadn’t heard those names before.

  There was a bit of laughter. “ They’re Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe. They’re my adoptive parents you might say.” He answered in her mind.

  Ellie was surprised by that. “What do you mean?” She asked.

  “You’ve probably heard that Diane, Danielle and Darine were adopted, right?” Ellie didn’t answer. Darian continued. “I was also adopted when they found out what I was. I was the first one they adopted.” He then growled, startling Ellie. “Jared is close by.” He said. Ellie gasped and tried to be as quiet as she could be.

  Jared went into the old temple. He knew that that little brat of his as there. He had followed her trail. Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe and David stopped outside a bit away from the entrance. “Sir. Please leave that building. It’s a sacred place.” Mr. Wolfe called after Jared. Jared didn’t listen to him.

  “Sir, you’ll anger the ancient spirits.” Mrs. Wolfe called out. By the entrance, Diane and Derek’s eyes turned to each other. “Ancient spirits?” Diane thought. Derek laughed in her head. “ Why not? We’re armored wolves in a place full of statues.” He did have a pointed. “Just wait for it.” Jared then entered the building. He looked around and tapped a statue on the nose.

  “Now?” Diane asked. Derek nodded. The door slid shut. Jared spun around in alarm. He didn’t realize that the place even had a door. He hadn’t seen it when he came in. It must have been hidden above the entrance. “What’s going on here?” He shouted, thinking that the three who had tried to stop him would be able to hear him. “Why did the doors close?” He demanded.

  That was when he heard growling. He turned around and looked. There were only statues of armored wolves there. That was when two armored wolves came out of the shadows. Not stone statues but flesh and metal. They were growling at him. Jared backed up a bit, startled by what he was seeing.

  “You have disturbed our resting place.” One of the armored wolves snarled in his head. Jared stumbled back a bit more. He was not expecting to hear that in his head. “What is the meaning of this?” He demanded. What were these things? There was no way that they were real. The armored wolves continued to growl and walk towards him threateningly. Freaked out by this, Jared ran up the stairs to the second level.

  On the top floor, Darian’s head snapped up. “ He’s coming.” He said in Ellie’s head.

  Ellie looked towards the direction of the stairs. She couldn’t see them but she knew where they were. “What are you going to do?” She asked in her thoughts.

  “Act like an ancient spirit of the temple.” Darian replied in her head. “Diane and Derek did that and scared him up the stairs. Now I’ll scare him back down.” Darian then hid in the shadows. “If this works, he won’t ever come back here.” He told Ellie, trying to cheer her up. Ellie sighed with relief as she leaned back and stayed quiet.

  Jared ran up to the top floor and stopped running. He looked down behind him. There weren’t any more growling or armored wolves on the stairs. He sighed with relief. He had gotten rid of them. He then turned around and nearly screamed. He took a step back. There was a large armored wolf and it looked like it was ready to jump. Jared froze for a minute. Not wanting to become wolf food. He the
n sighed with relief. It was just a statue. He laughed and punched the armored wolf. “There’s no such thing as armored wolves.” He said to himself, laughing. “I can’t believe that I thought those things were real back down there.”

  He then heard a growl from the shadows. He face fell and he slowly turned around. He couldn’t believe it. Standing there was a large armored wolf. It was in black armor that seemed to go with his black fur. The armored wolf was growing and glaring at Jared. “How dare you!” The armored wolf’s voice rang in Jared’s head.

  Jared took a step back, scared for his life. “ No one dare calls the armored wolves fake and hits my statue!” The armored wolf continued. His voice still loud in Jared’s head. Jared stood there shocked. He realized that his situation had just gone from bad to worse. The armored wolf snarled and barked at him. Jared screamed and ran down the stairs.

  Darian laughed in his head and turned into a human once he was sure that Jared wasn’t coming back up the stairs. He went to the statue and opened it. Ellie was staring at him, her eyes wide, clearly in fright. Darian could tell that something was wrong. “What is it?” He asked. “Jared isn’t here anymore.”

  Ellie slowly came out. “You actually snarled and barked.” She said quietly.

  Darian nodded. “And?” He asked.

  Ellie looked down. “It freaked me out.” She confessed.

  Darian sighed and knelt in front of her. “I’m sorry if I freaked you out but I only did it to scare him off.”

  Ellie smiled and looked at him before she hugged him tightly. “Thank you.” She whispered. Darian smiled and held her for a little bit. Ellie then backed away. “We need to join the others before they wondered what happened to me.” She told him. Darian nodded. They went down the steps.

  Outside, the three were joined by the others from the temple. “Jared is gone. He ran off screaming.” Mr. Wolfe told the group that had been inside the temple. Ellie smiled brightly. She was safe for now.

  “Denthro. Take Ellie back to the group of eighth graders that she’s supposed to be with.” Darian told his dad.

  Ellie looked at Darian and her face fell. “You’re not taking me back to them?” She asked. She clearly sounded disappointed. She wanted him to stay close by to protect her.

  Darian nodded. “I have to go alert the others to what happened.” He told her. He looked at his family that was present. “None of us should change into our armored wolf forms for a while.” He told them. “No doubt Jared is going to tell the police about what happened here and demand they investigate. If we stay clear of changing into our wolf forms for a few days, they’ll think he’s just crazy."

  Mr. Wolfe smiled. “He won’t go to the police.” He told them. “He can’t reveal this without admitting that he trespassed here and risked putting people in danger.” He looked at Ellie. “You’ll be safe here for the rest of the week.” He told her. Ellie was so happy about that that she could only smile.

  Chapter Nine

  The week went by faster than Ellie thought possible. She was having so much fun that she began dreading that she would have to go back home to her mean stepdad. He no doubt would punish her terribly. He might even hurt her. She had a feeling that her mother had gotten beaten for helping her go to the camp.

  That Thursday, late at night, Ellie was at her cabin with the other girls. Everyone but Ellie was asleep. She couldn’t sleep. She decided to talk to Darian. Thinking about Darian always cheered her up. She got her shoes on and walked quietly to the door. She began to think hard on Darian. “Darian, please come here.” She said in her mind. A few minutes later, the wind blew the door opened. Ellie smiled. She knew that time had been frozen. She went outside.

  Standing near the door was a black armored wolf. Ellie smiled and laughed quietly when she saw him. She pushed the armored wolf playfully and they fell to the ground. The armored wolf barked quietly and Ellie wrapped her arms around him. She didn’t want to let go of him ever. She buried her head in his fur.

  The armored wolf looked at her. “ You called me Ellie?” He asked in her mind.

  Ellie sat up and nodded slowly. “Yes. I’ll be going home tomorrow.” She said. She sighed a little because she knew that Darian already knew that.

  The armored wolf nuzzled her comfortingly. “I know that that is a problem.” He told her in her mind.

  Ellie nodded and began crying softly. Darian knew and he was still willing to be there with her. That made her feel really special. “I’m worried that my stepdad might try to do something bad to me.” Ellie confessed. She put her head against the armored wolf and cried more.

  The armored wolf turned is head until he had Ellie between his head and body. “It’ll be okay.” He told her softly in her head and rubbed her back with his head.

  Ellie kept crying. “Are you sure about that?” She asked. She didn't see how it would be okay. Nothing would ever be okay with Jared around.

  The armored wolf rubbed her back more. “I will always come to you when you need me to.” He told her in her head before he sat up.

  Ellie stayed against Darian. She rubbed her head against him. “When will I see you again?” She asked in a small voice. She pressed herself against him.

  Darian looked at her. “When you call for me to help you.” He told her in her head.

  Ellie then yawned. Darian stood up. “You should be getting to bed.” His voice said in her head.

  Ellie stood up as well and stroked the armored wolf’s head. “I know I might see you at school when you get your siblings but I’ll miss you.” She told him softly.

  Darin looked up at her. Ellie knew what he was going to say just by looking at his eyes. “And I’ll miss you Ellie.” He replied in her head.

  Ellie hugged Darian and cried some more. They both stood there for a few minutes until Ellie was done crying. Ellie looked at Darian. He was still there. She could tell that he cared for her. That reminded her of her feelings for him. She leaned in and kissed Darian on the top of his head and rubbed her head against him.

  The armored wolf tilted his head curiously. “Why did you do that?” He asked.

  Ellie smiled a little. She knew that he was talking about the kiss. “Darian. Ever since I first met you Monday night, I began having feelings for you. At first I didn’t know what they were but now I do know.” She reached up and with a trembling hand, touched the armored wolfe’s face. “I love you.” She told him. “I really love you.” She hugged the armored wolf again.

  Darian looked at her. “You love me?” He asked, his voice sounded surprise.

  Ellie nodded. She could tell that she had caught him off guard by telling him that she loved him. “With all of my heart.” She answered. “I love you more than anything else in the world.”

  Darian turned to his human form. Ellie hugged him tightly. Darian wrapped his arms around her. Ellie hoped that Darian was telling her that he loved her too by holding her in his arms. “Call on me when you need me and I’ll be there.” Darian told her.

  Ellie smiled and took a small step back so she could look at her Darian. “Stay safe my armored wolf.” She told him. Now that she had him, she didn’t want to lose him. Besides her mom, Darian was all she had.

  Darian brushed Ellie’s hair back. “Stay safe my Ellie.” He replied. Ellie’s heard started beating faster. He had called her his Ellie. Maybe things would be better after all. She smiled and kissed his quickly before she went into her cabin.

  Darian watched her until she was in the cabin before he changed into his armored wolf form. He ran to the sacred grounds. Derek, David and Diane were there. They looked at Darian as he joined them. Darian turned back into his human form.

  “What is it?” David asked.

  Darian looked at him. “Nothing.” He answered. No point in telling them about Ellie being in love with him just yet. Since they could hear what each other were thinking, they would find out about Ellie being in love with him soon.

  Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe joined them. “We all know w
hy we’re here, do we not?” Denthro asked. They all nodded. The memory of Jared being there was still fresh in their heads.

  “Good. Ellie will be going back home tomorrow and there’s a chance that her father, given his record, will try to hurt her for coming here.” Mr. Denthro told them. “We were able to keep her safe for the week but once she goes home, he’ll have the home field advantage.”

  Demeter then broke in. “We already found out that he killed his wife on Tuesday in an angry fit.” She told the four teens. “I reported it in after witnessing it from a hiding spot but the police weren’t able to find any evidence to prove it. He told them that she had simply run away. I did hear him though shouting at her that he was going to do the same thing to Ellie. I have the police patrolling but unfortunately I doubt that they’ll be helpful. After all, it was hard to miss hearing his wife being killed but no one did a thing to help her.”

  Darian frowned. “What are you saying?” He asked her. He had to know just how dangerous Jared was. If Jared proved to be more dangerous, Darian knew that he might have had to change his plans on how to keep Ellie safe.

  Mrs. Wolfe shook her head. “What I’m saying is that no one is going against him or challenging him.” She told them. “I’ve also looked into his past. Turns out he has a violent history that had been covered up by former police in the past.” She shook her head. “Apparently he scares people and he still does.”

  Derek nodded. “When a few of us went to spy on him, he was cursing, screaming and had been drinking a little too much apparently.” He added.

  Darian raised an eyebrow. “And no one reported him in it?” He asked. That sounded a little hard to believe. Why didn't anyone go report him?

  Derek nodded. He knew it was impossible to believe but it was true. “We tried to ask people who lived near him if they ever reported him and all of them said no.” He answered.

  Darian shook his head before he looked at Denthro. “What are we going to do?” He asked his dad. “We can’t let Ellie go back to Jared if he’s untouchable.” There was no way he was going to let Ellie go through that alone.