by Amy DeMeritt
“Go get cleaned up. We’re going to pick up at the pistol to the back and do the fight scene again so we can get some different angles. Nice work ladies. It looked great.”
Most of the sand and sweat I have all over me is left intact, but Julia has to be completely brushed down, removing all of the sand, and her face has to be cleaned and makeup reapplied, to remove her sweat.
After the makeup crew is done fussing over us, we’re alone on the sidelines while we wait for the set crew to finish making the barn look the same as it did just before Julia showed up.
“You have to stop standing there like that.” I look over at her confused and Julia’s eyes are slow to scan up my body and meet my eyes. “What’s wrong with how I’m standing?”
“Places!”
The director calls us back to set before she can answer. She just grins and looks at my abs for a moment, before walking to get into position.
When we get to the part of the scene that I have to grapple on the floor with her to disarm her, Julia’s hands move over my body, more than was scripted for her to. After our fight, and she punches me in my jaw, her kiss is even more intense than before. Instead of gripping my hip like she’s supposed to, she palms over my abs, digging her fingertips into my muscles. I try to pull back, but she holds me firmly and pushes me against the barn wall.
This isn’t good. She’s not following the script. I gently push her shoulders back, breaking her mouth apart from mine. She releases a sound of frustrated arousal and moves in to kiss me again. I smile, and firmly hold her cheek, holding her at bay.
“Welcome home, baby.” Breathlessly, she coos back, “I missed you.”
I allow her back in to kiss me, and as she regains her wild kiss, I pick her up and start walking towards the barn door.
“Cut!”
I set Julia down and the director walks over rubbing the back of his head. He stops close to us and looks around, as if checking how close people are to us.
“Ok, listen, that looked great – better than the original plan, but can you handle doing it again right now or do you need a break to cool down?”
“I’m good.”
“Good. Go get cleaned up. Oh, and this time, do the scene exactly the same as you just did it. Don’t lose Kayla’s attempts to break free from the kiss and your disappointment and desire for it to continue. But don’t add anything else.”
We’re asked to do the same scene with the increased intensity three times. Then we spend over an hour posing for still shots for promotional campaigns. The makeup artists spend a long time getting the sweat and sand ratio just perfect on my abs and arms, so they can accent my muscles.
When we’re released for lunch, its after two o’clock and I’m starving. Julia follows me into my dressing room and lounges out on the couch. I sit down in the armchair, and open the cooler to see what Shannon packed for me.
“Yes!”
I pull out a bottle of iced sweet and fruity herbal tea that Shannon and Awenasa created. I take several big gulps and exhale hard as the delicious brew rushes down my throat to sit cool in my belly. Julia laughs at my reaction and starts unbuttoning the blouse of her work suit.
“Do you want some of this? Shannon packed enough for both of us.” Julia smiles and pulls her shirt off, before laying back in just her bra. “What is it?”
“Well, this is fruity herbal tea they make themselves. And the note says, there are two salads with pecans, goat cheese, green apples, and lemon vinaigrette. And two steak sandwiches on rye with horseradish sauce, provolone cheese, and coleslaw.”
“That sounds delicious.”
Julia sits forward as I set the containers down on the coffee table and she reaches for the tea first. I open my salad and my eyes close and a small moan escapes my lips as I take my first bite. Damn, this is so good. I dig my phone out of my bookbag and send Shannon a text thanking her for lunch.
Shannon: You’re welcome, sweetie. Glad you’re enjoying it. How is your day going?
Me: Good. We finished the scene and took some promotional shots, but we’re not being released early. After lunch, we’re going back to the woods to do the scouting scene that happens before I was captured.
Shannon: The scene that you’re chased by a real wolf?
Me: Yeah. I’m excited to meet the wolf. I better finish eating. They only gave us half an hour today. I love all of you. Talk to you later.
Shannon: Ok, be careful. We love you too.
Chapter Nineteen
After having lunch together, Julia and I change into some black tactical pants, long sleeve shirts, and boots. Our hair is put up in ponytails, and we’re given belts with pistols and knifes, and sleek black climbing backpacks. The bags are loaded with some climbing gear, a first aid kit, and fancy high-tech surveillance binoculars. They don’t really work, because they’re just props, but in the actual movie, it will look like I’m able to see for great distances and take pictures with the device.
We film the long hike into the woods, and our climb up a mountain side to do surveillance of the enemy base in an old abandoned saw mill. After we make our hike back down the mountain, the stunt director explains the final sequence involving the wolf to us.
As he’s going through the entire scene for the third time, the back of my neck tingles. I turn my head and smile. There’s a huge white wolf with bright blue eyes on a leash held by a tall man with broad shoulders and salt and pepper close cropped hair. The wolf is staring right at me while she sits next to her trainer on her hindlegs.
“Kayla, you got it? Kayla?”
I glance at the directors and Julia, but just wave to them as I turn and start walking towards the wolf. The wolf shuffles on her hindlegs, leaning forward like she’s going to walk to me, but then looks up at her trainer, as if torn between the two of us.
“Hello, I’m Kayla.” He smiles and extends his hand to shake mine. “I’m Denver and this is Aura.”
“May I?”
He nods in approval, so I bend down to pet her. Her eyes close and she bends her head in closer to me. I run my hand over her snout and brush my hands over her ears and firmly pet her jaw and neck, making her release a cute little whimper. She opens her eyes and lifts a paw, offering it to me to hold. I take her paw and she lifts her other paw, resting it on my shoulder, and lays her face on my shoulder. I smile really big and wrap my arms around her
“That’s incredible.” I look up at Denver and he’s watching with concern, but mostly intrigue. “Aura doesn’t take to people this easily without my commands.”
“Really? She’s magnificent.”
He smiles really big and Aura lifts her head and licks my face as if she understood me. She looks like she’s smiling at me and it makes me laugh a little. I rub her face again and she licks mine again.
“You are a very beautiful wolf.”
She releases a small bark, tilting her head back, as if in acknowledgement of my compliment, and then lays her head back down on my shoulder.
“Kayla, can we get back to work?” The directors look impatient, but Julia has an amused smile on her face. “Yeah, ok. Sorry.” I pet Aura, kiss her between the eyes, and stand up. “Ok, I’m ready.”
As we start to walk away, Aura whimpers. I look back at her and almost laugh. She’s sitting on her hindlegs and has a paw up in a begging pose with her head slightly cocked to the side. I pet her head once more before walking away.
“Someone, get a lint roller and clean Kayla. She’s covered in fur.”
I laugh a little, but the stunt director doesn’t look amused. After I’m cleaned off, we’re told to get into position and action is called.
In character as Grace and Robin, Julia and I descend the slope, but freeze when we hear rustling in the trees nearby. We’re in the open and at least seven feet from the nearest tree to hide behind. We slowly unsheathe our pistols, and press our backs together. While we wait for whatever is approaching, we slowly step sideways, staying pressed together, working our way to
wards the woods in the opposite direction of the advancing sound.
Aura, the wolf, emerges from the woods in front of me and Julia spins around to stand next to me with her pistol aimed at the wolf. We continue slowly stepping away from her, but Aura trains her eyes on Julia and her back arches as her face transforms into a vicious snarl. She growls and takes several slow menacing steps towards Julia. As Julia lifts her pistol higher, the wolf sprints forward. I push Julia out of the way, and Aura freezes and whimpers as she sits on her hindlegs in front of me.
“Cut!” The directors and Denver walk over and they look between Aura and I with confusion. “What happened?”
The director is looking at Denver, who has his arms crossed and is looking at Aura, as if trying to figure out what she’s thinking. Aura is staring at me with puppy dog eyes and a slightly parted mouth. She looks like she’s smiling and it’s adorable. I try to reach out to pet her, but the stunt director holds up a hand, blocking me. Aura immediately gets on all fours and growls at him.
“Aura, sit.”
She looks at Denver, and then at me, hesitant to take his command. I nod once and she sits on her hindlegs. Denver looks at me with a smile and laughs a little.
“What the hell is so funny?” Denver glances at the angry stunt director for a moment and then at me. “You call yourself The Dancing Wolf because you identify spiritually as a wolf, right?”
“That’s correct. The wolf is my totem.”
“Interesting.”
“What does Kayla’s identity crisis have to do with why this dog won’t perform?”
“Excuse me? My identity crisis? First of all, asshole, I’m not confused on what species I am. I know very well that I am human. Second of all, don’t insult my culture and my beliefs. What the hell is your problem today?”
“He’s just pissed off that you fixed that scene yesterday that he couldn’t get right.” I glance at Julia, who is glaring at the stunt director, and so is everyone else. “Lose the attitude or you’re off of the project till you do. You need to suck it up and get your head right so we can figure out how to finish this scene.”
The lead director is giving the stunt director a look of absolutely authority and impatience, as if he won’t tolerate one word of argument.
“Fine. Denver, what are we dealing with?”
“Wolves have a very strong loyalty to the ranks of alpha, beta, and omega. Aura is an alpha among my other wolves, while she takes the beta, or second in command, next to me. It appears that Aura has identified Kayla as alpha, me as beta, and herself as omega, which is the lowest rank in an animal’s natural caste system.”
“She identified Kayla as alpha over you? You’re more than twice Kayla’s size and you’re her trainer. She doesn’t even know Kayla.”
“The wolf can sense dominance and power on a deeper level than outside appearances. It says a lot about Kayla’s character, because Aura has never given the seat of alpha to anyone other than myself. We’re going to have to approach this differently. Kayla, you’re going to have to learn the cues and commands to try to get Aura to perform. Even if the commands come from you, there’s no guarantee she’ll be aggressive towards you. It’s rare for a lower rank to challenge an alpha, and it usually is only as a result of the alpha disgracing themselves and losing trust.”
“So, any idea’s if the wolf can’t attack Kayla?”
“Well, we could have a stunt double fill in and then use CGI to replace them with Kayla. Or, we bring in a different wolf.”
“I doubt bringing in a new wolf will work. Like I said, Aura is my pack’s alpha. If she…” The stunt director waves his arms and shakes his head. “Ok, I got it. We don’t need to keep rehashing the ethology of the wolf. How long is it going to take to teach Kayla these commands?”
“Not long, maybe an hour.”
“Fine, get to work.”
The directors clear the set, giving us space to work, and Denver starts showing me some simple body language techniques to get different reactions out of Aura. She follows me pretty easily for most of them, but anything that requires her to show aggression or power towards me, doesn’t work. After thirty minutes of trying his techniques without any results, I get an idea.
“Julia, go to the sidelines. I have an idea, but I don’t want you to accidentally get caught in the middle if it doesn’t go well.” She grabs my arms, turning me to look at her. She searches my face with worry and shakes her head. “Don’t you dare disgrace yourself and cause her to really attack you.”
“I’m not going that route. I’m going to play with her like a child.” Julia’s brow scrunches in confusion, but she looks up at Denver, who smiles and nods. “It could work. If Aura views this as play wrestling, she may be able to perform for this scene. But Kayla is right; you shouldn’t be in the direct vicinity.”
“You better be careful.”
She gives me a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, before she walks away. Denver backs up several paces, but remains close enough that he can jump in if things go south. I bend my knees and face off with Aura like I would if I was playing with Joey and the other kids at the family gatherings. Aura’s ears perk up and her tail starts wagging. I take a fast taunting step forward and she backs up. I take a deep breath, and allow it to grow in my belly, before releasing a loud deep growl. Aura barks once and shakes her head, taking another step backwards.
I bend my knees deeper and lean forward some, releasing another growl. Her reaction is the same, but as I get on my hands and knees, she tentatively steps forward, twitching her head from side to side, looking uncertain. I run a hand over her head, and she whimpers and nuzzles in my neck.
It takes a lot of coaxing, but I finally get her to play wrestle with me. We roll around on the ground some, and she playfully bites at my arms and legs, but not enough that it actually hurts or that I’m worried. After several minutes, I hop up on my feet, facing off with her, and release another menacing growl, reestablishing my authority. She growls and backs up some, but then playfully barks and spins around once. I growl again and wave my arms forward, beckoning her forward to counter me. She slowly follows my command, taking a couple steps closer while she growls, but doesn’t bare her teeth.
I switch tactics to the subtle body language techniques that Denver showed me, and she understands and follows. After another thirty minutes of coaching her, I finally get her to snarl while baring her fangs and leap on top of me, pinning me down. I smile and she immediately stops and licks my face before laying down on top of me with her head on my chest.
Julia, the directors, and Denver walk over smiling and clap their hands a few times. Aura only slides her eyes to the side for a moment to look at them, but doesn’t seem the least bit interested in really acknowledging them.
“It’s a little creepy how good you are at growling like a wolf, but you did good. Are you ready to try the scene?”
I’m surprised the compliment comes from the stunt director. I smile and pet Aura as I sit up and encourage her off of me. She climbs off of my chest, but stands right next to me.
“Thank you. I think we’re ready now.”
I motion to Aura to follow Denver and then a couple women come over to clean the fur and dirt off of me. It takes five takes to fully build Aura up to the performance that the directors want, but each take is better than the last and vastly better than the first. By the time we finish, Aura does exactly what we need her to do, and I’m exhausted.
While we wait to be told we can go home, Julia and I sit down with our backs against a tree. Aura gently trots over and lays her head in my lap. I smile and pet her head and back.
“She has really bonded to you. She’s going to have a hard time saying goodbye.” Denver is standing in front of us watching Aura and looks torn. “I’m going to miss her too. Would it be weird if I come to visit her when I’m in town?”
He smiles and bends down, calling Aura to himself. She lifts her head, looking between Denver and I, and whines. She slowly stands
up and rubs the side of her face against mine before walking over to Denver. He rubs her head and back with a sad look on his face.
“I love this wolf like she is my own child. I think it will break her heart to leave you.” He looks up at me with glossy eyes and a defeated sort of smile. “Would you care for her?” I look at him confused and sit forward some. “What do you mean? Are you offering her to me?”
“I am. It would be a huge financial and emotional blow, but I’ve seen what happens when a wolf is taken from the human she bonds to. It’s destroys them.”
“I don’t know what to say. I would definitely make sure she’s taken care of, but are you really sure you want to part with her?” He nods and kisses Aura’s head. “Call her to you.”
I make a clicking sound with my tongue and Aura perks up and practically leaps for me. She sits in my lap like a child and lays her head on my shoulder. Denver calls her back, but she whines and stays on my lap.
“She belongs with you. She has chosen you.” I smile and rub her back and side. “The financial burden you mentioned – how much is it? If I can ease part of your suffering from this, then I would like to try.” He pulls his wallet out and hands me a business card. “Call me later and we can discuss it. Would you like to take her home tonight?”
“Seriously?”
He smiles and walks over to pet her. Aura lifts her head to lick his hand, but lays back down on my chest.
“I think she’ll whine all night if I take her. I can come with you to help her get settled if you want.”
“Will she be ok with my wives when I have to leave her to come to work?” He nods and scratches her side. “She will sense that she’s home and that you’ll be coming back to her.”
“If you’re really ok with parting with her, then I’d love to add her to my family.”
Chapter Twenty
I sent Awenasa a text to let her know I’m bringing home the wolf and Denver, but didn’t get to go into detail about possibly keeping her. When I pull into the driveway, with Denver close behind me, they come out of the house to meet us. I give each of them a quick hug and kiss and introduce Denver to all of them. When he opens the back of his van, and unlocks her cage, Aura jumps out and comes running over to me like an excited little puppy, even though she’s a full-grown wolf and reaches my hips on all fours, but can place her paws on my shoulders standing on her hindlegs.