14. Dirty, Dirty Wolf
Chapter Fourteen
Dirty, Dirty Wolf
MILES
I raced through the woods like a silver and black comet, bright sunlight dappling through the canopy.
My tongue lolled from my mouth as my claws dug into the ground for purchase, propelling me forward, faster and faster.
I swerved around a thick oak, leapt over a fallen log, crashed through a thick tangle of bushes.
Twigs and branches scratched at me but I didn’t mind in the slightest.
This was how life should be experienced by everyone, not just wolf shifters.
I wanted the entire world to experience the freedom that coursed through my veins and the unity I felt with the earth.
Nature healed all. She was called Mother Earth for a reason.
The nurturing, life-giving energy surrounded me a thousandfold as I ran through the forest as a wolf.
A long howl rose up from my chest. It seemed to echo through the trees.
I didn’t care that it was midday and that a hiker or jogger would hear.
I wanted them to hear. To listen to my call and be reminded that humans may be at the top of the food chain, but that chain was still anchored down to the dirt underneath my paws, connecting every other living creature together.
I continued to run, all the way back to the edge of the woods that bordered my neighborhood.
There I slowed down to a trot, my tail hanging loose behind me as my ears perked up.
The sounds of the city drew closer, louder.
I could hear cars starting, a father calling to his son to grab his wallet, two dogs barking loudly at each other.
It was there that I shifted back into my human form.
It was a painless process that took less than a minute to complete.
Anyone watching would have seen a mirage-like effect overtaking my shape, growing with me as my limbs changed shape and my bones shuffled and my organs morphed.
Once the haze in the air was gone, they’d see me standing in the same exact spot a wolf had been only moments before.
I brushed off some dirt from my shorts and straightened out my shirt. Clothes and accessories were only ruined when we’d shift into our were forms on the night of a full moon, but if we were shifting into our smaller wolf forms then everything returned once we became human again.
Convenient, because I certainly didn’t want to walk out of a random section of woods with my meat swinging left and right, greeting the neighbors before I got a chance to wave at them.
With my hands.
I stepped out of the woods and started down a dirt path that connected to the sidewalk.
It was a quiet neighborhood full of old one-story homes full of character, with large porches and delicate white picket fences that looked like they were straight out of a fairytale.
None of my neighbors were out, so I continued walking until I reached my home, marked by the charming blue door and the now-dying red rose bushes bordering it.
I unlocked the front door and stepped inside, feeling much more calm after that run.
I’d been getting worked up this last week.
Couldn’t explain exactly why. Some of it had to do with my growing and undeniable attraction to Dyl.
It wasn’t just sexual anymore, it wasn’t just physical.
It had grown to be a mental connection as well.
I truly enjoyed spending time with him, talking to him, sitting in silence with him.
We’d hung out a few times since that night he invited me over to play video games, but he’d been incredibly busy with the start of the new season and me with keeping all the players fit and healthy, that our times together were brief. Much shorter than I wanted them to be.
That realization frustrated me. It made me wonder which path in front of me would be a mistake and which would be a blessing. Should I follow my heart, or ignore the song that only Dylan could orchestrate inside my chest?
That wasn’t all that frustrated me, though.
I checked my phone for the hundredth time today with a twinge of dread.
It had become a habit of mine. Flinching at the sound of a text, bracing myself with every vibration, every notification.
Wondering when it’d be another unhinged threat from my stalker.
It had been quiet on that front, which only made things feel more ominous.
As if they were gathering themself in the wings of the stage, ready to leap out and finish me for the big finale.
I couldn’t let that happen. I made the decision around the midpoint of my run today, when my mind was most clear.
I wasn’t going to sit around and wait for something to happen. Nor would I rely on law enforcement that didn’t seem to have a good grip on this situation, especially considering I had to be careful with the information I gave them in order to not expose myself as a shifter.
So I decided I’d be finding this fucker before they got their hands on me.
I unlocked my phone and brought up my texts with Dylan.
MILES: Hey, remember you mentioned knowing a druid that’s a pro at finding people?
It didn’t take long at all for him to respond.
DYL: Yeah he used to date Yuni. Lives about thirty minutes out.
MILES: Do you have his number?
DYL: Better yet I have his address.
MILES: Can I just show up?
I was already grabbing my car keys.
DYL: He prefers that actually. Weird guy, didn’t last more than three months with Yuni. Also always smelled like garlic.
MILES: I’ll hold my breath. What’s the address?
DYL: I’ll tell you when you pick me up.
Huh. I didn’t want to involve Dylan in this more than he needed to be—which was not at all.
Bringing him to this meeting felt like I was tying the strings of fate together, wrapping them around the both of us.
Right now, apart from opening up to him about it, I’d kept him very separate from my stalker issue.
Even when the worry would eat away at the back of my brain like a bore worm, I’d stay quiet, not wanting to freak him out or worry him or make him think he had to do anything to solve this himself.
I knew he was stubborn, though, and he was likely being serious about not giving me the address unless I picked him up.
MILES: I’ll be at yours in ten minutes.
DYL: See you soon!
I was at his house in seven. He was already closing the front door as I pulled into his driveway.
He came out wearing a baby blue T-shirt and dark gray athletic shorts, with tall black Nike socks and a clean pair of white sneakers.
He’d just gotten a haircut so that it was nearly buzzed down all around his head.
The bold white birthmark streaked across the freshly buzzed side of his golden-brown hair, stretching over his forehead and connecting again at his brow.
Fuck, he was so damn hot.
He hopped in my car and for a second I wanted to lean in and kiss him hello, but stopped myself at the last second. He smiled at me and held his hand out.
“Let me put that address in your GPS.”
“Thanks, Dyl,” I said, handing over my phone. He opened the map and typed in the address he had saved on his phone.
“You probably could have just texted it to me,” I suggested as Dylan worked to balance two phones. He put his on his lap and gave me a shrug.
“I like making things harder for myself sometimes.”
I chuckled at that, wondering if he knew how hard he was making it for me. The map on the dashboard screen updated and pointed me in the direction I needed to go to find this druid and hopefully the answer to my problems.
“Is this about the stalker?” Dylan asked. The air immediately felt like it was sucked out of the car even though all the windows were up and the AC was blowing. “Sorry, I just figured…”
“It is. And I’m the one that’s sorry. I don’t want you getting involved in this, at all. I’m just tired of sitting back and waiting for something to happen. I want to try and find whoever this is before they can actually harm me.”
Or the people around me.
It hadn’t gotten to that yet, but I had no doubt that a lovesick psycho wouldn’t stop chasing me down because I found a significant other. If anything, that sounded like an even bigger recipe for disaster. It would be like dumping chum into shark-infested waters—just riling up the thirst for blood.
Dylan reached across the center console and grabbed my hand from my lap.
He squeezed it. My fingers laced through his, as natural as a tree’s roots twining through the dirt.
My breath hitched. I was grateful there was a dumb pop song playing low on the radio, or I’m sure he would have heard the breath get caught in my throat.
We hadn’t held hands like this before. How funny—we’d done things many would consider peak intimacy, but this right here, holding his hand in mine, it felt more intense and more powerful than anything else we’d done.
“I’m kind of already involved… and besides, I was at home thinking about jerking off for the third time today so you pulled me out of that.”
I laughed at his honesty. I squeezed his hand. “Maybe when we’re done with this we can make it to three together.”
He looked over at me and shook his head, smiling. “You dirty, dirty wolf. Love it.”
Our hands remained linked for the rest of the ride as we talked about other things, random shit, just to get my mind off the importance of what we were on our way to do. Before I knew it, we were arriving at the druid’s home.
It was on a long road at the end of a hilly drive.
It appeared to be the only house around for at least a mile, tucked back into a thick wall of tall evergreens.
The home itself appeared to be built so that it naturally flowed with the tree line.
The walls were coated in a thick layer of dark green ivy, and more of it trailed off the roof that extended above the porch.
There was a beat-up Honda parked in the driveway, the rear of it covered in all kinds of bumper stickers, almost all of them saying something about the environment.
“Guess we’re here,” Dyl said as I parked my car behind the Honda.
“If a druid doesn’t live here then I’d be shocked as hell.”
Dylan and I got out of the car. I looked to him, suddenly feeling cautious. There were no sounds or really any signs of life coming from inside the house, but the car told me that someone was likely here. “Are you sure we shouldn’t have called ahead or something? Sent an email?”
Dylan shook his head. “No, we’re good. He should recognize me anyway. Look, he’s got a Ring camera.”
We walked up the creaking steps of his porch.
There was a tickle at the back of my neck.
Something was off. There was something wrong about this, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint what.
I didn’t want to let my guard down but I also wanted to trust Dylan.
If he said this was okay, then it was likely okay.
Dylan rang the doorbell. The tickle at the back of my neck became more intense.
“Dyl, I think we should go back to the car.”
“It’s fine. Hello?” He spoke to the camera. “Hey, Hunter, it’s me, Dylan. I brought someone who’s looking for some help.”
I was about to insist to Dylan that we turn around when the tickle behind my neck became a tight snare around my throat. I shot my hands up to grip at the vine that was closing my airway like a boa constrictor trying to snuff out the life of its prey.
“He needs to find someone,” Dylan continued speaking into the camera.
I clawed at my neck. Coughed. Kicked toward the porch. Dylan turned around and his eyes went wide. He launched toward me as more thick vines snapped down from the roof and wrapped themselves around my arms, tight around my torso, continuing to close around my throat.
“No! Stop! Help!” Dylan tore and pulled at the vines but they wouldn’t break. They’d only tighten their grip. As if angry. My vision blurred. Lungs burned. Acid hot.
“Miles!” Dylan’s face was panicked. He tried to break the vines around my neck. I could feel him trying his damndest. Could see him through the pinhole that formed my vision. I wanted to apologize to him. Never should have brought him here. Put him through this.
No words came. No breaths. No help.
A dark curtain fell over my vision as I went limp.