Chapter 19 #2
I returned to the woods. I needed to find shelter again before I lost the light.
The sun had well and truly set by the time I found another cave, but my night sight had always been solid.
The light of the full moon helped a little with that.
Knife in hand, I headed into the darkness.
I could hear bats overhead but if they didn’t bother me I wasn’t going to bother them.
I slumped down and welcomed sleep. Tears threatened but I refused to let them fall. Tomorrow, I would find humans to help me. Tomorrow I would try again. I was not going to die out here. I refused.
The next morning, a low rumble found me in my sleep. A strong arm wound around my waist. Safety. I turned to roll into the warm chest I knew would welcome me but all I found was cold, hard stone. I blinked my eyes open. I was alone.
Kole.
I hated that I thought of him. Hated that my treacherous body missed him. I pushed those green eyes to the back of my mind and reminded myself why I had run.
I straightened, stretched, and crept out of my cave.
Scanning the area, I found that I was alone still.
My luck was holding. I headed for the river.
The bear dung had all but worn away now but the smell still remained.
Again, I fought the urge to submerge myself.
The wolves might be able to scent me now, but the bear scent might confuse them at least and I needed every advantage I could get.
My thirst sated, my stomach growling with hunger, I got on the move, keeping the same fast and steady pace as the day before.
Yellowstone was an easy enough place to be found if you were near a tourist attraction, or had people looking for you.
I had neither. Away from sign posts, with no rangers searching for me, no gear, I was in a lot of trouble.
But that didn’t mean I was giving up. The wild was my element. I’d find my way out.
My day brought me bison, deer, but thankfully, no more bears or wolves.
But the night came again and still, I was no closer to knowing how to get out of here.
I had no luck finding another cave or crevice to rest in either.
I searched for a tree to be my haven for the night but lodgepole pines weren’t a good option.
I huffed in frustration when I lost the light and was forced to stop looking. I found a spot between a cluster of rocks. This would have to do for tonight.
I wanted to take off my boots to give my blisters a break but I didn’t dare, I might need to run again at any moment.
My head ached from Oatis’s beating and the fall from the cliff.
Days of hunger had my stomach twisting in painful cramps, and exhaustion had my vision blurring sporadically.
Even for me, as strong and as quick of a healer as I was, I knew how much trouble I was in.
I shivered with cold as Yellowstone sang its nightly lullaby. The sound of the river rushed in the distance, an owl hooted overhead. I was tired, afraid, but the exhilaration of freedom was there too. I was happier out here and starving than I’d been chained at Kole’s feet with a full belly.
I sat, contemplating how I was going to get out of here. I couldn’t walk forever. I was tempted to build a giant signal fire but I didn’t fancy playing a game of ‘who will find me first?’ If it came down to a race between wolves and a rescue team, I wasn’t betting on the rescue team.
I slept badly, green eyes haunting me, too exposed to let my guard down.
When I was younger and spending my first night in a new foster home or shelter, I had a dozen ways to block the door so I could sleep peacefully.
A chair, a fork underneath the door, a weapon under my pillow.
I slept facing the door. Always. Out here, there was no safety to be had.
Just blind hope, and blind hope had never come through for me.
Eventually, I gave up on sleep and leaned back, looking up at the sky, and imagined I was anywhere but here.
I played that game many times as a child.
It was ironic that as a child, my ‘anywhere but here’ had always been in the wild.
I stifled a laugh, but all amusement fled as a howl pierced the air.
I froze…they were here. Gulfs or Maclays I didn’t know. I sank further into my hiding spot. Running wasn’t an option right now. In the dark I would break an ankle and they would find me in minutes. I had to hide and hope the bear shit would cover my scent well enough that they would miss me.
Heavy paws on the earth approached and I held my breath as the beast wandered around the clearing, pausing over rocks, its breathing ragged. I waited for the sound of other wolves to join it, but it seemed to be alone.
It passed me by, heading upwards to the highest rock point.
I dared to open my eyes. Its fur I didn’t recognise.
This wasn’t Kole, and with it being alone, I doubted it was a Maclay wolf.
It was huge, Kole and Jonah’s size. Definitely larger than the other werewolves I’d seen.
Was this Alpha Carson? The animal shook itself, the moonlight glinting from its grey fur.
It turned and I noticed heavy scarring on one side of its face.
It moved strangely, as if its joints were stiff.
For a moment, I looked straight at it, and the blackness of its gaze drew me in.
I shivered. Every other werewolf I’d seen was a fearsome beast, but in its eyes you could still see the person inside.
They kept the colour of their human eyes.
But this wolf…There was nothing. Only an endless black.
It let out an almighty howl, one that chilled me to my bones, before it climbed over the ridge and out of sight. I released a breath, panting.
I passed the rest of the night wide awake, tracking the moon across the sky and praying for the sun to hurry.
Barely after light, I climbed out of my hidey-hole.
I saw nothing. I relieved myself and straightened, fastening my jeans.
My stomach cramped, nagging for food, but I ignored it.
Right now, water and movement was all I could focus on.
I thanked the stars I wasn’t stuck out here during the summer when the heat would deplete my electrolytes and food would be a daily concern.
I stretched, warming my muscles up for another day of running, when I felt a tingle up my spine. I turned my head, my insides turning cold at the amber yellow eyes fixed on me.
The wolf was some metres away up on a higher rock. Not a giant werewolf, a smaller, regular wolf. It watched me, curious. Almost instinctively I reached for my camera before remembering Kole had it locked away somewhere. This was a moment I wanted to capture forever. Before being eaten, that is.
The animal took a cautious step forward, its lithe muscles moving with such grace I almost forgot to be scared. But as it drew closer, its teeth flashing in the sun, I pulled out my knife.
“Okay, beasty,” I muttered, “I really don’t want to hurt you. Any other day I would be more than happy to meet you but today is just not the day to fuck with me, alright?” The animal paused, taking me in, but gave no sign it was going to attack. It came closer and my grip on my knife tightened.
It took another step, and another, until it was only a few feet away.
I wondered what it was doing. Wolves were notoriously shy, especially alone.
It stared deep into my eyes, and I stared back, all fear leaving me.
The animal stared for long moments as if it was trying to figure me out.
Eventually, giving me a satisfied huff, it moved on.
I sat back on the rock, knife still in hand.
If an animal didn’t kill me out here I was going to die of a heart attack anyway.
I’d had some very close encounters with wild animals during my career but wolves were notoriously shy.
Could that wolf sense my connection to his kind?
Or was I just so beaten at this point that it was considering eating me and the bear shit had put it off?
Still reeling from my meeting with a real life wolf, I headed for the river, drank my fill, then picked up the pace at a run.
Today, I needed to make for higher ground and get some idea of where I was heading.
I returned to the spot I’d passed the night in.
The rocks I’d hidden in built to a higher cliff that might give me a solid view of where I was.
The climb wasn’t going to be an easy one and it would take valuable time that I needed to put distance between me and Kole, but I couldn’t just keep wandering aimlessly. There was nothing for it.
Despite my hunger, my exhaustion, and my fear of being caught, I felt alive.
I felt freedom. The bird song was familiar to me and the deer and other wildlife were fascinating.
I would never know who I inherited my wild blood from but I knew I belonged out here.
Not cuffed and chained. Not muzzled and kneeling.
Hours later, I stood at the top of the cliff, surveying the area. Ahead, miles away, I saw another ridge similar to my own, the river leading me that way. I would head for that and stop again, and maybe from there I’d be able to see a sign post or road?
The wind rushed through me and, for a moment, I didn’t smell the bear shit or feel the fear or exhaustion. I stood there, revelling in the quiet peace that came with ultimate freedom, until I felt a familiar tingle ripple over my skin that set fear pooling in my gut and heat in my core.
Kole.
He’d found me.