by Gayle Riley
I howled some more and was finally able to calm down. I was panting and sweating and out of breath.
I was about to get up and brush myself off when I suddenly heard the sound of footsteps coming in my direction. I wasn’t sure whether to be scared or excited. Was someone who heard my cries now coming to rescue me? Or was someone out to prey on a vulnerable woman?
Fear gripped me.
The footsteps came closer and closer. I spun my head around from side to side. I still couldn’t tell which direction the sounds were coming from. But I was sure that they were coming toward me.
I could feel it deep down in my body.
I looked up. Now I could see someone running towards me.
A voice yelled, “I’m coming!”
I tried to pick myself off the ground but every part of my body hurt.
The person coming to my rescue was now only about thirty feet away from me. I got a very good look at him and recognized him immediately. It was the man from the day before—the mysterious, hairy jogger.
“Hey, are you all right?” he asked as he came to within a few feet of me.
Before I answered his question, my eyes roamed up and down his body. It was absolutely beautiful. He had long, muscular legs that were covered with a thick layer of hair. Even with all the hair, it was easy to tell that his legs were used to running long distances. Like the day before, he wasn’t wearing a shirt and I was thankful for that. His beautifully sculpted chest made my mouth water.
“I don’t know what happened,” I said. “I was running and the next thing I know I tripped and almost landed on my face.”
“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 toward 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 toward 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.
Melissa 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 Emily,” 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 Colin.”
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. I really have to be going,” he said.
“Colin, there’s no need to be afraid of us,” Melissa 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.
Colin 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 Melissa and me 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 Colin.”
“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 6
Colin
“You’ll never find another woman like me,” Melissa said putting her hands on my face, trying to pull me down towards her.
“Get away from me,” I said, turning my back to her.
“You know you love me. And even if you don’t you’ll learn to love me.”
“I told you ten months ago that it was over. Why do you insist on bothering me?
“It’s not over. I’m not going away. I love you and you love me. We’re going to have children together. We were meant to mate.”
“No, we were not meant to mate. I don’t want you as a wife and I don’t want you as the mother of my children.” I felt as if my head was going to explode. I had said these same words to her many times before. Yet she refused to accept them. I cursed myself for ever having gotten involved with her.
She turned her back to me, walked to the other side of my office and began sobbing.
This sort of drama was precisely why I didn’t need to have anything to do with women, why I had chosen to spend much of my life cut off from the rest of the world. Interacting with other beings brou
ght only pain and disappointment to me and to them as well.”
“It’s not that bitch, is it?”
I wasn’t sure what she was talking about.
She crossed her arms against her chest, sniffled, as the tears streamed down her cheeks, as her eyes tried to cut me into pieces. “Don’t lie to me. I saw how you stared at her yesterday in the forest. I saw the way you looked at her. Don’t lie to me.”
“Melissa, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I won’t let her have you. You’ll never be together. Never.
She darted out of the office, slamming the door shut.
For the next several hours I stayed in that room, staring out the window, reflecting on Melissa’s words. Had I stared at that human woman in some strange, revealing way? I wasn’t sure. But I still wasn’t able to get her out of my mind. I had to see her again. Until I did, I wouldn’t be able to think about anything else.
Chapter 7
Emily
I set the alarm for 10 p.m. 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!
Chapter 8
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 emerged 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 toward 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 me 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.
Before I could fall into his arms, I heard something rustling in the bushes. Colin’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. Colin’s whole demeanor changed. He had a menacing look on his face.
The other wolf kept its eyes locked on Colin. 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,” Colin 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,” Colin said. “Be gone!”
The wolf growled at us. It was a low, menacing growl.
That was all Colin could take. He howled at the moon. A bright light flashed. And when the light went away, Colin 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 Colin to get hurt.
The other wolf leaped at his neck and pinned him to the ground.
But Colin 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 Melissa. 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 9
Emily
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 Colin.
“How are you, Emily?” 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.<
br />
“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 compound.”
“A compound?” 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 woman 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. 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.”
