My Christmas Wish Alpha

Suddenly, I'm a Tracker

Neviah

My breath catches in my lungs, which is a good thing because it helps me stay quiet.

Something approaches, close to the alcove. I feel a tickle in my throat like I want to cough, but I don’t. Holding my stick up, I get ready for... anything.

Whatever it is, I hear it scamper away after a few moments. Thrusting my hand to my chest, I breathe heavy, trying to calm my racing heart.

Of course, there are going to be sounds of nature in the forest. Not every noise out here will be something out to get me.

But the things that are out to get me are pretty bad right now: a pack of huge, angry wolves and a giant of a man who may or not be coming back.

Okay, Nev. Let’s calm down and consider the situation.

The man saved me, I think. Yes, he did. I had a pack of wolves closing in on me alone on a highway and carried me off away from them. He wouldn’t have done that if he were going to just turn around and hurt me.

Right?

But... I could have closed the doors and locked them. It’s not like a pack of wolves can break into a car. So, was he saving himself and took me along for the ride... or rather, run?

It doesn’t make any sense.

Number two is the pack of wolves. I’ve read my share of information about wild animals, and I’ve seen a ton of nature documentaries with my mom. Wolves hunt weak animals as a pack: an injured deer, maybe a baby who couldn’t keep up with the herd.

I suppose I might have seemed like a weak animal, alone in the dark. But couldn’t that man just stand tall and they’d back down?

It just doesn’t make any sense.

Then, there’s the... whatever commotion it was that I heard. Did he really go out and fight a whole pack of wolves barehanded? Maybe they killed him. Maybe he’s never coming back.

And I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.

Ugh. This is going to be a long night.

***

My eyes feel red and raw by the time there’s a hint of light coming from the entrance of the little cave. I doubt I even blinked much last night.

The stick is still in front of me, my pathetic weapon against whoever or whatever might start coming after me. But so far, nothing has.

When people say they’re chilled to the bone, I don’t think they know what that really means. But in this sorry excuse for a coat, I feel like I’d be warmer if I were turned inside out.

What an odd thing to think. I must be exhausted as well as cold.

And I’m hungry. Thoughts of that wonderful Christmas dinner sitting uneaten in my cute little food carrying container in the trunk have my stomach growling.

It takes a few stomach growls before it hits me. It’s Christmas morning. If Steve hadn’t been the world’s biggest most useless lowlife cheater, all my wishes would have come true. We’d be cuddled up by his fireplace in the cabin right now, talking about our future. I’d be admiring my beautiful new engagement ring, and he’d still be thanking me for his cufflinks.

Ugh, those cost me a fortune. And they’re still back in the open car. I’m sure someone has stolen them by now, so I’ll never be able to return them and get my money back. I suppose if the thief reports my abandoned car, I should thank them. That’ll get the police out looking for me.

Nev, you moron. What kind of a thief calls the police?

I shake my head and stop yelling at myself internally. It doesn’t matter right now. I have to think. I need to get some food somehow, as well as something to drink.

I’ve read that trying to eat snow just makes you more dehydrated because it’ll lower your body temperature. So, I guess I won’t do that. Maybe there’s a creek nearby that isn’t frozen.

Or maybe I really can make it back to my car. I have juice there, and a water bottle. There’s food there too, and my phone. Maybe I can even get my tire on and drive myself out of here.

It’s tempting, especially when my stomach growls again.

“Okay,” I tell myself decisively. “Let’s go.”

Before venturing out, I sneak a peek around the corner, outside the cave. In the dim daylight, I see that it’s nothing but a strangely formed rock that has a crevice making up the cave area. It’s not deep, but it’s the only dry spot in a world that’s otherwise surrounded by thick snow.

The trees here are so abundant that I can’t see the horizon. But I do catch a glimpse of the bright orange sun rising in the distance, filtering through some tree trunks. Overhead, the sky is a bright, brilliant pink. Against the tips of the snow-covered pine trees, the scene is breathtaking.

And everything is silent, not eerily so, just peaceful, different. If I weren’t starving and freezing and completely lost in a strange forest, I’d say this is the most beautiful Christmas sunrise I’ve ever seen.

But I am—freezing, starving, lost—so I need to get moving if I’m going to make it back to my car.

Unfortunately, every direction looks exactly the same. It was too dark to tell which direction the man ran me here from last night. I don’t have a compass, and even if I did, I don’t know which way the road is from here.

And then I see it: tracks in the snow!

While it did snow more last night, it was just a dusting. The deep tracks of the man are still clearly visible, even though they are covered with a thin blanket of fresh snow. All I have to do is follow them back.

I can do this!

The snow is deep overall, but I manage to jump between the footsteps—goodness, this man is tall—and he had packed the snow solid enough with each step that my shoes don’t go deeper.

I’m glad I wore sensible shoes to the cabin. They’re not snow boots, but at least my feet are staying warm.

After I start getting the hang of this and make it quite a distance away, a gasp escapes my mouth before I can stop it.

I’ve come to a clearing, and the snow is stained in deep red.

Blood.

This must be where he fought the wolves last night. He really did that? Oh, my stars in the heavens, what kind of a fool does something like that?!

Sure enough, the clearing is full of broken branches and much-disturbed snow where there was obviously a scuffle, as well as all the blood.

I can even smell it. The whole forest seems bathed in a coppery, putrid stench.

Holding my mouth, and my nose, I weigh my options. I can see the footsteps continuing past the clearing. It’s the path back to my car. I could return to the cave, but I’ve come so far, that seems like a bad choice.

The daylight is getting stronger, illuminating the forest but also casting long shadows through the trees. Somehow, that makes it harder to see the footsteps far in front of me, but I know they’re there.

I have to keep going.

Trudging along, I pass the bloody clearing as quickly as I can, deciding that once I get on the other side, I won’t look back.

I don’t.

It has to be close to noon before I spot what looks like the road through the trees. I break into a run, or at least, as much of a run as I can handle while jumping between the hulky man’s footsteps.

I’m starving, freezing, and the shoes I was grateful for are starting to get wet, and the freezing cold water is beginning to soak into my socks.

I can change them when I get to my car.

But when I finally reach the road, a lump the size of a boulder falls in my stomach.

It’s completely empty.