a Witch's Wolf

Episode 6 - Many

Episode 6 - Many

Where there was one there were many. The thought flooded her senses. She didn't even know where it came from, but the thought overwhelmed her and she had to get moving. She had to put some distance between her and the b****y deer and then she had to get this blood off herself or they'd just think she was an injured animal and attack her anyway. She was hoping it'd go for the deer but she wasn't about to spook it into chasing her. Slow and steady, she thought to herself. "Please don't chase me." She said softly. Her voice quivered at the end and it broke him. She was terrified. He had grown up always seeing himself as the hero and right now he was literally the big bad wolf. He wanted to tell her it was okay, don't be afraid. He could walk her home and find out what she was actually doing out there. Instead, he would chase her all the way home.

She pulled a small bottle of peroxide from her bag. It was the least weird multi-use antiseptic she could carry around, plus it instantly removed blood from fabric. She poured it over her hands and wiped them on her shirt but finally just pulled it over her head and tossed it to the ground.

The very last thing in the world he had ever expected was for her to take off her shirt. If he could think of anything beyond her beautiful chest glowing in the moonlight, he would probably think that was very clever of her. After all, she didn't know he was him, she thought he was just a wild animal. He couldn't think though, so he just watched her back away in slow motion as his mouth went dry. Something primal inside him was erupting. He couldn't help but pant and when she bumped into a bush and tripped over a few roots, he growled without meaning to. Eventually, she turned away and ran. He had to force himself not to chase after her. He'd make sure she made it home, but he wasn't going to scare her any more than necessary. She got turned around a few times but eventually found a familiar marker and then she was like lightening. He followed her to her lamppost, watched her make her way up to the house and assumed she had made it to bed safely. He stared at the big looming house on the hill from the deep shadows of the woods long after she must have been asleep. It was dawn before he crawled into his own bed and fell asleep. He couldn't bare to avoid her all day after last night, he was taking a sick day.

She barely slept a wink and couldn't bring herself to go into the woods in the morning. For the first time, she took the long windy road to school instead. She wore a pretty scarf her mom had found in Paris and hoped it would bring her as much comfort as cover, using it to shield herself a little at every car and bus that passed by. The walk home was even worse though, and she wished she'd just stayed in bed instead.

An entire day of rest was exactly what Noah needed. As the sun set he found himself on all fours again, tearing his way through the trees. He wasn't intentionally thinking about her but found himself drawn to her part of the woods anyway. He followed her usual path to the edge of her house and circled around. He was about to take off, get a good hard run in and head back home when something brought him up short.

He caught a new scent and followed it as it weaved and circled around. Whatever it was, it was something dark, a witch he was sure, but the scent, the taste, he knew it was not his witch. He shook his brain, she wasn’t his anything. Before he could focus on where the scent was leading him, he heard it. A ball of flame, conjured out of thin air from the dark and he barely dodged it. The smell of singed wolf hair lingered in the air. It would only take a moment for him to alert the pack that he was in trouble, but then he'd have to explain what he was doing here, in the witch's side of the woods. Better he find a way through this on his own for now.

He circled around, following the scent. It was tricky, up and down it used the trees. It wasn’t an ordinary witch and the scent was so unfamiliar, it hadn’t been in the woods here before… at least not since he had been coming around. It was not soft and earthy, it was sharp and spicy, it left a bitter taste on his tongue and a burning feeling in his nose.

The closer he got, the more he wanted to turn away but he wasn’t about to give up so easily. Whatever it was had attacked him first and worse, it had been circling around her gates. It would surprise him later that he was feeling so protective of her but at the moment, his instincts were at maximum and this predator was an immediate threat. He wasn't about to let it go without a good fight, fireballs and everything. This was what he was built for. A real fight between a witch and a wolf. He'd never been more ready for anything in his life. His speed and strength were an advantage, his heightened sense of smell, hearing and taste led him within inches of his target too many times for either of them to be happy about. A green haze drifted around him, it burned his eyes but he barely used them at this speed anyway. Just when he thought his lungs would explode if he breathed in any more he caught something, just an edge of flesh, but he wasn’t about to let go.

He pulled it to the ground, they skidded on the dirt and he lost his grip when they rolled. He tasted blood, he smelled it on the ground and followed the trail. It had gone straight up and he followed. He wasn't as agile, but he made up for that with speed and strength. Whatever he was after, was hurting and that fueled him.

Just when he was about to close his jaws around it again, a sudden shock lifted him off the ground and he flew through the air. Before he slammed into a tree and slid to the ground in a thud, whatever he’d been chasing was already gone, knowing where there was one wolf, there were many.