THE WOLF WHO WASN'T MEANT TO EXIST

‎ ‎ ‎Mara had always believed that love was supposed to feel safe. Maybe that was why she had ignored all the little things. The unanswered messages. The cancelled plans. The way Daniel had started turning his phone facedown whenever she walked into the room. The way his hugs had become shorter and his kisses had become almost meaningless. She had noticed everything. She had simply convinced herself that it didn't matter. People changed. Relationships changed. That was what she kept telling herself. And as long as Daniel still told her he loved her, Mara had been willing to believe him. Until that night. Mara pushed open the front door of the apartment with a small smile on her face. She had spent the entire afternoon thinking about Daniel. She had even stopped at his favorite restaurant and bought his favorite meal on her way home. It wasn't anything special, but she wanted to surprise him. The apartment was unusually quiet. "Daniel?" she called. No answer. She frowned. He had told her he would be home. Maybe he was asleep. Mara walked farther inside, holding the food carefully in one hand. Then she heard laughter. A woman's laughter. She stopped. Her smile disappeared. For a moment, she wondered if she had heard incorrectly. Maybe it was something from the television. Maybe one of Daniel's friends was visiting. She took another step. The laughter came again. This time, there was no mistaking it. It was coming from the living room. Mara's heart began beating faster. She slowly walked toward the doorway. And then she saw them. Everything inside her went completely still. Daniel was sitting on the couch. And there was a girl sitting beside him. Too close. Much too close. His arm was around her waist. Her head was resting against his shoulder. Mara stared at them. The food slipped from her hand. The container hit the floor. Neither of them moved at first. Daniel looked up. His eyes met Mara's. For one second, she waited for him to look shocked. She waited for him to jump up. She waited for him to explain. Instead, his face hardened. "Mara." Her lips parted. She couldn't speak. The girl beside him slowly sat up. She looked at Mara, then at Daniel, then back at Mara. There was something almost amused in her expression. Mara finally found her voice. "Who is she?" Daniel sighed. Not nervously. Not guiltily. He sounded annoyed. "Mara, don't." "Don't what?" She looked at him. "Ask who she is?" Daniel rubbed his forehead. "This isn't a good time." Mara let out a shaky laugh. "You're right." She looked at the girl again. "Then maybe you can tell me who she is." The girl crossed her arms. "I'm his girlfriend." Mara felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath her. She looked at Daniel. "She's lying." Daniel said nothing. "Daniel?" Still nothing. Mara stepped closer. "Tell her she's lying." He looked at her. And in that moment, Mara knew. She didn't need an explanation. She already had one. "How long?" she whispered. Daniel looked away. "Does it matter?" Mara stared at him. "Does it matter?" Her voice broke. "I've been with you for two years." "I know." "And you're cheating on me." "I didn't plan for this to happen." The girl rolled her eyes. Mara looked at her, then back at Daniel. "You're not even sorry." Daniel stood. "I said I didn't plan for it." "You didn't answer me." "What do you want?" "I want you to apologize." Daniel's expression remained cold. "I'm not going to apologize." Mara's eyes filled with tears. She blinked quickly, refusing to let them fall. "Why?" "Because things between us haven't been good for a while." She stared at him. "So you cheated?" "I found someone else." Mara swallowed. "And you couldn't tell me before sleeping with her?" Daniel shrugged. "I didn't know how." A tear finally slipped down Mara's cheek. She wiped it away quickly. The girl beside Daniel looked at her with a small smile. "You should probably leave." Mara looked at her. Something about the way she said it made Mara feel smaller than she had ever felt. But she didn't respond. She looked at Daniel one last time. "I loved you." Daniel didn't answer. Mara waited. Nothing. Not even a simple apology. She nodded slowly. "Okay." She turned around. "Mara." She stopped. Her heart foolishly jumped. For one foolish second, she hoped he would finally say sorry. He didn't. "Take your things when you're ready." That was it. Mara stared at him for several seconds. Then she walked away. She didn't know where she was going. She only knew she had to get out. She walked down the street with tears running freely down her face. People passed her without knowing what had happened. Cars drove by. Music played from a nearby restaurant. The world continued as though hers hadn't just fallen apart. She eventually sat on a bench in a small park. Her hands were trembling. She pulled out her phone. There were no messages from Daniel. No missed calls. Nothing. She stared at the screen for several minutes. Then she opened their old photographs. There were hundreds. Daniel smiling at her. Daniel holding her hand. Daniel kissing her forehead. Daniel telling her that she was the only woman he would ever need. Mara stared at one particular photograph. She remembered that day. She remembered how happy she had been. She remembered believing she had found the person she would spend the rest of her life with. Now the photograph felt like a lie. She locked her phone. "How could you do that?" Her voice was barely audible. She lowered her head. For the first time in two years, Mara allowed herself to wonder whether she had been the problem. Maybe she wasn't pretty enough. Maybe she wasn't interesting enough. Maybe she had loved him too much. Maybe she had been too easy to hurt. The thought made her cry harder. By midnight, she had made a decision. She wasn't going back. She didn't care where she ended up. She just wanted to be somewhere Daniel couldn't find her. Mara packed a small bag with a few clothes and left the apartment. She didn't say goodbye. She didn't leave a note. She simply walked. Hours passed. The streets became quieter. Eventually, the buildings disappeared and were replaced by long stretches of trees. Mara stopped walking. She looked around. She had no idea where she was. Her phone was almost dead. The road ahead was empty. The darkness surrounding her suddenly felt much heavier. She hugged herself. "Great." Her voice trembled. "Just great." A cold breeze passed through the trees. Mara shivered. She turned around. Nothing. Then she heard it. A low growl. Mara froze. Her heart slammed against her ribs. She slowly turned toward the forest. "Hello?" Silence. She took a cautious step backward. Another growl came from between the trees. This one was deeper. Closer. Mara's breathing quickened. She couldn't see anything. Then two golden eyes appeared in the darkness. She stopped breathing. A huge black wolf stepped slowly out from between the trees. Mara stared. She had never seen a wolf that large. It was enormous. Its fur looked almost black beneath the moonlight, and its eyes seemed strangely intelligent. Mara took another step backward. The wolf didn't move. It only watched her. She should have run. Every instinct inside her screamed at her to run. But something about those golden eyes held her still. Then headlights appeared behind her. Mara turned sharply. A black SUV was approaching. It stopped several feet away. The driver's door opened. A man stepped out. He was tall, dressed in dark clothes, with an expression that immediately made Mara feel strangely nervous. His eyes moved from her to the forest. The wolf was gone. Mara blinked. She looked back toward the trees. Nothing. The man frowned slightly. "Are you alone?" Mara looked at him. She didn't know why, but something about his presence made her feel both safer and more uneasy at the same time. She nodded. "Yes." "What are you doing out here?" Mara looked down. "I was walking." "At this hour?" She didn't answer. The man studied her face. He seemed to notice her swollen eyes. "You've been crying." Mara looked away. "It's nothing." He didn't believe her. But he didn't push. Instead, he glanced toward the forest again. Something about his expression changed, almost as though he had sensed something she hadn't. "Where are you going?" Mara hesitated. "I don't know." The man looked at her for a long moment. Then he opened the passenger door of his SUV. "You shouldn't be out here alone." Mara stared at the open door. Every sensible part of her told her not to get into a stranger's car. But she was exhausted, heartbroken, and completely lost. She looked toward the dark forest one last time. Nothing moved. Finally, she looked back at the stranger. "Who are you?" A faint smile appeared on his face. "My name is Adrian." Mara nodded slowly. "Mara." He repeated her name quietly. "Mara." There was something strange in the way he said it. Almost as if the name meant something to him. But Mara didn't notice. She was too tired to care. She climbed into the car. The door closed behind her. As Adrian walked around to the driver's side, Mara rested her head against the window and closed her eyes. She didn't know who the stranger was, where he was taking her, or why the strange wolf had been watching her. Right now, she didn't care. She was tired of running from everything that had broken her. For the first time that night, she allowed herself to believe that maybe things could finally get better. She didn't know that getting into Adrian's car would be the beginning of a life she could never have imagined. ‎