The Lost Wolf

    I took a step and paused at the snap of a twig beneath my feet. I let out a slow breath, watching the warm air turn to vapor in front of my face and braced myself. There it was, the low growl. I turned my head and the pair of bright, golden eyes were still on me. Begging to make contact. I looked at them head on and it was as if they were staring into my soul. Something distant tugged at the back of my mind and I was no longer afraid. The owner of the eyes stepped into the moonlight and what I saw made me draw a breath. A wolf. A jet black wolf that was unnaturally large. With long, thick fur and a swinging tail. Was it wagging?     I took a curious step forward and reached out my hand. The giant wolf laid his ears back and tilted his head but he didn’t growl and he didn’t move away. I took another step and I wondered in awe what his fur felt like. Was he going to attack me? Was he going to run away? Was he going to let me pet him?     A breath away now. So close that I could feel the warm air from his snout on my hand. I hesitated for a second. One more step, half a step even, is all it would take for me to be able to touch this impossibly large creature. To feel his fur on my hands. Taking a deep breath in I urged myself to move that half step… Knock, knock, knock!     Loud raps on my door invaded my brain. In just a few seconds I was thrown out of dreamland and into reality. The tugging on my brain coming to a halt. Knock, knock, knock!     “Wake up, Kenzie! You’re going to be late!” My moms hectic voice slammed into me and I jumped out of bed. Crap. I hated being late.     “I’m up!” I yanked the door open and ran passed my stunned mother into the bathroom.     Grabbing my toothbrush and the toothpaste I shoved it into my mouth as I plugged in my straighter. 30 seconds later the blue light indicated it was hot and ready to be used. I finished brushing my teeth and ran the hot iron through my wavy blonde hair until it was straight and then I threw on some makeup and ran back into my bedroom. Thankfully, I had already picked out my outfit the day before so I didn’t have to waste any time mulling over what to wear. I got dressed and went to check myself out in the full length mirror hanging on my closet door.     To be in such a hurry I looked good, really good. I am short at 5 foot 4 inches tall with strawberry blonde hair that stops just beneath my breasts. I’ve been a cheerleader all through jr high and high school so my body was strong was nicely shaped. I was wearing hip- hugging skinny jeans that accentuated my booty and a pair of white flats, a light pink crop top that showed off my mid section and the gold jewelry dangling from my belly button. Topped it off with a sheer, floral, kimono that hung just below my bottom.     “Kenzie! Five minutes!” I inwardly rolled my eyes at my moms warning and grabbed my book bag, stopping for just a second as the weird tugging came back.     “Bye ma!” I shook it off and ran down stairs, grabbing my car keys and heading out the door before my parents could protest at my chosen outfit. My parents were far from strict but they were also conservative and wouldn’t approve of my crop top and certainly not of my piercing that I had gotten with a fake ID. **********************     I pulled my bag from the back seat of my black Camaro and walked inside the building. Immediately bombarded by Taylor and Tyler. My best friend and my boyfriend, who happened to be twins. Taylor was tall and feminine with a stick straight figure and brown hair. Tyler matched her height and her hair color but as captain of the football team he was much more muscular than his sister. Taylor squealed and threw her arms around my midsection.     “I missed you SO much! Paris was sooooo boring without you! Next year you HAVE to come. Right, Ty?!”     “Yeah, babe. That’d be great.” He agreed, looking at me. I smiled back at him and let him throw his arm over my shoulder. They had invited me this year, the problem was, I had an airplane phobia and didn’t exactly want to tell the two world travelers that I was a chicken. Ding! Ding! Ding!     Everyone scattered at the sound of the bell. Tyler kissed my cheek promising to see me at lunch and slinked away. Taylor looped her arm around mine and we found our way to our English 102 class and took a seat in the back. I was listening to Taylor chat away about Paris and how boring it was and how she didn’t meet ANY cute guys when the tugging in my head started to grow, it was starting to get painful. Like little pin pricks at the back of my skull. What IS this?     “Oh Em Gee! Who the heck is THAT?!” I turned my attention to follow Taylor’s gaze and came eye to eye with the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. His broad shoulders and muscular chest stood out beneath his plain green tee. He was tall, taller than Taylor and Tyler. Probably, easily over 6 feet. He had shaggy, jet black hair and his eyes… there was something so familiar about his eyes but I was certain I’d never seen him before. HIM I would remember. Shake it off, Kenzie!     His gaze flitted across the room and locked with mine. He smiled. A huge, dazzling smile that almost took my breath away and made my heart thump. Before I could comprehend what was happening he was walking my way. The tugging in my brain turned into a roar the closer he got. It had turned into full blown scratching and clawing like something was trying to escape from my head. I looked into his eyes and saw his look of concern and then everything went black.