Wolves

Chapter 9

Three more weeks go by as I sit on my stone, staring at the moonlit sky. A night that would be peaceful to others has now become haunting to me. I can't seem to find my way home; I began to wonder. Am I being punished? I know I was a rebellious teen, always getting into trouble. Sneaking out, drinking, or perhaps for letting myself be a doormat. One thing I can say about being out here is that there is no room for doormats here. I was never one to use my voice, but now I catch myself correcting the animals when they are in danger. I noticed the wolves have been following me instead of their pack leader. At first I felt disturbed by it, because I know a pack leader has to lead. But even he nodded his head to me as if giving me the okay. I led the pack to a good hunting ground; though I am opposed to eating animal meat, I had to do what was needed to survive. We found rich and savory meat, plenty enough for us and the wolves. The bears mostly eat the fish they catch; the tiger and wolves have shown me herbs that are safe to eat as well. I adapted quickly; it almost scares me. Sometimes I wonder if I am even trying to find my way home.

The pack leader noticed how heavy and depressed I have been; a few weeks ago he pushed me to go run with them. I was cautious at first, because it was dark and late. I was worried I would fall or slip, but I trusted the process and trusted the wolves and their path. Slowly, it became easy as I ran just as fast as they did. Last night we took a different path, one with a cliff. I was concerned at first, but then I let go and made the jump. The feeling was exhilarating; I looked back at the cliff I had just jumped from as the wolves howled in the full moonlight. I smiled at the moon as I let myself be bathed in its light.

When we got back to the cove, the tiger and her cubs, the bear cubs, and mother were all waiting. I wondered what they wanted; normally they would be lying down, but it wasn't long before we all lay together to sleep.

I woke up with the tiger cubs jumping on me. I sat up to stretch as I noticed no one was around. The animals were all gone. I looked around in a panic, thinking the worst, only to see the mother bear at the cave entrance. I let out a breath of relief as I stared back at her. She started nodding her head up and down, which means she wants me to follow. I got up with the tiger cubs at my feet as I walked to her. As I approach her, I nod my head as she turns to lead us out under the waterfall. When we got out there, the mother tiger, cubs, and wolves were all waiting. I looked towards her in confusion, she just nods her head twice. A sign for me to just trust them. I look back towards them as the wolf leader turns to walk towards the forest, the rest follow. Not just the wolf pack, but all of them follow. The mother bear walks past me as she follows his lead, she stops to look back towards me. I'm starting to get a weird feeling about his morning. I take a deep breathe as I follow the rest of the pack.

At first we walked, then it became a light jog as we crossed rivers. This path was different than our normal one, this is kinda of normal. Sometimes we would take a different path, but not one like this, this, this was different it felt different. The pack got faster and faster. At some point I fell behind, it wasn't till the leader wolf loooked back at me that I quickly relized they were taking me some where. So I ran faster, as fast as I could, we ran for what felt like miles, I felt like we would never stop. Until the pack leader came to a stop. I stopped a few feet behind them, I watched as they were all staring at something, watching something. My heart was beatting so fast. I couldn't tell if it was my adreniline or becuause I knew what they were staring at. I slowly approach where they were standing. As I got closer I heard music getting faint, and sounds that sounded like someone was sitting. I hesistated for a moment. I tried to pace myself and my heart, I looked to the pack as the lead wolf turned his head towards me. We locked eyes, for a moment, then he turned his head back to where everyone was looking. Something about that calmed me as I took more steps forward. I felt like my body was on auto pilot, each step felt unreal, each breathe felt staggered, my ears were ringing, I felt unreal. The closer I got to the wolf I felt something inside me, before I knew it I was standing right next to him as I was standing at the center of something I never thought I would see.