The Hidden Wolf

Chapter 4

POV Miracle

When we heard a knock on the door and knew it was Ronny. Ronny was the typical science nerd, but with the looks that could catch any woman he wanted. His long blond hair was pulled into a man's bun, with his gray and blue eyes hiding behind his smart-looking glasses, which I doubted that he needed. Sam answered the door as I stood staring out the window, trying to find any sign of the stranger in the park from the night before.

Sam filled in on what Andre had told us. Ronny walked over to me and gave me a side hug. “It will be OK kid; we are with you”. I looked at Ronny and gave him the best fake smile I could muster. I waited this long for answers, but they were not the answers I ever would have expected. The supernatural world was only in movies or books, not in my life. I was scared and excited at the same time. While I was inside my head, the guys had ordered a pizza. Andre had explained that we needed to leave the city with him once the night fell. Why were Sam and Ronny on board with all this craziness? Especially, Ronny was always the clear-headed and calculated one.

I hurried and changed out of my work clothes and started packing a bag for myself and a pumpkin. I could not leave her when I didn’t even know when I would return, or if I ever would return. Then I remembered the note from the night before. I nodded for Sam to come closer. I whispered to him “Should we tell him about the envelope left on my door last night?” “What envelope, what was inside of it?” Andre asked. Ronny picked the envelope up from the table and handed it to Andre. Andre growled and dropped the envelope. We all stared at him in confusion. “Wolfsbane spray, who gave you this?” Andre said with a gruff voice. “I didn’t know it was left on my door last night.” Andre was holding his hand close to his chest; I could smell burnt flesh. Then Andre’s musk pine smell started to change, all I could smell was pine and morning dew. I was confused. Was my nose playing tricks on me? Andre looked up at me, he could see the confusion on my face, “Can you smell my scent?” he asked. “Yes, you smell like musk pine, but now it has changed and is more line pine at dawn, with the morning dew.” He c****d his head to the side, “What does the envelope smell like to you? " he asked. I didn’t tell them of any smell on the envelope. “Vanilla mixed with caramel, why?”

Andre looked out the window to the sun setting, “We have to go. They will be back soon; this is worse than I thought”, Andre told us. Ronny put his hand on my lower back, “I agree with him, pack a bag and I will get Pumpkins things together.” I nodded and hurried around my apartment grabbing whatever essentials that I could think of.

When my bag was finished, I helped Ronny put Pumpkin into her carrier. She was still stressed. She didn’t like the smell coming from Andre. When I noticed his smell had changed slightly again, it wasn’t like musk or pine mixed with morning dew, and my nose didn’t burn as much. This time it was still pine, but with maple wood. Andre and I looked at each other “I will explain in time why someone’s smell changes to you”, he said. I nodded, and we all grabbed the bags that I had packed and made our way out of the apartment. As we walked down to Ronny’s jeep, I felt relieved. I was lucky to have Sam, Ronny, and Andre with me. What would have happened if neither of them were here for me? At that moment, I knew that I could trust Andre.

We all piled into Ronny’s jeep; Andre gave Ronny directions of where we were supposed to meet my mother. Ronny pulled out and started to weave in and out of traffic, trying to make it to Sam’s house quickly in the rush hour traffic. Andre was holding the oh crap handle with one hand, and the other hand on the dashboard. He seemed very uncomfortable with Ronny’s driving. I was studying him, and his reactions to everything, his smell had changed again to less of a pine smell, he smelled more like a field of wild lilacs at dawn. Ronny noticed me watching Andre, and smirked when he saw how Andre was holding on for dear life.

Once we pulled into Sam’s driveway, Ronny opened the garage and drove us in. As we got out of the jeep, Andre sniffed the air and let out a low growl. Which grabbed all our attention. “We were followed, I can smell several mutts outside, we have to leave now.” “Followed by who Andre, what do they want with me?” I asked. “No time now Mira, just get back in, I can’t take them all”. Andre had called me Mira. Was he starting to trust me too? Is that why his smell was changing?

Once we all were buckled back in, Ronny said “Hold on, we are going to lose them, Mira I want you to get lower.” Then he opened the garage door and hit the gas in reverse, as we were speeding in reverse out of the driveway, we saw two men starting to walk up the driveway. Ronny hit the brake before hitting one of the men who didn’t jump out of the way. The man disappeared before Ronny would have hit him. Then I smelled that wonderful vanilla caramel smell, I wanted to follow it. But Andre shouted, “Don’t stop, they are shifters, just hit them if they don’t move.” Then Ronny hit the gas again and we were out of the driveway and speeding back towards the interstate.

I could hear my heart beating rapidly with all the adrenaline running through me. Sweat was rolling down my back, then I felt a sharp pain in my fingers. I let out a loud growl as claws emerged from my fingers. Both Ronny and Andre looked back at me in shock, “We have to cool her off, she is starting to shift.” Ronny blasted the air conditioner and pointed the vent straight to my face. Sam started fanning me and removing my jacket. But my body was still burning up, I could feel the sweat soaking my clothes, and hair started to sprout out of my hands. I just stared at my hands in disbelief. Then I felt ice-cold water being poured on my head. Andre grabbed Ronny’s water bottle and emptied it over my head. My body was cooling down, and I watched my hands slowly transform from claws to human hands.

I sat back on the seat, taking some deep breaths. I felt so exhausted like I hadn’t slept or eaten in days. I didn’t know where we were going, or what would happen next. Pumpkin was quiet in her carrier next to me. When I peeked in on her, she was fast asleep. I was glad one of us could sleep.