The Good Wolf Delilah

“In, out. In, out.” I was telling myself, trying to get ahold of my breathing. It slowly became a wheezing sound and with each breath, my body trembled. I don’t know who is chasing us but someone is. I looked over and saw Daphne was still standing behind the same tree as she was before. The big bases of the bur oak trees surrounding our territory in Montana shield our small bodies exceptionally well with me only being 13 and Daphne who had recently turned 18. I snapped back to reality when I heard the sound of a heavy boot fall causing the sound of crunching leaves and snapping twigs. The sound was like a percussion band playing right next to me. He’s close. The smell of blood started to burn my nose. I couldn’t tell which one of us was hurt but I couldn’t look. We have to run! I bobbed and weaved through big and small trees just trying to find my way back to our pack. I lost sight of Daphne and that’s when the fear set in. I took a sharp corner hoping to lose whoever was chasing me. I hid behind a massive rock trying to balance my uneven breathing. My mind was like a racehorse running laps. I couldn’t calm down, I couldn't focus. Next thing I know I’m face to face with a huge brown wolf. I would’ve been terrified if I hadn’t looked into these eyes every day of my life. Daphne, my wonderful sister. Daphne has a heart of gold, with eyes to match.I completely forgot she could do that. She was able to shift. It’s new for her and very painful but we would do anything for each other. Always have and always will. I hopped on her back and she ran. I crouched under branches, constantly checking behind us. Earlier, the assailant was in human form, I could tell by the way he walked. Now as I was looking at him in the distance, I could see he was running after us in his dark gray wolf form. I’ve never seen him around our territory before. The trees seemed to tunnel and it felt like I was making direct eye contact with him, like he was right in front of me. It sent chills down my spine, right to my core. His eyes are so brown they almost look red. The color of evil and deception. I turned around right as a big branch hit me in my ribs like a hammer striking hot metal on an anvil. It stole what little breath I had worked so hard to regain. I flew off my sister hitting my head on a rock. I tried to fight to stay awake. Watching my eyelids flutter closed and forcing them back open. The ground around me was so cold I felt like I was floating on a glacier across the Pacific Ocean. The air blowing across my skin only added to the chilling emotions I had as I watched the gray wolf get closer and closer. “Mom, Dad. I love you. Daphne, I hope you make it out of here. You’re the best big sister anyone could ever hope for.” I closed my eyes and waited for the end. All of a sudden a massive reddish-brown wolf jumped over me and stood in a stance of pure protection. The wolf didn’t budge or flinch as the assailant came to a stop in front of us. The wolf in front of me seemed to get bigger with the way he expanded himself taking one step towards the other wolf and making him turn and run away. Out of nowhere, I could hear a dirt bike screech to a halt. With my eyes still fluttering open and closed I could see it was our pack Beta, Roman. He had a backpack on and quickly ran over to the wolf guarding me, leaving the backpack on the cold ground in front of him. I saw him quickly turn to my sister who in turn bowed her head as a sign of meaning no harm. When Beta Roman nodded his head back she quickly ran over to me. I felt the weight of her heavy head hit my stomach. The sound of her wolf whimpering flooded my ears. Roman took off his coat and laid it over Daphne, turning away. She shifted back, quickly putting the coat on and racing back over to me. I turned my head to see the alpha of our pack, Alpha Thomas. I turned my head making eye contact with my beautiful sister. I gave her a small smile as the world around me started to fade. As I felt two arms wrap around me and lift me off the ground I remember feeling safe in the moment but also left with so many lingering questions. I tried to ask ‘Who was that?’, ‘What had we done?’, ‘When would they strike again?’, ‘Where did they come from?’, ‘Why were they chasing us?’, ‘How did it come to this?’, but the words were frozen in my throat. There was something else I was beginning to wonder but then, I couldn’t fight it anymore. The darkness crept in.