The Wolf's Song

As Light As Breeze

Diana

Michael’s gaze remains lost in my eyes, inscrutable, somehow, trying to decipher my secrets, as he seeks to understand the cause of my request.

“Are you... are you sure you want to see it?” he asks, one eyebrow raised, silence between us, and as his hands take mine, while his fingers toy with mine. And I nod, my heart beating a mile a minute.

“Let me see it, Michael, please...” I beg, placing a hand on his chest,”I know we’ve been through a lot today, and maybe I don’t exactly deserve a prize; but, after what has happened, it’s been easy for me to understand that this is a part of you that I don’t know. An important part that I’m dying to know.”

He doesn’t say anything, but only remains with his gaze on our joined fingers. For a moment I think he’s going to refuse, but then, carefully, he says:

“It can be intimidating”, he warns me. “It has nothing to do with the wolves you’ve seen before. Not even Francis, who is the biggest wolf after me in the area, is as big as I am.” His eyes find me then and his fingers gently caress my face.”Honestly, after all you’ve been through, I’m afraid that seeing my wolf form might make a bad impression on you,” he says.

“It won’t,” I promise, my hand moving up to his face. “Because I know you would never hurt me.”

He waits a moment, but finally nods. He sighs, walks over to me, and kisses my forehead as he takes off his pants.

“Do you always go naked in the woods?” I ask him then, as he hands me the only article of his clothing, and as I lose myself in the line of his back. Michael laughs and looks at me as if I were an innocent child.

“If I were to wear my clothes at changing time, I’d be out of clothes in less than a week.” He smiles. “We wear few, if any, clothes when we are in the forest, because our bodies change significantly as we go into phase.”

“In phase?” I ask without understanding.

“That is, when we become wolves. You’ll see,” he affirms. “Just...” He takes my hand then and pulls me away from the edge of the ledge, placing me rather between the trees. “I don’t want you to fall back into the river,” he explains, half jokingly, half seriously.

I don’t laugh, perhaps because of the anxiety of the moment, and he turns away, taking a breath and keeping his eyes fixed on mine. My heart skips its pulse then and he concentrates, while his arms tighten.

A slight growl leaves his lips, and he begins to change: He falls on his arms, leaning on his hands and knees, and his back arches, his size grows, his body fills with hair and his stature increases at an impossible pace; his face transforms, his muzzle sprouting and while he shakes, as if allowing the wolf to take full possession of his body in this way.

Unable to help myself, I have taken a step back, but his eyes, they soon get me. His eyes, the ice blue of his gaze, is the only thing that has not changed, but now, it is a wolf of more than three meters that stands in front of me, without moving, his gaze fixed on my face, as if trying to foresee my reactions.

And for a moment, my breath catches and my pulse races. The natural fear caused by the situation welling up in me in just one breath, until I remember, this is the man I love, the man who has saved my life on so many occasions, that I am no longer even able to remember it.

“Michael...” With a whisper I move closer and raise a hand, trembling slightly.

He takes a step toward me, but that’s all. He stands his ground and lets me be the one to approach, at my own pace and while remaining calm.

My hand touches his face, and my fingers tangle easily in his fur, soft and smooth. I sink my fingers into his skin, caressing his face and he closes his eyes, as if the caress pleases him.

“You’ re... you’re amazing...,” I whisper.

He comes closer then and rubs his muzzle on my face, and I laugh. I understand his gesture, the affection of his insinuation.

I walk around him in amazement then, turning around to understand the difference between one body and the other. Michael has always been a big man, but as a wolf, he is even stronger, more imposing than I could ever have thought.

My hands stop then, lost, and he calls out to me with a sort of grunt. He points with his head to his back and crouches down, at the same time getting down to my level. I understand what he is saying without words.

“Are you asking me to climb on top of you?” I ask, and he nods, as I gather my courage and nod as well.

I then roll up his pants into a bundle, so as not to lose them, and climb as best I can on top of him as he settles himself and stands up again.

He looks at me as if waiting for me to get a good grip on his fur, and when he is sure I have, he begins to run. First fast, though at a manageable pace, and then, little by little, at a breakneck pace, so fast that I feel the forest pass through us like a blur.

I can’t help but shout then, but there’s something in my voice, I guess, a certain laughter that urges him to go faster. I crouch down on his fur, becoming submerged in his fur and cling to him with all my might, using my legs, which wrap around his neck without actually wrapping around him, and my hands, which won’t let go for anything in the world.

And in the meantime, Michael runs the distance of the forest as if it were nothing to him, crossing the wide, broad pine forests and climbing the steep slopes with ease. He jumps an impossible lattice under which is a waterfall many feet deep, and I scream, but from his throat comes only a gurgling gurgle that I identify as wolfish laughter.

Finally, he stops, and I dizzily cling to him until he bends down and allows me to climb down. I sit with my back against a tree, not recognizing where in the forest we are, and as his body changes again.

He takes the sweatpants, puts them on and sits down next to me, turning my face to look at him.

“Are you all right?” he asks me gently, and I feel.

“I think so,” I say, not sure if it’s true or not, “But that was all... A race.”

The sound of his laughter gets me then, and I lean my face against his chest.

“I’ve never done it with a passenger before,” he jokes. “But it’s been interesting. I thought I was holding back, but I see I may have been too quick for you.”

“Can you go faster than that?” I complain, and he laughs.

“Much faster. I’ve been restrained only because I was afraid you would fly off at some point.”

“I was afraid it might happen, honestly,” I admit while grimacing, but he just laughs.

His heart is racing, but happiness has returned to paint his face.

“You are amazing,” I admit, and he kisses the crown of my head, pressing me against his chest.

We stay like that for a long moment, with the forest surrounding us as the evening begins to fall over our heads, the remoteness echoing in both of us.

“I suppose I could get used to this,” I admit, slowly recovering and as his warmth fills me with a pleasant feeling of coziness.

“I hope you do,” he says. “This is my world, and now, you are part of it too.”

I smile at the manifesto of that affirmation, and nod against his chest, letting this moment stretch into infinity before us. The black prelude to our first meeting, fading lightly in our minds, and as one by one, the events begin to line up within my memory just right.

As I think about it, I understand that it has been a long road to get here, to this moment, and that we still have a long way to go. More I tell myself, they have all been decisions that have led me to Michael, and for that reason, I do not regret them; and as long as those decisions keep me by his side, I am sure I will feel confident to continue walking this path, even if I am not clear about what the future may hold for us.