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Fight in the Forest

The dreams continued every night, and every morning, to keep my mind off of it, Darren and I got busy.

One Saturday morning, exactly two weeks after the dreams had started, I lay panting in bed next to Darren.

"You must be having some awesome dreams." Darren said between breaths.

"Yeah. You could say that." I answered. Every night the dreams would start with Darren and end with Josh. They were never the same. One was at dinner, another in the forest, a handful of them were at school. In the waking world I would see Josh across the room during lunch every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Darren would usually growl protectively and then hold me a little tighter. Occasionally on my walk to my Tuesday/Thursday classes I would see Josh or sometimes just feel him watching me. In the beginning I could see hope still on his face, but as time went on and I still shunned his presence his looks of hope turned to pain and sadness.

The dreams were so intense and often felt real. In the dreams only Josh and I mattered. Sometimes I tried to fight Josh off, but in the end I never minded his company and woke up craving it. Sometimes I felt as though I was actually cheating on Darren. It killed me a little bit inside. It made me feel like a horrible person, which just made me mad at Josh. I wished he would just give it up already, rather than put me through this, but obviously my side glares weren't getting the message through. To top it all off I hadn't wolfed out in almost 3 weeks. There was a full moon tomorrow and I didn't think I'd be able to fight it off. It was making me anxious and Darren knew it. He kept reassuring me, but I still didn't know if I wanted to go out tomorrow night.
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"You'll be fine. The whole pack will be there to protect you." Darren reassured for the umpteenth time.

I sighed, "what if I get really drunk and pass out?"

He sighed and rubbed his neck, "that's not going to work. You'll just be a drunk wolf even more dangerous and out of control."

"Well what if I take lots of Benadryl? That always makes me sleepy." I countered.

"It still won't work. Your wolf metabolism is a lot faster. You're going to work it off and wake up, and then nobody will be with you for protection." He saw my disappointed look. "I know you're worried, but you have to trust me. Nothing is going to happen to you. You'll be by my side all night, and you'll feel a thousand times better afterwards."

My shoulders slumped forward as I relented. I knew it was all true. "Fine. I'll go running tonight."

His face was beaming as he leaned in and gave me a kiss. "Great." He pulled back slowly and for a lingering moment looked into my eyes, "gosh, I love you."

I smiled as he planted another kiss. Then he turned and started getting ready for our run.

During the car ride there I stared out the windows an bit my finger nails, my leg continually bouncing up and down.

"Becca, calm down." Darren urged as he reached over and placed his hand on my leg, it continued to bounce.

I glanced at him before quickly turning my attention outside again. The trees were thicker. We would turn off soon and head into the woods. "I'm sorry." I mumbled with my finger still in my mouth. I wanted to calm down. I wanted to pretend that everything was alright, but I just couldn't.

He let out a sigh and gave my leg a light squeeze.

Max and Heather were leaning against their car making out when we arrived. Darren got out of the car. "Hey guys, get a room." He threw his shirt hitting Max's shoulder.

"Yeah, you're one to talk." Max countered.

I could feel my cheeks heating up and I tried sliding down in my seat to hide. Max and Heather lived in the apartment next to us and I didn't doubt they could hear us in the mornings.