Howling with Wolves

Chapter Five

The Saturday afternoon wind’s lips kiss my neck, arms and legs as I walk into my backyard, determination etched onto my face like a permanent carving in stone. My brown eyes are narrowed, annoyance heating them up.

My phone is held tightly in my right hand, my fingers clenching and uncleaning over and over as I try to calm down. Words flash in my vision, six simple yet heart pounding words that had me storming out of my house straight away, angry fingers typing my reply furiously.

‘Meet me were we first met.’  The text message had said.

There was no doubt in my mind that it had to be Shawn Michaels. I didn’t want to even think about how he got my phone number or what he planned to do when we both stood face-to-face in the field where he fought Nick; where I ran crying to; where I first met my wolf. It hadn’t even been two weeks and that open field I found one faithful day already had so many memories with it.

It was only when I was rushing quickly past the red ribbons that bad, worrying thoughts began to plague my mind. He had already went all psycho on me at school, what was he going to do while we out in a field, pretty much excluded from everything but the willowing trees and dead leaves?

No, I can’t turn back now. This needs to be over and done with. The stupidity that has been following me around is outrageous. This all could be sorted if Shawn just believed that I didn’t see anything that day. That before I could even be of any use, I had fainted and woken up to a guy I barely know, who tells me to be careful around Shawn.

The last red ribbon before it stretches into yellow lets me know that I am almost there, just a few more meters away and this can finally be over and done with.

My heart pounds in my chest, my breath coming out in short puffs. I didn’t even realize my legs had started moving faster, carrying me towards my destination like I was on autopilot. My eyes glimpse the last of the yellow ribbons and my feet begin to slow down so I can carefully step over the fallen tree branches. Right hand stretches out to use the trunk of a tree to steady me when I come across a newly fallen tree branch. There was something different though as I took a closer look.

It somehow looked like the tree branch had been snapped in half. Either like something big and heavy has landed on it and it broke, or someone had axed it down, or jumped on it a little too roughly.

Curiosity engulfs me, and although I’d like to observe the new distraction in my path, I shake my head and step over the broken tree branch.

When I finally burst through the trees and make my way down the small slope, my feet carry me into the center of the field. The sun glows down upon me naturally here, and the breeze allows me to capture the chill of it in my bones. The grass is bright green and once again it looks like it had been freshly mowed. My mouth turns up in a faint of a smile, memories of all the wolves playing here just a few days ago.

Then my lips fall down into a frown when I realize that I am standing here alone, Shawn nowhere to be found.

+ + +

Its ten minutes later that I hear the leaves ruffle to the left of me, then Shawn gracefully tumbles out of them. Now I say gracefully because it was. It seems like he did this all the time, walking through the woods and bursting through bushes. His hair, like usual, is overly gelled, the front of his hair looking all greasy as he once again tried to give his hair that artificial just-rolled-out-of-bed look.

The anger that I was feeling towards Shawn before was magnified now. For ten whole minutes he made me wait out here in the sun while he casually took his time to show up to a meeting he organized. I wanted to curl my hand into a fist and give him an even bigger, more painful bruise than before.