Opposites Attract

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

Panic

Drew Holiday

You know how they say that your whole world can slip through your fingers in an instant?

Well what happened next was exactly that.

One minute I was in one of the most passionate, amazing moments in my life; when in the next, Hailey had slipped right through my fingers and out the window.

I was in such shock my body was practically forcing me to believe it didn't happen.

They also say that you don't know what you've got til it's gone. I was also pretty sure Hailey was gone right then and there.

I felt such overwhelming depression and self-loathing that I had nearly convinced myself to jump out the very same window head first. When I heard a soft groan.

Who knew that such an unpleasant noise could also be the most beautiful sound in the world?

After that my mind and mouth were a swirl of desperate pleas and panicking thoughts. When I heard no response, I was sure my heart and head were fighting each other in a burnout race until one, or both exploded in oblivion.

I was contemplating on whether or not I should go out to check on her. If I went out, she might be mad at me. I instantly cringed at the thought of her being mad at me. Then again if she was injured or worse... dead, she couldn't possibly find the strength to be mad at me. She might even be happy. I instantly began to run downstairs. It's better safe than sorry. Or displeased than dead.

When I reached the small area of shrubbery near the wall where she'd fallen, if didn't take me long to come to the conclusion that she was no longer here.

So now I was confused by a combination of feelings. I was hurt that she'd run away. Worried about where Hailey was and the condition she was in. And a bit relieved that she was well enough to be able to shift and run.

My muddle up mind eventually decided that worry was the most appropriate emotion for the current occasion, and my thoughts went spiralling into a frenzy of panic once again. I was about to set of towards the North forest, thinking that by instinct she'd head home, when her sweet intoxicating aroma of strawberries and vanilla hit me like train on it's tracks.

Let me tell you with utmost certainty that there is no better tool than your nose when you are panicked and lustful and worried and you want to find your mate. Her scent will arrive within your range in seconds, simply because you want to... no, need to find her.

So when here scent was carried to me from the West, my wolf had no hesitation. My bones took on new shapes, elongation and compacting into their canine forms. The fur covered my bodybqnd my senses hightened. Her scent was now the only thing I could smell. If I didn't know any better I'd swear I could see her scent as well.

As I ran, I let my wolf take over the traveling and navigating. This allowed my human mind to wander free and simply think until we got to where our mate was.

I admit that maybe if told a few months ago that my mate was someone in town, Hailey wouldn't have been the first person I named... or admittedly the three hundred range. She would be somewhere around last or second last.

Cheesy or not, I saw Hailey... clearer now. Before she was just a name without a face. She wa that girl. I would never walk up to her in the halls and say hey. I wouldn't dare think of asking her out, or even secretly checking her out. But now that I had that privellage, the honour, the blessing, to know that she was all mine, it was different.

I found that all I could think about was her. When I closed my eyes, hers was the face I saw. The green pools of beauteous proportions were what I longed to gaze into lovingly, and hope feebly that one day the same loving gaze would be returned. Before, she was so mysterious and dangerous and unknown, that we had placed her so high above us in a way, that she was too far to see, nonetheless reach.

I'm sure there are still things about her that I still don't know. But now that my other half has been found, I can say that with time I hope that I can learn everything about her. And in return she can know whatever she'd like to know about me. But for now, I just wanted to find her.

Suddenly, I stopped running. This was it. This is where the scent ended. Oh God. Please tell me that Hailey was not in this place, or never had been.

The place I was in was desolate and dead. It wasn't barren or depleating, it was just lifeless. It was as if a once lush forest had had the life completely sucked dry from it, yet still leaving behind the corpses of dead trees and dry lakes, evidence and reminders of what had been. I was about to head back when my eye caught something.

Over on the sharp branch of a black pine tree, was a small shred of white fabric. It was a torn piece of the shirt that Hailey had been wearing...

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-naturalbeauty12345