LUPO: Part I

I

It was a cloudy day. The leaves formed a thick canopy; concealing the dark woods ahead. I'd never been into the forest in front of our house. Octavia, my mother, had always told me to steer clear and far; considering most of city's recent deaths had occurred there.

The sky over the town almost looked purple, but it didn't mean anything - the storm was miles away and probably wouldn't even reach land until the afternoon, if not later. Oregon was one of the wettest places in America, so this wasn't anything new.

Wyatt's arrival broke me out of my reverie.

"A storm's coming," he announced, walking up the stairs to our porch, "Looks like we're going to have to delay our plans for moving, O."

Mom sighed loudly and walked back inside, leaving the patio swing, Wyatt and I following her inside. "Great. Well I guess that means I'll have to run into town and stock up on the groceries, you coming?" She asked Wyatt.

"Nah I think I'll stay indoors. I'm phoning the real estate manager to cancel the house viewing today anyway."

Mom looked annoyed, but left without him anyway

My stepfather Wyatt was a minor league baseball player. He married my Mom when I was eleven. Although initially I hadn't really liked the thought of my mom marrying someone younger than her, Wyatt was still a good guy and he made her happy; nobody was going to ruin that - least of all me. Because of his job, we had to move around a lot so I never got used to the idea of staying in one place for long.

Mom, on the other hand, was a crazy character. She was always moving onto one eccentric thing to another. After divorcing my late father, Reid, she got her elementary education degree and became a kindergarten teacher. She still does this if we stay somewhere for an extended period of time, but that's not very often.

"Leah, I can't reach the real estate office which means I'm going to have to go into  town and cancel the appointment, wanna come along?"

I shrugged. "Not really, kinda wanted to hang out at home today."

Wyatt smiled his usually goofy grin. I couldn't help but smile back, "Alright, will you be okay if the storm hits while I'm gone?"

"Wyatt, I'm fifteen now. I can take care of myself, it's nothing I haven't seen before," I winked. "If you insist," he chuckled.

I watched him walk into the garage and shut the door. Not longer after, I heard next door's dog snarling and barking - this wasn't unusual however this time it was loud enough to draw attention.

Curiosity beat the best of me and I peered out of the window to investigate what the fuss was about - a few yards away was what appeared to be an injured man lying face down in front of the woods. He wasn't moving.

"Wyatt! There's a guy lying on the ground near the woods! He's not moving, I think he's hurt - bring the first aid kit!" I shouted running outside.

Wyatt came stumbling outside confusion etched on his face. "Are you sure?" He called.

"Yes! He's just lying there!" I said looking behind me while approaching the bloody and bruised unconscious body.

Wyatt soon ran over, first aid kit in hand kneeling in front of the man. "Jesus Christ," he cursed. "Get the phone!"

I ran back into the house and grabbed a cordless phone, the dog was still backing when I returned. I had a feeling Phil was later going to reprimand our neighbours for once again leaving the dog unatteneded.

"Is he alright?" I asked, dropping down onto my knees beside Wyatt. For the first time since I'd discovered him, I took the chance to admire the body ahead of me, properly this time. The man's body was bruised and he had three gashes along his chest. I couldn't help but noticed his chest and abs were so chiselled and defined carefully etched into his silk russet coloured skin, which revealed he most likely had Native American descent.

My eyes travelled to his face.  Oh God, he was gorgeous. His raven black hair parted to the side, and a lock fell across his forehead. He had dark pink lips with a defined cupids bow. I waited patiently for him to open his eyes and confirm what colour his irises were; I hadn't thought it was possible for someone to look so flawless yet dangerous at the same time.

Wyatt opened the first aid kid, adding anaesthetic to the wounds  that marred the injured man's chest. He nodded absentmindedly, "He'll be fine. These aren't serious wounds otherwise I would of called an ambulance by now. Whatever or whoever did this didn't slash him deep enough to cause any crucial damage - they're more like scratches. The bruises probably won't heal for some time, but nothing an a pack of frozen peas shouldn't fix."

The young man groaned suddenly intercepting Wyatt's medical diagnosis and opened his eyes to reveal hazel irises with golden flecks surrounding them.  His eyes widened, clearly taken aback to see Wyatt over him, however this moment of surprise was gone as quickly as it had come. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

 "It's alright, son. We're going to help you." Wyatt said.

The young man groaned and turned his head to the side. His disorientated gaze landed on me and I found myself unable to wretch myself from his gaze; my heart stopped. He held my stare for another moment - he looked like he was seeing the Sun for the first time.

"Mate." he growled. I had been terrified - the dark inclination at the back of my mind told me that moment would change my life indefinitely.

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