Beautiful Things

Chapter 2-Arrival

     A LARGE PACK OF wolves encircled an elk. The largest one-a dark coal black with unforgettable yellow eyes-growled, and leapt forward, followed by a small brown male. Together, the two wolves dispatched the animal easily, leaving only a small trace of blood behind them. The black wolf stepped back, allowing a russet and silver wolf to hoist the elk onto their backs, then raised his head toward the sky.

     Something was off... the air smelled strange. Sweeter, somehow and more pleasant. It masked the smell of blood completely, and calmed him. One word echoed in his mind, an instinctual thought that numbed every sense in his body. Mate.

♡

     When I woke up, my hair was half in my face and my phone had twelve notifications. I clicked my messages, whilst tucking my stray hair back into it's proper place. Mostly they were from the group chat-just my friends blabbing about how beautiful the sunrise is out 'there'-but there was also one from Mom and another from Xavier. I clicked Mom's name first.

     It stated: "Hey, honey! When you get this message, I'd have already missed you two. Sorry I couldn't get up early enough to see you guys leave. Anyway, have fun, and tell Brian I love him. Xoxo." I smiled, and typed back with one thumb while relaying the text to Brian, who shot me a distracted thumbs up and told me to tell Mom he loves her. As soon as I was done, I checked my other message from Xavier.

     "The sunset was beautiful, sure, but it's nothing when put next to you. Missing ya like crazy rn. Oh yeah, and Cindy says hi." Along with the message came an attached picture of a chocolate lab with her tongue lolling out. I smiled, and responded: "You're so sweet. Glad I could wake up to Cindy's puppy grin. :)". His response was almost immediate. "Where are you?".

     I typed back, "I crossed the Vermont border about two hours ago. What's up w/you?".

     "Nothing much. Eating cereal while studying for finals while laying in bed."

     "Well, jeez, that was a detailed list of your day."

     "Ha. Real funny-" he sent me a picture of his Lucky Charms, which made my stomach grumble "-but yeah, without you today will be pretty boring. In fact, I'm sure that the second you crossed that border, about ninety percent of New Hampshire's populations day got a little bit worse."

     "Yeah, 'cause I definitely know that many people."

     "Yup. The other one percent are really missing out."

       I rolled my eyes, biting my lip to keep in the laughter bubbling up inside me. I responded with: "I have to go, almost to the site. Text you later. Xoxox." After, I turned my phone on silent and tucked it back into the top of my boot before facing the windshield. Brian pulled down a dirt road, then soon after we came to a medium-sized hunting cabin. I smiled expectantly, raising my eyebrows at Brian before jumping out and racing to the front door. The dogs barked excitedly, nipping at my heels as I threw the door open. It was just as we had left it.