Bite down 2

7

It's been a month. A month since I've heard from Dakota or Yuma or anyone else. It's been a month since I've been back in Pittsburgh. The deer runs through the woods. In Pittsburgh it's pretty hard to find a deer. I've been tracking them for hours. Dakota never taught me how to hunt but now I have all the time in the world to learn on my own. The red wolf in me is fast on its trail.

My keen eyesight sees it drinking from the river. Usually wolves run in packs but I didn't have a pack. I was a lone wolf. I start picking up after the deer and it sees me. Its large ears turn my direction without moving its head. It hears me! Fuck!

It takes off. It doesn't matter. I can run up to 50 miles per hour. The trees here aren't the same at the trees in Vanderbilt. They aren't as fresh. The smell here is polluted with city life. It doesn't matter. I leap past a big rock and make my way above the deer below. The logs break away as I crunch past them, but I'm never on a log long enough to be weighed down by it.

I leap.

I take the deer down.

I bite into its neck. The red wolf in me loves the taste of the blood. Dakota would scream at me if he saw me hunting. I can imagine him now in the back of my head. The deer neck snaps under my powerful jaws. I may not be in the beautiful forest of Vanderbilt but I am a predator even if it's a narrow stretch for forest. I am a predator here.

"Hey little wolf..."

My heart races when I hear the voice. I don't see anyone at first. I don't smell anything at first. Then all of a sudden I see someone walk out from behind a tree. He's young maybe 20 or so. He has a very strong looking face. He's dressed oddly...wearing a red cloak almost like little Red Riding hood or something.

Who the fuck is this? Why is his scent so...faint?

"Don't be afraid," the man in the forest tells me.

I'm confused. He smells human. I can tell the difference. This isn't another wolf. I growl hoping the human would take off. The human doesn't though. He smiles instead. He has a very strange sharp looking smile. He doesn't seem scared even though my muzzle is bloodied from the deer. I lean back down. I'm not going to attack a human but I need to scare him off. I growl louder. I tighten my muzzle.

I should be terrifying him. What was wrong with this guy? Was he suicidal?

"Are you trying to scare me little wolf," he says and laughs, "How cute? I'm not afraid. Have you read Wintersmith? A witch out never to be frightened in the darkest forest, because she should be sure in her soul that the most terrifying thing in the forest is her."

He was crazy. That's why he wasn't afraid. He was quoting books and shit. I look around. Maybe it would be best to just run away. Clearly this guy wasn't going to run.

I turn ready to run away.

That's when the man in the forest says the oddest thing, "Werewolves are rare in Pittsburgh."

I stop.

He knew what I was.

How?

I look back at him. He is smiling at me. There is this strange smile.

"Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me," the man in the forest says, "I'm going to give you a gift. That's all. It's a coat. Walid will love it when you see him again. It will remind of you. But if I give this to you...you'll owe me and there is going to be a time when I'll want to be repaid."

He knew about Walid. How the fuck did this human know about Walid? I'm struggling at that moment. There is something so off about this person.

That's when the strange man takes something out. It's a fur coat. I've never seen anything like that. It sparkles and glitters. It's the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in the world. The long hairs reflect light that isn't even there. In the dark forest the fur coat is the only thing that shines. Just at that moment he throws the fur coat my way with the most accurate precision.