Turning Year

Chapter 6: The Wolf

"How far away are we?" Stiles asked.

"About two days." Derek returned.

"Well, let's speed it up a little then." Stiles said, wiping his palms on his pants nervously.

"You in a hurry?" Derek teased.

"Well no shit! I happen to be turning in a few days."

"I'm joking, don't get so defensive."

They had been walking for what felt like forever, though it was dusk just a few hours ago. Stiles wondered how they had avoided other villages, but perhaps that was the idea. Though he had trekked through the woods to get to Derek's village, he had assumed they would be taking an actual route to get back to his. Maybe there wasn't one.

Did the woods ever end? It seemed that the overgrown grass and tall trees now were not just apart of his vision, but of his nightmares. They surrounded him, suffocating him. 

"Maybe if someone didn't have to stop every five minutes to pee or eat, we would be there already."

"Hey! I don't have a werewolf bladder or appetite, so don't blame me for my bodily functions."

"My bladder is the same as yours, though I guess my appetite is slightly different."

"Yeah, because you like to munch on cute little forest creatures!"

Derek rolled his eyes. "It's the food chain kid, we all got to eat."

They walked in silence for a while, until Stiles thought he saw something. He stopped, then squinted his eyes, looking into the woods.

"What?" Derek asked.

Stiles looked around again, but saw nothing. "Nothing." He said softly. He needed to stop being so on edge.

They continued to walk, but Stiles saw something again, out of the corner of his eye. He stopped again, looking in that direction, but once again saw nothing.

"Why do you keep stopping? I thought you wanted to get there soon." Derek complained.

"I do, I just. . . I keep thinking I see something, but when I look, nothing is there." Maybe the forest really was getting to him. 

Derek looked around them, but also saw nothing. As an extra precautionary measure, he smelled everything surrounding them, but didn't catch anything abnormal. There was nothing there.

"I don't see anything." Derek said.

"Yeah, just forget it. Let's keep going."

"Are you sure?" Derek pressed.

"Yeah, I want to get there soon."

They both turned back around to the direction they were heading only to be face to face with a huge wolf. The wolf looked rabid, with brown fur torn out in several places, what seemed to be bloodshot brown eyes, and it's mouth dripping slobber.

"Told you I saw something." Stiles spoke, stunned and frozen in place.

"Stiles, get behind me." Derek knew exactly what this was, and how dangerous this wolf could be.

The wolf was previously looking at Stiles, but then snapped its head to Derek when he spoke. It let out a growl when Derek moved to push Stiles behind him, making them both freeze. The wolf returned its gaze back to Stiles and cocked its head.

Stiles thought back to a few days ago, the wolf that had licked him, but couldn't be the same wolf. The wolf that Stiles saw had black fur and crystal blue eyes.