The Master of Me

Chapter 4

        Two weeks passed by, in what seemed like an instance. Alue’s den was now more than adequate to accommodate her wolf body needs as a place of rest and security. She sometimes climbed out of the ravine and onto  the edge of male’s property to see him when he ventured outside his home to mow the lawn or clean out the barn that served as a shed for storing miscellaneous items. There was one thing she couldn’t figure out about him. Why didn’t he have a mate, or a pet, or a job to drive to every day? He only went out once a week and she could almost guarantee he came back every time with grocery foods he hauled out of the covered Jeep Grand Cherokee. She herself had gotten better at hunting the local wildlife in the ravine. If she was really patient she could catch a pigeon or other small bird. Falcons were too smart and could avoid her snapping jaws with ease. Rodents were plentiful and she even ventured out to catch a rabbit occasionally on the male’s property. She felt better then she had in months. Her frame was starting to look, not so pathetic and the sense of self-reliance gave her a purpose to focus on every day. She didn’t need or want any association with the male. It was nice however to lay out on the edge of his property where grass was, instead of sagebrush and dirt and bask in the sunlight at mid-morning after breakfast. Sometimes she would venture onto his porch in desire to swing on the porch swing that rested just outside the door. Typically, however she would get too frightened and take off back to her den, and chastise herself for desiring such a human thing. She was a wolf after all she didn’t need anyone or anything but herself.

                Sterling thought for sure ‘she’ must have gone on her way. That was until he saw two pointy canid ears and a muzzle just over the edge of the ravine watch him intently, the day he chose to mow the lawn. ‘So she has stuck around.’ He thought to himself, grinning just a bit and making sure to not look over at her, should she get scared and retreat back to the ravine where she was presumably denning.  The ravine itself wasn’t technically owned by anyone and so long as she did not disturb the livestock on other property, she was probably safe denning in that area.

                He didn’t mind her silent and far away companionship. Among talking to his neighbors on days he went out and went grocery shopping or took the Jeep out for some trail blazing, he found a general consensus that reports of less and less burrowing problems that most of the ranchers had with gophers and mice in their livestock feed and other such circumstances. On rare occasions he would be taking a shower in this upstairs bathroom and open the window to let some steam out, only to see ‘her’ slowly padding across the grass and creep onto the porch eyeing the swing with intent, while cautiously glancing about in search of danger. These moments he just stares in awe at the beauty of her wolf form. The elegance, stealth, and grace she had as she approached followed by her rapid dash away from the place when she would lose her nerve. She didn’t look so scrawny anymore. While he could still point out her ribs, she was starting to fill out more in the hips and her spinal region, which he was grateful for but saddened that she didn’t trust him enough to come back to him. His pantry was stocked with all kinds of food now, as well as freezer full of meat, and refrigerator full enough to feed a family of four. It was a shame she had been pained to the point that his kindness was not enough to bring her to trust him. ‘Time heals everything…I guess.’ He thought to himself and decided that was all she would need from him.