The Master of Me

Chapter 18

        Alue awoke from a peaceful slumber to the scent of fresh snow. She dared to lift her head and turned to face her den opening. Dampened sunlight barely illuminated the entrance as gentle snow continued to fall upon the ground. Standing and stretching, she exited her wolf den observing the first snowfall of the winter season. Other animals that too lived in the ravine, took notice of the first touch of winter. She noticed the tracks of a rabbit and the soft sound of mice cuddling about in search of the grass that lay underneath the thin white blanket. Having no need to go on a hunt, she disregarded the rabbit tracks and began her daily walk to Sterling’s home.

                That morning Sterling had woken up at his usual morning hour to fix breakfast and get to work. December through March was a particularly busy time for accountants. With taxes due in April, it was his job to ensure that the companies he accounted for had all their accounts in order for the year. He was spending more hours working then the usual time, but he looked forward spending the morning eating breakfast with Alue. He heard the sound of the back door opening, just as the timer for the oven beeped, signaling the biscuits to be done.

                “Good Morning, Alue. Did you sleep well?” he asked as he removed the tray of biscuits from the oven. Alue was comfortable around the kitchen and automatically began to grab plates for Sterling to use. “I did. How about you?” She countered, as Sterling placed a couple of biscuits on each plate and covered them with sausage gravy. “I did also.” He agreed and they each carried their plates over to the table, along with forks in hand to eat. 

It was during the middle of eating that Sterling received a phone call of unknown origin.

“Hello, this is Sterling Winchester.” He answered automatically, using a professional tone of voice. Alue didn’t need to strain to hear the conversation that took place. Her wolf hearing capabilities allowed her to hear the officer from eight days speak to Sterling. When Sterling ended the call Alue stood said,

“I am surprised to be going with you to the police station. I did not think they would desire a video interview for recorded statement with someone like me.”

                Sterling gave her a hopeful grin. “The voice recognition confirmed it was vice president Richard Dick, giving them enough to make an arrest. With your statement, I imagine they will have enough to hold him and proceed with an official charge.” He told her as he grabbed his keys and coat and the two headed to the Jeep.

                They arrived at the station and found three different news trucks broadcasting live footage of the vice president’s arrest just an hour before. Reporting talking to their live video feeds that very moment, speculating the ‘inside story’ of the reason behind the arrest of a city official. As Sterling and Alue got out of the vehicle, the camera’s inherently turned toward them as they walked up to the police station. Sterling immediately fell close to Alue’s side, his body shielding her from the cameras and questions as to why they were there.

      Once inside they were taken to separate rooms to give their statements about what occurred during the break in. Sterling got out of his interview sooner and nervously waited in the hall for Alue to be done. After what felt like an eternity, Alue came into view walking down the hall, her posture signaling near panic, but subsided when his eyes met hers.

“Are you okay? You took longer than I did.” Sterling asked her, standing up from his seat on the bench when she approached. He felt this need to hug her, but suppressed the urge to do so in a place like this.

“I saw and experienced a lot more of the incident then you, so of course I took more time to speak about it.” Alue said, silently taking comfort in returning to the presence of Sterling. Being in the room with only one way in and one way out had almost been too much for her. Memories of her past plagued her mind and all she wanted to do was going into panic mode and get out of there. She kept her cool during the interview and the moment she was given permission to go, she did as fast as her two legs would allow. Once she saw Sterling her turmoil subsided and the urge to turn wolf dimmed.