Howl

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

Lukas stood in the hallway of one of the buildings on the Auraria Campus, just outside Emma’s classroom. He’d only been standing there for five minutes, but he could feel himself getting anxious. He managed to remain calm on the outside, leaning against a wall to prevent himself from pacing up and down the hall, a habit that annoyed Emma.

Finally, after another five minutes or so, the door opened and Emma walked out. With a huge smile on her face she ran over to Lukas and put her arms around him and kissed him.

“I take it that it went well,” Lukas said, smiling as he held his mate.

“Yep. I’m finally done with this semester! Just one more and I’m done for good!”

She kissed him again, deeper. She remained aware of just where they were, however, and broke it off far sooner than either of them would have liked. Despite having grown far more comfortable kissing Lukas over the months they’d been together, she hadn’t become that comfortable in public.

“So where we going to celebrate?”  Lukas asked.

“You’ll see,” Emma said, giving him yet another quick kiss. She let go of him and started walking out of the building, excited to get to the car and to their destination.

While they walked arm in arm, Emma reached into Lukas’ pocket and pulled out his keys to his car, a black Ford Focus. It wasn’t a new vehicle, but it was in great condition and Emma had picked it out for him. When she told him to buy that particular car, Lukas couldn’t think of a good reason not to.

Once they got in the car, Emma got on Colfax Avenue and drove east until they reached Colorado Boulevard, where she turned north. Lukas couldn’t tell where they were going, although he was glad she turned into a large open area.  He liked being outdoors in the cooler weather, although he did worry about Emma sometimes. She did bring the hoodie that Lukas had bought her at the Avalanche game they went to in October, so he knew he really didn’t have to worry.

When Emma parked the car, Lukas finally saw where she intended to take him and couldn’t help but smile. “The zoo?”

“Yep. I figured a dork like you needed to go to the zoo, and I haven’t been here in ages. So here we are. And I got a little something for us once we get in.” She winked at him and grinned, but didn’t give him a chance to question her, getting out of the car quickly.

When they got to the ticket counter, they had a brief argument over who was going to pay, which Emma ended up winning by pushing Lukas out of the way and handing her debit card to the cashier before Lukas could react.

Emma immediately went to the feline house, wanting to see the tiger cubs before doing anything else. She used her phone to take a few pictures of them and watched them play before moving on to see the other cats.

“Where do you want to go now?” Emma asked once they finished with the felines.

“I don’t care,” he said with a shrug. “Wherever you want to go.”

“Oh, come on,” she said, giving him a playful shove. “You’ve got to have a favorite animal. What is it?”

“Um, well, do they have wolves here?”

“I love wolves!” Emma said as she looked at the map quickly to see where they were located. “Looks like we’re going to the Northern Shores!”

Grabbing his hand, Emma started running in the direction of the wolf exhibit. Getting to the right area was easy enough, but finding exactly where the wolves were was a bit more difficult. The polar bears were the obvious main attraction of the Northern Shores area, but Lukas was able to easily detect the presence of the wolves in an enclosure off to the side.

“They’re so pretty,” Emma said as she approached the fence.

 “You think so?” Lukas asked. Despite not being an actual wolf, he couldn’t help but feel a connection to the wolves. Obviously, the wolves felt something as well, but it wasn’t as positive as what Lukas felt.

 “Yeah, just look at them move,” she said, unaware of their odd reaction to her boyfriend. “It’s just, I don’t know. Something so beautiful. And they look so cuddly too!”

 “I wouldn’t cuddle one of those,” Lukas remarked.

 “I’ll just have to find a tame wolf, then,” Emma said. “Just as long as it won’t make you jealous if I hug a wolf.”

“It might,” he said, trying to keep his tone playful. He’d still yet to tell her about his true nature, and although he wanted to tell her, he had been waiting for the right moment. Had they not been in a public place, he would have told her right then, but he knew he’d have to show her, which he couldn’t do with other people around, even if there weren’t that many on such a cold day. Still, it would only take one person to see a wolf outside of the enclosure.

“I wonder what they’re doing,” Emma said, watching the wolves as they came together as a group, keeping their eyes focused on Lukas. “I think they’re looking at you, honey.”

“I don’t think they like me.”

 “That’s what happens when you take their squeaky toys. Come on. Let’s go find something that doesn’t want to eat you.”

 As they were walking away from the wolves, Emma reached into her purse, and then put her hand in Lukas’. He looked down, feeling something in her hand. He took it from her and saw it was a Jack Daniels shooter.

 “I love you,” Lukas said, glancing around quickly before opening the bottle and drinking it down.

 “I know you do,” she said, taking out a shooter for herself.

They each had two more, and then they spent the next several hours wandering around at the zoo, acting more like crazy children. Fortunately, neither of them drank enough to make them attempt to climb any fences, although they did joke about climbing in to hug one of the tiger cubs.

 After visiting every animal, and some multiple times, they went inside the cafeteria area and got something to eat. Since Emma had paid for their entry and the alcohol, Lukas made sure he at least bought lunch. By the time they sat down to eat, they had sobered up, but they remained inside for a good half hour after they’d finished eating, just talking.

It was starting to get late by the time they went back outside, but before they left, Emma wanted to go see the tigers again. After watching the cubs for several minutes, she said goodbye and they headed towards the exit, stopping in the gift shop. Lukas picked up a stuffed toy wolf, and paid for it, handing it to Emma on the way out.

“What’s this for?” she asked, petting the toy.

 “To commemorate the celebration of completing your second to last semester. And getting drunk at the zoo.”

 “I was not drunk!” she said, just a bit too loudly. She punched him gently as she spoke. “Just a bit tipsy. Speaking of, I think I’ll name the wolf Jack.”

Lukas laughed, wondering just what her reaction would be when he finally told her what he was. He could only hope that it would be just as good as her reaction to seeing real wolves.