A Walk on the Wild Side

Chapter 9

Third person POV

After a few trips to the stream they swam in and back, Jasmine was able to clean Brady's wound. It took longer than expected due to the puncture wounds in her stomach from the rogue's claws. They were noticeably slowing her down. Brady remained in wolf form, his breathing heavy. Once she had dressed the wound as best as she could, she sat with him in her lap until the sun came up.

She had run out of tears to cry but still held him tightly in her arms, also trying to keep pressure on her stomach to stop the incessant bleeding. She hadn't even moved the corpses of the wolves and they remained motionless in their dried pools of blood. Beginning to feel light-headed, having not eaten for days, she eyed the corpses, but the sight of them made her want to throw up (though she had nothing in her stomach to throw up).

Would it count as cannibalism if she... cooked them?

She was vegetarian but she'd rather eat meat than, you know, starve.

She tried to think through it in her head - she'd have to wash them first, probably skin them and then somehow start a fire and cook them...

She couldn't help but shudder with disgust.

In that moment, she wished for Brady to wake up. She had healed him before in the cells, but whatever it was that allowed her to wasn't working - her body was far too weak from running and fighting. Her shoulder ached and she had nothing to cover the wound unless she was going to walk around in her underwear.

She sighed defeatedly and her mind wandered back to what she would be doing if she had never met those werewolves outside Tony's house. She'd probably be with Ally or Tony or working, depending on what day of the week it was. Her heart sank as she thought of her mum and dad who called her a few times a week and her brother, who she was going to surprise for his birthday.

Has his birthday even passed yet?

The pain in her shoulder amplified and her hands stung from the scratches across them. She had never felt so alone and so hopeless. She felt her breathing slow, still holding Brady in her arms. She slowly rocked his body back and forth, closing her eyes as a few tears trickled out. She was exhausted, emotionally from crying, as well as physically. All of a sudden she heard a faint sound and forced her eyes open. A slight movement in her lap made her look down and she saw Brady's eyes beginning to open. Her mouth fell open, a smile of relief forming on her lips. The wolf let out a whimper and tried to move its paw when she immediately objected.

"Don't move. You're really injured and I thought you'd die on me. Bastard", tears clouded her vision and Bruce pushed forward, attempting to give her a lick. She couldn't help the short laugh she let out and she hugged him tightly. After about an hour Brady began healing, albeit at a slow rate, but Jasmine knew she couldn't wait for him to heal naturally because he had lost too much blood - it had seeped deep into the forest floor.

"Brady I don't want to do this but we've got no choice. I need to go find help for you." Brady whined in protest but she shot him a look that made him quiet.

"If I don't..." she said softly, shaking her head to get rid of the thought. "I'll only be gone a short while I promise. It's early morning, when the sun is at its peak I'll be back ok?" There was no way to tell the passing of time, so the position of the sun was the best she could do.

"There has to be something nearby. I refuse to believe we got lost in the world's emptiest, in-the-middle-of-nowhere-ist forest. If something happens, howl and I'll come rushing back. Oh and don't shift, you heal faster in wolf form right? Right. Yeah. I have no clue how werewolves work. Um I'm taking the knife because I don't think you have much use for it. That's everything. When the sun is at its peak ok?" She spoke with authority as she tried to convince both Brady and herself that they would be alright. Brady nodded at her to show that he understood.