The Shadow of White is Black

Chapter 3: Dodging Bullets

 --Inspired by @MoonlightReira, 'The Alpha's Cat'--

I shrieked internally and took off in a run as fast as I could. But I knew I couldn't outrun a black wolf so I settled for changing direction every five seconds as I ran, having the words 'left, right, left, right' on replay in my head.

After some frantic minutes, I could no longer hear the paws and claws of my pursuer gripping dirt as he chased after me but I didn't dare stop running.

But immediately when I thought I had gotten far enough, the same wolf appeared in front of me, leaping out of nowhere, his platinum eyes glinting, causing me to come to an abrupt halt.

His breath was steady as though he could play cat and mouse for days but I was panting and knew I could no longer run.

'So much for fight or flight, in the face of danger even adrenaline runs out on me' In an attempt to stay calm and sane, I laugh hysterically at my own joke, but my wolf ignores me as she continues watching the black wolf cautiously.

We were goners. My 17 years of invisibility, for nothing. I laughed harder.

We waited for his attack...

But it never came. Instead, the black wolf took some steps back and sat in a position that resembled the sphinx.

My wolf froze, confused for a second before realizing that he was showing me that he meant no harm -Not yet anyway. A wave of relief came over me and my wolf copied his position.

After a while, the black wolf got up and walked slowly towards me; his head hung low, eyes on my neck, and nose twitching.

I got up instantly in alarm as I realized what he was trying to do.

Out of black wolves' three weaknesses, the second was that they were unable to identify or recognize the scent of another shifter once they shift back to human form unless their wolf had already been able to get close enough to memorize the shifter's scent; basically like how you had to put your hand out so dogs could memorize your scent.

-essentially, he was trying to catch my scent so even if I was in human form, even if I'd suppressed my scent, he would still be able to recognize it and know that I was the white wolf.

And of course, I was not going to let that happen. It was bad enough that a black wolf now knows that there is an arctic white living amongst them but at least they didn't know who, so I was still safe and I was not going to compromise that by putting trust in a black wolf with un-established intentions.

I leaped backward, putting space between us. He stepped back at my sudden alarmed reaction, not wanting to aggravate me even more. But I watched his nose continue to persistently twitch, he was insisting that I let him memorize my scent. I shook my head slowly and backed away again.

I watched as his chest swelled slightly as he took a deep breath and then let it all out in a way that resembled a sigh, he'd given up.

Now he was stalking towards me, nudging my side, indicating for me to run.

From him? Or with him?

I didn't know but the sight of his thick black fur, outlining his strong features and strong jaw set with equally strong rows of teeth, did make me want to run

-home

So I did. I began to run through the forest towards my house, with his claws and paws close behind me. That was until I realized that letting him know where I lived was basically telling him who I was.

I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks and so did he. I jerked my head to a random street corner, implying that it was my street, then nudged him in the side, indicating that he should get going now.

Miraculously, he nodded in understanding and started heading back into the woods. I took a step in the direction of the random street of my choosing then back at the silhouette of the black wolf as he faded into the shadows of the deep forest.

It may have been paranoia, but I thought the black wolf would at least try attempt to stalk me home.

Finally, when I had decided that he was no longer in sight, I walked into the street only to be faced with another set of problems that had only just dawned on me.

I may have dodged a bullet by not running into any dangerous black wolves, and another by not letting that shady black wolf catch my scent, but a white wolf openly prancing around a street was crazy – that would be calling for death.

But the only thing crazier than that was, if I shifted, then I would be a naked teenage girl prancing around a street –that would be calling for attention. So both were off the list.

And that's when, after several minutes of weighing my value for my life against my value for my dignity, life won, barely, I reduced myself to rolling around in mud to cover up my white fur with dirt and earth so I could pass off as a brown or grey or any other color –furred wolf that wasn't white.

Doubting the infallibility of my disguise, I hurried home, hopping through my room window and heading straight to the bathroom. I had a shower and went back to bed as though it was all a dream, and I hadn't just been caught in my arctic white wolf form by a shady black wolf.

–correction, as though it was all a nightmare, and I had no idea what that black wolf was planning to do about me.