Florence
It was late at night when there was a shuffling from the other side of the fence, a few metres to my right. My gaze rose to meet Steven’s, along with two other men’s. Together, they quickly clipped the links of the wire fence, and peeled it back to allow Steven to shimmy under. He was dressed in winter clothing, with snow boots and a large, warm parka that enveloped his body. His wrapped up form waddled towards me slowly, trudging through the snow.
“Where’s Erik?” he asked, his breath producing a waft of steam that quickly dispersed in the chilled air.
I shook my head, my eyes sad. I felt the pain of loss in my body, a deep ache in my bones and a sharp pang in my heart. I’d lost a friend, a mentor, and a pack member.
Steven wordlessly slipped his arms under the armpits of the large, unconscious wolf, heaving him back toward the fence. I helped by butting my head into his flank and pushing, and even then the process took upwards of ten minutes to move the wolf.
When we made it to the fence, one of the men held it up while Steven and the other both dragged Kyle through, and I shimmied under after him. The men had bought a large, plastic toboggan, which they dropped Kyle’s limp form onto. Each of the men grabbed a length of rope connected to the sled, and pulled Kyle along, their short, puffed breaths evidence of his weight.
“These two are old friends of mine,” Steven explained, jabbing a gloved finger at the two men pulling Kyle. “That’s David there and Tobias next to him.”
I nodded at them, and gave a short bark of hello. The two men looked uncomfortable at the sound, but nodded in response.
“They’ve promised not to say a word, haven’t you?” he directed the last part to the men, who both grunted ‘yes’ between pulls. He turned back to me, “they owe me a few favours.”
The trek back to the car park was grueling and long. Tobias and David took frequent breaks, and Steven tag-teamed in to help as well. When we made it to the car park, the sun was rising, casting a light pink glow on the sky.
Steven checked that there were no witnesses, and David and Tobias lifted the wolf into the back of a plain looking van, and then jumped in themselves. I waited at the tree line, and Steven brought me jeans and a jumper for me to change in to.
I joined the two men in the van, who were each squashed into the back of the van, as far away from Kyle as they could.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I mumbled, and David smiled.
“It’s a wonderful thing that you’re doing, risking your life like this for your friend,” he said, the smile causing his eyes to crinkle at the corners. He looked like an easygoing man, with tanned skin and a smattering of freckles on his arms from outdoor labour. His light green eyes were friendly, and they broke contact with mine to rummage around in a duffel bag next to his feet. He pulled out some furred boots and handed them to me.
“Your feet might get cold,” he explained.
Though I naturally ran on a hotter body temperature and probably didn’t need the boots, I accepted them. It was a nice, trusting gesture. Next to David, Tobias shifted uncomfortably, frequently running a hand through his raven black hair.
Before I could ask anything more, Steven hopped into the driver’s seat, and slammed the car door, breaking my attention. He clicked the heater on as he started the car, but I didn’t miss the final, desperate glance that he cast back at the forest. When nothing happened, he sighed and pulled out of the lot.
“Are we headed back to your house?” I asked Steven, who shook his head.
“We’ve decided to go to Tobias’s place, because it’s closer. We weren’t sure how long the tranquilizer would last, and whether you needed urgent medical attention,” David explained. I caught his gaze lingering on my jaw.
