Chapter Five

In an unrelenting stand off, the girl and wolf remained like statues, holding their gaze upon one another.  “Do not fear me, girl.  I will not harm you.  You have saved my life and for that, I owe you immensely,” the wolf told her.  She stood up tall, withdrawing her blade and spoke to him.  “You owe me nothing as you have likewise saved mine.  I am grateful you have not ripped me to shreds, thank you.”  She gave the wolf a slight bow with her head.  At this, the wolf chuckled.  He looked upon this tiny being, covered still in dried mud except for the parts he had licked, hoping she would not notice this.  He looked at her from head to toe, from her weathered boots to her faded pants, that were now ripped across her thigh, bloodied and dried.  Her shirt likewise hung ripped and soiled revealing the bottom of her plump bosoms.  Her long blonde hair flowed freely in the wind, now dirtied once more with mud.  Her eyes were cerulean and reminded the wolf of the ocean, bright when the sun caressed it, but bold in the night.

“Have you changed your mind about letting me live?” she asked the wolf that was now drooling and licking its lips while it gazed upon her.  He seemed to snap out of his trance, shaking his head like a dog.  “I was merely wondering the condition of your wounds.  May I tend to them?” he asked her.  She smiled politely and replied, “That won’t be necessary.”  She lifted her shirt just below her breasts and wiped the dried blood across her stomach, showing the scratches completely healed.  The wolf’s eyes widened in astonishment.  She was able to heal herself within minutes!  The wolf then replied, “I see, well then, allow me to also show you one of my tricks.”  He took a step back, closed his eyes, and morphed into a human.  He stood 6ft 3in.  His biceps were enormous and his chest was even bigger.  Chiseled abs hugged his stomach and seemed to continue in a pattern below his tiny shorts that now concealed his bulging crotch.  His legs looked like the trunk of a tree with emerging muscles that formed valleys from top to bottom.  His face looked as if it had been carved by the Gods themselves.  His chin was hidden by an untamed beard and almond shaped brown eyes.  Just above his hypnotizing eyes and long lashes, were two thick, black eyebrows.  His hair was jet black and curly, sitting short on top of his head while less visibly around the sides.  His skin equally matched his eyes, a beautiful russet.  The girl gasped in amazement and blushed in embarrassment realizing he stood only in undergarments before her.

“Oh my!” she exclaimed.  “What…What are you?” she asked as she took a few steps back.  Surprised at her question and the fact that she knew nothing of what he was, he gently put his hands up, gesturing to calm herself.  “I am surprised you know nothing of Wolf-People,” he said.  “Well, I’ve mostly lived alone, among the monsters only,” she replied briefly fixating her eyes on something, anything on the ground around her to keep herself from gaping at his beautiful form.  He walked back out toward the mouth of the cave, peering around for danger.  Satisfied that they were safe, he went back into the cave and picked a soft spot to sit down.  “So, what is a Wolf-Person, as you said it?”she asked.  Smiling, he replied “A Wolf-Person is a sort of shape shifter.  A human being able to change itself into a wolf.”  She stood transfixed.  Wolf-People.  She had never encountered another person in all her years alone.  Yet there were monsters in the forest, so why couldn’t there be Wolf-People too?  She looked at the side of his stomach where he had suffered the brutal wounds and noticed they were completely gone, not even leaving a scar.  “I see you can heal your own wounds quickly as well,” she said gesturing toward his side.  He looked down and examined himself.  “Yes it’s true, I can heal them fairly quickly, but I did not heal this one.  You did,” he replied.  She scrunched her face in confusion walking to the other side of the cave and sitting down across from him.  “I did?  No, when I found you, your bleeding had stopped and your skin began forming a layer of protection,” she stated.  He now gleamed at her, not knowing whether to believe her innocent ignorance or consider her untrustworthy.  “You healed me, with your powers,” he said to her, his eyes piercing into her soul, as if they were trying to uncover something in her demeanor.  How can this be? She thought to herself.  She shook her head vigorously from side to side now rising to her feet.  “What are you talking about?” she said, half shouting.  He stayed quiet while his gaze into her core remained unyielding, trying to decide whether he should press the matter or concede.  He listened to her heartbeat, but it remained unhindered.  “After you fell asleep next to me, under the brush, you began to glow.  Lightly at first, starting at your hair, but soon your entire body was engulfed in this bright blue hue!  Moments later, that blue light consumed me as well.  It was so bright, I had to shield my eyes from it’s shine.  My body felt hot and tingly.  When the light finally receded and I could see again, I looked down to my wounds and they were gone!” he explained to her sensibly.  

She stood in disbelief, not knowing whether she should believe his words or call him a liar.  She could heal herself fast, but never had she engulfed into a blue light.  What was he saying?  What reason would he have to lie to her?  She paced back and forth and tried to think back to her youth.  Had anything like this ever happened to her?  Her memory had always been so foggy.  She could see the figures of her parents, but never their faces. She had tried on countless occasions to remember her past, sometimes they even came to her in a dream, but it was always the same.  She could hear their voices clearly, but everything else was just one big blur, like looking through a fogged window.  Stay here baby, everything will be ok.  Shhh…don’t say a word.  Quiet as mouse remember?  Her mother’s voice echoing in her mind.  She shook her head of it.  Looking back at the man now boyishly drawing pictures in the dirt in front of him, as he sat nervously waiting for her response.  “Are you sure you didn’t heal yourself?” she said finally.  He shook his head, “The Dihanie carry a sort of venom in the claws.  When they scratch you, this venom prevents your wounds from healing normally.”  She listened intently.  “I saw you slaughter one right before my eyes.  What happened?  How did you get hurt?” she asked him curiously.  “I was on a hunt and was ambushed.  One is not a match for me, but I would not be able to handle a herd.  They surrounded me and one struck my side.  I was able to escape, but the venom slows down my ability to heal quickly, preventing me to shift.” He watched her facial expressions, not knowing whether to tell her this next part, “I had managed to conceal myself, but not enough if the Dihanie decided to return.  I was weak and  vulnerable, when I saw you bathing in the river,” pausing to see her reaction, “Something told me to call you, that you would help me.”  She blushed.  So he was watching her bathe.  Feeling slightly embarrassed, she said “I felt the same sort of thing.  After I crossed the river, I felt as if I was being more pulled towards you than I was walking.  Well I hate to admit that I had ill intensions if I found you.  When I discovered you, I just could not do it.  I couldn’t leave you there either.  I don’t know how to explain it.  Something inside of me told me that I NEEDED to save you.”

As she spoke, he could not tear his eyes off of her.  If what she was saying was true, he thought maybe this was what he had been searching for that day.  For he had lied about hunting.  He did not tell her that the real reason he was in the woods was because he had dreamt of her.  He had dreamt of a woman with blonde hair and skin like ivory, standing at the river, calling his name.  His wolf had gone completely berserk begging him to search for her and so there he was, out and alone in the forest, searching for his mate.