7

Dominic

After dinner with my folks, I snuck out and shifted, running back to her house. Her scent grew stronger the closer I got, so I was not surprised to find her sitting outside. She was beautiful. She was concentrating on her sketchbook again. This time she had colors that she was using. I sat and watched her work for a long time before she looked up and saw me. Flipping the page of her book, she started drawing something else with a pencil for a while before using the colors again. I watched as they stained her fingers as she smudged at the page. After maybe another hour or so, she smiled down at the page she had been working on and then smiled at me. She was so fucking hot. I had to find a way to talk to her.

Then she stood up, and the bruises on her leg were fresh and very noticeable. Maybe first, I will kill the motherfucker that marked her like that. I hadn’t noticed I growled as I stood up when she did until she looked terrified and froze. Quickly I lay down on the ground with a whimper. I wasn’t here to scare her or be mean to her. I just wanted to see her. She already had a douchebag being plenty mean to her for the world. I watched her back slowly inside then I followed her shadow through the windows watching as she checked the doors and the windows before going back to her room. And then there was no movement from her room for the rest of the night. I stayed to ensure she was safe until a couple of cars pulled into the garage, and movement stopped in the house again. Her parents had gotten home, or was it her guardians? They didn’t smell like her at all. They were both humans. It wasn’t uncommon for rogue wolves to be placed with a human family if a wolf family wasn’t willing to take them in. And with no other wolves in the area that I had found, it made sense she was with humans. But then the question was, what happened to her parents? And why would she, a wolf, allow a human to treat her the way she lets Mr. Asshat? Also, why did her scent not smell like other rogue wolves?

The following day I watched her climb into his car, and he put his hands on her again. I almost jumped right through the open window, but I didn’t want to hurt her while trying to get to him. I will have to catch him alone, which would be hard at school. I will have to follow him after and see if he is ever on his own. After they drove off, I ran back home as fast as possible, dressed, and made it to school just in time. As I climbed off my bike, her eyes met mine as he pulled her inside and into a classroom. I didn’t see either of them again until lunch, and she was sitting at the same table as yesterday. She picked at her fries again, and as I watched her, my wolf tried pushing forward again. He wanted to go to her so badly, but I knew we couldn’t just yet. And besides Jackass and his team showed up, he took something off her try and ate it after putting his filthy lips on her. I had to suppress the growl that was building up in my chest. I made it through lunch this time but noticed that she seemed to look quite a bit tired today. She had gone to bed early, had she not slept well?

After school, I watched her from the tree line again, this time in human form, as she lay on the bleachers and seemed to be sleeping. Us wolves didn’t usually get sick, so it didn’t make sense for her to be so tired. Again I followed them back to her place and watched him get angry again and had to do my best not to jump through his window again. Today though, I followed him as he pulled off. But when he arrived at his house, a group of football players was already waiting for him. I growled as I continued on heading home myself. I was a wolf and could take care of myself, but humans fought dirty when they found out they were fighting a wolf. I couldn’t take the chance that they ganged up on me and harmed her in return. The thought of her being hurt had me shifting again and hiding in the trees outside her house again.

The house was quiet when I got there this time. The door to the balcony in her room was open a crack, and I could hear she was already asleep and again alone in the house. Shifting, I pulled on a pair of shorts I had brought with me and snuck up to the house. Carefully and quietly, I jumped up to the railing of the balcony and climbed over. Stilling, once I was standing outside the door, I listened to make sure she was still sleeping. Her scent seemed a little different, but that could be the smell of the humans that lived with her. I eased the door open and slipped into the room without a sound. Her room was simple yet quaint. There were art supplies everywhere. A half-done painting of a mountain range set up on an easel, her sketchbook set on a small desk that sat just on the other side of the door. There was a dresser along the other wall with a television sitting on top of it. Her bed sat in the corner with her lying bundled up in the blankets. She was wrapped up like a burrito with only her head poking out of the top. At the foot of her bed was a basket of clothes. Hung up all over her wall were pictures of every kind. She looked so peaceful I didn’t want to disturb her.

I eased over to her desk and opened her sketchbook, flipping through the pictures she had drawn. She was an amazing artist, and just like her. They were all beautiful. I froze at an image of a sandy-colored wolf poised to play. The site of it made my wolf push forward and howl in excitement. I peeked over at her to see she was still sound asleep. Flipping the page one more time, I saw the picture of my wolf that she had drawn yesterday and smiled down at it. It was perfectly done. She got every detail, including the white patch on his chest. Closing the book, I eased myself back out the door. She was fine and just needed rest. She would be shifting soon. The question was when. My body had difficulty getting itself ready, and I slept for nearly a week before I finally shifted. I hope it wasn't nearly as bad for her. But this meant I would have to find a way to talk to her sooner rather than later.