Chapter Two - 12 Years Later, Liana's POV

Liana stood perfectly still for a moment, watching the animal in the grass. A huge male wolf. She didn’t know how she knew it was male, but it definitely was. The way the moonlight shimmered on his pitch black fur was absolutely breathtaking. He didn’t seem to be aggressive… a large pet dog maybe? A wolf had been her first thought, but that was impossible. There hadn’t been wolves in Nova Scotia for a few hundred years. This animal didn’t seem to be planning to attack her and certainly wasn’t running away. A low growl rumbled at her through the grass again, making her heart race and she took another step back, stumbling a little. Okay, so maybe he was thinking of attacking. It certainly sounded like a wild animal. She took another step up the trail, slowly backing up the steps to her cabin. She should have listened to Gran. Never go outside at night. But the night air was so crisp and clean smelling! The breeze and moonlight had seemed to be calling her…They’d argued about it again but Gran was firm. She was almost 18 and had never been out in the dark. Not to trick or treat, not to go to a sleepover, no drive-in movies... She always had to be home by sunset. In the winter that often meant coming straight home after school, which meant she couldn’t even join the after-school clubs or sports teams. She’d never even been allowed to open the blinds or curtains and let the moonlight into her bedroom! She was expected to miss her own grad party because she couldn’t be out past dark. It was ridiculous!

Never ever go out in the dark.

That was the rule. The one, nonnegotiable rule of Gran’s house.

But she’d be an adult by graduation, so she’d go to the grad party whether Gran liked it or not. Gran had not liked that statement at all. Gran was being too cautious. She was just an eccentric old woman like everyone said. Good with flowers, good with herbs, a good cook, just a little off her rocker with strange ideas about where danger might be hiding, that’s all.

Liana hadn’t been able to sleep after the argument, but she’d lain still and quiet until Gran started to snore, then she’d just… snuck out like a petulant child. She winced, admitting to herself how much she felt like a naughty little girl at the moment, caught with her hand in the cookie jar or something. As much as she hated to admit it, given the animal that was in her yard at the moment, it seemed not going out in the dark might have been more prudent.

He shifted forwards in the grass, drawing her attention back to him as he moved a tiny bit further into the shaft of moonlight. Was he a wolf that had somehow managed to get onto the peninsula unnoticed and find its way right to the heart of the province? Maybe a pet? It could be some sort of dog. The urge to move close was almost overwhelming. Strange, she realized through what felt like fog in her brain. Why would she want to move closer to a dangerous predator? He whined a little and his eyes glittered at her. Did he just wink at her? Can wolves wink?

His fur looked so soft. What would it feel like to run her fingers through it? To press her face up against his? Liana brought her hands up, pressing her sweater to her chest, surprised to find it was wool, not fur, rubbing against her breasts. Why was she expecting to feel fur sliding against her skin? She shook her head to clear it and heard Gran’s voice in her mind, “You don’t understand the hidden danger in the moonlight child. The goddess is strong there, she’ll muddle your thoughts and convince you to do things you know are wrong. You need to avoid being outside at night to stay safe. Stay out of the moonlight. You’d do best to heed my warnings. Never go out at night. Even after I’m gone. Especially after I’m gone.” Moon Goddess, Liana rolled her eyes at the reminder of her Gran’s belief in all those silly old stories. The wolf shifted in the grass and she took a step back. She stumbled on a stone and the animal lifted his head, his limbs tensing as if he were about to jump. Was it going to attack her now? Her heart began to pound in her chest, the fog clearing from her thoughts.

Just because she’d never seen anything more threatening than a squirrel didn’t mean predators weren’t in the bush somewhere. She knew they were actually. That’s why the garbage cans had to be locked and no food scraps left outside. Bears were the reason everyone used them, but there would be other animals too. Here was one of those animals in her own yard, crouched in the grass staring up at her! Why hadn’t she thought more about what she was doing? Gran’s silly stories about an evil goddess watching from the moon, just waiting to send werewolves after young girls were just foolish, of course. Moonlight wasn’t the problem. Even being outside at night was not the problem. The night air was lovely, the breeze smelled like fresh air after the rain even though it wasn’t raining, and pine needles drying in the sun, even though there was no sun. In fact, it was nearly freezing, but the moonlight on her skin had felt warm and when it touched her bare skin she felt the most exhilarating tingly feeling… A vengeful moon goddess was a bunch of nonsense from an old lady’s superstitious mind. But she should have stayed closer to the house. Closer to safety. Outside was fine, but near the door. Near the security of a building. That would definitely have been a safer option with the creatures of the woods being so close.

She took the last step onto the back deck and pulled the gate closed, laughing inwardly at the foolishness of her actions. Of course, a wolf could easily jump this gate, the deck rail either for that matter, it was only waist high, after all, more for decoration than safety. The black wolf sat in the moonlight staring at her, but she couldn’t bring herself to go back inside. This was crazy! Why did she feel the need to stand here and watch the animal? More than that, she wanted to go and cuddle with it! It felt as though she were under some sort of spell, oddly like the girls in Gran’s old stories she realized. She really felt unable to look away from him. He whined again, the sound tugging at her heart. Was he hurt? Did he need her help? Liana stepped forward again, stopping herself before she opened the gate. This was madness! The clouds parted some more, exposing the oblong shape of the moon and lighting up the entire yard, splashing light over both her and the black wolf. The hair on her arm stood on end and she felt all tingly again. The wolf looked to the moon, tipped his head back, and howled. Liana shivered, then tensed, hearing the neighbor's door open. She and the wolf both turned towards the sound.

Albert was an avid hunter. She knew he kept a loaded gun by that back door and happily shot anything with four legs or a set of wings. His cabin was covered in the bodies of his victims. She’d been in his house just once. The nasty smell of chemicals used during taxidermy was so strong they made her nauseous and dizzy. Preserved pelts of the animals he had killed covered the floor like carpets and the furniture like blankets. The stuffed bodies of once living creatures covered every surface. There were even several deer and moose heads with large antlers hung on his walls, staring out at her with their creepy glass eyes. It was a morbid place that made her skin crawl. She couldn’t bare the thought of the beautiful black fur being sliced off this creature and draped over one of Albert’s overstuffed chairs. “Hide” she breathed, barely a whisper, but the animal heard and turned towards her. “Please, hide. He’ll shoot you as soon as he sees you. Hide now!” She glanced towards the old shed, knowing there was a hole on the side that she hadn’t patched up yet. She could crawl in the hole, surely he could as well. Seeming to understand, the animal stood and turned in that direction. There was a gust of wind and clouds moved quickly in front of the moon, plunging the yard instantly into the pitch black darkness of a starless night.

She heard Albert curse and start to fumble around. Then the bright beam of a powerful flashlight pierced through the yard right where the wolf had been moments before. Liana caught her breath, praying that the animal had escaped in time. The light swung up in her direction.

“Ah Linda, it’s ye,” Albert drawled. His accent had always struck her as strange. As though he were faking it, or maybe had grown up traveling and picked up bits and pieces of accents from different places. She found the sound of his voice a bit irritating too, almost as though he were trying to talk through his nose. “Don’t s’pose ye saw a wolf out here did ye.”

“My name’s Liana,” she corrected him, her voice tinged with irritation. “And yes, of course I heard that howl. It can’t have been a wolf though. There aren’t supposed to be any wolves in Nova Scotia.”

“Those scientists say a lot of things ‘bout this bush that ain’t true. There are wolves. Bobcats too. I even seen mountain lion a time or two.”

“Oh,” Lia fidgeted a little trying to think of something to say that would get Albert to go back inside. “I- I thought it might be a stray dog? Or perhaps a coyote?”

“S’pose a coyote is possible. Seemed a bit too full-bodied a sound though. But they’re mixing with dogs now, so the sound could change I s’pose.”

“I hope it’s a ways off though. Don’t you think it would be? Didn’t it sound a good ways away?”

“hmmph. Sounded right close to me. I expected to see it sitting right out here. He swung the light out into the yard and then back to her. She squinted, using a hand to shield her eyes a. “Are you sure you didn’t see anything? Something moving in the bushes perhaps?”

“I didn’t see anything in the bushes,” Liana said, relieved that he’d given her a way to answer honestly. She really wasn’t good at telling lies. Even strangers seemed able to tell when she lied. “It’s dark now though. The sky has really clouded over. I doubt I could see anything in the bushes even if I knew it were there.”

“True that,” he mumbled grudgingly. “Wish the snow had come, I could track the beast. Stupid frozen ground. Best get yerself inside girl, ye never know when those animals will attack. They come in packs you know. Dozen’s of them, all with great big maws full of teeth to tear the flesh right off ye.” Liana stepped back to the door, fumbling with the nob.

“We...we only heard one howl. I’m sure there...there was only one.”

“That’d be the biggest one calling to the others in its pack. Kill and make babies, that’s all those beasts know how to do. They don’t even care if it’s the same species. Wolf, dog, coyote...they all mix. They’ll be especially hungry this time of year with the small critters sleeping in burrows. Ye head in now, ye hear? And stay there. I don’t want to have to ‘splain to your gran how we heard wolves but you stayed out and got yerself torn to shreds.” He laughed as she skittered inside like a frightened child. “That’s right, off ye go girly! I’ll keep guard for a bit and be sure the big bad wolf doesn’t come back to eat you in your sleep. Maybe yer right and it’s a coyote! They pay for them there hides. Easy money if I git it tween the eyes.”

Liana trembled as she closed the door behind herself and locked it. A man with a gun is frightening she reasoned with herself, far more frightening than an animal that lay still in the grass and looked at her with such sad eyes. And definitely more frightening than Gran’s imaginary goddess.