All Chapters of A Wolf's Equilibrium : Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

Jane only fully re-awoke the following day, it was dark, but there were piercing lights on various beeping machines. Trying to grasp the logistical memories of how she got there, and who it was that helped her. The exhaustion in her body sapped away all of her energy and channeled it to gripping and balancing over consciousness and remembering. She recalled the smooth water-like rhythm, and the wire hair, shockingly soft against her cheek. The throb of her wrist. The cold air caused her eyes to tear and her knuckles to become stiff with cold. In some scenes, her mind recorded the moment like a precious family memoir, but like a home video, it came with poor focus, skewed balance, and random blank spots. “I think you are going into shock,” Ara’s deep voice said out of the dark. “Can I wrap a blanket around you? We still have a few hours before the nearest hospital.” More shivers, more throbbing in her arm, the black clouds closing in obscuring her awareness.

The next morning Jane woke to sunlight and the smell of coffee. Ara must have come sometime in the night and placed a heavy blanket on her because it was not there when she had fallen asleep. Toll was also lying on the floor next to her bed. As soon as she moved the slap of his tail on the wood floor indicated that he had been waiting for her to wake. Ara had also done her laundry in the night, and it was folded atop the dresser. She blushed thinking about him washing her underwear, but she recovered quickly in the relief to be in clothes that fit her properly. Anatol’s nails clicked on the floor as he walked with her downstairs. At the bottom of the stairs, he paused looking out toward the door, letting out a low growl. Jane, curiously went to open the door, and she found Quincy and Ara outside standing tensely facing one another in the gravel driveway. The two turned to look at her, and she was grateful that Quincy was fully clothed this time in a bright seafoam

The next morning Ara woke before Jane. He just lay watching her chest lightly rise and fall and the sunrise. Their bodies entangled, and the only feeling in Ara’s whole body was content. The perfect temperature, the most comfortable position, the best smell in the whole world. This feeling of security was alien to him and scary. It was a vulnerability that he had only tasted with his love for his dog and select friends over the years. Everything about the morning felt good. From the hot shower to laughing over breakfast at how desperate Toll was for table scraps. Even cleaning up had felt like a fun treat because Jane could stand right next to Ara and ‘accidentally’ bump or splash him. The two of them drank in the happiness like a free-running tap. The mood did not change until they talked about their afternoon with Quincy’s pack, but even that did not dampen the bubble. They decided to wait till the afternoon so that they could use the time as an excuse to le

Jane was shocked awake by a change in movement, a huge blast sent the train car up onto one side. The car tipped upwards, everyone holding their breath to see if it would fall one way or the other. With a tooth-rattling clang, it fell back flat on the track rocking the other way with a small bump of inertia. the women inside at the total mercy of the movement. Each falling hand over knee into whatever was the next lowest point. If Jane had been irritated with the grooved metal, it was nothing to how it punched and rolled her taunting with the illusion of handholds but in the end just another metal punch. Another deafening blast went off as the train rocked forward and up onto one side again, and rather than waiting to see if it was far enough, another blast was let off under them. It sent the train teetering over like a seasick dog, armless and unable to cling to anything. Like a child on the verge of jumping from a swing or a ship crossing the crest of a wave in a great