Angel Blackwood(81)

“Mom, D…Dad,” I stutter, as my eyes stare at the huge shadow of an animal barely hidden in the treeline.

Mom appears at my side and gasps. She grabs my hand and starts walking backwards whispering, “David, James, walk backwards slowly. No sudden movements, if there’s one wolf there’s most probably more, they travel in packs… unless… unless it’s a rogue.” I’m not sure whether it’s my mother hands that are shaking or mine. Either way my body is trembling and my heart is beating fast.

The growling gets louder and the huge brown wolf comes out of the shadows. It bares its teeth and snarls as it growls. We’re all alone in the park and quite away from any houses. Besides what could a human do when facing a wolf, they wouldn’t be able to stop it.

Suddenly my mom turns and looks me in the eye, tears fall down her cheeks as she hold my own tear soaked cheeks in the palm of her hands.

“Alexandria, take your brothers hand. You need to go to the camp and get Noelle’s parents, tell them we need help.” I move my head to look where the wolf is, but my mom holds my head in place squishing my cheeks.

“No, when I tell you, you’re going to run and you’re not going to look back. Okay?” She forces the words out as her tears fall.

“I’m not leaving you and Dad behind,” James says.

“You don’t have a choice James, listen to your mother, take your sister and run as fast as you can. You hear me?” My father’s stern voice leaves no room for discussion, so James nods; his eyes are red but no tears fall.

“I love you two so much, don’t ever forget that,” my mother says, kissing both of us and pushing us away from her and my father. My father is reluctant to let me go, but as soon as he does, my mom yells at us to run.

James grabs hold of my hand and runs.

“Run! James don’t let go of her!” My father’s scream echoes across the park. “Run!”

The sound of my mother’s screams and my father’s yells have me yanking out of James tight grip, managing to get free. I turn around just in time to see the wolf jump my mother. It tackles her to the ground and reaches for her neck, I scream out and start running towards them but it’s too late.

James wraps his arms around me, trying to stop me from looking at the gruesome scene in front of me. I can’t keep my eyes off the wolf as it rips at my mother’s throat. My father is laying on the grass his back is facing me, but he doesn’t move. Through my tears I see my mother’s vacant stare as she lays on the ground with the wolf standing over her growling, blood dripping from his mouth.

“We need to go, please Alex.” My brother is absolutely petrified, I’ve never seen him this way before. I back away and James helps me off of the ground. The wolf stands a few feet away from us staring as if we’re his next meal. As soon as the wolf lunges for me, James pulls me back and wraps his arms around me. The wolf is gone before we even hit the ground. James lies on top of me still shielding me from danger, but through the gaps I see more wolves. I hear the sound of jaws snapping and then the sound of one long howl before silence ensues. I feel warm liquid running down my neck and chest. I push at James’s chest and he falls to the ground beside me.

I look down and see blood covering my chest and neck.

“James?” I look him over not caring about the wolves now surrounding us. I find the source of the blood on his shoulder. The rogue wolf didn’t get a chance to bite him hard, he just nipped him, but there’s so much blood. I cover the wound with my hand to try and stop him bleeding out.

“James? James, wake up.” I start crying and patting his face. I freeze when large, rough hands cover mine over the wound; the touch causing tingles to shoot through my body. I look up into the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen, he seems older than me but he’s the most handsome boy I’ve ever met.

“We need to get your brother some help, can you let go of him so our men can get him to the doctor?” He says softly, running his thumb over the top of my hand. I look down at James then back up to the beautiful boy in front of me.

“You’ll help him? You’re not going to hurt us like the other wolf did?” I blink back tears still not removing my hands from James.

The boy lifts one hand and runs his thumb across the apple of my left cheek. His touch causes a strange feeling of reassurance in me. I feel like he has given me a sedative, immediately stopping the blubbering mess I have become.

“I promise you we’ll help him. That wolf was a rogue, I can assure you that I personally saw to his death for causing you harm. I’ll keep you safe, I promise.” As soon as he removes his hand, the fear and worry I previously had consumes me. The boy helps James up and hands him off to two other larger men. I’m still kneeling on the grass as I take in my surroundings. Both wolves and fully clothed men surround me. The wolves look around the park like guard dogs, and a few of the men look at me with pity. My eyes turn to look at the two bodies that lie a couple metres away from where I sit. I stand up on shaky legs and run towards my father’s body since he’s closer.