Her Wolf

The paralyzing fear that Catherine felt caused her to fall to her knees before the beast that was practically breathing down her neck. Ryan’s larger mass clambered to its feet and snatched at Alan’s tail, using his sheer strength to whip him far enough into the trees that it created meters of space between them.

“Don’t waste any time, I’m not sure of the control I will have,” Catherine mused, mentally repeating the words Ryan had said to her. “I have some control, but I don’t know how much. My senses are going to be heightened after the fight. Get yourself out of there.”

As Catherine scrambled to her feet, a pained howl followed by a loud thump came from the distance and silence followed. She used every ounce of strength she had to break the paralysis brought on by her fear and began running as hard and fast as she could towards the SUV. The branches of the thick trees slapped and whipped her across the face, leaving scratches and traces of small droplets of blood.

Catherine felt a huge rush of relief overcoming her as she found the light of Ryan’s SUV breaking a part through the trees the closer and faster she ran. The adrenalin coursing through her veins caused her to forget about the stinging sensation ripping through her skin until the world crumbled.

The cold, damp floor of the forest was met with a piercing scream that came from Catherine’s mouth as she tumbled down to the ground, tripping over a bundle of rocks. Her knees wept with warm blood that was dripping down her leg and her heart beat thunderously in her ear.

“Come on,” Catherine cried, tears of pain streaming down her dirt covered face. “You’re okay, you’re okay.”

As Catherine felt her ankle swell in her boots, the familiar sound of branches breaking and leaves crushing beneath a heavy weight nearly caused Catherine’s heart to stop. She lifted her head cautiously and met the snarling mouth of Ryan’s beast just a few feet away.

“Ry-Ryan?” She called out hesitantly, unsure if he could hear her or not. “I’m hurt. I think I sprained my ankle.”

Ryan pawed further dangerously.

“Wh-what are you doing? It’s me, Ryan!”

Catherine’s voice trembled as she shifted her weight back and tried to create as much space between her and the werewolf stalking her as possible. The hope in her voice pleaded out to the person who she thought still lived inside of the monster creeping towards her, but her stomach told her he was gone.

A shooting pain ripped through Catherine’s ankle as she used the side of the tree for support to pull herself up enough to have a hope of getting away. Her movements were slow, steady and she tried to use her best judgment to not startle the beast. To not startle Ryan.

“You’re not you anymore,” she whispered.

As if on cue, the weight of the werewolf sprung forth and knocked Catherine back down to the ground. Its front legs pinned her helplessly to the mud as it snarled an inch from her face, its yellow and blood stained teeth bared and drool dripping onto her skin.

“No!” Catherine screamed as loud as she could despite the weight on her chest and the terror that caused her words to be broken sobs. “Please don’t kill me!! It’s me! Ryan please don’t kill me!”

Catherine used all of the willpower she had left and opened her eyes to face the beast head on. Her vision was blurred by pools of tears and her sobbing became uncontrollable the more she felt his warm, threatening breath on her face.

“Please…” she begged.

The wolf snarled sharply before seeming to swiftly disappear, leaving Catherine on the ground with a crushing pain in her chest and a thrumming heart.

“He left,” she thought, taking a moment to gather her wits as her eyes darted around the area to assess if he really had gone. “He recognized me. He’s letting me live.”

Catherine stretched her arms out along the dirt ground and pushed herself up to the best of her ability. With her remaining strength and the sight of Ryan’s SUV in view, she used the support of the trees to limp along the rest of the path.

The night fell silent and even the crickets and owls seemed to render to their hideouts as Catherine reached the SUV and collapsed inside, slamming the driver’s side door behind her. Her hands shook tremendously as she gripped the steering wheel in front of her and the dirt in her eyes mixed with the tears blurring her vision beyond repair.

“It’s over, it’s over,” Catherine chanted to herself in an attempt to assuage her nerves and calm her thrumming heart. “You’re okay.”

After what seemed like an hour, Catherine switched on the engine of the SUV and backed out of the park furiously. Her mind reeled over everything that happened and the pain shooting through her ankle was almost enough to have her pull over to the side of the road and sleep in the Range Rover.

A project that gripped Catherine’s heart and memories of her family from the get go had turned into something she wished she had never been a part of. As she drove down the highway and back towards her Penthouse, she questioned what her parents would think of her for putting herself in such reckless danger. She had willingly put herself in the line of fire for someone she wasn’t sure felt the same way as her. For someone who only backed away when her dignity, pride and self respect was thrown out the window and replaced with begging pleas for life.

The drive back to the Penthouse was short and uneventful and as Catherine struggled to get out of the SUV and limp her way to the elevator, waves of emotion washed over her. There was no way she was capable of processing everything that happened in such a short amount of time and years of keeping everything bottled up inside her proved to be another enemy working against her.

Catherine immediately worked on shedding her mud riddled clothing from her body as she stumbled into the safety of her apartment and towards the bathroom. Her Victorian styled tub glistened and called out for her embrace.

“Have a bath, relax and get some sleep,” she told herself. “When you wake up tomorrow, you will realize it was nothing but a nightmare that is now over. Your life can go back to normal.”

The words Catherine used to encourage herself actually did nothing as the tub filled with hot water. Her skin turned a bright red as she lowered herself into the unforgiving temperature and pulled her legs up to her chest.

“You’re home, you’re safe,” she said, pressing her chin to her knees and clenching her eyes shut to keep the tears at bay. “You proved just how strong you are and even if he never comes back, you know you did the right thing.”

As Catherine opened her eyes when her body adjusted to the hot water that surrounded her, she watched as the clear water turned brown from a mix of the dirt and blood that stained her body. She grabbed the loofah from the side of her tub and began to scrub harshly at her skin. The desperation to rid herself of everything that had to do with the events that happened at Snow Drift Park was obvious and for the first time since she started the project, Catherine found herself wondering if it was truly worth saving.