Part of the Pack (Book 1 in the 'part of' series)

Chapter 7 returning and turning

THIS IS WHERE THE CRINGE IS- IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO CRY OF CRINGE I WOULD RECCOMEND READING THE REWRITE AND THEN CONTINUING FROM THE NEXT CHAPTER -edited 24/8/22

Chapter 7 Returning and turning

It had been two years since I saw that pair of eyes in the forest.

I am still in University at the moment. I'm in the middle of doing my sandwich year. I didn't go abroad or anything. I took a year out of university when my mother took ill, she's still not fully recovered and that's the reason I didn't go very far for my sandwich year, I had to look after Harlow. Dad was busy at work so I was around the majority of the time.

Harlow liked to hear my tales of what happened in the forest, no matter how many times mother told him I was joking, I made sure to tell him that it was real. Mother suggested I give up on my dreams and take up creative writing. I knew that I would never give up on my dreams.

I wanted to see what animals were like in their natural habitat, I wanted to experience the wonder and the magic that I felt two years ago when I was surrounded by those wolves. I was back on track and I knew what I had to do in order to get there.

I was able to do some volunteer work and I got some part time jobs. I volunteered at wildlife charities and I worked at zoos which inspired me even more. Harlow loved it, he managed to get in for a discount and he liked to look at the cute little animals. Harlow wasn't too much younger then me but he did act like a child at times. He said he wanted to be just like his big brother, usually that was when he was trying to butter me up.

At the moment I was in the middle of the woods once again. I had to do a project where we had to go somewhere and look at the animals and other wildlife which were there. I knew that I should've learnt my lesson from last time I was in here. Somehow nothing stopped me from coming here. I should be scared and afraid. I had to do it somewhere, I had a pleasant week or so last time I was here.

The first night was the same as it was two years ago, I set up camp and I got enough firewood to last me until morning. It was calm and peaceful. I missed the peace of the woods even though I only experienced it for a short amount of time. I had brought some better equipment with me this time, I actually knew how to use a compass and I managed to pick up better food.

The next morning I had to go and collect some more firewood. It was too warm for my liking as it was in the middle of april. That also meant that I didn't have long to do my assignment as I had been pretty busy lately. I had brought my books with me so that I could write notes.

I had to focus on this trip, nothing could distract me from what I had to do here. I had already wrote about a page and a half about the forest the night before and I was determined to make more. However things didn't really go according to plan.

I got curious, I wanted to see if the scenery had changed at all since I was last here. So I followed the path. I used the excuse that it was still helping me with my university work. A path would be much safer and I would be able to see the nature which surrounded me much easier.

I didn't plan to stray from the path very much. I managed to make it quite far along the path before the surroundings got too familiar to me. I had to know if the trap was still there. So I followed the footsteps which were engraved in my memory. It hasn't changed much in two years. Plants had grown and one or two trees had fallen. Yet the path was still the same.

I wasn't very surprised to see that the trap was still there. Nobody had gone to see the wolf other than me two years ago. I didn't see anyone in my time there nor did I hear any movement from anything which sounded remotely human.

I looked at the trap and I considered coming back here tomorrow, setting up my camp once again. At least I knew the place rather well. I was extremely tempted to carry on, it wouldn't take me long to reach the place where I had seen the wolves. Everything told me that I shouldn't try to reach the place where the pack was.

Yet I ignored that completely. I walked on forward into the woods until I got to the lake, there was no wolf there and there were no people or other creatures there. Except for one rather enormous bear. I froze in place. I hoped that the bear didn't see me and I could walk backwards. I was not that lucky.

The bear noticed me rather quickly, it moved from its place by the lake and started to come towards me. My fight or flight instincts kicked in and I ran up a tree. I climbed quickly , I hoped that the bear wouldn't be able to climb. For the second time in two minutes my hopes were proven wrong as the bear started to follow me. It's claws dug into the bark of the tree just as my hands and feet did.

The growling of the bear ran straight through me like the wind which chilled me to the bone. The sweat which was now dripping down my back made me shiver as I reached the top of the tree. I was about to be ripped apart and eaten by a bear in the same place where I had the most surreal experience.

It was the memory of that experience which gave me hope, hope that I could be saved. I was foolish and stupid but at that point I would take it over being ripped to shreds. I cupped my hands to my mouth and I howled. I howled like the wolves did that afternoon. I howled with all the emotion of that time, the freedom and the strength of helping the wolves.

I felt like I was part of the pack then, that feeling was what urged me to howl. I expected nothing to come of it. I expected to have the feeling of freedom like I had once, I expected to relive the best moment of my life. Instead, howls joined my own. It was a medley of sounds which came from the shadows.

The bear below me no longer shook the tree. I didn't know where the bear went but it seemed to have fled. The many wolves which came caught my attention. I slowly came down from the tree as they all stood around the base. They looked at me patiently, expectedly. It was as though they were waiting for me to come down.

I struggled a little bit, my whole body was shaking from fear and the cold sweat which came down my back. I looked at the wolves and they looked back at me. I could see the little wolves who didn't seem to have grown up much at all. That was incredibly odd but I decided to ignore it for now.

"Thank you." I told the wolves as I searched the crowd of wolves for a specific pair of eyes. A pair of eyes I couldn't find coming from a wolf. The wolves all seemed to analyse me as they started to circle me. I didn't feel many worries about this, they did this last time. Last time I made it out alive and this time they were the ones who kept me alive.

"You're welcome." A man's voice came from the shadows where the wolves had originated. They had my full attention now, a person with a pack of wolves? That made no sense. The man had long dark blonde hair and he was muscular, he looked around my age but he seemed much more muscular than me considering the muscles I could see considering he was shirtless. He had a charming smile on his face and his eyes, his eyes were incredibly familiar.

They were the eyes of the wolf I saw two years ago.