Blizzard

chapter 5

Toni went looking for the wolf as often as she could without it interfering with basketball and her homework. After another week of roaming the woods she'd finally found the rocky overhang. Though, there was still no sign of the wolf. She'd hoped that the wolf would've shown up during her search for the rock overhang by now. Like, maybe if she'd sensed Toni's presence that she'd have revealed herself or something.

Her friends thought she was being an idiot. They expected her to give up. But she wasn't going to. Even if she never came across the wolf, she'd surprised herself by finding that walking in the woods was actually kind of peaceful and relaxing, as long as the weather didn't act up. It was quiet, the only sounds coming from the few birds that hadn't migrated, the soft crunch of the snow underneath her beat up vans' as she walked, and the occasional car if she was close to the road.

Her friends had, somehow, also taken a liking to Shelby, who was now a regular at their table, much to Toni's dismay. All because Martha just had to invite her that one time.

They both tried their best to ignore each other's presence, which actually worked most of the time. Toni didn't understand why she couldn't just go back to sitting with her boyfriend and his dickhead friends.

She'd told her friends that she'd found the rock overhang on Wednesday. Ever since finding it, she'd just come back to it instead of roaming the woods without direction. She figured if the wolf didn't want for Toni to see her, she wouldn't. She was hoping the wolf would decide to approach her instead.

For while she waited she'd brought her homework. This time it was a book she had to read for English. It was almost finished, it had only fifteen pages left. At least she was getting some schoolwork done. Though It was not ideal, outside and in the cold. The more days went by, the colder it got and thus the shorter her trips had to be. And then there were the exams that were starting in two weeks, so she wasn't going to be able to come as often anymore.

After finishing the book, she decided to call it a day. She put the book in her backpack and stood up. She'd spent all afternoon reading, though she had looked up from the book every few pages to make sure there wasn't by any chance a certain white wolf lurking around.

Just as she was about to leave, Toni saw her, standing about fifty feet away from her. Without the darkness of the night Toni could finally get a good look at her in all her glory. She was beautiful, her fur completely white and her eyes a piercing icy blue.

Damn, what a creature. Toni was in awe.

The wolf was smaller than she remembered from her hypothermic state, though her size was definitely above average. If she were to stand on her hind legs she would tower over Toni. Though, on all fours, her head reached just above Toni's waist.

"Hey." Toni tried to make her voice as soft and non-threatening as she could, not wanting to scare the wolf away. "Remember me?" She tried to approach the wolf, slowly taking a few steps towards her. The wolf immediately retreated just as many steps.

Toni held up her hands to show the wolf she meant her no harm. "Don't worry. I'm not gonna hurt you." She cautiously tried to step towards the wolf again, but got the exact same reaction as before.

"You don't want me to come closer, huh." Toni gave up on trying to approach her. "Alright, uhm...I'll just stay right here then."

Toni cautiously sat back down, observing the animal in front of her. She dug with her gloved hands in the snow between her outstretched legs while she waited for the wolf to do something. She noticed the small clouds of respiration escaping her black nose. The animal was observing Toni, too. She kept standing there for a few minutes, the breeze softly ruffling her fur, before sitting down as well. They sat there like that, silently observing one another, for about a dozen minutes. Their eyes were cautious, never leaving the other.