Wolf Blooded

CH 2 - Nature's Alpha

CHAPTER TWO – NATURE'S ALPHA

The reservation was alive.

There was no other way to describe the forest surrounding Cassi but that it had its own pulse, its own breath. It sung Cassi a song through the rustling of its leaves and the chirrups of its animals. The breeze that moved through the trees was warm and inviting, beckoning her into the depths.

She followed its call, believing in her heart that this was more her home than any other place had been or could be.

As Cassi walked through the trees, she ran her fingers against the bark of the trees, touched the leaves of the low hanging branches. She breathed in the earthy scent and felt her heartrate slow to a gentle rhythm. Her long day at work was soon a distant memory. The phone call from her mother became an echo from the past. The guilt gripping her chest at her 'break-in' dulled and became numb. She felt nothing but the living world around her.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye as she settled into nature's embrace. She found a log beside a thin, bubbling stream and sat down upon the mossy wooden seat. It was as though she were in a dream. A laugh surged up inside of her and she let it out into the night. No one was there to laugh at her or look at her strangely.

Ever since she had been a child, Cassi felt the pull of nature. She grew up sketching the twisting boughs of trees in one of many thick art books, and she was often found recording the sounds of whispering streams and rivers on her old recorder. As a child she was surrounded by woods in a secluded cabin with her family, but when her older sister left to the city, her parents decided it was time to give up country living and followed. Things had been hard for Cassi after that. The confines of the concrete jungle was suffocating for her, and while she enjoyed the convenience, she would have given it all up for the greenery of the woods she had grown up loving.

Every weekend that she had space, she would break away from her parents, her house, and her friends and head back out into the country. After a long drive she would be amongst the trees again, sketchbook clutched in her hands and her recorder tucked into her pocket.

Her mother would always call after an hour and demand she return home, return to 'the real world' as she put it.

Cassi began to hate her back then, and resentment grows fast.

Here, now, in the comforting darkness of the tree's shadows, Cassi was happier than she had been in months. She breathed in the forest air deeply, let it fill her lungs. Something caught her eye and she looked across the stream to see a wolf settled in the grass, watching her intently.

Cassi wasn't afraid. She loved all animals, and wolves were the alpha's of the woods. She knew there were wolves in the reserve, but this was her first time seeing one in all of her many visits. Excitement had her squirming on the log, but she quickly stilled herself. She didn't want to startle her visitor.

The wolf's golden eyes watched her intently, then it seemed to lose interest after a few moments. The animal rose, yawned hugely, then turned to stalk off into the trees.

Cassi's heart sank a little, but she realised that the night was still young as she glanced at her watch. She made a split decision and started to follow the wolf.

The forest grew darker the deeper the wolf led Cassi, and she soon felt herself losing the excitement she had felt before. Fear was beginning to settle in as she followed the wolf further into the reserve. She had never been this far inside before and wondered how safe it was in the very heart of this place. Tasha and her employees didn't carry dart guns for nothing. Anxiety gnawed at her, but her eyes stayed trained on the wolf as it wound through the trees. She couldn't seem to stop following it. It was as though she were in a trance. All of the stress of her lifestyle had driven her to seek out any form of escape, and this wolf was the very thing she felt could break the monotony of every day life.