The Wilde Expedition

17. it's a secret

Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved.

〮CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 〮

It got dark real fast. Like, freaky fast. And I still couldn't shift.

I was really glad that there wasn't anyone else with me, because I must have looked like I was constipated whenever I tried to shift. No matter how much I worked myself up, when I opened my eyes, I was still me. I was still as human as I could ever dream to be.

And since it was dark, I couldn't decide whether or not I was in more danger than I was before. For all I knew, they could have been tracking me this entire time, or just let themselves shift and roam the forest, not caring whether or not they actually killed me on sight. I really didn't want to deal with an Alpha wolf right now.

It seemed that no matter how long I kept walking, I was still a thousand miles away from the nearest road. I tried to keep track of my internal compass, but even the moon wasn't visible through the trees so I just wandered until eventually, after freezing my butt of in the accumulation of evening chill, I stumbled across a country road.

I walked in the direction of what I hoped was west. West meant the ocean, which meant a coast filled with towns like Crescent City. But man my legs were really killing me. Not only did my knee have a growth the size of an orange, but I was on an incline. To think I thought these mountains looked pretty earlier.

For a while the road twisted and turned around the elevations of the land, and it followed alongside a river that I recognized from driving with Gavin. I recalled it because I was seated on that side of the road, where I could peer over the guardrails and watch the current break over rocks and carry a heavy torrent of water. Not wanting to fall to my doom, I kept nearest the right lane, and remained on the narrow shoulder of the road. And whenever a car zipped by, I hid in the forest.

You'd think being a werewolf and all, I'd be pretty used to the rough lifestyle of hiking on the sides of roads, but this was different. I didn't know where I was, well, not really, and I wasn't surrounded by people I knew and trusted. It reminded me of all those times I'd shifted back before the dawn, and wound up miles away from home. Almost every time, without fail, I walked the distance-barefoot.

Something about wearing boots, jeans, and a leather jacket made me depressed. But I wasn't at home, and that made my situation far worse than anything else.

There was something to be said, though, for following Gavin's directions and realizing that they were actually useful. I should have taken notes, maybe then I'd have something to do while I walked this endless road.

Eventually I found a larger, busier road that, when I followed it, became more populated. It must have at least been ten at night-I realized it got darker sooner in the day since it was winter and all. I had my hands in my armpits because my pockets weren't keeping them warm enough. The road merged onto a street that directed through a downtown area and, to my relief, a bus stop.

Now, I'd never used the bussing system before, especially not in California, so I resorted to using the payphone hooked up in the booth and dialing the number on my hand. It took two tries-how hard was it to hear a phone go off? The Volkswagen wasn't that big.

"Hello? Who's this?"

I could have passed out I was so happy to hear him. At first I couldn't speak, at least, until he said, "Okay, I'm hanging up now-"

"No wait, I'm here," I blurted out, now gripping the phone with two hands instead of one.

"Well you sound mighty familiar. You aren't home already, are you?" he asked, and I was so relieved that I smiled, and leant up against the phone booth.