I am barely able to contain myself the day of the full moon. An hour before our meeting time, I am pacing back and forth at the patio door feeling like a caged animal myself.
Finally the time is here. My clock says eight o'clock on the dot. I step outside and walk to the edge of the concrete and step into the grass. I hear some rustling in the bushes directly behind my house. Gradually I see a wolf poking its head through. My heart is pounding in my chest. I am not nervous or scared, but excited, even giddy. It's not every day that I meet a wolf and know there is man inside it.
He approaches slowly giving me every chance to run. He is beautiful and larger than I expected. His coat is thick and long. The fur is very light colored, almost like white chocolate and almonds. His eyes are golden, but not the same as I saw the other day. These are more burnt golden.
The wolf stops about halfway across the yard and still a good twenty feet from where I am standing. We look at each other both trying to gauge the other's expression. I want to probe his mind but the fear of having him shut me out again prevents me. It was the only time I have really felt vulnerable with the Colonel and I am not eager to go there again.
There is an electric feeling in the air. I am too preoccupied with the wolf to notice that the energy does not have the same familiarity as before. The difference suddenly zaps me back and I become aware that something has changed. The wolf's eyes now look strange to me. I probe lightly and do not feel any emotion emanating from the creature.
I start to fear the wolf. My fear of the wolf is greater than my fear of being shut out, so I probe deeper. I need to know what Taylor is experiencing. Focused on extending my energies for the probe, I begin to see an image of another wolf. This one is slightly larger and has much darker features. There is an obvious hatred between the two wolves. I keep delving deeper trying to find a trace of something familiar. The only thing I keep seeing is the same image. The two wolves are staring at each other with gums rolled. My wolf lets out a growl. I realize that the growl is external and not within my probe.
My connection with the wolf breaks. I now notice that the image of the wolf that I kept seeing was actually a second wolf. This one is standing less than five feet in front of me. I try to stay calm, but let out a high pitched girly scream none the less. Crap, crap, crap. What is going on?
The wolf closest to me has its back to me and is facing the original wolf. I feel like the new wolf is protecting me. It never once turns to look at me. I am too shocked to move and notice that I am holding my breath. Both wolves growl again. Their ears are laid back and their tails are extended. It is definitely a fighting stance.
Each takes a step closer to the other. Two more wolves come through the thick brush. All three wolves are focused on the single wolf. Is that MY wolf, the one defending me? It has to be.
A quick cursory probe tells me what I needed to know. The lone wolf is Taylor. He is going to fight these other three wolves. I have never seen wolves and I don't know their dynamics, but three against one are not good odds. I have to do something.
While the wolves are sizing each other up, I sneak back inside my house. At least with me inside, Taylor's wolf has one less worry. It could easily leave and maybe out run the others. I would rather he live to fight another day. Knowing the Colonel though, he will fight. He has been trained by the United States Marines to fight and to never back down.
I am rushing around trying to figure out what to do. I have nothing that is a weapon against a wolf. My gun will do little damage without silver bullets. My strength and speed do not compare. I focus on how I could use my internal abilities to best help the Co. I don't want to impact his wolf's mood or focus. I wonder if I can turn bring my powers inward and use it myself.
Something above my couch catches my eye. I completely forgot that I have a Chinese sword. It is really one of the few decorative items that I travel with and it cost a fortune. I take the sword out of its wood holder and inspect it closely. It is sharp and has a solid weight. I think it would work as a weapon. Maybe I could distract one wolf and try to narrow the odds. Not sure what to do once I have the attention of a wolf, but there is no time to analyze. I must act quickly.
The sword unsheathed is about three feet long. The handle is large enough for me to grasp with both my hands. That will give my swing more power, but will impact my speed. I take several test swings to familiarize myself with the weapon and head back outside.
During my absence, the two larger wolves have gotten very close to each other. They are nearly nose to nose and apparently have a lot to say because they are growling fiercely. The other two wolves seem to be more spectators and are not engaging in any way.
Eeney, meeney, minee, moe... I pick the wolf on the right and try to sneak up as close as I can without being noticed. The wolf is either so focused on the pending fight, or I am down wind, but I get within two feet of it. I draw the sword up with the goal of slicing through the back of the wolf's neck. The wolf notices me just before I can swing. It turns and shots toward me. I pull the sword back quickly, but lose my balance and fall back. As I land on my back, I hold the sword out and the wolf lunges toward me. Then, as if in slow motion, the wolf is motionless. We are eye to eye. I feel something hot trickling down my hand. I glance down and see blood everywhere. My eyes follow the blade of my sword to find it buried in the wolf.
I hear loud sounds and turn my head to see that the two large wolves are now deep in combat, biting and snarling and thrashing about. The second spectator wolf must smell the blood, because it lets out a howl and rushes toward us. There is no time for me to react. I drop the sword, wrap myself into a ball, close my eyes and focus on protecting myself. I imagine being safe and strong rather than weak and about to be mauled by a vicious predator. I want the wolf to know my fear as its own rather than it being mine. This wolf needs to be terrified and helpless just like I am feeling. My energy is fading. I can no longer focus or open my eyes. I drift off into nothingness.
It's not a bad way to die. No pain, no drawn out disease. I only wish I could have told Taylor that I loved him, wolf and all. I would have accepted his wolf. I would have become his mate. Now he'll never know. I tried to be strong. I should have stayed in the house. Maybe his wolf was killed two. The odds were better once one wolf was eliminated from the equation but was my efforts enough. What comes next?
"Love, can you hear me?"
I can even hear that sweet deep sound of his voice. I miss him already.
"Samantha. Open your eyes. I'm here sweetheart. You are safe."
This afterlife stuff might not be too bad. I always wondered what happened after death. It's almost as if I can feel Taylor holding my hand, kissing my fingers. His soft lips. His large callused hands carefully holding mine much smaller hands. So gentle.
