Wolf in Red

Ashleigh could not believe it. Werewolves were real. She had to leave. One minute she was looking at Wade blushing in his boxers and the next moment there was a shift as muscles began to twitch and turn and blur as hair started to sprout all over and all that stood there in Wades place was a large brown wolf looking at her. She had been so startled, she had knocked the chair she was standing next to over. Ashleigh saw the wolf raise his hackles for a moment before he calmed again. Glancing at her grandmother impassive face, Ashleigh could feel the air get tight in her lungs.

Werewolves were real and her entire life was a lie. She had to leave, so she walked out the kitchen door. She wasn't even sure what she was doing. Her feet just seemed to move, one step after another The need for escaped pressed heavily upon her.. A part of her wanted to run. Run as fast as she could and as far as she could to get away from this madness, but the logical side reminded her that dogs chase things that run. She had worked at the animal shelter long enough to know that if she made any sudden movements or started to make a dash for it, the wolf in there would think of her as prey and chase her. She did not want to get eaten or mauled today, even though every thing she though she knew was obviously wrong. There was no guarantee that despite he knowing that Wade was the wolf, that he would be able to quell the very nature of the wolf.

Thoughts swirled in her head. Questions and answers and more questions warred for space in her mind. Ashleigh just kept walking. She wasn't even sure how long she had been walking or even paying attention to where she was going, until she found herself at her favorite spot in the woods. The spot that she always went to think. It was a if her sub conscience had made the decision for her. She stood for a moment and looked down at the bed for wild flowers from the top of the ridge. The spot she suspected was created from the creek that was a little ways away, in the spring when the snow had melted the creek bed would over flow and slowly eat away at the rocks, making a natural ridge. Ones the water had receded the ground was soft and fertile for wild flowers and clover. Jumping down from the rock over hang to the soft ground below, she felt the ground give a little too much and then pain shot up from her left ankle, bringing tears to her eyes.

Taking a deep breathe, Ashleigh was trying her best to keep her composure, but it seemed like nothing was going to go right for her today. Plopping down onto the ground, she pulled her left foot up to her lap so that she could check it out. The pain from the movement was like lightening. She was pretty sure that she might have sprained her ankle, for the mere sake that there were no bones poking out of her ankle or foot. Trying to move the foot into her lap had been a bad idea, it felt like fire was ripping through her, that she stopped and just let her foot stretched out on ground in front of her. Some of her discomfort eased, but is her ankle throbbed in anger at the slightest movement. Looking around her, she realized that as much as she loved her secret place, no one knew she was there and she wouldn't be able to get out of with out help. She was trapped. The pain, the realization that her life wasn't what she thought it was and being trapped with no way out was too much. Bringing her hands up to her face, Ashleigh started to sob into them. Sometimes you just need a good cry, before you can move on, and if any one deserved a good cry, she did.

*******

Wade sat there in wolf form next to Lady Leona, not entirely sure what to do. He wasn't sure if he should change back into human form or just stay as a wolf. Deciding that the energy it would take to change back multiple times would wear him down, he would just wait in wolf form. Not to mention that it also go him out of having to actually do more then nod if asked a question. Lady Leona had been oddly silent when Ashleigh walked out the door. He was not sure what he expected out of this afternoon, but it was not this. Cocking his head to the side, he could still barely hear Ashleigh walking in the woods. The crunch of dried leaves with her soft footfalls got increasingly softer as the seconds ticked on.

"This will not do," said Lady Leona. Wade turned his head and watched Lady Leona. He was not entirely sure what Lady Leona had meant by that. He watched her. Suddenly her focus shifted from the empty door way to him. It felt like a thousand eyes were watching him and he wanted to cower away.

"You. You will find Ashleigh and explain everything to her. I mean everything thing. You will leave nothing out. It has become obvious to me that Suzanne has failed and I am going to have to make her aware of that. You will educate Ashleigh in everything she needs to know about us, and you have one month to do it and to have her mated. Do not fail me, or it will not be pretty," snarled Lady Leona. The wolf was fully in her eyes and in her voice. Wade dropped his head in submission as he quivered with fear. Lady Leona may look like every ones grandmother, but she was not some one to be trifled with. She had a core of steel and a mind like a vice. Wade was not entirely sure what Suzanne was supposed to have told Ashleigh, because technically it was against pack law to talk to an outsider about pack business. Ashleigh was not part of the pack because she was not a Were. She was a human. However if the alpha told you to do something you were supposed to do it. Valuing his life, Wade decided rather quickly that he would educate Ashleigh. Bringing his head up slowly, he nodded at Lady Leona keeping his eyes low in submission.

Wade's ears perked up as he heard a sound come from the woods. It was soft, but he could make out a cry in pain. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lady Leona stiffen. If he heard the cry of pain, then Lady Leona had definitely head the cry of pain. He was pretty sure it was Ashleigh. Bending down to grab his jeans into his mouth, he stood by the door and waited. If she was in pain, she could have been attacked by wild wolves. Despite there being a local Were population there were still some wild wolves in the woods and they were not exactly friendly tree hugging sort of wolves that an injured person would be safe with. They were more likely to take it as an opportunity for a quick meal. The screen door was shut and he had enough sense to know that if he took a leap through the screen that Lady Leona would not be pleased at all, despite the pressing urgency of the situation. Nudging the door, he looked at Lady Leona. She had a thoughtful look on her face. He watched as she opened the screen door. Not wanting to wait around, Wade ran down the lane following Ashleigh's scent.

****

Ashleigh was not entirely sure how long she had been crying. Her eyes felt red and gritty from the tears, and her face was hot from all the blood rushing to her face. Her mind was feeling a little dull from all the energy that it took to expel to torrent of tears. Hiccuping a little, as she settled down, she slowly became aware that she was no longer alone. Ashleigh could feel eyes upon her. Bringing her face out of her hands, she looked up and around here. The light from the afternoon was beginning to fade and the long shadows from the tree's made it harder to figure out what was staring at her. Scanning the ridge, her gaze met those of a yellow eyed wolf. The wolf was staring at her. Ashleigh was trying her best to hold it together. She wasn't sure if that wolf was Wade or if it was someone else, or heaven forbid and actual normal wolf. Anger boiled up with in her. It was slow an hot like a slow leaking lava. It slowly destroyed the fear in her brain as the wolf stared at her. The wolf began to bare its teeth at her and growl. Ashleigh could feel the thin line of fear snap as anger began course through her.

Letting out a primal cry of rage, she grabbed the nearest thing she could, a medium sized rock on the ground and threw it at the wolf, startling the wolf to take a couple of steps backwards. Screaming obscenities into the air, she continued to grab at some of the rocks on the ground and throw them at the wolf. Some of the smaller rocks missed the target along with some of the larger ones, but were enough for the wolf to back up out of range and continue to watch her tire herself out. She could hear the wolf growling and see the remaining daylight bounce off the sharp whiteness of the wolfs teeth. Ashleigh could feel her arm getting tired and she was beginning to run out of rock. She could throw flowers at the wolf, like some hippy flower child and tell it to make love not war and hope the wolf would go away, but that wasn't likely to work. She was going to die in these woods. Her bad day was going to end by her getting eaten by wild dogs. The wolf slowly crept forward, growling at her the entire time. The end was near, she had no plan. Deciding that if she was going to die by wild dogs, she might as well laugh at the irony of it. A small giggle escaped her as the wolf came even closer. Yellow eyes of death stalked her every breathe.

A rustle in the underbrush started her and she watched the wolf warily watch the bush on the ledge begin to twitch and shake. Suddenly a larger wolf sailed over the brush and let out a loud menacing snarl to the smaller wolf. She watched as the smaller wolf snarled and snapped at the larger wolf. The hackles on the large wolf were raised and the large wolf snarled and then lunged at the smaller wolf. Ashleigh saw the smaller wolf dodge and snap at the larger wolf. It looked like a larger version of some of the dog fights she had scene at the kennel. At work they had tried to put the new dogs in with some of the older dogs that were more mild mannered, but sometimes no matter what two dogs that you would think would be fine with each other were get into a nasty dog fight. Biting, and fur flew in the air as the wolf fight in front of her continued. Suddenly the smaller wolf must have decided that she was no longer worth the fight, as she watched him dart into the darkening woods. The larger wolf sat and howled his victory before turning and started rooting around the bush that he had jumped over. Pulling a pair of jeans out of the bush, the wolf trotted behind the bush, and a moment later Wade walked out, wearing nothing but the faded jeans that were in the wolfs mouth moments before. Ashleigh's mind clicked as she connected the dots that Wade was the large wolf that had just saved her. She wasn't going to be a meal for wild dogs. Her day just dropped from a level 10 on a shit scale to a level 9 1/2. Not dying was an improvement, but not much of one. Ashleigh noted that several bruises and cuts were on Wade's torso, but overall he seemed to be no worse for the wear after the fight he was just in. She had to wonder if sparring with wild wolves was normal for a Were.

"Are you alright?" asked Wade as he hopped down from the ledge gracefully and landed next to where she sat. Concern was evident in his voice.

"Mentally or Physically?" replied Ashleigh with a little bit of a snort.

"Both."

"Physically I think that I may have a sprained ankle, Mentally the jury is still out," replied Ashleigh. She watched as Wade slowly picked up her foot and then hissed and pain as he poked and prodded her ankle, checking for broken bones.

"Will you be able to put any weight on it," asked Wade quietly as he lowered her foot and checked the not injured one for any swelling.

"It hurts less then it did, but it still hurts quite a bit, I don't think I can put any weight on it yet with out screaming in agony," said Ashleigh and sighed in relief and he set her foot back down on the soft ground.

"I don't feel comfortable trying to get you up the embankment and out of the woods in the dark with you being injured. I think we should stay here for the night and then I can get us out in daylight," said Wade bluntly.

"Ah..I am not exactly prepared to spend the night on the dirt floor..." said Ashleigh as apprehension started to fill her. The shadows of the trees were even longer on the ground and she knew that Wade was right, that it would be hard for them to get her out of the woods in the dark with her being injured. They would most likely injure her further before they would be able to get her out.

"I can get a fire started and I think that will help. Once the fire is up and going that should keep the other predators away long enough for me to get a blanket or two from my car. I am parked at Lady Leona's house and it shouldn't take me long to bring them back," said Wade. Ashleigh stared at him. She wasn't sure what to think. He was being really nice and understanding, but she still didn't want to be stuck in the woods over night, but in reality she really didn't want to go back home either. She didn't want to have to deal with Suzanne or go back to her grandmothers and talk to her. She may not want to spend a night in the woods, but perhaps it would be a good idea to do it, just to clear her head a bit. Ashleigh watched as he started to fidget with one of the wild flowers, slowly pulling petals off the head while he waited for her answer. The silence stretched on and she watched him maul another flower waiting for her to answer.

"Okay. I guess I am game for spending the night in the woods. If you are going to go back and get blankets, bring back some food too," said Ashleigh. Wade nodded and let out a full breath that she hadn't be aware of him holding and then watched as he immediately began to assemble wood to make a fire. This might not be the ideal situation and they might not have anything in common, but just for a moment Ashleigh was glad to have Wade with her. It made the bleakness of the lies that had been told to her not feel so lonely.

*****

Wade started to prop sticks of wood into a teepee position with a few dried leaves that he had been able to find shoved in the center. He really wanted to get the fire going. It was getting cooler as the rays of daylight disappeared in the the inky blackness of the woods, and even though he had spent many nights in the woods, it was always nice to sleep next to a warm fire. Reaching into his jean pockets, he was relieved to find an old matchbook that still had a couple of sad looking matches still in it. He had absent mindedly shoved the matchbook in his pocket earlier that day when he was cleaning out his car. It had belonged to his cousin that had left it in his car the last time they were together. He had made fun of his cousin when his cousin had said that it was his lucky matchbook and had begged him to look for it. A Wade was pretty sure that he could light a fire by rubbing two sticks together, but if he didn't have to, it seemed that the matchbook was indeed lucky. Lucky for him.

Striking the match against the soft matchbook, a prayer of thanks left his lips as the match head burst into life. Moving the tiny flame to the dried leaves, they caught on fire quickly. Blowing on the flame softly to make the flames rise higher, small pieces of wood caught on fire and slowly got bigger. After a few minutes of feeding the fire, it had stabilized and was throwing off a good amount of heat. Looking at Ashleigh, he observed that she seemed to be lost in thought staring into the flames. Wade was beginning to feel the adrenaline rush from the earlier fight begin to drain. He was going to need to get going, if we wanted to have enough energy to bring food back for both of them.

"I am going to head out to get blankets and food and stuff," said Wade, mentally berating himself for sounding like an idiot. Ashleigh looked up from the fire and and nodded at him that she had heard him. Sighing, he got up and brushed some of the dirt and leaves off of his jeans. He was going to have to change back into a wolf if he wanted to find his way back with out feeling every single rock, twig or thorn that was in the woods. Climbing up the side of the dirt bank he ducked behind the bush and stripped his jeans off and shook them out. Wade new that he was going to have to bring the jeans with him and he really didn't want to taste dirt and mud in his mouth the entire trip back.

Closing his eyes, he call forth the wolf and willed his body to change. He tried not to groan as his muscles moved and shifted. His vision changed and then righted itself. The woods were no longer as dark as they once were, shade and shadows became much clearer and the whispers of the nocturnal animals danced in his ears. Bending down he snatched the jeans off the ground and started to make his way back to grandmothers house.

The entire trip back to the house, all he could think about was Ashleigh and the other wolf. He had heard her scream of rage and he thought that his heart was going to drop out of his chest and quit beating. He had smelled the wolf and could sense the desperate hunger in the air. Wade wasn't sure what had possessed Ashleigh to throw rocks at the wolf, but he was glad she did. It had given him enough time to get there. If he had been even a few minutes later, there was no telling to if she would still be alive. The fragility of her humanity frightened him, but her bravery in the face of an uncertain death made him proud. To be fair the wolf had put up a good fight and had gotten in a few good licks, before he had turned tail and ran. Wade knew that he was never going to forget the crazed look in Ashleigh's eyes as she desperately threw stones into the face of death, and if that determination was an example at her tenacity, then he figured he was going to have an uphill battle trying to get her to agree to mate with him.

Wade was approaching the Alpha's house. Stopping at the edge of the woods, he morphed back into his human form and tried to shake of some of the weariness that came from doing several changes through out the day. Walking out of the woods and towards the house, he noted that the lights were still on and that there were several cars parked in the drive. The one car that had caught his attention belonged to his parents. Wade walked up the drive and knocked on the door. Waiting for the door to open, he hoped that he would be able to get in and out of the house with the rest of his clothing without too many questions. Wade could tell that his long night was going to get even longer, when the door opened and his little sister, Emily opened that door and smirked at him. His sister was only two years younger than him, and had this annoying habit constantly getting in the way and being in the way or wanting to tag along. Wade could just imagine how well Ashleigh would respond if he came back with supplies and his little sister. She would most likely throw stones at him. Biting the inside of his cheek, Wade smiled at Emily what he hoped was a surprised and carefree smile and followed her into the house. Wade saw his parents, sitting at the table chatting with Lady Leona. They all stopped talking and looked at him as he walked in. Without a doubt in his mind, Wade knew that he would rather be in the woods with Ashleigh throwing stones at him and screaming obscenities then be the center of attention of his parents and alpha. He had to glance down for a split second to make sure his fly was not undone.

"Where is Ashleigh," asked Lady Leona. Wade shivered as the ice from her tone, cause a bead of sweat to sprout across his forehead and upper lip.

"In the woods, she sprained her ankle. We are going to camp out and I'll take her home in the morning," rushed Wade, trying to get all the words out before he ran out of breathe.

"Ah,"said Lady Leona as she watched him. Wade could feel her gaze dismiss him and he dashed out of the living room into the kitchen. To his utter relief he heard his parent stop Emily from following him. That was one complication to this evening that he had narrowly avoided. Entering the darkened kitchen, Wade saw his clothing neatly folded into a pile at the end of the kitchen table and a picnic basket next to them. Pulling the shirt over his head, he glanced at the picnic basket. Slipping into his sneakers, he mused that this night looked like it was going to be even stranger then the day way. Grabbing the picnic basket, he slipped out the kitchen door and headed to his car to pull out a blanket of the trunk.