“Yes sir, I will be careful.” Caleb promises, he looks back at the woods before following them inside. The scent of pot roast and rolls greets his grumbling stomach and he smiles, “What’s cooking, I’m starving!”
Chapter
7
The Arctic Moon watches the young wolf run through the woods, tracking the boy by the scent of his blood. Wolves have a sense of smell ten times stronger than any human. From the cover of the trees he watches the movement beyond the glowing windows.
His pack chased him away again. Wolves are pack animals and Archer longs to belong. They did not come to his aid when the branch fell on him; instead they circled, taunting, and laughing. He is confused by these humans, they treat him better than his own kind and he did not mean to bite the boy. Archer feels sick, so he heads to the edge of the woods to wait for his girl. She will come soon, laying down he dreams.
Archer wakes to pain in his body. Everything hurts! He needs to get to his girl. Makenna will help him. He pushes his body and runs through the woods towards her home. The pain begins to fade as he gets close to her home. He waits in the silence for morning to come.
Sunday morning came quick. Makenna got up early so she could spend time with Frisbee before the party with Caleb. She had waited for the sound of her father’s truck to start, before getting up. Her backpack was loaded with food for her hike. She grabbed a muffin and runs out the door with her gear. It is still dark out at five-thirty, the sun doesn’t rise until at least eight, until then the moonlight will guide her.
She walks down the snow covered trail and suddenly a flash of movement catches her eyes. Makenna jumps in surprise when a flash of white greets her. He found her! He is watching her through the thick trees but his silver eyes can’t be missed.
“Frisbee,” she calls to him while she walks towards him. She smiles and opens the plastic bag, then waits for the scent to reach him.
Salmon, fresh from the freezer. The scent is carried on the wind and Archer smells it. He runs towards her, his girl, Makenna. Maybe he will feel better if he eats. She greets him with a smile and freezes shocked by what she is seeing. His fur is thicker and his colors are more pronounced. Silver and gray mix with the white, but that is not what is shocking her.
“Your eyes and fur! They are glowing Frisbee.” He walks slower towards her and wonders at the word, glowing. He nudges the bag and she remembers to feed him. “Oh, right. Are you ready?” He snorts at her as if to say, I’m always ready and rolls his silver eyes.
“We will see, boy.” She drops her backpack on the ground and rolls the salmon patty up and tosses it towards the shadowed trees. In a flash he runs after it, silently.
He watches the salmon ball fly through the air and he catches it before she can pull the next one out.
“Wow! You are so fast!” Makenna is speechless when she watches him run. He is lit up and it is beautiful.
The pain rushes over him again causing him to slow down. His head drops and he pauses waiting for it to stop. Archer walks back to her slowly and seems to smile at her wanting to reassure her. For the first time in her life Makenna is stricken with fear.
“Frisbee,” she whispers. “What will happen if someone finds out about you? They will take you away from me.” Dropping to her knees she sits eye level with the beautiful silver wolf. “Or even worse, experiment on you. I have never heard of a glow in the dark wolf!” She buries her face in the thick fur of his neck and wraps her arms around him. “Don’t worry, I will keep you safe,” she promises, but in her heart she doesn’t know how she will do it.
He nuzzles her and a strange scent drifts towards him. Archer growls low in his throat and it rumbles through his chest. Makenna drops her arms and looks at him. “What’s wrong?” He is staring into the woods behind her and his ears flatten on his head. A cloud covers the moon and the glow from his fur disappears. “Frisbee? Is it an animal?”
That’s when she notices the silence of the woods. Something is scaring the forest. Makenna has spent enough time in the woods to know to how to read them. Danger! It screams and Archer nudges her and growls. The sound of wolves howling has her jumping to her feet. Wolves are territorial, he will be in danger.
“Come with me!” she begs but he leaps into the woods and she is forced to head back up the trail to her home. She runs, fast as her legs will carry her. As she is running she hears something crashing in the woods behind her. Tears are streaming down her cheeks now. Her heart breaks for her new friend. “Please be okay,” she prays and she runs for home.
Archer runs away leading the hunter deeper into the woods. His girl will be safe. He runs as fast as his legs will carry him but something is wrong! Pain ripples through his body. He falls to the ground. The scent of that man is on the air again. He is back and he is close. Slower this time he climbs to his four legs and that is when he sees it, a shaft of moon light coming through the clouds!
The Arctic Moon watches the wolf and the girl. He must
