Raised by Wolves by Bridget Essex

Author:Bridget Essex
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Rose and Star Press
Published: 2016-01-26T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8: Still a Little Wild

Of course, after that dinner with my mother (and her pronouncement of dinner next week with my brand-new girlfriend), I can't catch a wink of sleep. So when I show up at Loren's door, bright and early on Saturday morning, just as I promised, the very first thing she says is:

“Wow, and I thought I needed coffee.” She grabs the collar of my shirt and draws me gently into her apartment, kissing me just as gently. Her mouth is minty from her toothpaste, and she's already decked out in jeans and a t-shirt that reads “I like big books, and I cannot lie.” I chuckle a little, wrapping my arms around her waist.

“I just didn't get much sleep last night,” I tell her, which is the truth. I draw her in for another kiss, and then I pick up the strap of the worn backpack that's sitting by the door. “Is this what you're taking?” I ask her, and she nods happily.

“I think I've got everything packed that we might need,” she says, and she gives me an impish look as she slides her arm through mine, leaning against me to steal another kiss. “But can we stop at a coffee shop along the way?”

“I don't think either of us could survive this hike without it,” I promise her with a chuckle.

It doesn't take long, after picking up coffee, to get out of the city, and then we're making our way northwest toward Willow Springs.

It's been awhile sink I hiked on this particular trail, but I wanted it to be the first one I showed Loren. I have a lot of history with this beautiful bit of land, and I wanted to share that with her.

When we reach the parking lot for the hiking trail, Loren puts her car into park, and then we toss our backpacks onto our shoulders, shutting the car doors firmly behind us. I inhale deeply, letting the beautiful richness of the earth and loam and moss and trees and just-beginning buds of leaves fill me.

There's something so deeply soothing about being in nature. I know that humans feel it, too, are drawn to hiking, to being in the woods and on the mountains, because it fulfills some deep, animal pleasure inside of them. But for a werewolf, it's a little different. When we get to the wild places that are still left on this world, there's something that opens up inside of us. Most of the time, in the day-to-day world, we have to push down our inner wolves. But here, she rises up, wholly wild and expectant, and ready to run.

Today, though, I rein her back a little, glancing sidelong at Loren. I'm not going to transform into a wolf today, and I'm not going to be fully wild. Normally, this would be deeply depressing to me. I haven't been my wolf-self in over a month, and it's starting to eat away at me, like there's an itch just under my skin that I have to scratch but can't quite reach.

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