Cry of the Wolf

I trudged up the hill, through the dense forest, hoping desperately to find him where we once lay. The rain started to fall against the lush leaves above my head and momentarily distracted me until I looked up and a drop landed on the edge of my eye. It trickled down, looking as if I started crying, but to tell the truth, I was probably about to. My muscles ached at the trek that I haven’t had to make before but I would do anything to find him at this point.

You’d think a marsh wouldn’t have such high grounds but the only hill around was where I had to be. Normally I would drive until I got to the edge of the forest but I didn’t have the vehicle, it was stolen from me at gun point. He had always said he would protect me, but where was he last night, and a week ago? Where is he now? My heart was racing as I leaned on a tree and tried to catch my breath, I had never run this long and hard in my life and I knew I couldn’t stop.

The top was in sight and the whole hill, which seemed more like a mountain, was behind me now. This last bit was the steepest and I practically had to used the trees as foot and hand holds as I climbed my way up to the top. It felt like I was climbing Everest instead of a hill off in some random marshlands. I reached up over the slightly curved edge and pulled myself up, vowing that I would find a better way to climb this hill someday.

I stood up and looked across a land full of green and life. Birds called across the open land and through the trees while the leaves swayed gently, submitting to the wind. A few strands of hair whipped across my face as I scanned the grasses. Tears welled up in my eyes but I quickly wiped them away before rushing forward and taking in a deep breath. I cupped my hands to my mouth to amplify my voice and I let out a long howl.

I held my stance like that while I listened for a moment, nothing came back so I sucked in another deep breath before repeating the practice, louder this time. I waited once more and I heard in the distance, a faint cry of the hawk that flew over the lower grounds before diving down on it’s prey. As I was just about to give up I heard what I had been waiting for, the answering howl.

I howled across the land once more and the answering sound seemed to be closer than I expected the second time. I glanced down the base of the hill, the opposite side I’d come up and there sat a wolf. Larger than any other wolf that lived, anyone could probably ride on it like it were a horse. Another howl from a ways away caught my attention as well and others in the same direction all chimed in as well.

The whole pack was in the area but for some reason, just one was by itself. I recognized this one as one of the almost full grown juveniles, Isson. I looked back down once more to the lone wolf when I noticed that he wasn’t alone... My heart sank as I saw the body that lay next to him. The pup seemed in distress and whimpered when he caught sight of me, leaping to his feet and scaling the hill as if it were just a small slope.

I nestled my face in his fur before climbing on his back and letting him take me down to who he had been watching over. As soon as my feet hit the ground at the base, I was running over to the motionless man. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I took his head into my lap and cried.

“Haze...” I whispered his name through the tears as one dropped to his face.

Isson lay down around behind me with his head resting on my leg, looking up into my eyes pitifully. I ran my fingers through Haze’s hair and wiped my tears away with my other hand. I glanced to my left when I felt Isson’s tail hitting me. Why on earth he would suddenly be wagging his tail was beyond me.

“Isson, stop that.” I said sternly, though I looked to where I had heard the other pack members earlier.

“Oh lighten up Jessie.” The voice said.

My eyes widened in a split second and I was suddenly frozen, not sure if I should look at him just in case my mind was playing a trick on me. My breath caught in my throat and I choked back the hope that filled my entire body. I shot a glance and it could have made or broke me at that point.

His eyes were gentle and caring and he half smiled before slowly sitting up. I appraised him just to make sure he wasn’t going to just die on me. Slashes marked up his whole body and blood had stained his clothing. I sat in front of him in disbelief, I leaned in slightly to see into his deep eyes when he pulled me into a hug. His grip was firm but I wasn’t going to complain.

He pulled back for one second to get a look at me before his lips met mine. My eyes went wide in surprise before I closed them, enjoying the moment of bliss we had in the midst of this chaos. I pulled back and gasped for breath, he was always too good at that and it made me light headed most of the time.

Isson suddenly broke into a loud howl and I looked up at his silhouette and took a deep breath of my own before joining in with him. Haze smiled and cupped his hands as I did and howled as well. I remembered back when he was terrified of my pack, he wouldn’t go near any of them, even the pups, which at the time had included Isson and his three sisters. How times had changed and he came to them when he was most weakened.

A smile spread across my face and the other pack members answered our calls with force of numbers that we didn’t have on our end. From the tone I could tell they were headed this way. I looked up and Isson seemed on edge, his ears twitched and he paced uneasily. I focused on the direction he seemed so worried about and I couldn’t hear them yet but I could definitely see them.

“Isson, go, warn the family.” I commanded and pushed him away.

“What’s wrong?” Haze asked.

“Men,” I responded. “Hunters and trappers probably. They have been after the wolves ever since one farmer’s cow went missing about a year ago. That is why I have tried to find them a new home but they have pushed us out of every forest in the area.”

“And that’s why the wolves have been in the marsh for the past few months?” He asked.

“Yes, this has been the safest place for them lately but not plentiful in food. They have gotten skinny and now I’m afraid that our calls today have solidified the evidence of wolves being in the marsh.” I replied.

A gun shot rang through the air and I froze, petrified of them finding Isson, he was closer than any of the others to the hunters and I had sent him out alone. I went completely pale and almost blacked out when Haze caught me and held me in his arms. he put a cool hand to my face and looked into my eyes.

“Jessie, can you hear me?” He asked, almost scared of the fact of me fainting. I slowly nodded. “He is fine Jessie, they missed and he hid in the brush.”

His words were comforting and he knelt behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist to make sure I wouldn’t fall to the ground if I fainted. I watched as the men started going in the direction Isson was headed and I knew I had to do something. Leaping to my feet I dashed up the steep slope of the hill and got nearly to the top when I let out a loud howl.

“Wolf!” One man shouted and took his gun and shot in my direction but missed by a huge range. He hadn’t spotted who really made the sound, none of them had.

“Come on you idiot, it’s just a lone one, we need to find the whole pack.” Another man commented.

They started walking away again but this time they were watching their backs. I took a deep breath and did a long howl to get their attention again and was surprised when Haze suddenly joined in. This time the men all froze and spun toward us. We were concealed enough by brush and leaves that they couldn’t figure out who, what, or where we were but I still had an uneasy feeling.

One man looked closely toward us and slowly raised his gun before aiming it directly at me. I froze, trying not to make a sound and Haze’s eye were wide with shock. Suddenly a loud growl ripped through the silence and Isson came flying through the air, landing on the man that most threatened me. The gun fired but was a complete miss. All the other men scrambled to get their guns when the other members of the pack flew at them.

Most men were left for dead while a few escaped, screaming of monsters that would probably haunt them for the rest of their lives. I felt relief spread across me, knowing that the pack was all okay but then it dawned on me once more. We had to find a new place for them to live and those places were getting scarce.

I looked back to Haze but I didn’t see him, wondering where he went I wandered closer to where he used to be. As I looked past the bush I realized that the shot that was fired may have completely missed Isson but it was a direct hit on Haze. He clutched his chest, with one hand, holding himself up with the other. He was on his knees and that one hand, breathing irregularly.

“Haze!” I screamed, running over to him, helping him lay back against me.

My heart pounded at least triple what it was supposed to and Haze let out a small laugh when he noticed it. It was hard to watch him struggle and I wasn’t able to do anything about it. I touched his cheek gently and the rain finally started to drip off the leaves and onto the ground. The droplets mixed with the tears on my face as his breathing got shallower.

“Haze, you have to stay with me, please!” I cried.

The other members of the pack gathered around and sat by us. Isson licked my face before gently covering Haze with his body to keep him dry and warm. In the distance I heard loud trucks roaring closer and I knew we had to get out of there fast. I lifted Haze onto Isson’s back while I climbed onto Barix, the alpha-male of the pack.

They all knew that I was torn between finding a new place for them to be safe and getting Haze some help but they seemed to know where they were headed either way and the pack dashed off together, Barix in the lead and for once Isson was allowed near the front.

We stayed hidden as long as possible until the forest’s edge where they all skidded to a halt for a moment. I knew then that the wolves had decided to rescue their new pack member instead of think of their own safety first. I clenched Barix’s fur tightly in my hands before he shot forward onto the streets. At least for the moment we weren’t on busy roads so there would be minimal witnesses.

The sound of their paws on gravel and concrete disturbed me, it wasn’t a place for the wolves to be. We got to a small intersection and a car came up from the right and stopped at the sign like they usually would but the look on her face when she spotted us was a mixture between terror and disbelief. I pushed Barix faster and the whole group responded to the increase in pace.

If we could just make it to the hospital then I could make sure the wolves got out of there before too many saw them. When we heard another car coming down the road the wolves suddenly darted to the backyards where they would be less noticed. We kept up the speed as we darted around, over, and under any obstacles that the yards held. One last fence stood in our way before the hospital was in view.

The group scaled the chain linked barrier like it was a fallen tree branch and they dashed across the street. This was the part I was afraid of, though we were a small town, the hospital was still one of the busiest places and as soon as we hit the concrete once more I heard a vehicle screech to a stop to our left. It was an off duty ambulance and they looked just as stunned as the woman.

Most of the pack broke off to go lay low in the small portion of trees and forest area behind the large building but Barix and Isson went straight through the open sliding doors, missing a few screaming people by inches as they slid up to the receptionist who had just looked up to see what all the commotion was about. Her eyes went wide as the two large wolves stopped, panting before her.

I slid off Barix’ back and slammed my hands on the counter, trying to take her terrified expression off the animals for one second. “They aren’t going to hurt you.” I exclaimed quickly but she didn’t move from the wall she had pinned herself against.

“I have someone who is wounded.” I said quickly.

“W-w-we d-don’t do a-animals.” She stuttered.

“It’s not them, it’s him.” I pointed on Isson’s back at Haze who was nearly unconscious now and pale as hell.

Seeing the injured man somehow snapped her out of her state and she was able to actually help me now. She called for assistance but told me it would probably be better if the wolves weren’t here when the others came in. I helped Haze down and told them to wait with the others before they rushed out the doors once more.

I stretcher arrived, wheeled by two nurses and they helped get Haze onto it before wheeling him off. I continued to answer and questions the receptionist had for me before she finally let me go and told me that I could visit tomorrow after he was recovering from the surgery, hopefully.

I wandered out the doors and looked both ways before heading toward the back of the building. I let out a low howl as soon as I was out of sight and Barix appeared from the shadows, followed by the other wolves. Their new home was next on the list and now I only had one real choice left and it would tie them to me if anything went wrong this time. Just behind my house lay a forest that I never wanted to bring the wolves to because if someone found out they could trace it back to me instantly.

There were enough deer to bring their weight up there so I had to take the chance. My house was far enough from anyone else's that if the wolves howled no one would hear it except the ones that strayed to close to my living space. For now they would be safe there and that is where we headed. I couldn’t risk his life anymore, he had done too much for me...

After looking back once more I bowed my head and prayed that he would survive and go on to live a long happy life. I didn’t want to hold him back from what he wanted now and the wolves needed me to watch over them. I would stay with them in the forest for most of my days until we would have to move again. I took a deep breath and let out a sigh as I urged Barix faster.