Matters of the Heart

MATTERS OF THE HEART

.

“I’m going out for a run. Anyone care to join me?”

Taylor studied the room. His brother Adam was sitting there in the kitchen and so was his father, Randall. Adam was on the internet on his laptop and their Dad was reading the paper.

Randall looked up from the news. “Are you sure? I thought…”

“Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll be fine.” Taylor let out a small cough and he was off.

Taylor broke into a fast pace right away as soon as he hit the driveway. Checking once for cars, he took off down the winding, country road that through the fog and early morning light, led to town and maybe a good, greasy breakfast afterward.

Ah, running!

Running was good. It always helped to clear his head when Taylor ran. He kicked himself for not coming out for a run sooner, but what with all the recent events and all the meetings he was going to, he had been stuck indoors for almost the entirety of the last two weeks. Thinking back, that was about the same time he started getting this nagging cough. But the run will help, thought Taylor. A good bout of exercise will help him shake off this crazy virus once and for all. That’s good. He had to be healthy. Stay in shape. With things going the way they were, Taylor would need to be in his best shape ever. Sure, when you really thought about it, it was his father’s decision after all, but it certainly involved Taylor too. A lot.

Down the country road he went in the small town where they lived, and then off the familiar path and into the woods. Deeper into it, about fifteen minutes the way an average human would run it, the pack kept a cabinet of sorts bound by a combination lock. Each pack member knew the combo. Whenever anybody would come out for some exercise, they could always lock up their clothes here and come back for them after. It was a good system. It made sense.

Taylor stopped at the cabinet. Bending over, he planted his hands on his knees and rested for a minute. Man! he thought, I am really out of shape!

After he finally caught his breath, Taylor slipped out of his clothes and then just as easily, slipped into wolf form. It was never painful, just a little disorienting at first. Especially if you weren’t quite feeling yourself. Like Taylor was, just now.

What the? Taylor the wolf shook his head to get the cobwebs out. He coughed. He thought he must really be getting sick. He nearly tripped on his feet just now and fell over.

As human, Taylor was huge at six foot four and pushing two hundred and forty pounds. As a wolf, he was about the size of a water buffalo or a fully-grown yak, though if you valued your life, you would never use the word ‘yak’ anywhere that Taylor might hear you.

Taylor started off into the woods at an easy trot. His feet seemed heavier than he remembered. Like lead. This wasn’t right! He bent his head and put more effort into it. The minute he began to run quicker, his breathing became so fast and heavy he had to slow right down again. And his side was knotted so tightly together it could moor a boat. He blinked his eyes. He was seeing stars! And his nose was numb, like all his senses were dumbing down and were dull…

By the time Taylor realized it, a lone wolf had already come bounding out of the tree line about a hundred yards away over his left shoulder. Taylor pulled up short. Normally, he would have caught the other’s scent at a distance of several miles. And this particular scent most of all.

It was his brother, Adam.

The wolf pulled up alongside him. He began speaking to him through mind link: