T h e F o r g o t t e n

C h a p t e r T w o

© Amber Kalkes 2014

Song: "White Days" By The Lighthouse And The Whaler

C h a p t e r T w o >

Robin didn’t notice her son was different until he was four. It was a total freak thing, pun not intended, that even clued her in. Charlie had always been a happy and energetic child. He rarely had tantrums and so it had been a huge shock when one day he went into a full meltdown over wanting to go outside. It had been a cold rainy day and Robin didn’t want him to get a cold so she had said they couldn’t.

He started screaming and throwing things around the house before throwing himself on the floor. It wasn’t like him and Robin, fearing he was having some kind of fit tried her best to calm him down the best she could. It wasn’t enough. That was when Charles Jessup James did the unthinkable.

He turned into a little wolf.

Shock wouldn’t quite describe what she felt but it would be close. In her apartment was a small dog-sized wolf pup where her son had been sitting just a minute before. Robin wanted to scream or yell in surprise but she also didn’t want to scare him so she covered her mouth with her hand and simply stared.

Then the little wolf whined and Robin knew that under all the fur was her son in hiding. Scooting closer to him she had offered him her hand but he bypassed it to jump on her and lick her face. She was able to get over any strangeness pretty quickly after that.

That was two years ago.

Now they have a schedule to help him not feel so restless. Once a week they take him to the plot of land that Robin’s stepmom had inherited but no one visits. Robin figures it’s best if they don’t tell anyone else about Charlie’s ability until he can make the decision himself.

She’s brought out of her thoughts though by her son’s excited yip. Grinning she opens the back door to her car and lets him jump out. He rarely can wait to switch form and often changes on the way to their special place so she’s not surprised when the little black fur ball comes tumbling out. He jumps around with his tongue lulling out looking more excited that anything.

“Okay, go run around but stay where I can see you okay?”

All she gets is a yip before he bolts for the woods. Rolling her eyes she turns back to the car to grab her blanket and her book. She takes the time Charlie runs around as an opportunity for her to get some much needed quiet time. Settling down on her blanket she revels in the sun beating down on her skin as she cracks open her book to pick up just where she left off.

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He hasn’t been here for almost four years.

He wanted to be here every minute of every day but he couldn’t be tempted that much or else he’d slip up. Still he was able to pick up her scent the second he came into town. He’s sure it will always be that way for him; she’s like a siren call that he simply can’t ignore.

He is surprised however when her oddly patterned scents trail leads him to a secluded patch of woods with another scent mixed with it. He doesn’t like that another scent is there but he pushes that aside trying not to ruin the moment for himself. He sees her lying on her stomach in an area of meadow with her face partially obscured by a book while her pale legs dangle behind her.

He sighs, feeling the first signs of relief fill his body.

She’s safe.

A slight breeze brings that second scent to his attention though making him tense again. What is that? Something about it makes his wolf anxious and oddly excited making him even more curious about whom it belongs to. Making sure not to disturb her peace in the meadow he walks around her position widely before following the scent into the woods.