Skinwalker

Chapter Two

"She didn't know the wolf was a wicked sort of animal, and she's wasn't afraid him."

I crouched, arms held in front of my face and knees covering the soft vulnerability of my stomach as the beast lunged towards me. I felt spittle on my face, and rancid breath ghosted over me before I was jolted from the side. I smacked onto the hard rock below, just barely getting my hands down before my head cracked onto the stone.

Warm breath puffed closely to my ear before a rough tongue lapped at me. Trembling, I glanced up. Another large wolf, slightly smaller than the first, stood over me. He was black as coal, but with white fur interspersed throughout his soft coat. Mismatched eyes of amber and cobalt stared down at me. A whine left the wolf's throat.

"Atlas..." I breathed out. My wolf.

Growing up, I spent a lot of time outdoors. The cabin we lived in was on the edge of Willow Creek and had plenty of uncharted territory for my 8 year old self to navigate. I went on countless adventures through the woods, slaying bad guys with one slice of my stick sword and rescuing stuffed unicorns from hidden traps laid by villains.

I was on one such adventure when, after careening around a tree too sharply, my foot had caught the ledge of an outcropping and down I'd tumbled.

My back collided with the thick trunk of a pine tree and I was momentarily rendered breathless. Air caught in my throat, I raised my hands above my head and attempted to take slow, calm breaths like Mom had taught me.

Once I could breathe again, I assessed the damage. Hands, check. Elbows, scratched. Knees, bloody and dirty. Left ankle, check. Right ankle, painful.  I attempted to rotate it, and tears sprang to my eyes.

"Great, just great, Larkin," I scolded myself.  "You promised Mom you could handle yourself and end up stranded and injured. Perfect." I blew a strand of hair out of my face as I looked around. The outcropping was too high for me reach without some climbing, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to make the climb with my sprained ankle.

A rustling sound to my left made my heart gallop. I pulled my knees to my chest, wincing as pain lanced through my foot.

"I-I'm not scared!" I lied. "I know that's you, Craig! You can't scare me!" I called out, assuming it was the neighborhood bully trying to prank me.

The leaves rustled again, and a black wolf came loping out from the bushes, nose pressed to the ground. I sat silently, hand clamped over my mouth to stifle my loud breaths, trying to be fearless despite the tears leaking from my eyes.

The wolf suddenly looked up, mismatched eyes meeting mine. It titled it's head, looking at me curiously. It came closer slowly, large paws pressing into the damp leaves on the forest floor. The wolf was gangly, all long limbs and hefty paws. It looked young to me.

Finally, it was so close that I could make out the dusting of white fur around his snout.

"My, what big teeth you have..." I said, terrified and intrigued in equal measure. Leave it to me to quote fairytales in the face of danger.

The wolf sat back on its–oh, no wait. His. Definitely a boy–on his haunches, tongue lolling from his mouth as he gave a toothy smile.

My breathing slowed as I realized I wouldn't be viciously attacked just yet. I briefly wondered if maybe he was someone's pet. Possibly some sort of wolf hybrid that leaned more toward the wolf side.