Cody breaks me out of my reverie by returning to my side and nudging me with his nose. I snap back to attention and look down at him as he yaps at me. His eyes look happy, but I detect a hint of sadness within their depths.
Our journey together is coming to an end. That thought saddens me. I don’t want to leave Cody now, but I can’t take him back to the city. It just wouldn’t be fair to lock him up in our small house while we all run about our lives and go to our various jobs—and I can’t have him running around loose in the city. That’s crazy!
Mama would never agree to him staying with us either. I don’t even have to ask because I can already envision her rolling her eyes as she crosses her arms over her chest and murmuring, Um hm? Girl, that beast is not gonna set foot in this house, d’you hear me?
Definitely not going to go down well with her.
As excited as I am to return home tomorrow, I really don’t want to part with Cody. The thought of leaving him now, tugs painfully on my heart.
This is exactly why I tried to leave him when I did. I don’t do goodbyes. It’s just easier to say goodbye when he isn’t there.
I run my hand through his fur once more. At least I will still have you for tonight, right?
Wiping the tears from my cheeks with the back of my arm, I pull myself together and trudge forward with Cody by my side.
Weaving through the wildflowers as the moon peaks out from over a mountain, the encroaching darkness takes on a faint silvery hue, giving everything the illusion of mystical enchantment. Even Cody’s fur seems to shimmer in the moonlight.
He keeps pace with me, perhaps sensing my complete and utter exhaustion as I drag my determined body across one of the most magical expanses of land I have ever seen.
When we reach the cabin, the windows are completely dark. Heavy curtains hang over them on the inside, but even then, there is not a hint of light around the edges.
It must belong to a seasonal hunter. With the weekend over now, he must have returned to the city. With no one inside, I hesitate at the thought of trespassing, but who would know? Surely, if I am caught, he will understand my dilemma and allow me to stay for the night. He wouldn’t kick me back out into the wilderness—that would be barbaric.
Still, as I climb up the porch to the raised cabin, I knock on the door to be safe. He might be sleeping for all I know, and that’s why the lights are all off.
As the seconds pass and there is no answer or movement from within, I bang my fist on the door and start calling out to whoever might be inside.
Silence is my only answer.
Cody, who had been sniffing around the porch, yips softly at me under the window to my right.
I turn to look at him and see the wooden box he is standing in front of. It looks like some kind of storage chest with a lock reflecting the moonlight on it, but next to the chest is an empty clay flowerpot. Cody nudges the pot with his nose and looks up at me expectantly.
“What is it, boy?” I hobble the few steps toward him, groaning in pain.
He licks my hand.
My jaw becomes unhinged and I practically fall over. Well, I do fall to my knees before him, but I almost lose my balance as it happens.
“Did you just lick me?”
Ignoring my astounded demand, he whines as he nudges the pot again with his nose.
I’m still in shock over the lick. A wolf licked me. Oh my god.
As if rolling his eyes at me, he groans and tips the pot over carefully with his paw. It rolls away a few inches, revealing a silver key underneath.
YOU ARE READING
Zara's Wolf (Book 1 of the Zara's Wolf Trilogy) BWWM
Werewolf[Complete] "He follows me around like a predator seeking a moment of weakness before he takes down his prey. But his eyes are soft and tell me a different story." Eighteen-year-old Zara is a born and raised African-American city girl. She's always...
