White Wolf Rising [Completed]

Part 13: Knock Knock

Three firm knocks at the front door sent the sleeping puppy into a frenzy. She jumped, barked and scratched at the bed, trying to wake Caleb from his peaceful sleep. Unbothered, Caleb lightly snored. The dog barked again. It was Simona that shook him awake from his deep slumber.

"Psst, Caleb. Hey." She whispered in his ear, leaving a trail of soft kisses behind his ear, down his neck and stopped at his chest.

Still he slept, softly snoring, behind each breath the barley audible grumble of a growl, rumbled very very quietly. Simona thought nothing of it, except she never thought a snore could be cute. "Caleb."

The knocking came again, this time waking Caleb. He glanced over at Simona who was giving him a small shy smile. "Simona." He said he name like a greeting.

"Hey, someone is at the door." She said pulling the bed sheet over her exposed skin. Her sleepy eyes not wanting to open.

With a large yawn Caleb cursed under his breath his body tired and warm in the sheets, he did not want to move. He checked the time on his cell phone. It was 8:15 am. Who the hell was at his door this early? The faint memory of Deputy Morris last night crept into his mind. Hopefully he wasn't here to talk about what he had seen going down in his jeep.

"Good morning." Stan Morris said as the front door swung open.

The sunlight flooded the entryway blinding Caleb. "Officer Morris?" Threw squinted eyes he saw the stains blood on his shirt. Something was wrong.

"I've been out here for 10 minutes. Why didn't you answer your phone?"

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, "I must of left it in the living room. Are you okay?"

Stan couldn't help but notice the purple flip flops sitting by his door. Based on the last time he had seen Caleb, he assumed the sandals belonged to a certain bosomy waitress he knew. But what Caleb took notice of was the blood on Stan's uniform shirt, his furrowed brow and the lines of stress stretched across his face. Which was unusual with his usual calm and cool demeanor. Something he hadn't had in the last few days. The imprint of three bloody fingers were on the shoulder, smudges of dirt speckled about.

"What happened?" Caleb repeated.

Stan stepped back taking in the obvious clues he wasn't alone, and what he wanted to say needed to be said privately, Caleb stepped outside and pulled the door so they could speak. "That call we got last night...Diaz and Nick are in the hospital."

"What?"

"It was another 'Wolf attack' and things went very sideways." He said using air quotes, something else he never did. He began to pace. "Get dressed we gotta go."

Caleb ignored his request, "Wolf attack? Where? What happened?"

"Out by the old Sawmill Diaz and Nick were cruising passed saw a bunch of teenagers out there partying, like they usually do. They kicked them out...simple. Nothing we haven't done a thousand times." He was wracking his brain for the facts of the evening. "On the last sweep of the Mill Nick was attacked, pulled into the woods. Drug down by the Sheldon's farm. Diaz chased after, heard a howl, called assistance. By the time I got there they both were...they were in bad shape." He closed his eyes trying to get the images of his fellow Deputies out of his mind. " Just get dressed we can talk on the way."

"Yeah, yeah..." Caleb hurried back into the house to get some clothes on.

Back inside he made a mad dash for the bedroom, cinched his sweat pants, grabbed the matching gray hoodie, white tank, throwing it all on as fast as possible. Simona sat straight up on the bed, her face curious and nervous, the panic on Caleb's face made her anxiety skyrocket.

"What's wrong?" She asked putting her bra back on underneath the covers. Why the hell was he getting dressed in such a hurry?

"Um, Nick and Diaz got hurt last night."

"Oh my god, are they ok?"

"I don't know. It was another animal attack." He said deciding not to sugar coat or lie.

She gasped, "My goodness, another coyote?"

"I'm 100% sure it wasn't a coyote."

His words made no sense to her. She was confused, "If it wasnt a coyote, what was it?"

He wasn't sure how to answer. "I have to go check on them, their at the hospital now. I'm sorry I have to leave like this but..."

Simona took his face into her hands, "No, don't worry about me. Go. I'll be fine."

Every muscle in his body tensed, Caleb felt hot all over, but the feel of her lips against his, calmed his soul. His true thoughts began to surface, "Diaz wasn't even supposed to be there last night. She was covering my shift..."

"Don't think about stuff like that, there was no way you could have known." She knew he was beginning to blame himself and the last thing he wanted to hear was that everything was going to be ok. Because even if she said the words, it could be a lie. Everything may not be alright. "Let me know if everyone is alright."

"I will." He said walking towards the door taking one last look at her before he left, capturing a quick mental snap shot of her in his bed. "Bye Simona."

"Bye."

Three words lingered in the air around them, three words he wanted to say but instead closed the door. A few seconds later the front door closed Simona fell backwards against the pillow. This morning was bitter sweet, though a part of her was reeling from the night she had just shared with Caleb, the feeling of dread stared her in the face. She said a small prayer to herself that Diaz and Nick were alright.

The puppy crawled next to her, licking her nose and snuggled her chunky body next to hers. "We're giving you a name today Missy."

Caleb ran to the patrol car parked in his driveway next to Simona's jeep. Freddie the brunette pretty boy sat in the passenger seat, looking like he had a hard night. Dried blood stained his shirt and the remnants of blood splatter marked his chin. How bad was this attack? If it was anything like what he had experienced then Diaz and Nick were in trouble.

"About time." Stan slipped on his aviator shades and the patrol car screeched out of the driveway, before Caleb could get his door fully closed.