Bleeding in Silence

1

Bliss is fleeting;

The dew of morning grass between paws felt better than most individual's feet in the sand. The stillness of early morning before the birds chirp their beaks, right after all the nocturnal animals go for a day's slumber, before the critters crawl out to the sunrise. An eerie calm that felt like the world's biggest blanket to give Steph comfort. Cool September early mornings before the sun inches in the sky reminded Steph that she was alive. The first time she was allowed out of a cell and exiled with others dreaming she would die was a morning like this. She survived too much torture for them to finally get what they want. That was four years ago and for the past ten months she resided in a small town in Wyoming, Rivercrest. This morning like most mornings she continued her routine of running through the woods, past the creek, and into the meadow still multiple miles from a pack's territory. The first month she resided here she got too close and made sure to learn her boundaries. Thankfully the guard on patrol that day was bark rather than bite and unable to catch up to her. Since then Steph took careful steps covering her scent and being overly cautious.

The meadow smelt overwhelmingly watered, the fog was beginning to thicken this time of year, and there was a slight murkiness to the air from the rising creek. Steph inhaled until her lungs were ready to burst from her rib cage as she breathed the life of nature around her. Her nose picked up something intoxicating. It was as if someone was burning teakwood and mahogany. It drove her mind curious, the scent demanded attention no matter how faint it was. Entranced she followed, begging for it to get stronger. No natural plant nor man made fragrance concocted a scent so intoxicating it was sending her instincts into overdrive and throwing away habitual caution and logic.

Time left Steph and she begun to stray too far from her safety zone. A menacing growl snapped her from her hypnosis. She found herself away from the area she knew and the scent she was following was growing more faint and left behind hours ago. The aggressive growl was too close to be mistaken for anything other than a warning directed at her. The scent of the growler was undoubtedly a protective male wolf. Steph went rigid at the sound now becoming a low howl signalling their location before quickly snapping into action. She darted the way she came following the scent of the creek to guide her back to safety. She had never been so careless to waltz into another territory before. In some packs rogues were considered criminals for good reason in most cases and if you were not taken as a prisoner you were killed on site. Steph ran fast with the same fear driving her away as it had the day she fled from her own pack. Steph didn't take any chances zig-zagging through trees, running directly between brushes, slamming her paws into dirt, and skidding into mud coating her fur in the filth. The sun was more than inches in the sky and along with her worries of getting away she was certainly going to be late for work.

Steph thanked all the luck in the world that the wolf hadn't followed her past the creek any further, or maybe he truly did loose her. Either way she took a longer route and still made loops around other areas before heading back to her cabin. She pawed her way into her garden shed, but not before shaking herself free of what she could from the filth that clung to her. That wasn't enough because even after her shift it was still apparent on her skin. Unable to waste time she dirtied her new clothes that waited for her before dashing out the shed and to her car. Her heart raced even in her Subaru Outback and it felt as though it echoed in the large space. She tried calming breaths and even her ears thudded with the rate her blood was pumping. It was only a few minutes drive out of the isolated cabin and to the main road before she got inside the town. Steph parked at the side of the building and quickly made her way into the shop. She felt like she could finally take a calming breath as the scent of lavender, roses, petunias, hydrangeas, any flower you name it flooded her senses. Upon Steph's arrival the owner, her boss, Diane gasped at the sight of the young woman. A small blush crept upon her neck at seeing the stunned woman. She gave a sheepish smile as the woman questioned what happened.

"I fell." Steph signed awkwardly.

Diane chuckled at this before directing her to go clean up in the back and not forget to use the shower. Steph nodded and willingly complied before making her way to the back of the flower shop. She couldn't be more grateful to Diane for being smart enough to have a shower in the employee restroom. The hot shower washed away the mornings concerns, it wasn't the first time she had accidentally crossed into a territory and it wouldn't be the last time she would run away from one either, presumably at the least. What really was the most shocking even to her is how careless and reckless she had been all for an attractive scent. Aside from Diane being the only woman in this town to know sign language, allow her a job, and offer her a cabin to rent. More than what anyone in her life and the world has done for her to date.

Steph ran into the woman one cold night. Her limbs were too tired after being a wolf for over a month, her body starved because she became weak in that time; too weak to even hunt. She had broken into the flower shop months ago to find clothes and a warm place to stay for the night. Diane had crept into the store from the above apartment with a shot gun just as Steph pulled on an over sized trench coat. The minute Diane looked at Steph she had an intense feeling to care for the young woman and provide for her as if she was her own family. So she did, it was at that moment sign language became useful to her since her father passed years ago as well. Diane worked the store by herself after her son had left town with the rest of her family for a while and offered Steph the cabin that she had abandoned for a few years so long as Steph fixed it up.

Diane was the first person in Steph's life that gave her hope and strength to continue living. Before she was just surviving and at first that was enough until she met Diane once again the only being in existence throughout her life that looked at her like an equal even if she was trying to scavenge from her.