fussing over my hair. I didn't want to step out ofthat room until I
looked perfect.
Of course, Satchel wasn't one to judge my appearance, but I just
didn't feel comfortable going out there just yet. So, pulling Derryn
back into the room, I urged her to stay and sit as she offered her
seven year old advice about my different hairstyles I was going
through.
She sat perched on the edge of the bed watching in curiosity, while I
pulled out a braidI'd been working on for the last twenty minutes. I
sighed.
"It's just not going to work. My hair is stubbornand refuses to stay
in a braid." Derryn shrugged innocently, tugging on the corner of a
throw pillow.
"Wear it out." She said simply, as if she was stating the sun was out.
I looked at my reflection, still not used to my hair being dark. I'd
had my hair light blonde for four years, always in and out of salons
for touch ups. Now looking at the dark russet brown, I almost looked
unrecognizable, and my honey eyes stoodout in stark contrast next to
my skin. I turned to Derryn in earnest.
"What if he doesn't recognize me? Hell, I don't even recognize me…what
if he…doesn't like this?" I tugged on myhair. Derryn rolled her eyes.
"My brother's stupid to not notice you, plus he knows your scent.
He'll smell you from a mile a way." I gave her a half smile.
"You're right." I nodded finally getting the courage to get out of the
mirror and facing Satchel. I patted the dressdown, and stood up,
trying to ignore the nerves rattling inside me.I don't know why I was
so nervous to see him, I'dspent the whole night sleeping in his arms,
you'd think I'd be excitedto see him. And I was, justwishing these
nerves would subside for the sake of my sanity.
"Okay, let's do this." I said, half convincing my body to walk toward
the door. Derryn jumped up and scurried toward the wardrobe, fishing
out a pair of boots.
"You might want to wearthese…" She pointed toward some brown ankle
cowgirl boots. I raised my eyebrows in question.
"They belonged to your mother." I whipped my head around to the husky
woman's voice of Aretha Heins. She sat in the middle of the doorway,
and then slowly wheeled herself closer. Her eyes on the pair of boots
Derryn held in her hands. She nodded.
"They were here favorite shoes. Before she found out you were a
carrier, she asked me to promise her two things: Take careof her
daughter, and her favorite shoes." She smiled sadly as if she were
lost in her own memories. "Your Grams refused to let you stay so I
couldn't carry out the former request, however,I made sure to keep
those in a safe place hoping for the right person to fulfill them."
She urged me to put them on. I did, and they fit perfectly.
"They're pretty, and surprisingly comfortable." I said, pacing back
and forth to get a feel of them. She smiled, and ushered us out of the
room.
"Now go have fun, lord knows you deserve it." I squeezed her hand as
Derryn led me out of the house. I noticed Satchel was long gone from
the couch as we passed through the sitting area. Even the throw
blanket we'd slept in was neatly folded on the armchair, and the
plates and bowls we'd eaten from, were no longer on the coffee table.
I followed Derryn outside, and the warm early morning sun bathed down
on my skin.Not a nip in sight. I frowned as we trudged through the
estate.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked confusedly. Derryn just beamed a
smile, and shook her head.
"You'll see." She tugged harder, hurrying me along the yard, in the
direction of my late fathers estate. My abdomen had completelyhealed
by now, save for the little pink scar it left behind, so it was much
easier to walk.
I frowned, wondering what the time was. It hadto be around nine o
clockin the AM by now, and the frost on the grass evaporated before my
eyes.
"What is the time, anyway?" I asked as we climbed over a fence. Shewas
taking me through a short cut I noticed. Derryn gave me a questioning
look.
"I'm seven; I don't know how to tell the time." Shesaid in that sing
song voice of hers. She carried on, just humming a long to a tune I
knew all too well. Satchel's song. I chuckled.
"Well, at least tell me whyyou're in a giddy mood?"She shook her head,
making her curls sway from side to side.
"I'm always in a good mood." I beamed a smile.
"Fair enough. So where isthis…secret place you are taking me?
Is it a cave?" She just smiled and shook her head again.
"Not telling." The red flagwas visible in the distance, and I knew
instantly where she was taking me.
"The willow tree." I whispered, eyeing the loose-knotted tree trunk,
as the leaves kissed the ground. Point Lake streaming by in the
background. Derryn stopped and looked up atme with a smile. Steeringme
toward a picnic blanket with a basket of food splayed out on top.
"Have fun." She exclaimed, twisting around to run away.
"Wait! Where's Satchel?" Ishouted. She left me there, waving behind
heras she ran across the fieldback toward her estate. I bit my lips,
looking the picnic blanket over and grinned. Satchel was such a
romantic, I had to remind myself to thank him…when he gets here.
I sighed swinging my arms, looking in this direction and that. Okay,
leave me here and expectme to have a picnic by myself? Not the kind of
romance I was looking for, Satchel. I silently thought.
I bit the insides of my cheeks, waiting patiently for Satchel to show
his face. It got to the point where I was getting anxious, because I
knew for sure I had probably been standing there for at least a half
an hour.
I started fidgeting, tapping my leg on the gravel, and even kicking
the tree trunk absently while I waited impatiently for Satchel toshow
his face. I sighed, folding my arms to lean my shoulder on the trunk.
Maybe he didn't get the memo, and he wasn't coming.
"Eek!"
I squealed when a slick wet sensation crawled upthe back of my leg,
and I nearly went crawling up on the tree trunk to get away from
whatever it was. I heard the panting a second too late, and the smell
of wet dog flitted up my nose. I whipped my head around to see a large
black wolf sitting on his haunches, with big greeneyes blinking back
at me.
"Ohmigod!" I threw my hands to my mouth, eyeing the beast with bugged
out eyes. Black Wolf tilted his head to the left, looking back at me
with glowing eyes. "You scared me to death!" I held my chest, forcing
my heart to jump back into my chest. He just huffed out of his nose,
and stared.
"God! At least warn a girl before you sneak up on them." As soon as I
got over my bouts of surprise, I turned so I could get a better look
athim. He was beautiful, as the sun sliced up his coat,making it look
as shiny assilk.
I gnawed on my lip, wondering what to do infront of him. Of course, I
thought he'd stood me up, and if he was in his human form, I would
have given him a fair piece of my mind for his tardiness. However,
staring at him just made me want to cuddle him close to me, and ruffle
hisfur. I smirked.
"You know, it's kinda hard to be mad at you right now for almost
standing me up. Don't you know girls go crazy when their date is
late?"
He just tilted his head, blinking up in what looked like interest. I
chuckled, kneeling down on the checkered blanket, legs folded under
me. Black wolf justsat there, staring back at me, and I noticed my
reflection in his big piercing eyes.
"What? You're not going to eat me are you? Because that would just…suck."
He stuck his paw out instead and pushed my chest down lightly, taking
me to the ground.
"Satchel!" I squealed as he licked my face, sliding his sticky tongue
against my skin. I giggled louder as he lapped at my face
continuously, and I squirmed under the slick slimy sensation as it
tickled my cheeks, my nose and my forehead.
"Satchel! That tickles…" I squealed louder, urging him to stop. He
did, and I grimaced in mock disgust, still laughing.
"You know, that's kind ofgross when you think about it." I said trying
to calm my giggles, wiping slobber off my face with a napkin from the
basket.
He grunted and it sounded a lot like he waschuckling in that wolf like
rumble I'd heard himdo before.
I smirked.
"You're gonna pay for that, you just watch." His throat was still
rumbling as I went through napkinafter napkin. He went foranother
round, roaming his tongue on my face again, as I rolled around on the
ground laughing, trying to get him to stop. His rumble was
persistentand he was enjoying it.
"Satchel! You're ruining my clothes, not to mention slobbering my
face." I said, through a fitfull of laughter. It got to the point
where my eyes watered from laughing too much.
He let me up, by giving me some room, and sat back on his haunches, as
I tried wiping my face free of wet dog spit, and he just watched with
unblinking eyes. I still had a smile on my face, and if I didn't know
any better, then so did he. I sat there just enjoying his company, and
watched him stomp his paw on the food basket. Iraised my eyebrows.
"Are you hungry?" He shook his head, and nudged me toward the food
basket, and I realized he wanted me toeat.
"What about you?" He licked his muzzle, and kept prodding me to eat.
"Okay, okay, I'm eating." Isaid, digging in the basket to see what was
in there. There was a chicken sandwich, cut up apples, bottle of
water, and a large cookie. Nothing here for a werewolf, just mostly
stuff that I liked.
I broke off a piece of the sandwich to give to him, but he shook his
head and wanted me to eat. I wasn't one to eat in frontof people, let
alone an animal, but Satchel was relentless and wouldn't let me feed
him. I shrugged, nibbling at my sandwich and chuckled as a thought
came to mind.
"You know it's kind of ironic, I feel a little less nervous in front
of the wolf you, than I am with the human you. Does thatsound weird?"
I laughed again.
"Of course not, it's not like you could talk back, right?" I started
trailing off talking to myself, as I chewed away at my sandwich,
breaking off a piece of cookie and popping it in my mouth.
"So, what's it like dating a werewolf, Willow?" I asked myself. I
shrugged, throwing my hands about, doing my best to entertain myself,
and the wolf by answering my own questions. Yeah, crazy as it may
sound, butI was currently in unbelievable company. I went back to my
ranting.
"Oh you know; it's just like any other guy I've dated. Grunts a lot,
gives sloppy kisses, and the silence is always a bonus." That rumbling
sounded again from deep in his chest, and his eyes were glowing
brighter than the moon could ever be. I smiled throwing down the last
part of my sandwich and wiping the crumbs off myhands. I sighed
looking at him. Really looking him in the eyes. And he let me.
"You wanna know the upside of dating a werewolf?" He tilted his head,
and looked at me in earnest.
"There's no judgment. I can be myself around you, and still there's no
judgment. I treated you poorly when I arrived, and still there's no
judgment." I sighed a little wistfully.
"-I left you for another life, another home, and still you sit here
with me, and there's no judgment." I ran my fingers down his fur,
andhe leant into my hands for more.
"And you know what elseis funny?" He shook his head, and I raised my eyebrows.
"-Is that I spent almost two hours trying to fix upmy hair, only to
have it filled with slobber." He chuckled again making his mouth
distort into a weird smile, and licked me making me giggle along with
him.
"You're really beautiful…"I said, scratching my fingers under his
muzzle. I knew he liked it because his eyes turned to slits, and he
was purring, as a cat would do. I leant in and kissed him on the side
of his head.
"And you're probably the first person...err someone...that I've
kissedon my first date." I chuckled. "But that's between you and me."
I whispered, as he burrowed his head into my hands.
After a while, he opened his mouth and started huffing, letting his
tongue flop out, It was surprisingly hot for a fall morning, and the
sun was beaming down on us. I grabbed for the bottle of water, and
took a swig and I noticed Black wolf followed my every movement.
"You thirsty?" He nodded,and so I poured a few drops into my cupped
hand and offered it to him to drink. He lapped at it, flicking
droplets outof the sides of his mouth as he drank. I tipped more until
he was done, and offered him the rest of the food in the basket.
There wasn't any red meat in here, but he ate what I gave him, and
then rested his head on my lap. We sat there for awhile, as
I absently petted him on the head, thinking about how I'd never see
myself feeling so comfortable and secure as I was, with black wolf
here with me. I smiled down at Satchel'swolf form.
"You know I have to say, this is the best date I've had…ever! Who
would'vethought it was with an animal." He huffed in annoyance.
"Excuse my language. I mean a werewolf." I teased. He settled in my
lap and let me pet him for a while, as I leaned back against the
willow tree. I hummed the song that was stuck in my head from
Derryn...and I mentally substituting the names to that of Black Wolf.
Under the willow tree, my Black wolf is waiting for me. Eyes that
sparkle tenderly. Sleepy hollow mystery, my heart goes wild when he
looks at me, because I finally found my Black wolf, sitting under the
willow tree…
I frowned when I noticedhis ears spiked, as his head abruptly popped
upand whipped around toward the edge of the forest and the pine trees.
"What is it?" His ears were swiveling in all directions, and that's
when I heard it.
I jolted in my skin when I heard a loud scream coming from the yard
toward the logwood house and as soon as the scream registered. I
witnessed Black Wolf taking off into the pine trees in one big blur.
My mind reeling in what was happening as Derryn's scream only got louder.
"Derynn!" I tried to jump up, and forced myself to run toward the screams.
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A/N: Only a few chapters left, before I finish it off. Don't worry
I'll warn you when it's the last chapter.Thanks for reading thus far,
it's a pleasure to haveyour guys continued support. :)
