THE WOLF IN THE SHADOWS

Chapter 12

Loren's POV

The next day, I met Elyssa at

school. I smiled at her, but when

she smiled back, it wasn't the

smile I loved. It was something else. Scared, perhaps? I don't

know, but I didn't like it.

When the day was over, I caught up with her walking by herself. "Elyssa, what's wrong?"

"I don't know," she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Elyssa?"

"I think someone was in Andy's room," she said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Who?" I asked. "Elyssa, do you

know?"

"No," she said. "I don't want him involved more than he already is."

"What happened? What did you see?"

"I saw paw-prints, and they

weren't Bright's," she said tears

streaming down her face. "I don't

want him to get hurt, Loren, I

really don't." I pulled her against

me and she cried in my arms

while I stroked her hair and

whispered to her, "It's going to be okay." Even though, it might not.

I insisted on coming to her house and going into Andy's room, so that I could smell a scent and see if I know it. The room smelled of bleach, like they cleaned out the prints, but I could still smell it.

"Do you know the smell?" she

asked, looking at me with red

eyes.

"A little. I recognize it from the

woods. I always smell the same

scent in the woods, but I never

knew what it was. Whatever is in

the woods, might be after Andy,

or you." Okay, maybe that was a

dumb-ass thing to tell her, and I

thought she might break down

into tears again. Instead, she

nodded. I sighed and I pulled her

close to me, hugging her, and let

her know I will always be here

for her.

"I have a picture," she said. I

followed her to her room where

she carefully grabbed the sheet

of paper on her desk. She faced

it to me. "This paw-print was

everywhere, on the carpet, some

on the walls, on his bed, and on

this sheet of paper."

The paw-print was big, almost

like a bears, and you could see

the nail-print above the toes. It

was brown, like it stepped into

some mud. But I also recognize

the paw. I saw it in the dirt in the

woods. Whatever is out there, it

knows about Elyssa and Andy.

Elyssa let me stay for a while.

Okay, she wanted me to stay, so

we watched a movie. Of course, I

let her pick it out.

"Tangled!" she said while putting the disk in and hitting play. She crawled over to the couch and made herself really comfortable.

On the part when Jackson sang, I heard Elyssa sing along right

beside me. I had to admit, she

was pretty good. Oh, who am I

kidding? She was perfect and

awesome! "Flower gleam and

glow; Let your power shine. Make the clock reverse; Bring back what once was mine."

I glanced at her, and she kind of stopped singing and went to humming. "It's okay." I half-smiled.

She smiled, but continued to sing. I wanted to reach over there and grab her hand and start singing along with her like Flynn Rider was doing right now.

But, damn, that would be kind of

messed up.

I actually can relate to this movie. I mean, I don't really know if Elyssa has a dream, but I can relate to this song.

When the movie was over, Elyssa

took it out.

Then there was a slight crash

up-stairs. Elyssa and I both eye's

widened. Bright started barking

and Andy started crying.

We bolted up the stairs and into Andy's room where Bright was barking out the window, and

Andy was crying, and shaking.

"What happened?!" Elyssa yelled.

Are her parents not hearing this right now?

I looked out the window and

squinted into the woods. A wolf.

Brown, with specks of beige.

That's strange. "Loren?" Elyssa

yelled over the loud barking and

screaming. "Loren!"

I still looked out the window.

The wolf turned to look at me.

He showed his teeth like he was

smiling at me. His tail twitched

and he ran into the woods.

I was determined to follow him, but Elyssa must have known what I was thinking because she

grabbed my arm just as I was

about to lift my leg over the

window sill. She shook her head.

"What did you see?"

"A wolf," I growled, and turned

my attention to Andy. "Andy, can

you tell me what happened?"

He nodded slightly and sniffled. "I was sleep. I heard some weird scratching sound.

I thought it was Bright because

he was in the room with me.

*sniffle* Then I heard a glass

beak. I looked up and there was

a big wolf over me, growling." He

started crying.

Elyssa put her hand over her

mouth and started crying, "What

happened?" Mel stepped into

Andy's room and went to the

floor to cuddle Andy with Elyssa.

She heard it then. Elyssa told her the story.

Shit. This is bad, this is so bad.

This is really bad. What the hell

am I going to do? I pulled out my

cell, and called the pack.

They came over in a hurry.

"What the hell?" Brady yawned.

"It's 11:57!" Aaron whispered.

"This better be good."

"That's not even a late time!

You don't have school, so hush

your mouth!" I whispered/yelled.

"Would you two shut the hell

up! This is some serious s**t!

Andy or me are being stalked by

a f*****g wolf, so this is no time

for arguing or joking!" Elyssa yelled.

Everyone exchanged glances

then looked back at Elyssa. Mel

sighed. "Alright."

"Sorry. What happened?"

Kenny said.

We all ended up outside in the dark, quiet and quick as cheetahs. "This is exactly where I

saw the wolf head," I whispered.

"What did it look like?" asked

Brady.

"He was like a brown color with beige spots on it. A weird, ugly color," I said in distaste.

"You're right, sounds horrible,"

Aaron said. Mel and Elyssa

rolled their eyes and mumbled

something that sounded like,

"Boys."

"Wait, how do you know it was

a 'he'?" Kenny asked. I looked at

him.

"Why wouldn't it be a 'he'?"I

asked.

"I don't know. But it could happen to be a 'she'," he shrugged.

"It could maybe just be a boy,"

Brady said. "I mean, if it's after

Elyssa then I would relate to it. Elyssa is pretty hot," he laughed. I think someone hit him because he was like, "Ow!"

I half-smiled, knowing it was

probably Elyssa. "It's no use," Kenny said. "We might can see in the dark but not that good as human."

Everyone looked at Mel and

Elyssa. "They haven't changed yet, have they?" Aaron asked.

They shook their heads. "All

three of us will go while you two

look after Andy."

"No!" Elyssa said and reached for

my arm. "I can't let you do this."

In the dark, I saw her eyes tear up

"Elyssa-"

"Loren, this is my problem.

My brother. I don't want you to

get hurt," she said, hugging me.

I hugged her back carefully as if

she was fragile.

"Elyssa," I whispered. I wish I

could tell her what I wanted to tell her. "Elyssa, you and Andy are my problem. I care about both of you, and I will help and make sure you're both safe. I would even-"

"Don't say it." Die for you.

"Just....be careful, okay? And

when you find something

promise me you'll come to my

house first,"

I smiled. "I promise. But, why

don't I just call?"

She smiled. "Because I want to

see you."

Everyone groaned and grunted, and to tell the truth, I forgot they were around us. We laughed and I pressed my mouth lightly to her and lingered there for a moment until we had to pull away.

Shit, it was like saying good-bye forever or something.