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2357 Words
Night had already fallen. Elgin had been driving at full speed on the M8 for about thirty minutes, we had passed Edinburgh. I wasn’t really scared, but I was afraid of an automatic radar or a police car stopped on the roadside. However, Elgin seemed far from these considerations, he stared at the road without blinking.
I had no idea where we were going. However, I had followed his advice and made sure to put a pair of woollen mittens, a scarf and a hat in a backpack. In the middle of October, Scottish nights aren’t known for their sweetness, it was better to be careful. As I didn’t know if this trip would include dinner, I also took some cookies and granola bars.
By taking the time to prepare my things, I was almost late. I couldn’t find my walking boots. Finally, I found them sitting nicely under my bed. I had left a monstrous mess that would surely hurt my eyes when I got home...
“We’ve come three-quarters of the way,” Elgin said, seeing me staring in dismay at the sign that said Glasgow was ten miles away.
We were over sixty miles from St Andrews. Was he planning to take us across Scotland?
I glanced at him sideways, his jaw clenched.
To be honest, he hadn’t uttered more than three sentences since we left. Suffice to say that I didn’t want to bother him. For example, I was starving to death. But seeing my boyfriend’s face, I’d rather nibble at my sleeves than point this out to him. I decided to wait, crossing my fingers so that my stomach didn’t explode in the meantime.
About an hour later we arrived in the town of Arrochar, right in Argyll Forest Park. The natural park was surrounded by two large lochs: Loch Long and Loch Goil. The place was rather busy in the middle of summer. It was familiar to me because we had the chance to stay there with my parents when I was younger. You couldn’t see anything at night, but I knew the landscape was beautiful, green and rocky, sometimes tinged with yellow and red.
Elgin passed Arrochar to drive another thirty minutes further north along Loch Long. He turned onto the A83 before turning left onto a smaller road, alongside the forest. He stopped the SUV at the edge of the wood, very close to a dirt road that plunged into the night, under the trees. Five other cars were already parked there. Surprised, I looked at him so that he finally gave me some information.
“Put on your parka. It’s very cold.”
He got out of the car to open the door for me and retrieved a backpack almost as big as me from the trunk. He wedged his old blanket between the straps and waited for me to join him. The bag seemed to be packed full. I wondered what was so important that Elgin needed to take it with him.
I stuck my nose outside and dressed quickly, not regretting having taken something to cover myself as the air was freezing. I put on my backpack and waited for Elgin to show me the next stop on our journey.
“Where are we going?”
“At the foot of Cobbler Argyll.”
“What is that?”
“A mountain.”
“We’re going to the foot of a mountain? How long will it take?”
“Barely two hours, maybe a little less.”
“I hope you know where you’re going!
He gave me his eternal irresistible smirk.
“Have you ever seen a wolf get lost in the forest?”
I stuck my tongue out at him.
Of course not! But at this moment, Elgin didn’t look like a wolf at all, more like a trapper. Although a trapper wasn’t supposed to get lost either, was he?
The walk wasn’t as difficult as I had feared and crossing the forest in the middle of the night was very pleasant. However, I wasn’t in good enough physical condition to talk while walking. So, silently, I walked along listening to the sounds of the woods. Everything was very calm. The only noises we heard were the crunching of our shoes on the fallen leaves and sometimes a few singing insects or hooting owls. Suffice to say that when I heard human screams rise suddenly, I jumped in fear.
“Don’t worry, they’re having fun,” he reassured me. “We’re expected.”
“Expected? By whom?”
“My friends.”
Friends? He hadn’t told me about friends! He hadn’t told me anything at all!
“Have we arrived yet?” I asked. We barely walked an hour.
“Anything is possible!” he laughed.
Then he stopped to face me, serious.
“Scarlett, I’ll introduce you to the pack.”
I almost drowned in my saliva.
“You mean... other werewolves?”
“Yes,” he laughed at my mortified expression. “It’s not really one but it’s called that. All are students at St Andrews.”
“Oh... I thought you were kidding me when you said there were strange people in St Andrews. (Suddenly I blush.) Well... I don’t mean you’re strange but... (I waved my hand in front of my face, exasperated by my stupidity.) You know, you told me. shortly before the start of the school year that... uh... at the park... do you remember that?”
“Yes, yes, perfectly,” he smiled. “Are you scared?”
“A little, yes,” I confessed.
“You mustn’t be,” he whispered, hugging me. “They’ll love you.”
“I hope...”
We walked further to the entrance of a large clearing, and I saw that a huge fire was lit a little further. I didn’t find it very safe in such a place, besides I assumed that it wasn’t very legal. But as we walked slowly forward, I noticed that the ground was more strewn with gravel than covered with greenery.
On looking up, I noticed that the moon was full. What a cliché! When we were hidden under the trees, it wasn’t visible. Now, its shining halo reflected a soft, subtle light.
“Here we are.”
With a glance, I counted at least nine people gathered in the middle of the clearing. I slowed down, intimidated. Elgin gently took me by the arm to encourage me to move forward calmly. They all turned, their eyes fixed on me. Even though I couldn’t see much, I could tell they were amazed at my presence, maybe even disappointed.
“You’re late,” a female voice muttered behind our back.
I whirled around and found Georgia.
Georgia... a werewolf?
I got goosebumps. As if the fact of being so beautiful wasn’t enough for the trouble she gave me!
“I had a setback,” Elgin apologized.
Nice! The setback was me!
As we got closer, a guy much taller than Elgin, huge, came over to us.
“Can you explain this to us?” he snapped, pointing at me with his chin.
What a greeting! Apparently, humans weren’t welcome among wolves. I wanted to run away.
Elgin quietly set his backpack on the floor and put his hand on my back to push me forward. He had to force me with the pressure of his fingers because my feet seemed to be rooted in the ground. When we were near the fire, he stopped. He took me by the waist and pulled me back against him.
“This is Scarlett. My soulmate.”
My heart leapt to burst my rib cage. Even in an old romance movie, I had never heard anyone introduce their girlfriend like this. But if the term surprised no one but me, it affected Georgia noticeably. She gave me a murderous look that nearly froze my bones. She was radiating anger.
The one who had greeted us ended up walking loosely towards me, a dazzling smile on his face. It was still nicer than being pointed at!
“Welcome to our pack, Scarlett,” he said, shaking my hand warmly. “I’m Jamie.”
“Thank you,” I whispered timidly.
All greeted me kindly, except Georgia, who kept her distance. It was difficult for me to recall their first names without making a mistake, but I remembered Anneas, Dan, Jamie, Tony, Etienne, John, Mario, Jeff and Eddy.
Georgia was the only girl. We all must have been about the same age except Jamie who looked a bit older.
“Are you hungry, Scarlett?” Dan asked; a tall blond with huge, very beautiful eyes.
“Uh... yes,” I confessed.
It was a little after eleven o’clock, not the time to eat, but I couldn’t take it anymore. My stomach was howling with starvation.
In the surprise of meeting everyone, I hadn’t noticed that meat was grilling over the fire. Moreover, as soon as I saw it, I smelled the wonderfully enticing odours that emanated from it.
“My name is Dan,” the blond with big eyes reminded me, “sit down with us and eat.”
I took a seat next to Elgin as Dan handed me a piece of meat.
“Be careful, it’s hot.”
“Thank you,” I say gratefully.
At that moment, the one that filled my stomach became my best friend for life.
I waited until everyone was served before biting my teeth into the juicy meat. It was way better than all the granola bars in the world. I had no regrets that I hadn’t settled my stomach earlier.
“Where are you from?” the one called Anneas asked me.
“I live in Wick but I’m French. Paris.”
“Hey, Etienne! She’s a Frenchy too!”
“Good news!” he cried in French.
Etienne gave me a broad, very patriotic smile.
After the heavy meal, Jamie took a guitar out of its case, adjusted the strings, strummed a few chords and began to play the tune of Wash Away by Joe Purdy.
Elgin lay down on his back and pulled me with him.
“Are you okay?” he whispered against my ear.
“Mm...,” I murmured.
He was so hot I felt like I was against a heater. My well-being might have been almost perfect if I hadn’t heard Georgia giggle excessively. I discreetly lifted my head and saw that she was glued to the guy next to her (Tony I think) and whispering in his ear. He looked down at me, a smirk.
“Don’t worry about it,” Elgin urged me, giving them a dark look. “We don’t care.”
Easy to say!
The music stopped and Jamie stood up.
“Shall we go?” he proposed.
“Where?” I asked Elgin quietly. “Are we going home?”
Already?
“No, no. We’re going to stretch our legs... run,” he clarified.
“Not me, eh?”
He smirked, almost mocking, which caused me to pout.
“No, honey, you’re not going to run,” he reassured me. “Look at this place,” he said, indicating it with his hand (although we couldn’t see much). “It’s perfect for this. It’s the reason why we love to come here.”
“Are you going to... change?”
“That’s it.”
“Oh... and I have to stay here?”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to be alone in the middle of the clearing in the middle of the night.
“Just until I transform and then I’ll come back for you.”
He stroked my cheek and got up to go into the woods. The others hadn’t bothered. With a leap in my heart, I realized that they were undressing in front of me. I turned around modestly so as not to see them. Finally, I heard them move away towards the trees.
A rustle of footsteps made me jump. I turned around and found it hard to believe what my eyes were seeing. Georgia slowly approached me, feline and graceful, in total and astonishing nakedness.
I couldn’t figure out what shocked me the most about this moment. The fact that she’s completely naked or the fact that she’s so... inhumanly perfect.
“So, Scarlett of the Wolves,” she sneered. “Werewolves don’t scare you?”
The dancing flames sent an exceptional glow to her eyes, they became as golden as Elgin’s at the time of his transformation. I understood then what she was about to do, in front of my astonished eyes.
I tried to hide my face, but I was mesmerized by her, captivated by her beauty.
She left gracefully with a burst of laughter in the direction of the woods, in no way embarrassed by her nakedness.
Elgin appeared shirtless and followed her with his eyes. When at last she had disappeared under the trees, he turned to me.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m... I’m fine,” I stammered.
“I don’t know what got into her. She doesn’t usually behave like that.”
I laughed cynically.
“You could almost believe my presence is causing her to lose control,” I said.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I’ll stay close to you.”
“No! Go join your friends.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I lied (and very well for once).
He stared at me for a moment then tilted his head to kiss me on the forehead before turning back.
Trembling, I watched him walk away. I was cold.
I opened the straps on Elgin’s backpack and took the blanket before wrapping myself inside. I threw a few more logs into the fire and went back to my seat. Knees pulled up to my chest, I watched the flames, invigorated, stretching to touch the sky.
A rustle of leaves brought me out of my torpor, I turned my head in its direction. Breathless, I saw them at the edge of the woods, motionless, majestic...
The pack.
- Writer
