Prophecy of the Alphas

Chapter 2

ARIA'S POV

I screamed, dropping the fire poker. Spinning around, I slammed the kitchen door behind me, heading towards the front door. When the beast with the gleaming white fangs didn't follow me, I stopped, my hand frozen on the handle.

I looked back at the kitchen; I wasn’t being pursued. Then I heard the whimper from the kitchen again. The beast...or animal...or whatever it was...was hurt. In my kitchen. Should I call animal control? Or help it?

I looked down at the door handle and then back at the kitchen. Releasing the doorknob, I returned to the kitchen, my socks not sounding on the hardwood floor. When I reached the kitchen, I placed my hand on the door, pausing momentarily, fear eating at me.

Slowly, I pushed the door inward. In the dark, I saw the eyes again. It was glowing red and large white fangs. Black fur, four legs. It looked like a giant dog. A wolf. It was a wolf. A huge wolf. An ungodly colossal wolf. Were wolves really this big in person? I'd never seen one in person.

I stumbled backward. This was unbelievable. What was a wolf doing in Grandma Jo's kitchen? And why were its eyes glowing red?

I heard the low growl again, but it whimpered, stopping me from stumbling. Finding my voice, I asked, "Are you okay?"

As if it could understand me, it whimpered again, no longer growling. I started inching towards the creature, squinting in the dark. I needed help to find out what was wrong. Looking around, I spotted the light switch. "I'm going to turn on the light. Don't freak out."

Another whimper in response. Okay, weird. I walked to the switch, not turning my back on the creature, and flipped it on. It bathed the kitchen in a warm yellow glow and highlighted the beast. It was giant. Even bigger than I initially realized. This wasn't just a big wolf. This was a big f*****g wolf.

And now I could see what was wrong. There was what looked like barbwire wrapped around its head. How it got there, I wasn't sure. Looking behind it, it looked like it crashed through the back door, looking for some shelter while it was vulnerable, and ended up in Grandma Jo's kitchen. Great.

I sighed. This is different from what a lazy day was supposed to entail. I could call animal control, but who knows when they'd get here and what they'd do to the poor fella. But if I helped him, who knows what he'd do to me when he was free?

I don't know how I knew it was a he, but I'm pretty positive it was. I tapped my foot, and then another whimper sounded from the beast. Okay, I didn't have time to think this through. The thing was in pain. I needed to help him—no doubt about it. I was a sucker for animals, scary or not.

"Hold on a second; I need to find some wire cutters to get this barbed wire off you. Stay still."

I heard a flop of his tail, which I took as a sign of acknowledgment. I headed around him, still facing him and not turning my back. Grandma Jo had kept a toolbox in a little pantry off the kitchen. I'm sure there'd be wire cutters in there. I inched around him and ducked into the pantry.

Rummaging around in there, I quickly found the box, and after digging around, I found the wire cutters. Perfect.

Ducking out of the pantry, I saw Wolfie hadn't moved. He didn't have a name, so he'd be Wolfie. Now, how do we go about saving him without dying...

I crept along his side and placed a hand on his fur, which was smooth and silky. He flinched, letting out a low growl. "shhhh, shhh. I'm just coming around to cut the wire."

Wolfie stopped growling, and I was at his head, staring into his glowing red eyes. I patted his snout, expecting another growl, but nothing, just a blink of his eyes. Okay, this was okay.

Reaching out, I touched the wire gently. Whimper. I wiggled the wire cutters under the wire, and Wolfie whimpered, and I snipped. The wire released some. I went to the next and snipped. I continued, snipping each line of wire. When each line was snipped, I slowly started pulling them from around his head, making sure not to drag them away so that they wouldn't cut him.

He didn't move at all, not making a sound, not even thumping his tail. No more sounds had been made after the last whimper. Blood covered my hands as I stepped back, examining my work and ensuring I'd gotten all the wires. We froze, staring at each other. This is the part where he would eat me now. Instead, he stared at me with his glowing red eyes, examining me.

Then he let out a long howl, closing his eyes. Spinning around, he bolted out the door and took off. I stayed frozen in place, watching where he'd just disappeared. Did that just happen? I looked down at my bloody hands and then at the busted back door. Yep, it definitely just happened. I just saved a beast of a wolf, and then it took off.

I went to the kitchen sink, washed my hands, and rinsed the blood. I needed to figure out what to do about the busted back door. So much for a lazy day. I was so annoyed.

I picked up the cut wires I'd abandoned on the floor, tossed them in the trash can, and grabbed the bag. I needed to get rid of these now so I wouldn't cut myself on them later. I headed outside bag in tow.

Walking to the end of the driveway, I cursed myself that I hadn't taken my socks off before heading outside. At least it wasn't raining or wet outside. Then I heard it—the howling. I looked back towards the woods next to the house and thought I saw glowing red eyes, but they disappeared as quickly as I saw them.