The Wolf's Whisperer

Ira

The mere presence of the male human was upsetting him, maybe even more than it should, and he didn't like it.

He was watching how the guy was talking to his human. They were friendly to each other and the wolf didn’t like it at all. He knew he was acting like a pup, but he still didn’t like the fact that his human was being so friendly to the other guy. The instinct of possessiveness had already grown strong and with each day in Human’s presence, it was becoming even stronger.

He knew there was one thing he needed to do to make the right to claim Human HIS possession.

As he was watching the talk between the two of them, the urgency to mark what belonged to him according to the ancient law only grew. He couldn’t wait anymore.

The guy raised his voice and the sound of it brought him back to reality and the wolf growled. No one was allowed to be rude to his human.

He approached and stood side by side with his human, touching her with his good shoulder. He was aware of his strength and obviously, both of them were as well. That was a good thing because he didn’t need to growl any warning. That would have meant they couldn’t handle this in peace.

He shivered when he felt the light stroke of Human’s hand and the urgency to mark became almost unbearable.

“Don’t hurt him, he's my friend,” he heard the plea, and even though he didn’t understand the words, he figured what Human wanted to tell him. Their eyes met as he looked up. He could smell fear and worry seeping from both humans. He didn’t care about the other human, it was probably good that he was afraid, but smelling it from his Human, feeling it, breathing in it, was tearing his heart apart. He wanted her to be happy and smile that wide smile again. The pleading look of the green eyes rimmed with golden brown was burning a hole within him. 

All right, he thought. I’ll do it for you. ONLY for you. MINE.

He stepped back slowly, his eyes trained on the other man. He sat down a few steps away from them. They knew he was ready to attack if there was a need. They knew he was capable of a quick and clean kill before they even knew what was going on. He could see it and feel it as he was watching their tense stances.

Human looked at the other one apologetically.

“You’re a fool, Beth, the wolf will rip your throat out one day and you know it. You can’t keep him,” said the other human in a low, but angry voice.

“He can go whenever he wants. He’s just not leaving. It’s his decision.” Human’s words were quiet and obviously, there was an attempt to make her words sound calming.

“Because you feed it, don’t you?”

Human looked nervous, but there was a small nod. “He was injured as you can see. He couldn’t hunt on his own.”

“It’s a wolf! A wild animal. There’s no way you can tame it,” said the other guy and there was concern and plea in his voice.

“I’m not even trying that,” Human said, but her voice didn’t sound very convincing. No matter what she said, she didn’t believe her own words. “I’ll take off the bandage and he can go.”

“Beth...”

“I’m fine, Val. He won’t hurt me.” And this sounded full of belief.

The other man sighed. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Human smiled. Apparently, they were good again. The wolf was jealous. This man was obviously close to Human. When there would be a mark, there wouldn’t be any danger… but while it still wasn’t there, the wolf felt vulnerable.

“I’ll call you in two hours to make sure you’re still safe and sound,” said the other man as he opened the door of the four-wheeler and took something out, handing it to Human, whose eyes shone and the whole expression changed from worried and tense to sincerely pleased.

“Gummy bears!”

The light in the green eyes and wide smile struck the wolf hard. The harder it was when he knew HE wasn’t the cause of it, but the other guy, who was now in the arms of Human. The wolf's human. He growled.

Both humans winced and pulled away from each other, eyeing the wolf cautiously for a moment.

“I'd better go,” said the guy.

“Yeah.”

There was a tense air surrounding them again and the wolf didn’t know whether to feel relieved or annoyed about it.

“I’ll call you,” the other man said. Human smiled and nodded. The wolf waited outside with her until the four-wheeler disappeared from sight.

When Human turned to him again, the wolf could see the mix of emotions: relief, annoyance, probably even anger. Their eyes met and the wolf whined quietly. Human shook her head and walked inside silently. The wolf followed.

He lay down in his usual place in front of the fireplace and waited for Human to settle down on the couch with the rustling thing in his hands that turned out to be a package full of colorful small things that were obviously edible. They looked at each other, and then Human set to her work, unusually silent. The wolf was watching her for a while before he stood up and walked to the couch. He hopped on it and looked at Human expectantly.

Human looked back at him. “What?” she asked, obviously unaware of the wolf’s intention.

The wolf whined, sizing her up. The only uncovered parts of Human’s body were hands and neck. The neck was fine. Not the best place, but respectable. The most valued places were chest, stomach and groin, because they were talking of utter commitment of the marked one to the one who was marking. The wolf knew this wasn’t the situation. He was either going to take or was not getting anything.

He had the right to take. Human saved his life and won the gratitude of the wolf. This was her reward: the eternal commitment and protection. The wolf knew that in his position it was maybe less than Human had now, but he was sure that one day it was going to change.

One day he would fight again and win this time.

He didn’t need to do this, it wasn’t his obligation. It was a privilege given by the world’s order, and he wanted to use it. He wanted to take what belonged to him rightfully.

Human didn’t move. She was eyeing the wolf intently, flinching when the wolf’s wet tongue touched her cheek. The wolf whined again and shifted closer. This time he aimed for her ear, licking and nuzzling and expressing his affection through this obvious gesture.

Human smiled and buried her beautiful and delicate fingers in the wolf’s fur.

“So you’re finally letting me touch you?” she said with a smile, and the wolf licked her face. Human laughed, and the wolf wagged his tail. She buried both her hands into the white fur coat and got startled when the wolf’s big front paws pushed her down on the couch.

The wolf licked her face again and nuzzled her ear and neck, licking again, and Human relaxed a bit. The wolf mewled quietly, opening his mouth… and his sharp fangs sank deep into the tender flesh of the crook of Human’s neck.

Human yelped with shock and pain, and she looked like she wanted to push the wolf away, but it was a fruitless effort. The weight of the wolf didn’t allow her to scramble from underneath her and the teeth sinking deeper and deeper into the muscle were holding her still. Human screamed in horror and trembled, the whole room reeked of her fear.

The wolf tasted sweet blood, sweeter than anything he had tasted before. The faint metallic tone was driving him crazy, filling him with a sense of satisfaction. It was so good… so good… tasting this flesh… this blood… this life.

Human was undeniably at his mercy and that was so exciting that if there hadn’t been the strong smell of fear, getting into the taste of the blood as well, the wolf would have sunk on Human’s rigid body in order to claim what was his, giving into his instinct.

He held Human’s neck a few long minutes, his saliva getting into the deep wound, mixing with the gushing blood. When he loosened his grip and slowly raised his head, he realized how rapidly Human’s chest was heaving and sinking. The smell of fear was still overwhelming and the wolf hated it… hated it even more when he saw mistrust in Human’s terrified eyes.

He whined and started licking the blood pouring from the wound. Human winced and closed her teary eyes. The wolf knew what it meant.

Human gave up her life to the wolf. If the wolf wanted to finish her off, Human wasn’t going to fight.

That frightened the wolf.

He was licking the wound with more effort now, his saliva mixing with the blood even more. Between the licks he was nuzzling Human’s cheek and ear, trying to let her know that he was not going to hurt her anymore and that he was sorry for causing her pain. To his pleasure, the licks and nuzzles and whines seemed to be expressive enough for Human to understand. The fear in her eyes was slowly fading… turning into something else.

Anger.

The wolf froze when he recognized the strengthening smell of the new emotion. He locked his eyes with Human’s. The heart under his paws was still beating frantically, but he knew that this time the vital organ wasn’t pumping fear into the veins, but rage. He contemplated the possibility of licking off the blood from Human’s neck one more time, but the look of the sharp green eyes stopped him. If there wasn’t already enough saliva mixed with the blood, then it had to be like that.

The wolf released his captive and jumped from the couch away from Human’s reach. Human sat up immediately, reaching to the wound and smearing the blood over her neck and collar bone unintentionally. The wolf didn’t stop himself from licking his still bloodied muzzle. It didn’t escape Human’s attention.

“I swear if you bit me again, you wouldn’t get away with this,” she said and the wolf recognized a threat. He could get it. He could still taste his guilt all over his muzzle. He thought that the best thing he could do now was to get away from Human’s way.

And he did. He turned around and ran out of the room to hide somewhere in the house.