The Wolf's Whisperer

Stella

It had been a week already since I found the wounded wolf, and during that time, my rifle went missing... and also all the knives from the kitchen... Not that I believed the wolf could take them anywhere outside, but when I was about to cut a loaf of bread for breakfast, I realized I had nothing to cut it with, I had enough so I yelled angrily;

“Oh c'mon, Wolfie! I can't cut my bread! I won’t chop any meat for you without a knife!”

Of course, the rascal didn’t even blink an eye from where he was lying down in front of the fireplace.

By lunchtime, I found a knife I could use inside my drawer. I don’t even know how it got there, and it wasn’t the sharpest one too, but I still could get the work done. Albeit slowly.

Well, it was better than nothing.

Another peculiar thing after I rescued the wolf was that I had a feeling that someone or something was watching me at night. Maybe I was getting paranoid about the wolf that could kill me any time in my own house, but the wolf looked perfectly satisfied with the comfort the cottage and I in it provided for him and didn’t try to go after my throat.

Though the fact that I was without any weapon unsettled me a little, but he wouldn’t harm me, right? God! I hope so.

The wolf still didn’t allow me to come closer than to the arm-length distance, but on the other hand, he was following me everywhere. He started with it in the morning of the third day, limping a bit on his injured leg.

“No, go to rest. You can’t put any pressure on your leg, Wolfie. Go,” I told him numerous times, and the wolf really went to his place near the fireplace, but he still came back after a few minutes and observed me through every single activity.

It started when I got out of the bedroom in the morning and walked groggily into the kitchen to make my usual morning coffee. When the wolf heard my footsteps, however, he followed me into the kitchen and lay down in a corner so that he didn’t stand in my way. It unnerved me a bit. I’m afraid that the wolf would attack me while I was on my back to it, deciding that the raw meat I gave him was getting boring, so now he wanted to have a taste of another meat. I shuddered, thinking about it.

During the day, the wolf was always near, watching me work, and I kind of developed a ridiculous habit to talk to him and explain things, though I knew the wolf couldn’t understand with his animal brain; nevertheless, the wolf always seemed engrossed in what I was saying. He was always listening intently with his head leaned to the side. It made a pretty adorable image if I do say so myself.

“Look, Wolfie, this is how a washing machine works,” I was explaining to the wolf after a week of our lives together. “You put the clothes in… then you add some washing powder… you close the washing machine… and you press the button.”

As the washing machine started working the wolf wagged his tail happily. 

And quickly after that, even more unusual things started happening.

The first thing was finding my morning coffee already made when I entered the kitchen in the morning. The wolf was at my heels as usual, but I still couldn’t help a suspicious look when I turned to the wolf, whose tongue was lolling out of his mouth and found the mouth itself was lengthened into a wolfish smile, his tail moving from side to side excitedly.

I shook my head and tried the coffee. It was still cold, ice the perfect amount… and it was good, made precisely the way I liked it. Could it be… that I was sleep-walking, made the coffee, returned to bed, and only then woke up? The thought was absurd, but I couldn’t come up with a better explanation.

After the morning surprise, Wolfie and I followed a daily routine.

While I was working and talking to the wolf, as usual, with the wolf lying near me and listening to anything I was talking about. Suddenly I heard a noise from outside. The wolf was already on his feet and was walking to the door. I hurried after him. The noise of a car was too familiar to be something else, and I knew it was Val. I yanked the door open and ran out exactly when the noise of Val’s truck was cut silent. I grinned when my lanky friend got out of the car and the answer was the same kind of a grin.

“Hey!” I greeted him.

“Hi, Ms. Caveman, how you’ve been doing since I talked to you for the last time? When was it?” Val said as he walked to me.

“Let me see… Yesterday morning on the phone?” I chuckled. “It’s good to see you.”

Val nodded, reaching out to hug me, his broad figure engulfing my frame. “Yeah.” His look trailed to the house and suddenly he froze. “What’s that?”

I looked over my shoulder. The wolf was standing in the doorway, watching us. I cursed inwardly. s**t! I totally forgot about the wolf.

“A... stray dog?” I offered with a sheepish smile.

Val gave me a hard look. “You’re either a very poor scientist, blind, or you’re a fool. What were you thinking?”

And here it was. Val was pissed at me and I knew very well why.

“A wolf in the house? Beth, are you crazy?!”

“He was injured!” I tried to defend myself.

“So you took it home? Dude, it’s a wild animal. It can kill you anytime!”

I frowned but didn’t say anything, knowing Val was right.

“How long has the wolf been here?”

I shrugged. “Ten days today.”

“What? So long and you didn’t say a single word?” Val cried, outraged. “You’re a FOOL. Get rid of it as soon as possible.”

I frowned even more. “It’s not like I’m holding him back,” I snapped, and that was when I felt a brush of thick animal fur on my hand and a firm rub of the wolf’s uninjured side against my right leg. The wolf’s eyes were fixed on Val, the tense stance of the wolf was an embodied warning. Almost.. challenging?

Val fell silent. He was staring at the wolf and I could see Val was afraid.

“You should keep your voice down,” I said to Val, and for the first time, I regretted that I had brought the wolf home as I realized that my senseless action put my friend in deadly peril.

My eyes dropped to the wolf, and then I crouched next to it, “Don’t hurt him, he's my friend,” I whispered and I brushed my fingers through his soft fur. 

The wolf looked at me as if he understood exactly what I meant.

Or am I hallucinating?  Either way, I hoped he wouldn't harm us both.