Chapter 14: Into the woods
Penelope
"You didn't have to come, guys..."
"What?"
"That bastard tried to attack you!" my brothers said worriedly.
It was chaos, I had to clean the porch, and my neighbors were worried. My father had come over after checking the whole house and was now talking to the police. Nicholas was still in the hospital talking trash about me. My brothers had stayed to help me and make sure I was okay.
"But not anymore... and after what happened, I don't think he'll come back here. That wolf would have torn him apart if the police hadn't come..." I said with a shudder. "Yeah... what a coincidence that wolf didn't attack you at all..." Luther said, and Luke nudged him.
"What's the matter, don't you believe me?" I asked, insulted as they washed the dishes.
"No, no...that's not it at all."
"More like we believe you, and that's why...we're worried," Luke replied. And I see their worried faces looking at each other sideways, no doubt talking over their mind-link.
Now people in town were saying that I had a pet wolf, kind of like the crazy cat lady... but with wolves. And of course, I hadn't told my brothers that Wolfie had come into my house and made himself very comfortable on my couch and... we watched movies.
They would have said that I was completely crazy... even though I could not say that this was normal at all. Of course, I was no fool and knew that my brothers could smell the wolf in different parts of my house. They were tense, but they didn't say anything to me.
Although they didn't seem to be afraid that something would happen to me or that the wolf would attack me... there was something else that I couldn't define, what it was that was bothering them.
"All that matters is that I wasn't alone and that Nicholas couldn't hurt me. And everything is okay," I said.
And even though I kept telling myself that... the truth is that in the days that followed, I was afraid. I was afraid to go out into the streets and see Nicholas or Marco again... any of those who had hurt me lately. And it all started when the alphas came to town.
I hate them.... how I wish they had never come to my town.
And every now, and then I would see some Alphas walking here and there or coming into the restaurant. I saw Roger, but never Nate.
It seemed that whatever had happened at my house when he kissed me... it had been a small thing, and it was as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth from that moment on. I mean, I get it... he should be ashamed to kiss a human. Finally, I was the usual Penelope again, working and being with my family whenever I could. But... it also disappeared, Wolfie. He had not been seen since my brothers came home.
My brothers had gone into the woods to look for the supposed wolf I had told them about, and they would get lost for hours. But they never told me if they saw it or anything else. All I know is that Wolfie never came back to see me. "I guess you left me too, Wolfie...and I thought you were different," I said with a sigh when I came home alone again.
My real father had never been interested in me and had tried to get rid of my mother and me. My mother had died when I was very young, Moonstone forced me to leave my father and brothers.... Nicholas had abused me...and now Wolfie had abandoned me.
"I guess it's my destiny to be alone," I mutter.
Sometimes I dreamed of Wolfie....and sadly I had to admit that I also dreamed of Nate. But strangely, it was a happy feeling, even though there was a lot of pain inside me.
And one early morning I woke up suddenly, I felt my heart beating fast as if something was happening. I put on a robe and looked out the window, and it was a little foggy. The world seemed magical at that hour and time, and suddenly... I saw him.
"Wolfie..." I said with a sigh as I walked out of the room and down the stairs two at a time, excited to see him again.
My body was telling me that there was a connection between us, and that perhaps it was fate that had brought us together, for in a few days he had become my hope, my quiet place.
And when I came down, I thought he had suddenly disappeared, but no...there he was, as if waiting for me, as if he knew I would come down and wait for him.
"Wolfie...I thought you had left me," I say, and he bows his head and stares at me while he howls. And the closer I get, the farther away he gets.
"What's wrong?" I ask, and he stops, as if he's waiting for me to come closer, as if he's taking me somewhere.
"Do you want me to follow you?" and I see that he does.
He walks ahead of me as I follow, and I see the light coming through the trees, and we are walking into the forest.
"Are we going into the woods, do you want me to follow you there?" I ask and he stops.
I don't know if I'm crazier talking to a wild wolf or going into the woods. My father always told me to be careful, that there were dangers in the woods... and supernatural things. And after what happened with my brothers and the rouges... I never went back.
Even though I know that now. I'm not afraid, and if I had any doubts about going into the forest before, I feel safe now. So I nod and he continues to walk through the trees.
I listen to the sounds of the forest, how it is waking up, how the birds are singing and flapping, and everything feels so good that I feel like I am in a dream. I can see my feet treading the earth and I can feel the cold morning wind. Until we reach a small clearing, a space like a circle, where the trees surround us, and it's fantastic. And while I'm looking at everything, I don't notice that he's gone.
"Wolfie?" I ask in a trembling voice, afraid again that he has left me here alone.
When I see someone coming out from behind a tree... but it's not Wolfie, it's someone else... someone I didn't expect to see here. And I feel my heart almost stop. "Nate?" the man who is the Alpha of my former pack is barefoot and wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt.
He doesn't have his usual big and powerful Alpha attitude, but rather a pleading look on his face.
"What are you doing here...? Where is wolfie?" I ask stammering, and it dawns on me. "No..."
What a fool I've been! Of course, Wolfie wasn't a normal wolf... he was a werewolf. It was him.
I had to have seen it, he was big and too skilled. How could I have been so naive? He... he had enchanted me. But why?
"You're Wolfie, aren't you?" I asked, trembling as he slowly approached me, as if he was afraid I'd be afraid. He looks sad, worried.
Well, I am scared enough already, my hands and lips are trembling, and as I shake my head frantically, I begin to realize everything that has happened.
I thought he was gone, but in reality he had been with me in one way or another, even when I had told him to leave.
"You? How could you trick me like that?" I say reproachfully as I point at him and back away. Is he trying to hurt me?
"Penelope..." he says in a breathless whisper.
"I.... I told you my secrets, my deepest hopes and fears! I let you into my home and fed you! How could you?" I said now, covering my mouth and wanting to run away.
Nate's eyes looked sad and embarrassed...and he reached out a hand as if he wanted to touch me.
"I wanted to reach out to you, but I didn't know how...." he said in a low voice.
"You used me! You betrayed my trust and made a fool of me! I thought that wolf was my friend! Not you!" I say, shouting.
"I only wanted to help you... I never meant to make you feel bad... I only wanted to protect you..." he says, coming closer and I panic.
"Get away from me!" I say, and immediately start walking backwards, trying to figure out how to get back home.
I was so stunned to see the wolf again that I don't know how long I've been walking, and frankly, I don't know which way I've been going. And between the emotions I was feeling and being lost, I stumbled and fell. "Penelope!" Nate yelled, coming towards me worried.
"Let me go! Don't touch me!" I said quickly as I tried to stand up with my hands on the ground.
"Please Penelope don't go...please listen to me..." he said begging me.
"I don't want anything to do with you, you are unbelievably shameless to come into my house and pretend to be a friend! And on top of that, you make me come all the way here alone!" I scream in fear as I stand up, trying to figure out how to get back.
"Please... just let me explain. Just for a few minutes...".
"And why do you care what happens to me? What could an important Alpha like you care about a stupid, chubby human like me?" I asked, turning to him in annoyance, and he looked at me in confusion, seeming to make up his mind as he said the words I never thought I'd hear.
"I care about you. How couldn't? You're my mate, Penelope... my true mate."