1 1 ~ Perfect strangers:

*gasp*

I duck down deep into a thorny bush. Sandy coloured, beautiful fur. Strong jaw. He's bigger and way more defined than I saw in journals or imagined.

"What the hell is that? No fucking way." I think aloud in a whisper.

I blink feverishly trying to erase the mirage in front of me. To my complete shock the mirage is real. A Werewolf.

I creep closer, snapping a twig as I shift my weight, but the beautiful creature remains unbothered. No fear. No anxiety. He doesn't have a care in the world of who's watching him saunter around a small circle meadow. The confidence of this great monster is serene. I feel envious.

"Why couldn't I be so well behaved." I scoff.

Seeing another crawler was something I had seen in dreams; that's what I call the humans like me, crawlers.

Humans that could morph into animals. Tigers, lions, hyaenas, wolves. Were-people.

My father was a werewolf. Mother was a human. My fathers secrets always fascinated me in my younger days but he kept them locked away in his study, where he typically sat, hunched over a book. I never saw him change. Rarely saw him at all. Dead to the world except for to me. When my father slept I would pick the lock and read the hundreds of magical tales and see images of my favourite wonder, Werewolves. I read his journals and learned that I too was gifted.

A stormy night in the study; I had read one of my favourite journal passages my father had written.

"How I changed."

The journal entry outlined exactly what steps my father had to take to transform into his feral form.

I remember clearly that as I read. A white tuft of hair flicked across my peripheral vision. I spun quickly to find it spun simultaneously back behind me and was following me! I peered over her shoulder, cautiously to discover it was my tail! I had partially changed right there in the study.

"What's that!?" A fellow student, Kaylie, strides up peering in attempts to see what I see. My recollection has me in a state.

"I— wolf." I manage still in shock.

"A wolf?" She shoves Me to the side and eagerly parts the the green, thick brush. The bush scrapes her arm and a drop of blood weighs down a leaf before sailing to the grass below.

The beast lifts his head and sniffs the air. He darts his head in our direction and I freeze, Kaylie ducks. The beast locks eyes with Me and my insides awaken at once I feel a tingling all over my entire body but I can't move. A yearning. This wolf is holding my gaze and I don't dare look away. His eyes seem almost human but larger, deeper, bluer and much more intense. Suddenly I hear a clear word in my mind. "Melt." Though not a word is said aloud by anyone.

I am under a spell. My whole body tenses and something inside is telling me to go to him, run to him. My heart flutters and I feel completely absorbed in the moment.

Suddenly the beast tears his eyes off of me and looks up to a far off mountain. In a flash he's galloping and leaping towards the mountain. his muscles rippling to life beneath the thick coat protecting them.

The spell is broken and I shake my head confused and aroused. I felt like a school girl with a crush, unworthy of this beautiful creature, but, he's like me.

Kaylie rises to her feet completely awestruck by what she just saw. She's like a child with her mouth gaping open dramatically. Her eyes are watering profusely, she hasn't blinked. I lift her chin to shut her mouth and grin at her sympathetically. She's so innocent. And she's just been forced in to my world; out world our beautiful minds and extraordinary creatures. Her eyes shoot to mine and back to where the beast had disappeared and back to me once more.

"That was a- I am- am I dreaming?" She keeps her eyes locked on the vacant spot where the beast had stood not moments before as she struggles to calm her stutter. I notice her pinching herself hard. Gently I move her hands down by her sides and then grasp her shoulders tight. The messy bun on top her head bobbles as she steadies herself.

I stare her directly in her eyes and declare "You are not dreaming. That was a wolf. We need to move and tell someone so we don't end up lunch."

She gulps but nods slowly in response to my command. She doesn't move. I take her hand and drag her back towards the group of students and the professor.

When I spot the group I waste no time.

"Wolf! There's a wolf!" Knowing this will stir some panic and we will likely vacate the area. I wouldn't want this marvel discovered and then inevitably killed. I care for him and I want to protect him so much connection in not bit a moment. I remembered reading in my fathers journals that humans and crawlers could not co-exist except under very rare circumstances. My white lie wasn't too far off. I had seen a wolf. A Werewolf. I also remembered reading about imprinting in my fathers note books. Was have I gotten myself into?

As we walk hurriedly with the group and professor back to the bus, I miss my new friend.