Wolf Whisperer

Almost in the middle of Bighton Valley, a girl tosses around her bed, trapped in a nightmare she can't escape.

It starts off as a sweet dream where she's rushing through the Worley Woods near the waterfall by the road on the way to Breakhaven.

She feels strong, and fast. Faster than any human could ever be.

And her nose could smell nature, she smells the weeds in the ground as her feet push her faster through the forest, she could smell even the rain coming down in torrents around her, the ground beneath her. Her ears pick up every little sound, the constant pattering of raindrops on the leaves and the ground, the raindrops splashing and the water running down the little crevices in the ground.

Above all that she could hear the waterfall, loud and majestic, but also something else, the soft humming of a car. Behind her someone's soft footfalls follow her at the same pace, Erol, somehow she knew his name and trusted him. But still somehow she didn't.

And she could also smell something different, something that set deep in her brain.

And it was getting closer. She had to get to it. A human, she had to get to... her.

Trees become a blur and she barely dodges away in time to her exhilaration. Sometimes all she could do was pull herself on the stem of a strong tree, gaining even more speed. Her hands feel strong, claws replace her nails and her eyes don't even struggle to see through the night the darkness seems to part before her eyes. Almost as if a golden bulb had been lit ahead of her and all around her.

Rain pelts down on her, soaking her clothes completely and the previously soft humming of a car grows louder and so does the scent she knew she was after.

She pushes harder, a sudden surge of adrenaline giving her more strength, she pushes her muscles so much they threaten to break.

She can barely think as she speeds up.

She chances a glance behind her, at Erol.However what she sees is impossible, but of course impossible things happened in dreams, or at least a part of her wants to think. But some other part is scared, some part of her knows it's not okay.

Behind her she makes out two glowing eyes on a determined face rushing through the night at a speed that could easily have been a hundred miles per hour.

Her mind screams for her to stop and marvel at the unearthly beauty the creature, boy really, behind her has.

Her mind feels alien to her, almost as if her will is not her own. She feels like a spectator, seeing her own actions through someone's eyes.

That's when the wrongness streams in. The determined rush through the bushes, the longing for something she couldn't explain. The fixated need to get to the dead man's corner, a sharp bend on the road named for the accidents that had occurred there. There was something very wrong about her thinking.

She jumps straight into the middle of the road, landing heavily on her feet but steadying herself with her hands. Headlights head straight for her just as she makes it to the middle of the road and she can feel the determination not to move. And the wrongness intensifies.

Fear rakes through her, So does determination.

Recognition, Confusion.

More fear.

And though by now she could tell it's not really her eyes, she wills herself to move from the road. Pleads with her mind to wake up from this nightmare.

Through the rain she can see as the car slows down a bit but it still is fast, she steps forward but as she sees the driver in the car, her mind goes numb. Nina's mom!

She wills herself, begs her stubborn dream self to run from the road but almost at the same time tires screech as the driver notices her. She screams to her legs to move from the road and she jumps but not before a scream tears through the night and with a deafening crash resounding in her ears...

Shaken and unsure of what happened she's pulled awake with a strangled scream, her clothes drenched in sweat and her ears still ringing from the loud noise in her dream. The image of Nina's mom in the car stuck in her mind as she tries to calm her heavy breathing and calm her chest that feels like it would blow any minute. Her mom bursts into the room, eyes wide quickly sweeping the room probably looking for whatever it was that made her scream. Finding none, she looks up, her eyes finding Camila's and softening considerably as she makes her way towards the bed.

"Cami, are you okay?" she asks softly as soon as she reaches her. The girl, Camila, feels tears spilling from her eyes and she doesn't make any effort to fight them and only welcomes her mom's warmth as she hugs her. Wrapping her arms tightly around her mom, she allows herself to cry her thoughts away for a short while.

'What was that dream?' she wonders silently. Her thoughts however are interrupted by her mom's voice.

"You gonna be okay?"

"I think so, I just had a nightmare." Her voice sounds scratchy and a tremor racks through her spine.

"Looks like it was pretty bad." Her mom says with a soft chuckle while rubbing her back softly.

"Yeah, it was awful, the worst I've ever had to be honest." She sniffs before pulling her arms off of her mom, wiping a tear from her eyes with the back of her hand as she tries to calm her erratic heart.

"Worse than the one where you were turned into the neighbor's dog and started eating your mattress." her mom says making her hide her head in her shoulders embarrassed but glad she was lightening the mood.

"That one was really bad, I had turned into a strangers dog and was vandalizing my own bedroom!" she says, her voice coming out muffled as her head is still hidden in her mom's shoulder. "And I was eight, I wouldn't even remember it now if you didn't remind me every chance you get." she says, not angry, rather embarrassed.

She chuckles, "It was cute and funny so I'll keep reminding you."

"It was awful mom," she finally pulls herself up looking at her mom with a smile. "It was neither cute nor funny."

"I beg to differ." her mom says.

Her thoughts though take her back to the nightmare she'd just had, it had all felt too real, like she was there, almost as if she was really seeing through someone's eyes, except it wasn't someone it was a thing, something. She feels herself frown at the weirdness of it all.

"Want to talk about it?" Her mom asks, probably having seen the expression on her face change.

As good as her mom's offer sounds, the fact that it was her best friend's mom in her dream. And also that it felt completely real, she decides, it would be too crazy talking about it.

"Thanks mom, but I'm okay now. It's just a nightmare." She can tell her voice is far from convincing but her mom doesn't push her at all.

"Okay. Will you be able to go back to sleep or should I bring you a hot chocolate." The concern in her mom's voice doesn't escape her and she smiles despite the worry that she has.

The constant thought of how real the dream had felt doesn't leave her but what surprises her is the could it be real? that she finds herself thinking. She quickly shuts down the little voice in her head as she hugs her mom again.

"Mom, it was just a nightmare." Her mom makes to say something but she beats her to it. "And besides, I don't want to keep you awake too long, you have work tomorrow. I'll get myself the cup of chocolate and I'll be alright." She smiles again, trying to be as convincing as possible.

"Honey, you were screaming in your sleep. And you are my girl, there's absolutely nothing I put before you. Especially not work," her mom scrunches up her nose while saying 'work' as if it was an awful thing to talk about before going on. "So let's go downstairs and I'll make you a hot chocolate."

Her argument is shot down with a single look. A look she didn't see many times but had come to associate with the phrase, no more arguing young lady.

"Okay mom." she agrees before getting off the bed and following her mom silently despite everything, her thoughts keep dragging her to the nightmare.

Those glowing eyes.

Helena's car.

It all seemed too real, too real to ignore that Helena was supposed to be in Breakhaven visiting Phoebe, Nina's elder sister. She shoots her concerns down for now as they reach the kitchen with her mom working silently. Telling her mind it had all been her crazy imagination creating a dream from all the things she knew today to the craziness of TV. But the thoughts and images keep crawling back up despite how much she wills them gone.

***

Richard pulls himself up from the spot beside the road, shaking his head trying to figure out how he jumped there. His thoughts trace back to when the car was heading for him, when the tires screeched, there had been no fear in him, absolutely none. There was no reason for him to jump, but he did and he couldn't really remember deciding to. He recalls feeling like it was the most plausible thing, and the fear that had passed through him, it was almost as if it wasn't him, almost as if he had been just spectating in his own body, he couldn't remember ever feeling such helplessness as he had.

He faces Erol who watches him curiously before chuckling mockingly and looking at where he'd been lying.

"Dude, are you planning on trying out as goalie for soccer! That jump would put the gorillas to shame." Erol says as his eyes flick to the wreck before facing him again.

"Why'd you even jump, she was nowhere near getting you. As a matter of fact, there was absolutely no way that car would have gotten you."

"That is what I'm asking myself. It'd be nice to know the answer to that." He answers ignoring the small voice telling him he sounded crazy. He strolls to the now wrecked car, the rain still beating down on him as Erol follows slightly behind him.

"Are you saying you don't know why you jumped?" Erol's voice sounds as unbelieving as he feels confused.

"Yes Erol, that's what I'm saying." He faces him, knowing how ridiculous and crazy he must sound but not caring either way. He knew something weird had happened but he couldn't be sure what.

"Now, are you going to help me get her out of this wreck or not?" he asks sharply as Erol gives him a curious look, one that told him exactly what he thought.

"I don't know what's more crazy, this little plan of yours that I'm still convinced will get us pretty damn hurt if not dead. Or the fact that you are speaking crazy." Erol mutters under his breath before yanking the door on Helena's side off sending it flying to the other side of the road.

Richard decides to ignore his comment knowing how confusing it all was when he thought of what had happened. It had been his decision, he'd made the decision to jump but he still couldn't figure out why or how such a thought had come to mind.

He reaches for Helena's arm, lifting it to get access to the seatbelt before quickly snapping it off, and pulling the unconscious woman off the car. She was pretty banged up and Richard knew she most likely couldn't survive another ten minutes if he simply left her, but he had plans. He couldn't let her bleed to death, or rather he could but wouldn't, he had to be the one to kill her, that way it'd serve to send a message. Hopefully it'd spark a war and he'd have what he wanted most, he'd have his distraction and by the time they'd come to realise it was him he'd have what he needed, he'd have gotten the power he came here for, he'd be unstoppable then.

"You do realise that the Worley's will come after us for this, right?" Erol chirps in as he lays Helena down beside the road.

The Worley's were an old family in Bighton Valley, a family that had been here since the first settlers in the small town probably thousands of years ago. They were a powerful one with influence further than Bighton with the forest that was one of the biggest, not only in this region but in the county, named after them. It was one of the few remaining blood wolves within the Lycans and had almost no one left. Last he'd heard, there were two sisters and a brother all estranged. Their father Phil Worley was one of the renowned alphas but he never had a pack, now he was the only one among the family who was in Bighton Valley with the youngest daughter, Sophie Worley, a greatly feared and respected alpha with a pack of two.

"I'm not particularly worried about The Worley's Erol."

"They're Lycans Richard, you know how they tend to have sticks up their asses on territory and such."

"Yes I do." He gives his response as he peers into the car, there was nothing important and the stench of gas hits him, the car wreck would probably burst in flames soon.

"This car is gonna explode, let's move her a bit." he says, handing the woman to Erol to carry further away as he searched the dashboard, he needed that ring. It was one of the other reasons he'd killed her, she would never give it up alive.

"Ric, you're going to kill her, what difference does it make whether she bleeds out in her car and burns to ashes or dies in the rain?" Erol asks as she lays her on the ground, acting carefully enough to make Richard chuckle, Erol was always so careful and compassionate.

"For one, she hasn't wronged me so she'd rather die quick. And second, I'm trying to send a message, spark some fiery anger. A mere car accident won't do."

"I thought you didn't care about the Worley's or territory." Erol watches him as he pulls the other ring from her finger."Letting them know there's a wolf in town will just keep them on alert."

"And I don't, and the Worley's don't either. Not really anyway, the only one who would is the youngest, Sophie Worley and this message isn't for her." Richard says kneeling close to the woman, comparing the ring he'd taken from the car and the one she had on her, they were almost alike. The same green rock on top with the swirling patterns engraved on their sides making the same maze, they were beautiful and had an old feel. He had a feeling they were made this way to confuse, that way no one would be sure which was the true ring. It was hard telling them apart, telling which was the binding ring and which one was the family ring with both having the same letter 'A' engraved in the decorative rock. He pulls the other off of her finger, knowing Beatrice would know which to use.

"Then who is the message for?" The curiosity in Erols voice is almost tangible by now.

"You'll see." He smiles as he watches Erol chew on his lip as if trying to think of a smart question to make him reveal the truth already. He lets his fingers turn into claws, the area lighting up in a golden light as he shifts partially knowing his eyes would be glowing a deep blue he was proud of, the eyes of a Trueborn alpha. And he swipes down, feeling sorry for the woman but otherwise watching his work as blood sputters from her throat for a few seconds before she heaves unconsciously and her eyes going wide before the light in them fades. He stands finding Erol looking everywhere but at him or the woman and chuckles, he'd never been one for blood and violence.

"Now we wait for the answer." He calls as he walks back towards the forest, his job for the night done. He only glances at the body once after seeing the blood seep into the water and flow slightly before the car eventually explodes.

His last thought as he faces the woods again, the Worley Woods is one of hope, hope that his plan would work. By touching Helena, he'd poked at someone bad, Phoebe Aver, he'd killed her mother and that wouldn't be overlooked. It was however what he was counting on, if she could believe it was one of the only other four wolves in town, she'd played right into his plan. He also knows very well that he'd either set them on their direct path to victory, to the promise of unlimited power. Or he'd just made one of his greatest mistakes invoking the anger of the Lone Wolf and also the definite wrath of hunters scorned. The hunters weren't unlike cops, they would sniff and sniff until they caught one who killed their own, they would hang any wolf they caught and condemn them all for this.