I’m supposed to chase the wolf, I remind myself.
But I don’t know where to start, and I’m having too much fun, driving myself forward.
I whoop and keep going.
In the next moment, I feel a presence at my back. Imposing, but not threatening.
Just like at the wedding.
Manny is here.
“I’m not chasing you, wolf,” I cry out, my legs pumping, my lungs sucking in the cool night air that smells like damp earth.
I swear I hear a huff, and then there’s the slightest brush at my heels. With a squeak, I step higher, glancing back to find a massive black wolf loping behind me, his head ducked low. He gives a playful snap toward my feet.
“Are you herding me?” I intend for my voice to sound scathing. Instead, I giggle the question.
He offers me a fang-filled grin.
For some reason, I find his playful response hilarious, and I leave a string of chuckles in my wake as I fly forward. Like in the maze, I allow the power of the plants around me to infuse my limbs with extra energy.
The boost makes me faster, but not fast enough to outrun a werewolf. Manny sticks close, sometimes skipping in for another snap, as if he likes the way I hop and laugh.
Then, he slows and lets out a sharp bark of warning. Pointing my gaze forward, I realize there’s a cliff fast approaching.
I more than see it. Ifeelit. The abrupt ending to the trees.
But I also sense where the forest restarts, far below.
The oaks and pines and yellow woods wait at the base of the cliff for me. Beckoning me toward them. Cheering me on.
I don’t slow down.
Manny barks again, then snarls when I don’t heed his warning. The ground shakes with his pounding paws. But he hesitated for too long. Too late to catch up.
“See you at the bottom!” I shout as the branches in front of me part to reveal the wide expanse of the Chattahoochee National Forest, lit by the half-moon.
My feet push me into a running swan dive, and I scream in pure delight as I free-fall through the air.
An animal’s roar follows my plummet.
But I’m too busy calling to the woods below to concern myself with Manny.
Leaf-covered branches stretch toward me like my father’s arms used to when I jumped from my bunk bed into his waiting hold. And just like then, I’m caught in an abrupt yet cushioned embrace.
“Thank you!” I call to the trees, my green-glowing hands stretched out in thanks.
They shiver their limbs in response, slowly depositing me on the ground. I sit there for a moment, grinning wide and panting. But as my heart rate begins to slow, I realize I’m not done.
I want to keep going.
“Blossom!” My name is bellowed through the trees.
Wow, he made it down fast. And he changed forms.
“Are you running naked through the woods, Manny?” I yell the question while rocking up to my feet.
“Thank the fucking gods.”
