A wolf stared back at me, an intelligence in its eyes that had nothing in common with an animal. Werewolf. I’d bet a month’s paycheck on it. I’d only seen a werewolf in its wolfy state twice, but this looked a lot like those.
It was big. Bigger than any dog I’ve ever seen, its head nearly reaching my chest. Its body was graceful and lean, a lethal power to it that made you realize how your ancestors must have felt confronted by its wolf cousin, before civilization made such encounters rare. It had a wild, untamed air that no dog, even a feral one, could hope to replicate.
Its ears were pricked forward, which I hoped meant it wasn’t getting ready to pounce and tear my throat out. The wolf had reddish brown hair over most of its body and darker markings around its face and legs.
It was beautiful, a force of nature that could kill as easily as I breathed, perhaps more fascinating because of it.
We shared a moment that seemed to stretch through time, never ending, as I waited for it to decide on its course of action. I’d helped Brax, its Alpha, last year but that was no guarantee it wouldn’t rip my throat out for nearly running over it.
I noticed its back leg was pulled up under it. Looks like I hadn’t imagined that yelp.
“I can help you if you change back,” I told it.
I had no intention of approaching those sharp teeth. A normal wolf’s bite has twice the strength of a German Shepherds. A werewolf’s bite is even stronger. It could rip my arm off, and I had no idea if my vampire regeneration was strong enough to fix a wound like that.
The wolf dipped its head at me and limped away.
Guess it didn’t want help.
I watched it disappear into the night, half expecting it to change its mind and come flying out of the shadows.
Strange that it was running in the city. This bike path was near the river and wasn’t busy this time of night, but I knew the wolves owned a rather large stretch of territory southeast of the city where they could run and not worry about humans panicking and calling animal control.
It made me wonder if Brax knew his wolves were running around the city in their fur. It seemed strange that it still needed to limp away. I thought werewolf healing was better than mine. Brax and the other wolves I’d seen injured healed almost magically before my eyes. This wolf didn’t seem to have that same advantage.
Maybe it was new to the werewolf world, much like I was to the vampire one. That could explain some things like the sluggish healing and running somewhere that was normally off limits to werewolves.
I didn’t like the idea of a new wolf running this close to humans. If this one was new, it might not have obtained the control needed not to infect another human.
Brax should probably be informed. Fitting that I’d be the one having to report the wolf, especially since I was convinced I didn’t need anyone holding the end of my leash. Now that the shoe was on the other foot I was aware of the irony, but I didn’t think I could live with someone else’s life being turned upside down because I hadn’t take the time to make sure a wolf didn’t get all bitey on them.
I could follow the wolf to make sure it didn’t bother any human. From a safe distance of course. It would absolve me of any guilt and let me see what it was up to if it had other intentions besides a night run.
There went my evening.
I turned the bike and pedaled after it, keeping my eyes peeled for any movement. If I couldn’t find it, I’d have to go with option one where I reported it to Brax.
This would have been easier if I hadn’t wasted time thinking about what to do. Werewolves were fast. Faster than I was on this bike. It could be anywhere by now.
I sped over the trail, growing more convinced I’d missed my opportunity when I spotted a small movement near the trees on the side of the path. I squinted. The reddish colored wolf loped toward a culvert and disappeared.
I pedaled faster, stopping at the edge. There was no way I could get the bike down the steep drop and across the rocks and boulders littering the bottom without risking breaking my neck. I’d have to leave it behind.
I threw my leg over and set the bike in the bushes. There was no time to get the chain and lock it to a tree. I had already lost sight of the wolf again.
I hid it as best as I could before ducking down the side of the culvert and splashing through the water pooled at the bottom. My gaze was constantly moving, checking the shadows and my periphery. The werewolf probably knew I was coming, given its hearing while in wolf form was a hundred times better than mine, but I didn’t want to walk right into an ambush.
There was probably a way to go all ninja vampire and follow it without making enough noise to announce a battalion’s presence, but I didn’t have those skills. Maybe if I had joined a clan I would have been able to move a little more quietly but all I had was my human military training.
I cursed silently to myself at the light swish my feet made as I picked my way through the water. This was a bad idea. I should have chosen option one. Brax could have accepted any possible consequences for his wolf’s midnight run. In fact, he should shoulder the responsibility. He was the alpha.
The only comfort I had was that a human would probably not be wandering around down here. The only exception might be a homeless person who had decided to camp beside the river, but most of the homeless tended to stay closer to the downtown area.
A murmur reached me from ahead. I paused. Guess I had spoken too soon. Looks like someone was out here after all.
Could be the wolf. It could have decided to change back to human. I shook my head. Why would it choose to change back here, in the middle of some bushes, instead of somewhere convenient? Maybe somewhere that had grass which would be a little more comfortable on human feet.
I softened my footsteps, being careful to pick places that would allow me to creep as silently as I was capable of, though with my vampire hearing each step sounded painfully loud.
