She was a feisty one.
I moved slowly, not wanting to startle her or fuel her agitation any further, I offered my hand to her, palm up. The best way to go about this was to let her approach me rather than race up to her. "Down girl," I said in a calm tone.
'Move'. She snarled low at me again.
If she'd only meet my eyes, maybe then I could try to reason with the human inside the beast.
She whipped her tail again, once to the left, and once to the right, it stopped middle way and brushed as lightly as a feather when it passed over the wolf behind her.
She clearly wanted to bite the vampire's head off for harming the brown wolf back there. My eyes glided over its body, the first thing I had to do was determine whether he was alive or dead.
The brown wolf wasn't moving, that was for sure, and it didn't show any signs of life as the white wolf's tail brushed by. Not recoiling away in the slightest.
Things weren't looking very great for him.
On the bright side, he looked intact, and because of the fact that she was protecting him still. He was probably hanging on to his life.
I fixed my eyes over him, observing his chest and abdominal area for movement, and a few seconds later his chest moved ever so slightly. I held my breath, fully aware that because it was a furry animal, the wind could be playing tricks on me. I observed patiently and carefully, waiting for another move.
There it was.
I removed my eyes from the brown wolf and fixed them on the white one, I smiled at her, he was alive, and she wanted to make sure he stayed that way.
That made two of us. More so because this wolf had a human side to him too.
I was responsible for everyone standing on this battlefield. The responsibility part was something I was very accustomed to, the decision-making as well, I did that all the time while I played football as a quarterback for my team, knowing too well how those matches meant someone's scholarship and another one's future. But a load of someone's life couldn't even begin to compare with that.
Heavy, I was discovering a new definition of that word.
The white wolf shrugged, winning back my attention, she started showing signs of aggression, curling her lips and growling at the vampires who hadn't moved a muscle behind me. She held her body and tail tense and the hair on her neck and back raised vividly. She narrowed her eyes and fixed me with an intense stare, finally deciding that it was time to look at me.
I shifted my weight, even if I fail, I was going to try to stop her from harming anyone here, herself included.
She was close enough for me to touch.
I recalled my dad's stories around the campfire. His voice was clear as if he stood a few steps away from me.
"Wolves are loyal to creatures they have grown comfortable with."
I took a deep breath, calming down my heart which started picking up its pace.
"They will never beg for attention. Rather, they use touch as a sign of trust and affection, remember that a great amount of persistence is required in order to obtain some amount of reliability when it comes to the interaction between you."
I intentionally fixed my eyes away from hers. Trying to give her a sense of dominance as I prepared myself to touch her.
"If you got to know wolves at a young age and made a connection with them on a regular basis, you can get them to be cooperative and attentive to you."
I knew not to crouch before her, that would be a mistake, I also knew better than to go for her head.
"They are loving, amazing companions. But keep in mind that wolves are wild spirits, and by nature, apprehensive of you. One that is tamed may not be fearful, but it will still possess wild instincts."
I kept my right hand raised by my face as I pulled myself together, I was going to touch the wolf with the other hand so that I could push her away if she lunges at me.
Slowly but surely now...
I finally touched her shoulder.
'Thank you, dad.'
I gave a small involuntary gasp when she whimpered, I couldn't put what the sound meant in one word. She wanted me to touch her, but she hated that I did. Both feelings were equal, and both feelings were communicated at the same time.
Was everything female out there that complicated?
I suddenly remembered that we had an audience — could I use that domineering tone with them at will? I quickly dismissed the thought, too afraid that it would backfire on me as I stood that close to the white wolf. I barely managed to win her trust.
In theory.
"You two, leave," I ordered in my normal tone.
""My king."" They both answered at the same time before a gush of wind hit my backside, when I felt no one behind me, I slowly turned my head to check, they were nowhere to be seen, already disappeared into the depths of the shadows.
Man, that was fast.
I gave the white wolf a quick pat, not able to decide if it was for her sake or mine, touching her was balm over my nerves. It soothed me.
Nothing strange there, I had always been a dog person.
"I'll take care of him for you," I promised.
She whimpered again, 'Liam', she meant.
It wasn't a bad idea actually; I had left my phone inside Raven. Liam would know what to do for the unconscious wolf.
"Okay, I'll call Liam then." My voice was soft, trying my best to reassure her, and wondering how the hell I was going to leave her here while I went and called him at the same time, it was impossible.
She shook her giant head just then, I pulled my hand back but kept it floating in the air exactly the way it was, too afraid of having her go wild on me all over again.
She made a throaty sound, then she yelped.
'Alpha', she repeated.