The wolf was lying on my side of the bed when I returned. He had taken my warm spot; he didn't move when he saw me return either. I sighed.
"Listen here. I'm going back to bed. So if you're going to maul me in my sleep, do it quickly, but wait until I'm actually asleep."
The wolf let out another huff as if to say that was just too much work. I felt a little safer. Walking around the other side of the bed, I got in under the blanket and shivered at the cold sheets. The wolf was super close to me. I could have petted it now with no problems. The wolf didn't seem to have an issue with me being this close right now.
I wondered if maybe the wolf had been raised by someone in the area with how comfortable around me it had become in such a short time. That wasn't normal, and I knew it.
"My grandfather would have loved to meet you. He loved the wolves out here."
Closing my eyes so I didn't shed any more tears, I let out a shaky breath. I wasn't over his death, not at all. It still hurt so badly every day.
"Sweet dreams wolf."
When I woke up this time, the sun should have been beating down on me, but it wasn't. The window's curtain had been closed, and the wolf was touching me. He was that close. I could hear him breathing softly and steadily, which I figured meant he was sound asleep. There was no way I was going to get away from him without waking him up in the process. He was laying against my arm, so I took the chance and petted his thick fur. I didn't regret it even as his eyes shot open and he growled at me. He didn't try to bite me, however.
"I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. I wanted to touch your fur pretty badly. You did not take any fingers, I appreciate that.
He huffed again, This time rolling over closer against me. He was almost on top of me and all I could feel was his fur, and as fast as he had rolled against me, he had moved again. I wondered if he would like eggs and bacon like my dogs did for a breakfast treat. I didn't want to feed him dog food. It would be no good for him. His eyes were on me as I got up out of the bed. I wasn't surprised he growled at me once he realized I was heading downstairs.
"Sorry, I need to eat. I'm starving. I'm sure you are as well."
My words got his attention because he jumped off the bed softly and followed me. He took the stairs slowly but made it down them safely. I felt better knowing he had made it safely down all the stairs. The kitchen was a mess; the dogs had got into the garbage. I stomped my foot in anger, looking at the scraps and coffee grounds all over the tiles. I took a deep breath before I went and grabbed the broom. The dogs were hiding, but I knew why.
The wolf lingered close to me; he sniffed the floor where I had cleaned before he let a howl out at me. I was going to ignore him, but then I remembered he might need to go outside and use the bathroom. Leaving the broom standing against the counter, I went and let him outside. He left slowly, but then he disappeared from my sight. I chuckled about the wild experience I just survived. No one would believe that a wolf had shared a bed with me and hadn't tried to eat me, not even once. Hell, even I was still having a tough time understanding that he hadn't decided to bite me.
It just wasn't normal at all.
With the wolf now gone, and the mess cleaned up, I started to make breakfast. The dogs wouldn't be getting any kind of treats now, after leaving me that mess. I did, however, make more than I needed to. Like I always did.
Half of my breakfast was devoured quickly, and I was making good work on the rest when scratching on the back door started. I thought little of it and was going to ignore it, but small yips and howls followed the scratching sounds. My only thought was that the wolf had returned and wanted back inside.
Moving the curtains out of the way when I got to the sliding glass doors, there stood the wolf. He looked at me through the glass, touching his nose to the glass once before I opened it.
Stupid, yes, I knew that. But he wanted back inside and it was better to let him in before he got mad and tried to come in all on his own. It was better to keep him in a good mood. That would keep me from getting bit. He walked right inside with no hesitation. He was also moving so much better today, like being shot had never happened.
"Did you perhaps go eat the neighbour?" I asked, chucking.
The wolf didn't even turn to look at me. He had ignored me. I was pretty sure he would be hungry now. I went to the kitchen and grabbed the pan, which still had eggs for him in it. I grabbed a new plate and scraped the rest of the eggs onto the plate before setting it down on the floor. I went and snagged the last few pieces of the cooked bacon off the paper towel covered plate and set it down on the side of the plate while he was eating the eggs.
My hand did not even bother him in the slightest by the plate. He never growled or made any aggressive movements. Checking the clock, it was the normal time the neighbour would come over and complain about my dogs, as he did every week at this time. I understood that he didn't like the dogs, and hated them even more when they chased the animals around the forest. But he was a little over the top sometimes.
I braced for the angry knock and the angry decent looking man at my door. I checked my watch after five minutes and I was pretty confused.
"Did you actually eat the neighbour? Normally he's over here by now complaining about my dogs. I understand he doesn't like them, but sometimes he behaves so aggressively. He behaves more like a wild animal than you do."
The wolf looked up at me suddenly and I felt like an idiot for complaining to an animal, but there was no way I was actually going to complain to the neighbour about his behaviour. I was mildly terrified of him, too. As soon as one in the afternoon rolled around, I was actually pretty worried by the fact the neighbour hadn't been here yet. He always was. This just wasn't like him.
"Hey wolf, don't eat my dog's ok, I'm going to check on the neighbour. I'm worried about him. This isn't like him at all."
The wolf howled at me and blocked the door. It was like the wolf didn't want me to leave and go check out the neighbour's house. It was almost like guard dog behaviour.
"You belong to the neighbour, don't you!"
The wolf just turned his head as if he didn't understand the words I yelled at him.
"I'm sorry. That's just ridiculous. There's no way you belong to him. He hates dogs. He would probably hate you, too."
The wolf still didn't move at all. I sighed before getting closer to the wolf, who showed no actions of moving or backing down on the door situation.
"Look, You need to move. I really need to check on the neighbour. If he's hurt, I would feel bad if he died over there. I might not like him, but I am worried."
Finally, the wolf moved out of the way, but he followed me as I slipped my shoes on and walked over to the neighbours. It was an eight to ten-minute walk, but it was a nice one, even with the wolf trailing behind me. I wasn't really sure how safe it was to just walk onto his property. With how he behaved, I wouldn't be too shocked if he chased me away with a shotgun or had me arrested for coming over. All around that was better than him being injured and needing actual assistance. The wolf suddenly grabbed my fingers in his mouth. It wasn't hard, but I was enough to startle me. He was trying to pull me in a different direction than the one I was headed.
This whole guard dog situation was becoming more of a reality when the wolf pulled me through the bush to the neighbour's back deck. I was superconfused about how the wolf knew this. Again, my only reasoning with that had to be that the wolf actually belonged to the neighbour. And if that was the case, then my neighbour was really just a straight-up asshole.