Carefully getting up on the back deck, the wolf joined me before he started to scratch at the door. It was super similar to my own sliding glass door, and it was unlocked when I pulled it in the opening motion. The door slid open, and the wolf walked right in. The house was super clean and very well maintained. You could tell the man took the time to look after all of his stuff. I didn't hear any sounds in the house either.
"Hello?"
My voice echoed in the house. The wolf growled at me.
"Sorry. I need to see if he's——"
I watched as the wolf in front of me, who was blocking the back door, changed into a man. Not just any man, though. The neighbour.
My blood went cold as fear shot right through me. There was no way I had actually just seen what I had. There was just no way. He took a step closer to me and I screamed. Before I could figure out how to get out of his house, he had a hand clamped around my mouth and he spoke in a soft and level tone.
"When I take my hand off your mouth, you're not going to scream again. Do you understand?"
I nodded. The moment he removed the hand from my mouth, I didn't scream, but I did fight to get out of his reach and the grip he had on my right forearm.
"Let me go now."
"I need to explain what—-"
"You don't have to explain shit! I'm fucking dreaming I have to be!"
I watched him flinch as I yelled and understood why he hated the sound of my dogs barking. He had sensitive ears. He sighed and didn't let go of me at all.
"Please let go of my arm. I'm freaking out and I just want to go home and go to bed."
"Your grandfather didn't freak out nearly as much as you are."
That stopped everything.
"My grandfather? He knew about this.. um, wolf thing?"
"Yes, He knew about my ability to change into a wolf."
"You're the reason he told me never to hunt the wolves here."
"Yes."
"I need to go home. I need sleep."
"You are in shock over what you saw——"
"Don't you tell me what I'm in? I know what being in shock is!"
He didn't flinch this time, but he didn't look pleased by my yelling. He didn't let go of me either, but then the scariest thing dawned on me. I had complained to him about himself. He was surely going to eat me now.
"Hey, Um... I didn't mean to call you names or say those things about——"
"I know you're terrified of me. I can smell it, rolling off you in waves."
He let go of my arm but didn't move out of the way. It was only then I realized he was naked, as the day he was born, probably.
"Let me put on clothing. Do not leave this house. If you do, I will chase you through the woods. Don't think I won't."
After a few moments, I sat in one of his kitchen chairs. I felt fucking stupid for sitting there willingly. I could just leave. I was an adult and there was no way he would actually chase me through the forest. Would he?
Before I could decide what to do, he made his way back downstairs and was fully dressed. He looked amused that was still there, and he didn't have to chase me.
"If it means anything, I thought you would have left."
"I thought about it."
"Here, let me make you some tea to calm you down."
"I don't know what is more terrifying, you screaming at me about my dogs or you making me tea."
"To be fair, I don't hate your dogs. They just make a lot of noise and it is hard to handle sometimes."
"How long have you lived here? I remember seeing you when I was a boy."
"I've been here a long time."
"You haven't aged, have you?"
"I don't age by human standards."
"Right."
He set the tea down in front of me, his eyes never leaving my face. I was confused about one thing, though.
"Why did you come back after I let you out?"
He smiled slightly.
"You made me breakfast. I wasn't going to let it go to waste."
"Fuck, this is weird."
"What part?"
"The wolf thing is weird, but I could live with that. This, you making me tea and speaking with me like a normal person is the weird part."
"Right. That's understandable."
We sat in silence before I spoke again, softer than before, remembering his ears.
"I'll try to keep the dogs quiet."
"I would appreciate that."
"Can I leave now?"
"Finish your tea, don't waste it."
"Right."
I sipped the rest of the tea down while he explained to me that I couldn't tell a single person about who he was or what he could do and I found myself actually laughing pretty hard.
"You think anyone would believe me if I went off spouting about my neighbour being a werewolf and shit? Yikes man? They would medicate me."
"Most people wouldn't believe you, but some might. There are those who hunt my kind."
"Really? like the hunters in the woods?"
"No, they were just regular hunters. I surprised them."
"Your wound! is it ok?"
"It will heal."
"Good. I was super worried about it."
"I won't even have a scar. I remember your grandfather mentioning you were a paramedic. He also said you were married, but it seems that's not the case."
"I was both of those things once, but not anymore."
"Fair enough."
"I'm going to go home now."
"Let me walk you back."
"Nope. I need time to wrap my head around all this, process all my shock, and have a nap."
He let me out the back door, and I walked pretty quickly back to my own property. I made a pretty decent time getting back to my house. The dogs barked when I got inside, but I quick 'shut the hell up' had them quiet again. I flicked the tv on low volume for noise for the dogs and went right back upstairs. My bed looked super inviting, but it was cold without the wolf lump in it.
I felt my face heat up over the fact that I had petted him and let him sleep in my bed. He had seen my room and the rest of the house. To be fair, I had seen him completely naked at his own house after he did the whole from wolf to human pretzel game.
I gave my head a shake before crawling into bed. I know what I saw, but how he could change into a wolf was the thing on my mind. The other thing that seemed to be heavy on my mind was the fact that my grandfather knew all this and made sure I knew to never shoot the wolves in the woods. He was trying to keep the neighbour safe. My grandfather really was just an amazing man. He held onto that secret his entire life, not once telling anyone.
Laying in bed, I couldn't sleep. But instead, I found myself thinking about all the times that I had met my neighbour as a child and even in my teenage years. There were plenty of times I had met him, like well over twenty times, but I had never noticed his age, not even when I moved in.
The flashing lights drew my attention to the window, and I realized it was probably the sheriff. I was going to end up in so much trouble for my behaviour. Sighing, I got out of bed and made sure I looked semi-decent. I got to the door just as the sheriff knocked. The dogs let out one woof each, but made no more noise after that. Opening the door, the sheriff looked a little off but spoke.
"Afternoon Jett. Want to come outside and have a little chat with me?"
"Maybe. I'm not sure why you're here, though."
"Threatening to shoot hunters is a criminal offence."
"So is fucking trespassing on property they have already been told to stay the fuck off of. They shot a wolf on my property."
"A wolf, you say?"
"Yeah."
"Was the wolf ok?"
"Yes. Thankfully."
I didn't miss the way he looked towards the neighbour's place. Did he know about his secret, too? There was no way.
"Tell me about your wolf, yeah? That way, I can let the wardens know if they come across it at some point, you know, dead."
For some reason, I hated the way he said that. I knew the wolf would be just fine. But I gave a vague description of the wolf, missing any identifying clues. But there were other issues at hand here, like the hunters that kept coming back on my land.
"What will be done about the hunter's sheriff?"
"I'll track them down and give them another warning. In the meantime, don't be shooting them, Jett, you hear me?"
"Yes, Sheriff."
"Good. Your grandfather would be proud of you. Protecting the wolves of the land, just like he did. You're more like him than your father ever has been."
"Yeah. Grandpa told me each wolf had a life and a family of their own. They would be missed."
"Alright, You take care, Jett. I'm going to talk to your neighbour. See if he saw or heard anything from the hunters that could identify them. But also about your wolf."
"Have fun with that, Sheriff. Keep the noise down. He's not a fan of noise."