Saoirse didn't know where she had ended up.
When she woke up a while later, she was in a cave and there was a fire built beside her. A stack of wood laid up a ways away from her and black and white wolf cub was curled up beside her as if keeping her warm and his warm fur had snuggled her a bit.
She didn't recognize him from school by his scent and his face was unfamiliar too. His right ear was white and the left ear was black and the fur surrounding it as well. He opened up his eyes and said groggily, "Hey there, don't be frightened, the sun is out right now and I saw you sleeping in the forest so I brought you here." Then he chided her, "Where on earth is your coat? You know you can freeze to death out here don't you?"
"Huh?" She scooted away from this strange boy as he turned into his human form. Just like as a wolf he had black hair on one side and white hair on the other side, it was a bit wild. She liked it. He had red eyes but they were sweet somehow. She scooted closer to the fire and warmed herself, careful not to burn her white fur.
So she didn't change into a human like he had. "Why would I wear a coat when I'm a wolf?" She said pretending that her missing coat was intentional, trying to sound brave like a wild animal that she wished she could be. "I'm a beast." She continued.
He raised his black eyebrow like he knew full well that she was lost and scared and had been crying.
" Why are you all by yourself anyway?" He asked eventually.
This reminded her that she had been foolish to wander off and tears welled up in her eyes again. "I'm lost! She sobbed, "I was going after a rabbit and the ground fell out from under me and then I fell down a cliff, I couldn't stop, and then I couldn't climb back up because my paw is broken….." she looked at her paw and there was no trace of the break.
"Huh. Weird, I wouldn't have healed that fast…."
"Hey it will be ok you're not alone now," he said gently, his voice steady and warm. "I'm Sirius." He said, offering her his hand and meeting her eyes with a reassuring smile. His smile was toothy, sharp fangs showing even though he was in his human form. She found that to be strange, werewolves didn't really have teeth like that.
"You don't have to worry about anything. I'll make sure you're safe." He said interrupting her thoughts.
Those words calmed her heart. She took his hand, and as his fingers wrapped around hers, she realized she didn't feel quite as lost anymore. Somehow, she knew this boy wasn't just a stranger in the woods. He was someone she could depend on, someone who'd come into her life when she needed it most.
A slight purple flashed across her eyes and a shiver when down her spine.
The boy seemed to feel this too. He pulled his hand away confused and wiped it off as if it would help the strange feeling go away, but suddenly he knew, deep down, that she was going to be important to him—maybe in ways he didn't understand yet, but in ways that mattered.
Sirius cleared his throat and nodded towards the fire. "It's been a long night," he said softly, "Let's get some sleep and then I'll ask my parents to help take you home."
Together they curled up once again next to the fire and she could feel his steady breathing lull her back to sleep. She really had been exhausted.
—————-
The next moment she could feel herself being woken up by Sirius.
"Hey we have to hide!" He said in a hushed tone. "There's a man in the cave and we aren't supposed to talk to humans!"
"What? Why?" She was about to say but he had pulled her behind a rock and she peeked out to see what was going on. As the man approached she felt her heart skip a beat.
It was her dad.
She was about to run and hug him and tell him she was sorry for getting lost. Emotions and relief welled up inside of her and she could already picture herself running into her mom's embrace and smelling her pumpkin spice scent. She had even missed her siblings.
But all of those thoughts were interrupted by a loud, angry yell as her father nelt down a ways off in the cave and picked up a body in his arms sobbing.
It was a scene she didn't understand at all. Her human body lay limp in his arms. He removed his own coat and wrapped it around her body as if it would help somehow. There was nothing he could do, she was dead.
She looked down panicked at her wolf self. She looked at her paws and then she looked at Sirius. "What is going on? What is my daddy doing?!" She could barely say with alarm. She was about to scream but Sirius covered her mouth. "What are you doing?! The human will hear you!"
"But he's not-" before she could say anything though her father had picked up her body and ran out of the cave. She tried to chase after him, yanking herself out of Sirius' grasp. But the minute she ran out into the sunlight she felt agony as her fur and skin began to burn as if from within. She was shocked and had to retreat back into the cave gasping for air in pain.
Her father was getting away!!!
"What is happening!!!" She screamed at Sirius and then fell down. "He's got my body!"
Sirius was perplexed. He gripped her in a bear hug attempting to prevent her from trying to run outside again. She couldn't pull away from him so she leaned into him sobbing. He hugged her, "hey I'm not sure what you're going on about but you're right here, those were just humans!"
Saoirse tried to focus, she hadn't brought her clothes to cover herself so she couldn't exactly just revert to her human form to show him that the little girl in the man's arms and her were one and the same. So she started crying again. He petted the fur on the back of her head attempting to comfort her and calm her down. Eventually she calmed enough she was only sniffling tiredly.
Sirius released her once she wasn't trying to burn herself and replied, "The sun will go down in a bit and it will be ok. I'm sure my dad knows how to get you home."
"Why did the sun burn me?" She eventually asked.
Then she was crying again. Why do girls cry so much? Should he tell her that she was dead? She probably assumed she was by now.
He thought a bit and then decided to not say anything.
Once the sun went down they prepared to leave the cave. Without speaking much he became the black and white wolf she had seen earlier and he led her to his villiage.