Harper and Alex quickly got to work with packing the last few pieces of their clothes and what few personal stuff they had, mainly personal hygiene kit. When Harper had finally managed to squash the last pair of pants in her bag, she looked around the room in the cottage where Alex just recently lost himself to some bizarre haze bubble ― as he had temporarily called it.
With a sudden snap of a brief flashback, she plopped on the bed, sighed, and stared at the phone in her hand. Her dad hadn’t called her again.
"Are you ready to go?"
Her thoughts were quickly interrupted by Alex appearing and leaning on the door frame.
“Are you okay?” Alex immediately asked when he saw the tired look in her eyes. Walking over, he stood in front of her before kneeling to her.
“Just tired and really worried, I guess,” she replied.
He gently brushed a strand of hair off of her face before tucking it behind her ear. "I know. I would be too. Don’t worry. I’m sure your mom’s fine. I bet your dad would tell you more if she’s not."
She began nodding as he spoke. "Yeah, I suppose so." She let out a long yawn, stretching her arms above her.
“You’re exhausted.”
“After crashing out in the woods, I’m surprised your energy is up again.”
Standing up, Alex looked over the bags on the bed, noticing that most of them were his. “I’m surprised too. It’s like I’ve rested for weeks, and I’m just really feeling much, much better.”
“You still can’t remember what happened to you in the woods? After you attacked me? After you split?”
He pouted. “Harper, again, I’m sorry. Funny as it may sound, but it wasn’t really me. I told you, it all felt like a dream, like I was—”
“Sleepwalking. I get it.”
“I tried to remember anything, but every time I try harder, my head starts to ache. All I have are still bits and pieces. The woods. The moon and how big it was. The dirt underneath me. I was running. I was running very fast, so fast that the trees around me turned into a blur. Or at least it felt like it did.”
“Really?”
“It all felt nothing else but a really odd dream.” He looked down at Harper. “I’m just lucky you found me, or I would have frozen to death.”
Harper stood up from the bed. “Trust me. You looked like you were comfortably cuddled behind the tree when I found you. Far from looking like you were going to freeze to death.”
Alex smirked at her. “Well, you were so damn hot in my dreams, so…”
“Shush it!” She grabbed onto the bags and quickly went for the door.
“Harper!” Kendal greeted as soon as she stepped inside the cabin through the main door, her grandparents following her behind.
“Oh, my dear Harper, I’m really sorry to hear about your mom,” Nan said as soon as she got in.
Harper welcomed her with a warm hug. “Don’t worry about it, Nan. Maybe she’s just fallen sick. Now that Dad no longer lives with her, he wants me to go home and take care of her.”
“Is that what he said when he called you?” Alex asked.
“No. But I know him, and I know that’s what he wants. He’s just too cowardly to tell me because then we’d have to talk about what happened between him and Mom.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear about your parents, Harper,” Pat said.
“It’s okay. I gave it a thought, and Mom didn’t actually mention divorce when I last spoke to her, so…I don’t know…maybe there’s still a chance for them to patch things up. I just hope I’m not too late, and fingers crossed that they’ll hear me out.”
Kendal squeezed her shoulder in a comforting way. “I’m sure they will.”
They all soon walked out of the cabin and started their walk to where Harper’s hatchback was parked.
“Call me as soon as you arrive, okay?” Kendal said, walking next to Harper.
“I will. And stay the hell away from Keane. That guy’s giving me weird vibes.”
Kendal briefly laughed, then muttered, “You have no idea.”
Harper shook her head. “This town is charming but really weird at the same time.”
“I’m really sorry that we had to ask you and Alex to leave the house, dear,” Nan joined in.
“Don’t worry about it, Nan.”
“Look, let me know about your Mom, okay? I’ll try to come by over the weekend.” Kendal smiled. “I think we need some serious girl time.”
Harper returned the smile with an excited grin. “Really? That’ll be great! I think I could use some serious girl time.”
Kendal shrieked. “I’m super excited already.”
As they drew closer to Harper’s hatchback, Alex quickly moved forward to open the back door and stuffed their bags into the back seat.
“Well, this is it, dear. I wish you and Alex safe travel.” Pat placed his large hands over Harper’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “And I’m really sorry too for the inconvenience. How I wish you could have stayed longer.”
Harper thoughtfully smiled at him. “Again, don’t you and Nan worry about it. And I’d absolutely would love to visit you again in the future.”
Pat scoffed, one of his hands giving off a dramatic wave. “Us too. But with the Griffiths around, I doubt we’ll be seeing visitors anytime soon.”
“The Griffiths? I thought it’s just Keane’s stupid gang.”
“Keane’s parents pretty much tolerate the boy’s nutbrain. It’s the entire family if you ask me,” Nan answered.
“The entire family is unbelievably power-tripping this town,” Pat added.
Harper sighed but did not add anything further.
Kendal, together with her grandparents, pulled her into a hug. Pat pulled away, then walked over to Alex and pulled him into a tight hug.
“Young man, take care of her. You don’t need your memory back to know for sure that she’s one hell of a feisty little woman worthy of keeping,” the old man told him.
Alex, who was already looking at Harper, just smiled.
“Come here, Alex. Let me kiss that handsome face of yours,” Nan cupped his face between her palms and landed two kisses on each of his cheek. “You take care of each other.”
“You too, Nan,” Alex said. He smiled and gave Pat a nod. “Thanks for your hospitality, Pat. And you, Kendal.”
Kendal gave him a nod and a sincere smile.
He got in the front seat before Harper herself got in the passenger’s seat. He waived behind the steering wheel after his adamant appeal to drive this time.
A sad smile worked its way onto Kendal’s face before she reached back in and gave Harper a one-armed hug. "We have so much to talk about this weekend."
"Can’t wait," Harper muttered.
She nodded to Nan and Pat before Alex started up the car and drove away. Alex glanced over to Harper and saw that she was leaned around, trying to keep her eyes on Kendal, Nan, and Pat.
When the car turned around a corner, Harper sat back in her seat. For a moment, there was nothing but silence between them. Alex opened his mouth to say something but quickly thought better of it. There was no need to ruin a peaceful moment with some none sense.
So instead, he focused on driving, pushing the two of them to their next course.
* * *
A few hours later into the night…
The headlights of the cars passing their car dazzled Harper’s tired eyes. She blinked wearily while feeling uncomfortable in her seat, feeling like something was digging into her back, or perhaps it was her back digging into the seat.
Alex smiled at her from the driver’s seat. “It’s almost midnight. How about we look for a place to crash in?”
Harper nodded in spite of herself. Alex had been driving since they left Clearwater Crossing that afternoon, but it was her who needed a nap or, more precisely, a good eight hours of sleep. The book that she’d been trying to read to keep herself from worrying about her mom had fallen from her lap twice. She was exhausted, so much so that her entire body ached, especially her back and hips.
When the car turned into a quiet straight path, Harper saw tall trees lining both sides of the road, dimly lit with the street light.
"There should be an inn or something at the end of this road," Alex assured her. "You will have your well-deserved rest soon…*cuddle bear.”*
Suddenly, Harper was awake. “What did you call me?”
Alex smiled sheepishly to himself. “Cuddle bear?”
“Why would you call me that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just assumed we’re like one of those couples who call each other pet names.”
“Well, I’m sorry to burst your bubbles, but we’re most absolutely not one of those.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positively sure!”
“So, no pet names? Just Alex and Harper?”
“That’s right!”
“So, we were boring?”
“Yes! And how did you come up with that lame pet name, anyway?”
Alex shrugged again before smiling. “Just thought about it right off the bat.”
"Well, don’t ever call me that again because it’s lame and stupid, and I don’t like it," Harper said, shifting once more until she's uncomfortable again.
“You don’t like a lot of things.”
“I do like silence. And sleep.”
“Come here,” Alex reached for the other side of Harper’s face with his right hand and guided her face to lean into his shoulder.
“You don’t—”
*Thump!*
Harper’s protest was suddenly cut off. Her eyes widened as something landed on the hood of the car and caused it to buckle. Alex slammed on the brakes, and the tires screamed as the car swerved and skidded to a halt, luckily avoiding a large tree up ahead.
“What is that?!” Harper shrieked, her entire body already shaking in fear.
The fury beast jumped off the hood, bloody snout sniffing, and its bloodshot eyes trained on them. As soon as it was on the ground and sauntered towards them, they saw how large it was with its broad shoulders and enormous head; its entire body was covered in thick black shaggy fur.
Then everything was frozen for long seconds.
Alex’s hands gripped the steering wheel, his eyes locked onto the wolf, while Harper continued to shake in fear.
Suddenly, the black wolf howled.
Harper screamed in horror.
The black wolf darted forward and slammed its body against the door before ripping it open. Alex attempted to kick the beast with everything he got but failed miserably when its large, clawed hand pulled him out of the car and threw him out.
Harper felt her heart just leaped out of her chest as soon as she realized what had just happened. “Alex! Oh no! No, please! Help! Help!” she cried, looking at Alex in a heap on the concrete.
The wolf snarled.
Trembling, she slid into the back of the car, shuffling out of the wolf’s reach when it tried to reach for her.
“Help!” she screamed again.
“Leave her alone!” Alex yelled at the black wolf as he staggered to his feet. His head was bleeding.
As soon as the wolf turned to Alex, Harper used the distraction to immediately open the door and got out of the car. As if sensing what she had planned to do, the beast snapped back to her. It looked more focused than ever with its saliva dripping from its half-open mouth.
Luckily, Harper made it out in time.
“Help us! Anyone!” she scrambled and screamed for help while circling the car to keep it between her and the nasty werewolf.
The wolf growled and jumped onto the roof of the hatchback with a loud thud.
“I said leave her alone!” Alex finally back on his feet, bellowed, and despite his bleeding head, he ran and lunged towards the black wolf.
Harper cried at the sound of the tires exploding and screeching of metals tearing as Alex fought the wolf on top of her car. Alex wrapped one of his arms around the wolf’s thick neck, reinforcing his grip around it with his other arm.
“Run, Harper! Run!” he shouted.
But before Harper could take her first step, another scream ripped its way out of her throat when she watched how the wolf tore free from Alex’s stronghold.
Alex threw himself to the side, barely escaping the snap of powerful jaws.
The wolf jumped. Harper fell backward, shock and desperation evident on her pale face. She quickly scrambled to her feet and attempted to run, but the wolf growled, setting off a warning. She took a step back, and the black wolf mimicked her step while staring at her—as if it was playing with her.
But just as the black wolf was about to charge, a loud roar from the back caught their attention. Harper gasped; her eyes widened in horror as she watched Alex past the black wolf’s large figure.
Alex was clutching at his head, his breath coming in ever-increasing speed as his clothes ripped.
“Oh my god,” Harper wheezed, eyes wide in shock at how Alex had doubled in size and muscles in just a manner of seconds. His fingers were giving way to claws, thick fur of gray and white covering his body.
Unlike his transformation during the full moon, this one was swift and pained less.
The black wolf growled loudly as if challenging Alex.
“Alex,” Harper, utterly shocked at what she was witnessing, stifled a cry.
In his wolf form, Alex raised to his full height and growled back angrily. But the black wolf suddenly snapped back its head towards Harper and unexpectedly lunged at her, its gaping jaws just inches from her small frame.
Harper held her breath and shut her eyes closed. She thought she would die and only wished she could kiss goodbye her mom and dad. But then, a sudden whoosh of air went past her and a blur of gray and brown. When she slowly opened her eyes, the black wolf was no longer in front of her.
As soon as her mind could catch up with what was happening, she watched in utter shock at the black wolf being attacked by the gray wolf that was monumentally more massive, powerful, and ferocious. She could see how it almost effortlessly raked its large claws across the black wolf’s face.
Desperately, the smaller wolf tried snapping its jaws, but the gray wolf skillfully dodged its teeth and smacked its face again with a powerful backhand slap this time.
Harper whimpered in fear as the two wolves fought before her very eyes. She sat frozen on the hard asphalt road. The events of the last few weeks played on repeat through her head in random orders. However, she failed to make the beast connect to Alex.
*Was he a wolf all along?*
Snapping back to the fight that was happening in front of her, she watched Alex’s massive gray wolf form towered over the now wounded black wolf writhing on the ground. The beaten wolf heaved while attempting weakly to stand up. It staggered back before it swiftly and unexpectedly
dashed and lunged at Harper again instead, seeing her as a weaker and easier target.
But with such incredible speed despite its magnitude, the gray wolf got to the black wolf first and, without a moment's delay, clamped its sharp teeth into the smaller wolf's throat. Harper yelped in surprise at the resounding crack when the much bigger and stronger wolf snapped the black wolf’s neck.
In one swift motion of his power claw, the black wolf was knocked sideways. Harper gasped and stepped back as its lifeless body landed heavily on the ground.
The gray snarled and gave out a blaring growl of triumph.
Harper bit off a cry. And then, for a moment, she closed her eyes and wished so hard to see Alex again. But a stream of tears spilled out the sides of her eyes when she saw the massive wolf’s icy blue eyes were still staring straight at her.
There were no signs of Alex.
She stared back with wide eyes, her entire body rigid. Soon enough, out of exhaustion and terror, her mind went black. Her eyes closed. Then her body fell to the ground.