Unknown Secrets

The steady sound of her breathing reached his hyper-sensitive ears, and his tensed body relaxed. Turning around, Taylor approached the sleeping girl cautiously, making sure he didn’t make a single sound. Coming around the sports shed, he knelt down beside her and lightly brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

It was frustrating to say the least. He was always in control, never faltering. Then suddenly, a girl that had been so insignificant just a few days before, was occupying his mind completely. She allowed him no rest from his thoughts, even his dreams were not safe. He couldn’t even walk away now, when he knew it was the best thing he could possibly do.

This wasn’t normal; his reactions, desires, and even now his need to stay here with her, to make sure she stayed safe in her slumber. As he watched her sleep, his ears trained on her breathing for signs that she was awakening, while his other senses were focused on their surroundings, he tried to figure out what was possibly possessing him.

An old legend came to mind, a story from his childhood, and suddenly he understood. The horror that crossed his features was so obvious that had anyone been able to see it they would have wondering who had just died. It couldn’t be possible, he thought to himself, looking down at the sleeping girl. It just couldn’t.

Getting up quickly, he took one last look at her sleeping form before he forced himself to run. It hurt far more than he wanted it to, just leaving her there, but he needed answers and there was only person he could think of that would answer them.

The packs Keeper.

He ran without rest or stopping, maintaining his human form so that he wouldn’t have to stop to take of his clothes. His pack mates said hello as he passed, some growled, but all were surprised at the determined look on his face, and his unwavering gait that didn’t allow him to even return their greeting.

As only a member of his rank could do, he burst into the Keeper’s home, his eyes wild.

“Show some respect young one.” The Keeper said, turning wizened eyes on Taylor. He quickly dropped to one knee with his head bowed, shame written on his features.

“Keeper, I am sorry, but I must know something.”

He looked up again, his eyes full of fear and yet a great desire to understand.

“I see your fear Taylor. But more than that I see in you something that I have not seen but only heard of from my ancient fathers. I thought this long gone, but I see this is not so.”

“So the legend is true? I have no choice…”

“Protect her Taylor. You will die if you do not.”

Upon hearing those words Taylor ran from the Keeper’s home, not even uttering a single word in farewell. It was too much for him. Too much for his human form to deal with it any longer. As he ran into the forest he stripped out of his clothes, throwing them behind him without a care for finding them ever again. Deep in the forest, and stripped of all his clothing, it took him seconds to make the transformation into the creature that could handle this information better.

Where Taylor once stood, there was now a black and white wolf. Other than his rather odd coloring and larger size, Taylor was now nearly indistinguishable from a regular wolf. With a wolf’s speed he took off running, feeling the ground beneath his paws, and the wind in his fur. Only in this form could he truly let himself go. To let himself feel the world around him instead of the feelings of a mortal man.

Even as a wolf the words of the Keeper still reverberated in his head. However, as a wolf the confusion he felt and his need to rebel against fate was fading. Wolves did not fight against nature, they followed it, and what Taylor the man fought against, was simply nature to the wolf.

The wolf stopped running and sniffed the air around him, getting a sense of how far away he was from where his instincts told him he needed to be. He then turned around and began to run back, but not towards home. This run was much slower, no longer filled with the haste of someone trying to run from an inescapable truth, but with the smooth gait of someone who knew what he now must do.

Taylor knew better to fight anymore. The simple logic of wolf thought had won out, and with the knowledge passed down through the generations of pups, he knew without a doubt that this was the path he must walk.

By the time he made it back to town, found and followed Natayla’s scent, and traced her back to this house, night had fallen. He was still in wolf form, not trusting himself as anything else, and merely watched from a distance. He would keep watch until the day had come when he would change back and go to school.

He had been pacing around the bushes, watching the house for so long, that he had begun to relax. As long as she stayed safe within her house, he wouldn’t need to worry so much.

But as soon as he had laid down, a sweet scent carried on the moonlit breeze caressed his nose, and before he could stop himself he was nearly out in the full moonlight, beyond the safety of the dark trees and brush.

‘She’s stunning…’ he thought, and in the moonlight she truly was. With his lupine eyes he could see every strand of her blonde hair beautifully reflected, her eyes sparkling with the rays of Luna.

Yet, just as the thought crossed his mind, he realized that he wasn’t just looking at her, she was looking at him. Without a second thought he bounded into the forest, putting some distance between himself and the blonde beauty. Each bound was paining him more and more, but his fear of what she may have seen pushed him on.

He got to a clearing a few yards away. Close enough for him to still smell her sweet scent, but far enough that she wouldn’t easily find him should she come outside to look. Had he been human he would have groaned aloud at that thought. Her coming into the woods was the last thing he wanted to happen.

The night had passed slowly once Taylor had run from Natayla's home. But he had kept faithful watch, going without sleep for the entire night so that he could make sure that nothing happened to her. He only went home around dawn because with the sun rising he felt it was safe to leave her for a few, and because if he didnt go home and get ready for school his parents would be furious. School was very important, especially for Taylor since he was to one day run the pack. However, he refused to do more than quickly shower and dress. He needed to be near her. For some reason he was nervous, skittish. He felt like something was wrong, but he couldnt pinpoint what that was exactly.

He made record time to school and once there starting searching for her. Normally however, he didnt use his heightened senses at school because he was so overwhelmed by all the sound and smells. He couldn't pick up her sweet scent anywhere, and slowly the panic was setting in. When the final bell rang and he stil hadn't found her, the wrath of the pack was all that kept him in school.

Minutes passed by like hours for Taylor as his first block teacher began his lecture. Each minute that passed made him more and more anxious, like there was something he was missing that was vitally important. He needed to get to his second class. That was the one that he had with Natayla. If she wasn’t there….No. He couldn’t think about that right now. Had to focus.

When that bell rang though, he took off like a bat out of hell. In no time at all he was sitting in his desk for second period, his eyes trained on the door. When the final bell rang his blood ran cold. No Natayla.

Where was she? His heart pounded, and yet he felt cold all over. Was she okay? Something inside told him she wasn’t. This day wasn’t going to pass fast enough.

As the hours slowly passed, Taylor slowly forced himself to calm down. Pushing the panic back he tried to think logically through what was happening. His wolf side was demanding he find her but somewhere in his mind Taylor understood that whatever the legend was entailing that was part of it. Figuring out the legend seemed the best way to keep his mind occupied while he waited until the end of the day. He knew that once that final bell rang he would go in search of her, but for now, he needed to be calm.

What did he remember of the legend? Not much that was for sure. All any of the young pups that had heard that story so long ago had really retained was that their mate would be chosen for them, and without that person they would fall. He remembered his fellows laughing at the idea and saying how stupid it was. That they would hate never having a choice over who they mated with. But that was the thing wasn’t it? Wolves mated for life but the human part of their minds allowed them to leave if they absolutely must. This legend, if the bonded pair lost one another the one left would perish. They had to be together. That was the only thing he could truly remember though he knew there was more to it than that. He’d have to ask the Keeper.

The sound of the final bell interrupted his thoughts and brought him back to the present. The panic rose in him again, though this time it was far more contained. He felt like he knew a bit more why it was there in the first place. If she wasn’t okay he didn’t know what he would do, and with no way of knowing how she was he was going haywire. But some part of him understood a bit more now about why this was happening, though he still fought against it being him.

He walked to her house with a measured gait, trying to feel and look calm. Each slow step was painful to the boy that could run like the wind if he only changed form, but he knew that he needed to be level headed for this.

Upon reaching her house, he knocked on the door. Not too loud, but forcefully so that whoever was home would need to open that door. Just as he heard footsteps coming to open the door, a new panic set in. He hadn’t figured out what he was going to say.

Taylor stood and stared into the eyes of a younger boy, about 12 he would guess. The boy was strikingly similar to Natayla, which told him that must be her younger brother. It took him only a split second to figure out what to say to this boy who was looking at him with an open jawed expression.

“Hey, my name is Taylor Larkspur. Is Natayla home?”

He didn’t think the boy would ask for further explanation but if he did he had an answer ready that Natayla probably wouldn’t like but the boy wouldn’t argue with. Either way he knew he could get past the small door keeper that was holding him up from making sure Natayla was okay. The question was, would she let him see her? He hadn’t forgotten about kissing her that day. Maybe she was angry with him.

At the thought of her rejecting him, he felt like his heart was being choked by a metal band. It nearly took his breath away, and all his concentration to keep a lazy smile on his face, rather than show the pain that he felt.

Taylor sighed dramatically, starting to put on his show for Sasha. Looking at the kid he realized this probably wasn’t going to be as easy as he wanted it to be.

“Ugh this is embarrassing. Well, I know her from school and she wasn’t there today so I was worried. I mean, you gotta promise you wont tell her okay?” He said conspiratorially, lowering his voice slightly, as if he through he might get overheard. He paused for a moment as if waiting for the boy to assure him that he wouldn’t rat him out to his older sister and said in barely above a whisper,

“I kinda like her you know? So, I just wanted to make sure she was okay.”

It wasn’t a lie. That fact scared Taylor quite a bit though if he was honest with himself he had liked her before all this legend mumbo jumbo had started. Now it was just a hell of a lot trickier.

Taylor grinned, instantly deciding that this kid was alright. He’d have to find some way to repay him for this when he had the chance.

Without hesitation Taylor headed for where he had heard Natalya’s voice. He climbed the stairs silently, his anxiety lessening with each step. He had heard her voice, and as he drew closer her smell assaulted his nose, again reassuring him that she was indeed alive though not entirely well. Something was tainting her scent at the moment, anxiety perhaps? He wasn’t sure.

When he reached her door, he took a breath and knocked twice on the door way before sticking his head around the corner with a big grin on his face.

“Good to see you alive.”

It took Taylor a moment to recover from a face full of pillow, especially since it was such a concentrated source of her scent. He was just so happy and relieved to see her alive and well, and the anxiety and worry that had permeated his mind from the moment he left her side dissipated, leaving him practically giddy.

“Wow awesome thank you for being concerned and wanting to check up on you huh?” He asked, trying to give her a stern expression but only looking comical in the end. He looked like a dog that was beyond pleased with itself, like when it found a new toy it had lost.

“And if you must know it wasn’t all that difficult to find out where you live. I just asked a couple people.”

He hoped that his status as popular kid extraordinaire would make her stop asking about that particular piece of information. He couldn’t exactly tell her that he had followed her scent, or that this was the second time he had been at her house.

Without asking for permission he walked into her room and leaned against the wall, turning to stare at an inconspicuous piece of jewelry on her dresser as he tried to come up with an answer to her question. He couldn’t exactly tell her the truth, but he could answer her question without lying. He grimaced slightly as he thought about her reaction.

Turning back to look at her he shrugged, and while his features were carefully schooled into an impassive mask, his eyes blazed and seemed to have a life of their own as they studied her.

“I was worried. I left in a bit of a hurry yesterday, so I wasn’t sure if something had happened or not. I’m glad you’re okay after all.”

None of it was a lie, though he was certain she wanted more of an answer from him. Having her with him in such close proximity was calming to his mind, but he knew it was dangerous to stay any longer. She was suspicious of him enough as is, and if he wanted to stay after completing his “make sure she’s okay“ mission, then he really would have to come up with an answer.

“Well, guess I better get going then. Feel better soon!” He said, his face lighting up with another breath taking smile as he started for the door, his hand up in a impromptu goodbye wave.

Taylor didn’t pause to think through his actions, didn’t stop to wonder why she had stopped him in the first place. All he knew was that she was coughing, panicky, and probably couldn’t breathe. So, he did the one thing that felt natural to him. He walked across the room in a few quick strides, took her into his arms, and rubbed her back in small circles, trying to get her to breathe again normally.

As her coughing subsided, his humming could be heard, a low and melodious tune, comforting in its simplicity, and alluring coming from him. From the moment he had held her he had started the tune, though it couldn’t be heard over her coughing.