He made a disturbed noise, leading me to believe that he didn’t like being called that.
“Uh…Bert.”
His head perked up and he growled.
“Okay, not Bert. Sorry, that was stupid. It just came to my mind. You’re definitely not a Bert. Maybe a…”
He cocked his head at me, waiting for whatever name I would give him.
“Storm.”
He let out a yip of approval. Frankly, I was just happy he didn’t eat me for daring to move. Or for giving him such a stupid name. Bert. Like any gray wolf would dare be called Bert.
“Fuck, what I wouldn’t give for some food,” I rumbled as my stomach let out a groan of protest.
The wolf growled again.
“Sorry. I know you don’t like swearing.”
Licking his chops, he glanced away before getting to his feet and trotting off through the woods.
“Are you leaving?” I called after him.
I watched as he disappeared, leaving me all alone. “After allowing him to spoon me all night, you’d think he could at least say goodbye,” I grumbled, getting to my feet.
Giving a good stretch, I cracked my neck and fingers, relieving the tension in my body. I was sore from sleeping on the forest floor, but at least the wolf’s fur kept me warm.
I had a long way to go before I met civilization. There was no way I was going to make the trial out here in the middle of Bumfuck, Nowhere, and every time I turned around, someone was trying to kill me.
Why?
Fuck, I had no idea.
But the only way out of this was forward, so I started trekking through the woods again, keeping my pace quick. The sooner I got to a town, the faster I could eat.
After about half an hour, rustling caught my attention to the right. I stilled, wondering if my little friend was following me.Very slowly, I shifted a branch, expecting it to open to a large space. Instead, a squirrel jumped out at me, landing on my face. His little fingers dug into my skin as he scurried over my head, running over my neck, down my front.
Screaming, my hands grasped at the little fucker, but he was fast. Just when I thought I had him by the tail, he leapt off my leg and flew through the air straight at my face. Yelling bloody murder, I fell backward as he latched on, his little mouth opening wide as he zeroed in on my nose.
Orange, long teeth darted forward, but before the fucker could bite me, he was gone.
Breathing hard, I sat up, looking around in a panic. That’s when I heard it—the low growl of the gray wolf. Shaking the squirrel in his mouth, the little bastard went limp. I never thought I would be so fucking happy to see the death of a squirrel. I usually avoided them like all other drivers, doing my best not to hit them on the road, but I would be all too glad to hit them anytime now that I knew how vicious they were.
Getting to my feet, the gray wolf looked over at me, then trotted my way, dropping the remains of the squirrel at my feet.
Grimacing, I held out a hand. “No, thanks. You eat it. I’m…no longer hungry.”
The wolf cocked his head at me before tearing into his breakfast.
“That’s…disgusting.”
But who was I to complain? At least I no longer had to worry about the demented squirrel.
“Well, it’s been real, Storm, but I have to get back to civilization.”
He perked up at that, and as soon as I started walking, he trotted right alongside me. I kept going, glancing over at him every so often. His tongue hung out as he happily followed me.
It had been one hell of a night. I thought being stuck out here without a weapon would be the worst thing I encountered.