The Howling by xaris. (book series to read TXT) 📖

I heard it.

It was such a lonesome sound. The wolf the howl came from sounded sad and like it could do nothing but suffer through whatever pain it was in.

How I wish I could go to the animal and say to it that it would be alright. That whatever pain the animal was in would end quickly.

I was so drawn by the sound, that I actually took off into the woods, away from the camp. The wolf howled again but, this time, it was a lot closer.It was such a lonesome sound. The wolf the howl came from sounded sad and like it could do nothing but suffer through whatever pain it was in.
How I wish I could go to the animal and say to it that it would be alright. That whatever pain the animal was in would end quickly.
I was so drawn by the sound that I actually took off into the woods, away from the camp. The wolf howled again but, this time, it was a lot closer. I kept running through the forest, and it was so dark, I could barely make out the shape of my hand. The low branches of the trees felt like whips whenever I would run into them. But that did not stop me. I was so focused on finding the wolf that the cuts I received from the branches felt as if they were old scratches that wouldn’t heal fast enough.
I ran and ran until I was on a cliff and the moon in front of me. The wolf howled again, and this time, it was so close, I could tell I was almost to it.
Immediately after it stopped howling, I heard it growl behind me. When I heard it, I immediately went still and my eyes got wide with fear. The wolf barked this time, as if daring me to turn around. If there’s one thing my father taught, me about camping in the Olympic Peninsula, was to not back down from the animals you might encounter.
I turned around slowly and when I did, I was…amazed.
It was the most beautiful and extraordinary thing I had ever seen. The wolf was a beautiful sandy color. And the eyes. Oh, those eyes! They were a beautiful, bright, sapphire blue. But it was the size of the wolf that really caught my attention.
The wolf was huge! It was at least as big as a horse, if not bigger.
But when the wolf looked at my face, it stopped growling. I thought it was going to run into the woods at that moment. Boy was I wrong.
Instead of funning, it actually came towards me. Curiosity and some other emotion were in its eyes. When it stopped less than a foot away from me, it lowered its head so it could see straight into my eyes. At that moment, I had no doubt it could see the fear in them.
The wolf, then, did the most unexpected thing I ever thought it would do: it licked my face. If I hadn’t have been terrified at that moment I would’ve laughed. The wolf was so gentle it was as if it were my own gentle giant.
When it pulled away, my face was covered in so much saliva. I had such a hard time wiping it off, that the wolf made a barking sound that sounded like a laugh.
“It’s not funny. You try getting off this much saliva off your face.” I said.
The wolf only nodded.
Whoa!
“Did you just acknowledge what I said?” I asked quietly, unsure of what I’d just seen.
The wolf nodded again.
“You can understand me?”
Nod.
“You can understand English?”
Another nod.
“This is just great,” I said quietly to myself. “I’m lost in the woods with a ginormous wof who is not only the size of a horse, but can understand what I’m saying.” I turned back to the wolf. “You don’t happen to have a name would you?” I asked skeptically.
Nod.
“You gonna tell me what it is?” I asked with a bit rudeness.
The wolf then picked up a long, thick branch with its mouth and started drawing in the dirt: S-E-T-H.
“I’m sorry, but, I think I’m gonna faint.” And then everything went black.


“Haven! Haven, wake up!” Someone was calling my name, and roughly shaking me. Which, by the way, is so not the way you wake someone up. “Haven!” I could tell they were getting annoyed. “I know you’re awake. Come on! Don’t make me get the water bucket.”
I sat up instantly.
“Whoa! Got up too fast.” I was so dizzy, I could barely stay upright so I had to lay back down. That’s when I took in my surroundings. I was in my tent. I was back at the campsite. It was daytime, and my older brother, Ronan, was with me.
His shoulder-length, black hair was falling across his face as he leaned over me. His green eyes wide with concern.
“What happened?” I asked.
“You ran into the woods when you heard howling. What did you think you were doing? Were you trying to get yourself killed?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
“It’s a good thing someone found you or you would’ve been dead.”
“Someone found me?”
“Yep.” Then, he reached out to me and pulled me into a very big, unbreathable hug.” “Haven, don’t ever do that to me again. Dad would’ve killed me if something had happened to you.”
“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“Good.”
“So who brought me back?”
“One of the Natives from La Push. He said his name was Seth.”
That name immediately reminded me of that wolf I saw. “Where is he?” I asked.
“He’s outside sitting by the fire. He said he didn’t want to leave incase we needed help with you.”
“How long has he been here?”
“The same amount of time you were knocked out.”
“I know that, but, how long was I knocked out?”
“About a day. I think you should meet him. After all, he did save your ass.”
“I know. Can you help me up?”
“Uh, no. You are not getting out of this tent. I’ll bring him in here.”
“But-“
“No.” And then he walked out. A few seconds later a very tall, very large, very muscular guy came in, Zipping up the tent to keep the cold out. When he turned towards me, his face was so amazing. His eyes were a bright blue with very thick, long, curly lashes. He had his long hair tied up at the nape of his neck, and he only had a pair of shorts on.”
“I was beginning to worry you would never wake up.” He said. “I’m Seth.” He extended a hand for me to shake.
“I’m Haven.” I said, as I shook his hand. When I touched his skin, it was really, really hot. I was surprised I didn’t flitch.
“Well, Haven, what were you doing in the woods?” He asked with genuine concern.
I looked down so he wouldn’t see the embarrassment on my face. “I wanted to see the wolf that was howling. I’ve never seen a wolf in person before.”
“Yeah, everyone around this area wants to do that.” He looked at me as though he wanted to say something more, but decided otherwise.
“So…” I said, trying to think of something to say.
“So…” Seth said in return.
“How did you find me?” I finally asked.
“I was hiking around that area and I was the smoke from your campsite.”
“Well, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Do you live around here?” He asked.
That really threw me off. I was not expecting him to ask me that.
“My brother and I are living with our dad on the Reservation. We’ve only been living there for about a week.”
“So that’s why I’ve never seen you until now.” He said absentmindedly.
“Yep.”
“Are you going to go to school on the rez?”
“Yep. What grade are you in?”
“I’m a junior.”
“That’s cool. I’m a sophomore.”
“So we’ll see a lot of each other.”
“We will?” I admit it. I was intrigued.
“Yeah. On the rez, sophomores and juniors have a lot of the same classes together.” He explained.
“Oh, well, thanks. I’m sure you want to get back to your parents. Thank you so much for your help.”
“I told my mom and sister I would be in the woods for the entire weekend, and my dad died about a year ago, so you don’t need to get rid of me that fast.” He said with a playful smile on his lips.
“I’m sorry. I just thought you wouldn’t want to stay around, and that you would want to go back home.” I explained. “I’m really sorry about your dad. I lost my mom not too long ago too.”
“Well, we have something in common. And besides. I like your friends. Nothing’s boring with them.”
“I know what you mean.” I said, remembering all the gigs we got at teen clubs.
My brother, friends, and I were in a band. We all played the same instruments. We were all very close friends. No one could separate us; we did everything together. We even move to different houses together.
They were all orphans. MY mom took them in, hoping to make them happy. I guess she did. Four of them were twins like me and Ronan. Damon and Alix are the oldest twins in our group. Nina and Taylor were the youngest twins. Then, there were Adrian and Kayla. They weren’t related in any way, but, they were together. As in boyfriend and girlfriend.
Ronan and Nina are a couple. They’ve been together for so long, I’m surprised they’re not married yet. Taylor and Alix just started dating not too long ago, and they look really cute together. That leaves Damon and I. We aren’t a couple but we’re really close. He doesn’t see me as anything more than a sister and, I, him a brother.
“Well, hey. Ronan said that when he’s confident you’re feeling better you can go home.” Seth said, trying to get me to feel better.
“That would be great,”I said with a smile. “What time-“
“What’s your favorite flower?”
“Uh . . . roses.” I said, unsure if I should’ve answered.
“Thanks.”
“Why-“
“Haven.” Man, I was getting tired of getting cut off. “Dad called. He said it was time to come back home. I, uh, had to tell him what happened. He’s sending Sam out to get us.”
“We don’t need him. We know the way back.”
“Dad’s sending him just incase.”
“You guys know Sam?” Seth asked.
“Yeah, he’s our cousin.” Ronan answered.
“Not to butt in or anything, but, Sam knows these woods better than anyone. I suggest you just keep him around.”
“Really?” Ronan asked.
“Yeah, people don’t call him ‘The Wild Man’ for nothing.”


-----=====THE HOWLING=====-----
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--xaris.