Chapter 2

She was sitting on a campstool looking at the giant wolf as it slept. What the hell was this thing? This wasn't just an oversized example of the breed; this thing had intelligence, a frightening amount of it as a matter of fact. She was trying to come up with an explanation for what had happened over the past three hours, but nothing made any sense. She finally discarded the notion that this was some sort of elaborate hallucination from some plant she might have accidentally eaten. No, this was real. There really was a giant wolf sleeping in front of her.

Then she remembered some twisted science fiction/horror novel by that Koontz guy about a genetically altered dog and a twisted mutant gorilla. Was this thing an escaped government experiment? Was that why it had been shot? Maybe they tried to get rid of it but it had escaped before they could put it down and get rid of the evidence? No way! That crap only happened in books and movies.

This was REAL! R-E-A-L REAL!! It was lying right in front of her. Then what? Reincarnation? That dopey professor in college said that many religious groups throughout the world accepted reincarnation, in one form or another. But weren't one of the things about reincarnation, the fact that the previous life was forgotten and the wheel of life turned again? Or was she mixing religions? She wished she had paid more attention in class, but that professor was creepy and she had never really wanted to know that much about religion. The only reason she had taken the class was because someone had told her it would be an easy A.

She finally decided she would have to find out more about this amazing animal before deciding what it was or might be. Well, at least it wasn't going to eat her. It was a good thing she had just emptied her bladder before stepping out of that bush, otherwise she would have pissed herself right then and there. As for the other, HAH! She had seized up too tight for a fart. Damn! This thing was HUGE! It must weigh 250 pounds, at least, maybe more. Its head was twice the size of hers and when it had been standing there it almost looked her straight in the eyes, and she was tall, 5' 10" without boots on. The color of the fur was strange too. At first she thought it was a solid steel gray, but the more she studied it, the more she noticed that there were several different shades of gray mixed in, and they shimmered as she shifted position. No dog or wolf breed she ever read about had that kind of coloring.

After watching the wolf sleep for an hour, she realized she hadn't had anything to eat yet. As quietly as possible, she opened up her backpack and pulled out a food bar. As she sat back down on her camp stool and started to open the package, the wolf opened one eye, looked at her, then closed it again and went back to sleep. So, it doesn't trust me either, she thought. Well, I can't blame it, really. Looking at the wound in its side, it was obvious what had created it. Nothing else tore up animal flesh like that but a high power rifle. Somebody had shot this magnificent beast. She didn't remember hearing any gun fire earlier, so it must have happened several miles away. To think that this animal had walked that far with that horrendous wound in its side was simply hard to believe. She suddenly realized what she had just said to herself and snorted, hard to believe! This whole situation was hard to believe.

She started chewing on the high-energy food bar and mulled over her options. I can just sit here and wait for it to heal enough to leave, or try to sneak off while it's asleep. The last option didn't seem like a very smart one, especially if this thing's awareness was sharp enough to hear her open a food wrapper. She didn't really want to think about what would happen if she made it angry. No, she would just have to be patient and wait to see what this thing would do. After finishing her food bar, she decided that perhaps this thing had the right idea, take a nap and decide later. She slowly got up and moved to the tent and crawled inside. Lying down on top of her sleeping bag, she stared up at the colors of the fabric and let her eyes lose their focus. She slowly slipped off to sleep as she relaxed and let the stress drain from her body.

When she opened her eyes again it was almost too dark to see. Damn! How long was I asleep? She lifted her arm up over her head and looked at her watch. 5 o'clock! She had slept for almost 6 hours! Well, I must have needed it if I slept that long. She sat up and rubbed the crusties from her eyes and yawned. Stretching out her arms, her neck and back popped several times from sleeping in the same position for that long. She slid forward and pulled open the tent flap. There it was, still lying there. Nope, it hadn't been a dream.

She slid out of the tent and stood up, her joints popping in protest as she stretched some more. This time the wolf opened its eye, looked at her, then went right back to sleep. She slowly approached the sleeping animal and examined the bandages. Well, at least they stopped bleeding, she thought. When she looked over to its head, she noticed that it was looking at her. It was simply watching her. She really couldn't sense what it was thinking; it just lay there with a completely passive expression.

"Are you hungry yet?"

This time it did shift and he raised his head and chuffed.

"Is that your version of 'Yes'?"

Smiling at her, he did it again and moved his head up and down.

"Well, I guess it is. Okay, then. What would you like now? Another food bar or some beef jerky?"

Not expecting anything more than another huffing snort, she was completely unprepared for what she heard next.

"HOEFFF HOEKHHH"

The last sounds were produced by what looked like the wolf was going to swallow it's own tongue and gag at the same time, then it spit it's tongue back out and then 'grinned' at her. Its mouth was open and she could tell it had pulled its cheeks back as far as they would go, showing every fang and sharp tooth in its huge maw. She just froze for a second then started laughing. Was it her imagination or did this monster just try to say 'beef jerky' with a mouth that was never designed for speech? She stopped laughing, but the smile on her face didn't go away.

The wolf simply looked at her then stopped grinning; trying to use those muscles like that was extremely uncomfortable for him. He liked it that she smiled at him. It gave him a warm feeling in his chest and a slight buzz in his head.

"Okay, then. I'll get you the beef jerky."

He chuffed his approval as she opened the bag and pulled a slice out. He opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out for her to put it on. She took one look at the gaping mouth full of razor sharp teeth and shuddered. Then slowly reached out her hand and carefully placed the slice of salted beef on his tongue. He waited for her hand to pull back before closing his mouth and chewing on the meat. Once he swallowed that piece, he opened his mouth, waiting for her to do it again. After she had fed him several slices of beef jerky like this, she stopped mid motion on the next slice.

"Wait a minute! Do you expect me to hand feed you like I'm some sort of servant?"

The indignation in her voice made her sound almost petulant. The wolf closed his mouth, looked her right in the eye and started moving his head up and down. Now it was her turn to open her mouth and gape like a fish. He turned his head, nosed the bandage on his side then looked back at her as if to say, 'See how helpless I am, now feed me.' He opened his mouth again and stuck out his tongue. She started laughing again, shaking her head and proceeded to feed her strange companion the rest of the beef jerky. When it was all gone, he looked over at the empty water bowl and then looked back at her.

"Jeez! You sure are pushy!"

He grunted and nodded at her again, she started chuckling and moved to fill the bowl with water.

"I hope you fully appreciate what I'm doing for you. I don't normally wait on anyone, especially some oversized dog!"

When she said that last sentence, she heard a rumble behind her. She spun around to see if she had finally gone too far and was now about to be mauled to pieces. When she made eye contact, he gave her a look of hurt, and then stuck his nose in the air and snorted. She relaxed as it dawned on her that he was pouting. Then she smiled at him and got his water.