CHAPTER FOUR
A Place Called Home
Chris meant to take me back to Ava, but first, we needed to make a stop. He wanted to show me something.
In the still darkness, we raced like we had never done before. I was overjoyed because of my new found freedom and the exhilarating thrill of being reunited with Chris.
'Stop running so fast!', I shouted at the top of my voice, not minding who was within earshot in Ava's dense forests.
'Stop running so slow!', Chris called back, but he slowed down any way.
When I caught up to him, he was breathing was more steady than mine. He had missed me just as much as I had missed him and it showed
'Slow cat', he said.
'You've had quite a lot of nicknames for me since you set eyes on me. I don't mind it though. I like it, I said. Touching him ever so slightly.
'Yeah, well I've had time to practice'.
Pause.
'What took you so long to come to get me? I waited for you by my window every day, for the first six months, until I gave up hope, I wailed.
He took my hands in his hands. He held my face close to his, till I could feel his breath on my tongue.
'I wanted it to be special. I shouldn't have allowed you to go there in the first place, but I'm here now and that's all that matters
His nearness to me was as intoxicating as the night.
'It's almost midnight. Let's get to the top of the mountains for our first howl'
'Do you think that you can manage to get there before me if I give you a headstart?', he said as he flashed a wicked grin.
'If you don't cheat', I laughed back.
And off we went, leaving dust and stones in our trail.
I had been to the mountains of Ava before, but this night, it was beautiful.
The stars were twinkling in the night sky. The air was crisp. The trees behind us were whistling in the wind. The full moon was high above our heads and the view of Ava down below was breathtaking.
'Every wolf in Ava is awake', Chris said, in a matter-of-fact tone.
He knew this because he could smell and hear them, even from miles away.
'Nina, I can feel the blood bubbling under my skin, like it's calling me to step out of my old skin, can you feel it?'
'It's electrifying', I acquiesced.
'I'm alive, Nina. I am A…. LIIIIVVEE!. Whoo!'
His enthusiasm was all the spark that was needed to get the other wolves going, and this they did.
Howl! Howl!!
A howl sounded in the distance. Then another. Then another. Till we joined in.
Chris howled and I howled at the moon, to mark our rebirth, ushering us into our wolf adulthood. As we did so his moss-green eyes turned to a burned orange, like an intoxicating wildfire, and my hazel eyes turned to Yellowstone.
We howled till we ran out of breath, and spent, we fell to the ground and lay on our backs. Through it all, Chris had not let go of my hand.
'I've let you out of my sight once', he had said. I'm not doing it again. Not even for a split second'
What should have been a moment to rest, to regain our energies became the start of a new journey, the kind of race that starts in the middle.
Chris looked me in the eye and wouldn't look away. Although I was frightened by him, I did not want him to look away either. We'd stared into each other's eyes before, we did every time that we got the chance, but this time it felt different.
I couldn't stop my racing heartbeat. He inched towards me, and I felt his breath on my tongue like just like when we'd been in the woods. Then, he closed my lips with his.
Our first kiss was everything like I had imagined it would be. It was warm, and soft very much unlike his rock-hard chest under my palms, which was wet with sweat. But I didn't mind.
He kissed me with an urgency that both scared and excited me. As we touched and explored each other's bodies in the dark, all I wanted to do was to become one with him.
Finally, he came up for air with my face cupped in his wide, manly hands and said 'Nina, I'm going to take you now, if that's not what you want, let me know. Even if it'll kill me, I'm going to walk away from this
I nearly cried from excitement. I nodded with as much room as his hands allowed for my face to move.
'Yes, please'
At that, he swiftly laid me on my back and explored the landscapes of my body, as he gently took off my clothing that posed a hindrance. With our clothes out of the way and tossed aside, I waited to become one with his heat.
He went slowly and then decided against it. He wanted all of it and he wanted it at once.
He plundered, till there was no more room. When I cried out in pleasurable pain, he drowned it out with a kiss, taking his sweet time to bring me to the edge and then letting it go again.
I couldn't see the sky anymore. I couldn't see the stars anymore. I couldn't hear the trees anymore. I could feel the crispness of the air. I couldn't hear the other wolves howling.
All of the time had stopped for us in a bubble in which our intimate moment had become my entire universe, Chris, my god and I wanted to spend my days worshiping him.
When it was time, guided by the skillfulness of Chris, we both went over the edge. Spent, he laid on his back while I tried my best to come down to earth. But he wasn't done, yet.
He went rummaging for our clothes, he gathered them, and afterward gathered me in his arms to keep me warm.
'Levina did a number on you, huh?', he asked as his hands traced the scars on my inner thighs.
I whimpered in pain but he didn't let go. He pulled me closer in his arms and rocked me as he said 'Sleep, you're safe now. By morning, we're going home