Her Perilous Wolf, Julie Steimle [howl and other poems TXT] 📗

Eve McAllister was the core of the story, which she ended by saying, “I had no clue she was also special. Seriously. She was just a friend of a friend—actually several friends. I would have met her at my friend Jessica’s wedding, but I was in Kenya at the time on a trip I had been looking forward to since forever.”

Mercy waved, as that was the trip they had first met, though Audry still did not recall her that well then. 

“She was a bridesmaid. I was going to be one too but the timing was bad.” Audry shrugged with a laugh, “And Jessica married Rick’s best friend, Andrew.”

Juma had stood there listening with an arm around Mercy’s waist, still gazing on Audry with a degree of loss, yet he asked, “You are deeply connected with this wolf. Friends of friends? How many of his friends do you know?”

Thinking skyward, Audry counted on her fingers while whispering their names. “About ten? Maybe more. I met two of his ex-girlfriends.”

They all laughed.

“Why did you never go out with him,” Akachi asked finally.

She hung her shoulders and rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding me? The rich heir? He’s part of the East Coast social elite—the same group my grandparents and cousins are in. I hate everything about that group. If you met my cousins, you’d hate it too. I didn’t want to be near anything like that.”

“Audry, you are crazy,” Akachi said with a broad laugh. “Why do you hate your money so much?”

She moaned. “It’s not my money. I told you. I’m not rich. Besides, those people are snobs.”

“Is he a snob?” Juma asked, curious, possibly hopeful.

Thinking with a sigh, Audry shook her head. “No, actually… he’s not. He’s uh… well, kind of feral.”

They laughed.

“Of course he is feral,” laughed Luis. “He’s a wolf.”

She nodded. That, and he was rather down to earth. She had judged Rick so wrong. But the problem was, he was still dangerous, and her attraction to danger was not healthy.

 

They took Audry took a clinic not long after. The doctor there gave her a physical examination, but also drew blood to test it. From what he could tell, there was nothing wrong with her liver, despite her previous jaundice. And though it had been suspected, there was no sign of renal failure either. She was in the peak of her health, almost exactly back to the moment when the snake had bitten her—though she was guessing she was still stripped of her immunizations. Basically, whatever the snake had inflicted on her, she no longer had any of it. The doctor gave her a clean bill of health.

They went out to get lunch, returning to the compound. There Audry arranged for her flight back to the US. She had to arrange for a nonstop flight to New York City that was pet friendly, as Juma insisted she take Darth with her. Darth had not left her side since her return.

“We’ll have to pack Darth into a crate,” Juma explained. “Mercy found out all the details. All he needs is sufficient room, a few toys and food for the trip, and maybe a sedative to make traveling easier. I’ll get his vaccination papers. Our onsite vet can give him an examination so he’ll be ready to with a clean bill of health.”

“The same as me,” Audry chuckled.

He smiled, though with some pain. She could tell he was saying goodbye with his eyes. But it was better that she go now than linger. She didn’t want to tempt fate or even the possibility of another supernatural creature lashing out because she could see him.

Once Darth was back from the vet, they tried to get him accustomed to the crate. He did not like the crate. But what Belgian Malinois would? They loved wide open spaces and running with lots of energy. He would love Idaho. Too bad they were going to New York first. He probably would hate having to be on a leash, though he had been trained on one.

As they were packing up, Akachi making sure all her equipment was clean and accounted for, the photos she had taken uploaded into their computers for their files, Juma took her aside and said, “We have a belief that sometimes people who survive severe sicknesses like you did, that person becomes gifted.”

“Gifted?” Audry felt a chill jog down her arms. She did not want any more complications to her life. Seeing supernatural things was bad enough.

“It was possible you were possessed,” Juma said, “and that angel drew it out of you.”

But Audry did not think so. She was sick, not possessed. Cursed possibly by that weird snake bite.

He lowered his eyes to ground, taking hold of her hand. “Ife, I will miss you. But now I know that Africa is too dangerous for you. The doctor is right. If you catch yellow fever—or maybe it was Dengue fever… But if you catch it again, it will kill you next time.”

She nodded. It would have killed her this time if it were not for Eve.

“I will truly, truly miss you,” he said. “But I see now this is how it has to be. I hope we can still be friends.”

She nodded, sniffling now. It truly was goodbye.

“Maybe one day I will come to America and visit,” he said.

Audry sighed. “Bring Mercy with you… and, after you’re married.”

His eyes widened a little on her. He then averted his eyes to his shoes.

“It’s ok,” she said, resting her hand on his arm. “I always knew she liked you.

Chuckling, he nodded. “You always see things I do not see.” He then leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

When he walked away, Audry sighed. It was her first, and perhaps last, relationship with a decent man.

Her friends loaded her luggage and the crate with Darth inside onto a truck. Akachi drove, but several of them rode in the back with her things while she was in the passenger seat. During the ride, Audry texted her parents to let them know she was coming home and bringing a dog. In the text, she asked if it were possible they could come to pick her up. She decided not to go into detail yet about the disease or anything else. She did not want to worry them.

Back at the Kilimanjaro International Airport, they unloaded her luggage and the crate with Darth inside, and took them to the checked luggage area. It was sad, but he had to be shipped with the baggage.

Audry gave Darth a treat with a sedative in it, hoping he would be all right during the flight. He already had a small bowl with some ice in it, a bag of food, and some toys in the crate with him. His collar with ID tags and registration were securely around his neck. He did not like that, but it was necessary. There was also a picture of Darth and her contact information in the US—which in this case was her parents’ house but using her cell phone number. She said goodbye to him as her friends heaved up her luggage to be checked onto the plane.

They went through the thorough security before Audry finally was left with her laptop and carryon backpack. Each of her friends hugged her good-bye, some handing her small tokens of undying friendship, while others told her they left their gifts to her in her luggage and she would find it when she arrived at home. Mercy was one of them.

Juma took off his evil eye pendant and pressed it into her palm.

“But Juma—” She stared at him, startled.

He shook his head. “Keep it to remember me.”

“But you won’t have one.” She worried.

He smiled at her poking the silver bullet she was wearing again. “That good luck charm is what saved you. Not mine. It brought you back from the dead.” He then chuckled. “However, it would not be best to tempt fate. Your angel, from what you have describes, is apparently overworked. Make it easier for her and not get bitten by an amazimu again.”

Nodding, Audry chuckled.

The entire group stayed until her flight was called and she loaded onto the plane. Audry had a feeling they wanted to make sure nothing attacked her before she left Tanzania.

 

On the flight, Audry settled down into her seat, which was rather comfortable, despite being on an airline. She tried not to look outside, in case she saw another gremlin sabotaging the aircraft. For all she knew, if she did see one and it saw her, the plane might crash.

The flight was oddly quiet this time around. She headed back with another set of tourists, though this time there were also African delegates up in first class chatting about something together while the inflight movie was on. Audry slept through most of it. Jet lag was inevitable, and she figured she still needed some recovery. She was absolutely famished when lunch came at least.

As she nodded off, she wondered if Darth was ok, sleeping, or anxious inside his travel crate. But as her dreams came in and out, her mind drifted to what she had to do once she got back to New York. First, she had to call her parents, just in case they did not get her text and she had to haul all her stuff by herself via a van or rent-a-car. She just hoped rent-a-cars did not have rules against big dogs. She didn’t want to keep the crate.

Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, Audry’s dreams drifted into memory. She recalled her second to last return from Africa with Hogan. She had flown with him, hand in hand, so ready for marriage back then. Juma had seen him barely, and had also been jealous as he had known Audry longer than Hogan did. But her mind drifted from Juma’s jealous stares to Rick’s. She recalled when she had seen Rick on the beach after his Germany encounter. He was stunned to see her with Hogan. His eyes had been critically gray on the man who at the time she had no idea was actually a slimy predator. It was funny really, how Rick could tell Hogan was no good from just a look. Then again, Audry thought, he had liked her, and like Darth, wanted to protect her.

Her mind wandered back to Darth and his changed loyalties. Though Juma loved his dog and Darth was fond on him, the dog truly had become her devotee after she had treated his knife wound. Earlier, really. She wondered if that was why Rick liked her. The Florence Nightingale effect. He was just crushing on her because she had healed him. She wasn’t like Eve, after all; nor like Jessica—both of whom Rick had crushed on. Both women were beyond outstanding. Jessica was a police detective for pity’s sake. She was strong, clever and beautiful. And as for Eve—Rick’s major heartbreak who had friend-zoned him the moment her old childhood crush had stepped back into her life—she was…. Audry found herself laughing in her sleep. Eve was an angel of death, which, on the whole, was something else entirely.

Audry woke from her sleep wondering how she would ever step back into normal life. She was not Eve—who clearly was not in normal life, running around with a scythe and a sword. And she was not Jessica, who used real guns and had a badge. What did she have to save herself? A tranquilizer gun and a tazer? Ok, admittedly that was more than most women had. But still, it did not seem adequate enough to take on the kind of dangers the supernatural world presented.

Mostly, she had questions.

A thought lifted to the forefront. Jessica had given her a card, just I case she needed help. Audry dug out her wallet and fetched the card from it. There were actually two cards like this in her pocket, one from Officer Calamori, the other was the white card with the huge seven on it.