Authors note: Thank you for choosing to read this story. I have only recently fallen in love with the story of the wolf and this is my first attempt at a wolf based story so please forgive me any folklore mistakes. Comments would be most welcome so that I can judge whether or not I should continue. I hope that you enjoy it as I have many great ideas of where to take this tale.
Thanks
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Emily's skin went cold as the warm night breeze slid over the thin layer of sweat enveloping her body. Goosebumps stood out and she moaned once again in her sleep. Fighting the covers her body trying desperately to run from the creature in her mind, never quite seeing what it was, never having it touch her. But she could smell it, sense it behind her as she ran through the forest in her mind. She could almost taste its power and strength and her muscles flexed once more as she bolt upright in bed screaming for the 4th night in a row.
"Damm it!" she cried. "What is wrong with me? I have rarely had a bad dream in my whole life and now I get 4 in a row!" she muttered to herself shaking her head. The terror of her dream still gripped her as she pulled her knees up under her chin and pulled her arms tight against them. She realised that she was physically shaking and she felt afraid, afraid for what this meant, she knew the dreams held some kind of mystery that she had yet to unlock. She shivered not wanting to go there. Instead she focused on her breathing as she pulled the quilt around her shivering body, trying to calm herself enough to just breathe.
Emily realised that she must have fallen back to sleep when her alarm rudely announced that it was 6am. She rolled over to slap the snooze and her nostrils caught the scent of something delicious and her stomach growled. With her eyes still tightly shut she slowly forced herself one leg at a time up into a sitting position and finally stood and shuffled toward the bathroom to relive herself. She got up and ran the shower breathing in the steam from the boiling jets bursting onto her skin as she stepped in. She closed her eyes again and held her head back baring her neck and allowing the hot jets to pound her skin forcing her body to come alive.
After showering she quickly dried and put on her favourite red silk dressing gown pulling the smooth material to her body, always enjoying the feeling of such smooth silkiness mixing with the smooth silkiness of her skin. She made her way downstairs to the kitchen where her flat mate Jo was busy finishing off what smelt like the best breakfast in the world. Morsels of bacon and mushrooms filled her nostrils, she could almost taste the golden scrambled egg that came into view and her mouth salivated at the sight of the syrup melting into the homemade pancakes. The coffee pot drew her attention away from the food just long enough to breathe in the strong bitter aroma that she loved so much in the mornings.
"Another dream then huh?" Jo stated without even looking up. "Thought you could do with something nice after the night you've had".
"I'm sorry Jo, I woke you again then?" Moving forward Emily placed her hand on Jo's shoulder and gently squeezed it in an apologetic gesture.
Jo shrugged. "Ah it's ok. If you can't wake up your best friend in times of trouble who can you? What was it this time? The same?" Jo asked, this time looking up at her friend, the worry clearly showing from the frown lines on her forehead.
"Yes, i don't know....it......I mean I'm just not sure what it's all about but I feel it, deep within me, down into my bones. Trying to tell me something, almost like a memory locked away, but played out wrong. You know?"
"Erm...not really, if I'm honest. Maybe you just need to go out and relax more; you've hardly been out of the house for over a month now. I think perhaps we just need to get you drunk! Really really really drunk so that everything inside comes pouring out and then we can beat the crap out of it!" Jo was smiling now and Emily began to respond in kind. She couldn't stay down for long with Jo around. They had been best friends since puberty and lived together ever since college. At 27, people kept telling her she should be settled by now, married off with 3 kids at her ankles not still living the student life with her best friend It just wasn't for her. Something always held her back, the men were too tall, too small, too old, too young, not funny enough, and not serious enough, blue eyed, brown eyed. It seemed that sometimes Emily could almost use the fact that they were simply breathing as an excuse to move on. People thought she was picky and she thought perhaps they were right. But she knew that something just felt wrong, it was like she knew something great was due her, like she had always known it. The pull for that something special was strong. And so she waited. Jo called him her knight on a shiny white horse.