Page 33 of Conner's Luna

"Holy mackerel," I whisper under my breath. Conner's truck is a lot like him - too large for real life. It's pure foolishness that the girl-who-can't-drive-good is stuck behind the wheel of this behemoth. I can estimate that the distance from the front bumper to the beginning of my field of vision is at least eight feet. That's a lengthy distance to be blind.

"Poop," I mutter as I crawl to a stop and wait for three cars to go through the intersection before I step on the gas. When I make another right-hand turn a few minutes later I cut it too close and hop up and over the corner of the sidewalk.

I take a deep breath, then another. I had thought about driving to school and getting my car and leaving Conner's in the lot, but now I just want to get home in one piece and my house is closer than the school. I'll just tell Dad... well, I'll think of something. Maybe my arm in a sling will distract him from the mystery truck in the driveway.

I'm almost home when I see something dark in the middle of the road. I slam on the brakes, but I was already going so slow that the truck stops twenty feet away from the dog.

The animal doesn't move and with a sinking feeling in my gut I realize it's a wolf. A sleek, dark-coloredwolfin the middle of the road in a residential neighborhood.

I have lived in Colorado my entire life, but I never saw a wolf before. I know ranchers in more remote parts of the state see wolves all the time. They're almost commonplace in certain parts. Even so, I know that this is not some run-of-the-mill Yellowstone wolf. This guy is acting oddly and not intimidated at all by the truck. Maybe he's rabid? I look closer, staring into eyes that shine in the reflection of the headlights. He's not sick, I decide. He's too still, too in control, to be an ill or injured animal.

The glinting, cruel eyes seem to hold the hint of madness in their depths. There is a knowing, an awareness, that wild animals don't have. This wolf is staring at me as if he wishes he could reach over the space and through the windshield separating us and rip me into tiny bite-sized pieces for the pleasure of hearing me scream.

I inhale slowly, trying to calm my racing heart. A howl splits the air and the wolf's head jerks around. Another howl and he turns back to me and curls his lips up over his canines. I see a glint of white, of teeth too long to be anything but deadly weapons, for only a split second before another howl splits the night. It sounds closer and he finally takes off and disappears into the rapidly-darkening night.

When my hands stop shaking enough to drive again I continue home. I don't realize that I'm crying until I reach up to push a wayward curl off of my cheek and my fingers come away wet. My head hurts, my chest is aching, and my shoulder kills. Something about that wolf makes me feel filled with incredible fear and... hatred. I hated being stared at like a meal. I loathed the burning viciousness I saw in that animal's eyes. Am I being speciest? I've never hated animals before. I'm a vegetarian! Watching the Sarah McLachlan commercial makes me bawl like a baby.

My head is whirling with so many thoughts that when I park Conner's truck in front of my house I barely register walking inside and dumping my things in the hallway. I shiver when I realize that I foolishly walked across the driveway without thinking about how dangerous it may be.

I text Conner first.Home - be careful, I saw a wolf and heard some howling. The wolf may be rabid.

My phone rings immediately. "Are you alright, babe?" Conner asks me right away. His voice seems unnaturally low and rasping He sounds like he's somewhere very quiet and I get nervous.

"Are you still in the woods?" I ask him as fear for him courses through my veins.

"No, babe. I'm fine. I haven't heard or seen anything," he says soothingly.

"OK. I-"

"Are you inside, babe?"

I nod even though he can't see me. "Yeah."

"Check all of the locks, sweetheart. Even the windows. What did the bast- the wolf look like?"

"Dark, angry."

"How large? Bigger than you expected?"

"No. Kind of like a regular wolf."

There's a beat of silence, then a stern order, "check the windows and doors now. Stay on the phone with me." There's a hint of ferocity in his voice that soothes me. Conner's angry makes my inexplicable hatred for that wolf fade.

"OK," I whisper. My hands start trembling. Oh, great. I'm in shock...again.

His voice drops, "Bailey."

"Yes?" I check the doors, first, making sure to latch the door to the one-car garage twice.

"Why shouldn't you let statistics intimidate you?"

"I don't know," I say shakily as I double-check the locks on the kitchen windows.

"It's easy aspi."

"OK," I whisper. I dart into the living room and check those windows, too. "Should I check upstairs?"

"Absolutely. Who was the roundest knight at King Arthur's table?"

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