WOLF!

A menacing low growl and the hairs standing up on the backs of our necks preempted our palpable fear. A wolf!

"Don't move." Clive whispered in a sort of husky command.

Instinct kicked in, all ten heads turned as one to stare into the two most menacing yellow eyes we had ever seen, they were attached to an angry, eerily still, she wolf. How do I know that she is a she. Instinct. This was a ticked off female, you could smell the venom emanating from her anger.

We may have also been a little remiss in that we had been told never to pick up the baby wolves, or any baby animals for that matter, that we encountered on the walk through the woods. We had picked them up and ohh-ed and ahh-ed at them for a while. Most of us thought they were puppies of dogs, not wolves. This would not have made it better, we were in the wild after all. These babies must have accidentally strayed out of their den, or maybe a parent was out hunting with them and got injured or killed. Whatever the reason, they had been alone.

Our concern had been for the safety of the little unprotected young animals, but in hindsight, it would have been wiser to leave them in case the adults were nearby.

Their scent was still on us. We had been tracked. Wolves are gregarious and quite sociable, they most likely travel in packs. I am sure that others are not far behind. It seemed we had inadvertently made ourselves a threat to the young animals by approaching and touching them.

Our outdoor excursion had started out on a beautiful pre autumn day in north Minnesota. Our 'Wilderness Club' group picked this day to enjoy some moments is the fresh air, while appreciating the many natural gifts of nature. We especially wanted to visit the waterfalls and enjoy a dip in the cool lakes before the winter season rendered us housebound.

The group of us have been friends since college, we keep in touch and meet up for outdoor activities on weekends. Hiking in the woods was one of our favorite pastimes. We had no idea that this day would be any different from our usual, much anticipated outdoor trek.

Did we know that there was the unlikely event that we could encounter wolves? We may have heard sketchy stories and rumors, but we paid very little attention to the stories. Wolves were said to be afraid of humans, they only attack if they are provoked. It seems this one was not afraid of us. And, we did sort of provoke her by our insane desire to pet puppies, or in this case, wolf cubs.

"Anyone know anything about wolves?" Maya whispered.

"I do." Jen whispered back. She was the know it all in the group, our walking encyclopedia, "I read that":

'Wolves howl for many reasons. Wolves howl as a way of communicating with other wolves. Wolves howl when they are rallying for a hunt, mourning, or when a pack member has become separated – a lost wolf howls and the other members of his pack respond, giving him a sound to guide him home. Pack members recognize each others voices".

"Well this one is not howling. Is that good? and how is that helping us right now?" Rache asked nervously.

"So, is not howling good or bad, because this one is just giving us the evil stare". That is me, Anita, addressing the elephant in the forest. Because we had no idea if we should run or just stand still while the infernal wolf made the decision for us.

"I think she is waiting for more wolves, we should do something now, before that happens. Dean, you are an athlete. You should start running, I mean, the lake and waterfall are just up ahead, just run and dive in. Can wolves swim? I don't know, Just start running." I hoped he would, unless someone has a better option.

The words had barely left my mouth, when Dean took off like a bullet.

That is when the menacing creature commenced howling. She lifted her head and howled. One howl, and not very loudly.

"Awooo."

Maybe other wolves were closer than we thought. She then took her pointed attention from us and with a great leap sprinted after Dean.

I mean, wouldn't it be easier to eat the people who were still standing and cowering under her gaze, Maybe she just better enjoyed the chase and a well deserved capture. Or maybe she was confident that she had us covered and were food for whatever she had called with that howl of hers. Or maybe she loathed the idea of any of us escaping. A parent protecting her young was a great force to be reckoned with.

There were a whole lot of 'maybes'. We had to act fast, and quickly.

"Ok, let's run this way to the waterfall before things get worse." Amar advised.

We did not argue. We took off running. But these wolves were smart, we heard a distant growl and picked up the pace. They obviously had us flanked. They were gaining on us. We had to make it to the edge of the waterfall, it was our only hope of survival.

"Get to the edge, jump in. Hurry." Panted Eva.

Five of us were at the edge, "Come on," We urged the others. Seven, eight. They were upon us. We heard a scream. They got Pipa. We all jumped before they could get anyone else. The girls were now crying hysterically.

"Oh f***. Poor Pipa." Wailed Amar. "Did you see, it got her by the throat. the blood just spurted out."

"Where is Dean anyway, anyone see him?"

"I'm here."

We turned to see Dean swimming towards us. We were so relieved to see him. I just went and hugged him there in the cold water. He pointed upwards and the obviously alpha wolf was just standing there, waiting. It knew we could not stay in the water forever. She would wait up there while the others were surrounding us on the opposite side.

These guys were huge, built for stamina and can cover great distances. What chance would we have without help from an outside source, None of our phones were picking up any signals out here in the woods. Plus they were all now soaked and useless. All seemed hopeless. We had to come up with a good plan.

Those suckers can survive in the most inhospitable conditions, they were smart, and a wolf pack was organized and very faithful to each other. All this information was regaled to us by our resident expert. The water was cold, all we had were a few energy bars in our respective backpacks. Maybe a bottle of water each. What were we going to do? That was the question on everyone's mind.

"Wolves do like to swim, or most of them do. They have personalities just like us, so some may like the water while others do not. I am really hoping that these are the ones who dislike to swim." Pipa was, is Jens's best friend. We are hoping a miracle happened and she was still alive somehow.

"I just want my friend back, we have to go and try to find her."

"We will try our best to find her as soon as we can, we promise, right guys?" Everyone nodded uncertainly. Each of us quietly hoping for the best, but expecting the worse.

The water was getting colder by the minute. The day was passing really slowly. Hypothermia was our dreaded enemy. The fog was moving in slowly from across the nearby lake.

"How long do you think before someone notices that we are missing?" Mike was the one person that we all would chose as our leader in a unanimous vote. He had been captain of almost every club and activity all during high school and college. He was very reliable, and you could count on him in any situation. We met in high school and have been together ever since.

"It will be a while. Our friends and family have become accustomed to our many sojourns into the woods. No one expects us to get threatened by anything, least of all wolves. But let's be hopeful that someone tried to call us and realize that more than one phone is not answering." Maya sounded near tears again.

Mike turned to me, "Annie, as soon as the fog gets a little thicker, I am going to try to make a run for it. I have to try to get help. You guys will have to distract the animals by moving away from me and yelling or something, while I slip away."

Although I hated the idea, this sounded like our best shot at having a chance to safely make it out alive. We would either get eaten by wolves or die of hyperthermia in the water. Our bodies were already feeling the effect of the cold water which was getting colder by the minute.

"Ok. Please, please be careful. These animals mean to outsmart and out wait us. They know that we will have to come out of the water sooner or later." He came closer and took my hand in his.

"I will. Have I ever let you down?. Except for cooking, that doesn't count." I smiled and squeezed his hand. Our lives would be in his hand.

The plan was to surround him when it got dark enough. He would dive under water and swim a safe distance away so as not to be seen resurfacing. Then he would do what was necessary to get us help.

Looking up at the wolf gathering on the edge of the waterfall, it was obvious that the number of animals had increased. Even the young cubs were there. But I counted three, we had definitely seen four. Did they think that we had done something to one of the pups. That would somehow explain the anger. I think they are planning to use us as a source of a lesson in proper hunting for the young cubs. They saw us as easy targets.

We started moving around a lot in the water. Partly in an effort to keep warm, and to confuse the wolves. They all started growling, a very low, deep throated and ominous sound. That was good, this would keep their attention on our movement and allow Mike to slip away.

"I'm sorry, but does anyone else need to pee. The water is as cold as the situation that we are in right now."

"Well, we can't go to the bathroom. So have at it. Mother nature will totally understand."

Jen started to cry again. We all felt like crying too, but we tried to comfort her.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the fog got thick enough to enact our plan. We mover further into the fog, Mike squeezed my hand again, showed us his trusty switchblade knife, we all had one. It was a group thing. He went quietly under the water. We waded back in the opposite direction, hopefully distracting attention from him.

There was that low wolf growl again. One really large wolf extracted himself from the group and went running off. Please tell me it was not chasing after Mike.

We heard a shout and a yelp. It now seemed like we all wanted to cry, sheer exhaustion, the cold and loss of faith in our survival odds were depleting our firm resolve of home and safety.

"I'm going to check on him. cover me." I said.

"No, I'm a better swimmer, I will go." Rache volunteered. He swam off before I could stop him. I wish he had not done that.

Now I started crying too.

Another howl, and two more wolves galloped off. I was worried, but Mike was a fighter. If anyone could save us, it was him. If he stayed in the water he might have a really good chance. I just know that his plan will work.

The remaining wolves were now getting restless. They appeared to be getting ready to go in the water. They were testing the ground to figure out their best defensive or offensive, or both.

We heard a distant, sad sounding howl.

Almost an hour passed. Rache had not returned. Another hour or so passed and the wolves were done waiting.

We were now so cold our teeth were chattering. Our legs were getting numb, we kept trying to wade back and forth as best we could. The water was up to our armpits. It seemed to have risen a little higher than it had been before.

A figure appeared, barely visible and floating slowly towards us. Clive grabbed at it. Rache! Bloody, torn flesh, torn clothing and appearing dead. "He has a pulse, but he is bleeding really badly." We all grabbed a hold of him. Clive took off his jacket and draped it around Rache's shoulders.

Not meaning to be cruel, he slapped his face a couple of times. He needed to be as awake as possible to stay alive. Rache moaned and tried to open his eyes. "Stay awake buddy, if you sleep you will die."

"Not trying to be insensitive, but did you see Mike at all. Did he make it out." Eva asked.

"Dead wolf. No Mike. Stab wolf. He fainted again, and they guys were doing their best to hold him up.

"The wolves are preparing to come in. We have to be ready. Let's go out fighting if it comes to that."

There was a great splash, the fog was really thick now. There was bright full moon. The landscape was eerily beautiful and spooky. Just the perfect setting for a howling screaming and bloody massacre. Maybe we would all become werewolves and live in a beautiful haunted castle and drink bloody milkshakes.

Wait, was that Pipa? In the water, moving at great speed, and not bleeding at all. Splash! Splash. Oh my....There were people in the water. We all looked to the edge, no wolves.

Rache stirred. He seemed to have magically healed.

They all converged upon us. There was a splashing and fighting and resisting, being grabbed by one of them was like being in a vice grip from which you could not escape. Rache and Pipa were with the wolf people. They were biting us. Blood and flesh ripping, amidst screaming and cursing and crying. We put up a great fight.

In the end every single one of us were bitten and bloody and floating in the water.

My body was sore all over. The bloody wolf people were standing there, looking very pleased with themselves, including our friends, or former friends or whatever they are now. They each grabbed hold of one of us and literally just jumped or flew to the edge of waterfall with us. At least we were out of the depressingly cold water. Strangely, I was starting to feel warm and fuzzy.

They suddenly disappeared into the woods. We realized why in a few minutes.

Mike had returned. I saw him in a daze, it was hard to tell what was real and what was not anymore. So fuzzy and warm and my eyes were seeing different colors, beautiful laser focused and precise shapes, still a little fuzzy though.

"No mike, run." I tried to say the words. Tongue heavy, face on fire, burning, hurting. What was happening to me, To all of us. I could hear them crying in questioningly garbled language.

There were people, with guns or something. It was unclear. Lots of people. mostly men.

They never had a chance.

I was no longer myself. The whole group of us were now operating as if of one collective consciousness.

"Attack." Alpha commanded.

We did.

By the time the moon started to wane, we all were no longer who we were the day before. We were strong. confident and completely unafraid. I still knew who Mike was and is. We were just immensely clearer and perfectly attuned to each others feelings. It was all so fascinating. We didn't really have to speak. We understood each other on a virtually inexplicable level. Fascinating and liberating.

I felt reborn.

"Are we ready to go home." Spoken by a woman. A tall beautiful dark, mysterious enigma, her expression was veiled, hard to read. I presumed her to be the leader. Ahhh! My alpha wolf.

I knew she was a female. We can sense each other.

We were ready.

Home was a castle. But, not in the archaic sense of the word. This was a castle approached only by sense and touch. Once inside, you are transformed into a formidable fortress. It was more like a neo classical hive, a new age castle with never ending rooms, entertainment centers, gym (if you liked that sort of thing), we are now half wolf, half human. We can run at lightning speed. We stay fit. If you were not one of us, you cannot enter. Yes; I said, one of us. We are now reborn into a whole new world of adventure and new experiences. A new world to conquer and rebuild.

Our next step. We visit the town and gather new family members. We have room. If we need more, we will build more.

A new reality awaits. We are coming for you.

ALTERNATE ENDING.

Mike comes with men with guns. They shoot all the wolves dead. We are all taken to the hospital. Rache is, thankfully alive and doing well. We found poor Pipa, or what was left of her. She had a sad but large turnout at her funeral. Jen was inconsolable.

The experience brought us even closer as a group. We now try to be there even more for each other, whenever we need a shoulder.