A girl and her peculiar wolf friend

Eleven more days. Eleven more hot summer days left of freedom. I sigh in delight. Angelic beams of sunlight are washing in through small gaps in the curtains. I throw my blanket off me in a hurry to the windows and shove the curtains aside. I instantly cringe away and frown. In my hurry, I forgot that light is not so kind to your eyes. I rub my eyes and blink a few times before looking around in my room. Black splotches follow my eyes as they move over my wooden furniture and finally rest on a great ball of fur next to my bed. I squint my eyes at the creature. Even after months of having it follow me around, I still have difficulty looking at it. I surreptitiously move towards the fur-ball and just like every other morning, it growls at me. “Damn it!” I yell with a grudging smile playing on my lips. “How?! I didn’t make any sound!” The furred beast stretches in a cat-like fashion and pulls itself to full height. Standing proud on four paws, the wolf-like creature stares at me with intelligent fiery orange eyes. It yawns soundlessly, revealing sharp long teeth, and shakes its body. As I watch it I notice for the millionth time that the creature is unlike any other. In many ways, it looks like a wolf, but unlike its look-a-like this one is huge. As big as my bed and almost as tall as my door. That’s not even the weirdest part. The storm wolf, what I chose to call it, looks like it has lived through one. Like it has been out there in the rain for days and the water stuck to it permanently. Like every other day, to make sure it isn’t wet, I walk up to it and stick my hand in its fur. Dry, very soft, but dry. I frown. But the thing is, that is not even the weirdest part. I examine the fur once more, but more closely. I always expect it to change, but it never does. The fur looks weird, almost like a shadow. As if it were not matter. As if you could pass your hand through like it were wind.  

  “What are you?” I ask it for the hundredth time. It nods at me and walks over to my desk. Despite its size, it moves as elegant as a cat. I’ve never seen it knock something over. I move with it towards the desk. It sits down carefully and points with its big clawed paw towards a little book on my desk. I frown. It has pointed at that book every time I asked that question. It’s starting to get frustrating. I look the wolf in the eye and squint again. Damned fur! Staring at it gives me a headache. I sigh in exasperation as I grab the book again. “What is the deal with this book?!” I yell at it. And just as always, it keeps staring at me. I look away from its eyes. I’ve had a lot of fun with it, but not just fun. It has guarded me and kept me safe in times of need. Over the months I’ve had interesting events happen to me. One time I was hiking near my house in the woods and a guy ambushed me and stole my backpack. He ran off and I couldn’t catch up to him. I called my mom immediately to tell her what had just happened. She said she would talk to the police and told me to come home. I hung up and started back down the path towards my house. After walking for a few minutes I heard cries for help and looked around. My wolf had come out of the trees onto the path with the thief on its back and my backpack between its jaws. It followed me all the way back to my house. I had to endure the thief’s laments all the way. We called the police and the thief was sent to jail for more than my charges. They asked where my ‘dog’ came from. I said I didn’t know. Which is true.

  I frown. I actually know very little about this creature. A gently growl returns me to reality. The storm wolf is watching me, head tilted sideways, with those intelligent eyes. “Really, what are you?” I look down at the book in my hand. The brown cover feels rough in my hand. “Is this bark?” I whisper to the wolf. I glance up at it and it nods. At first, I thought it was funny that it answered my questions, I thought it was a coincidence. After a while, I realized that it really does answer your questions. This creature is very intelligent and perceptive. I look back down at the book. “If you are, then why are you showing me this?” I wonder.

  “Luna! Come down here, you need to see this!” My mother exclaims from downstairs. She sounds worried, really worried. I look at my wolf friend. It is frowning at me and its ears are on end. Danger. With the book in my hand, I rush past the wolf and throw the door open. I hurry down the stairs and enter the living room, panting. The first thing that grabs my attention is the situation outside. Through the window I see snow falling down onto the garden. So much that the grass is no longer visible. How is that even possible? The sun was out! Then my eyes turn to the living and the scene before me is alarming. Standing in front of the couches are my parents and my siblings and standing next to them are two police officers. My parents glance at me. I see looks of horror on their face. The normally adoring eyes are filled with fear. I feel my wolf’s fur graze my hand. I instantly feel better. I look towards the thing that has everyone’s absolute attention. In the middle of the wall is where our tv is hanging. My jaw drops. Images are being shown on the news. Images of destruction. Cities not so far from here have been attacked. Houses collapsed and destroyed. Parks burning. Whole chunks of street torn out of the ground. We are all staring, unable to speak, unable to move. I see my sister crying and holding my little brother in her arms. The two officers have their walkie talkies in their hands and mouths half-open, eyes wide in fear.

  Suddenly my wolf roars. An ear-splitting sound filled with anger and frustration. A roar so mighty and powerful that I can feel the house shake. I instantly feel a change in my emotions. Fear and desperation are shoved back in my mind and a feeling of total alertness takes over. It seems like it happened for everyone. My sister stopped crying. My parents still look worried, but not as much as before. I see the officers leave the room talking quickly on their intercoms. All my family’s eyes are on the wolf. It is looking at me, motioning to the book in my hand. I had forgotten it existed. In all my worry and fear, my mind forgot to apprehend everything other than those images. I look up at the wolf, surprised. “What do you mean? I don’t understand…” The storm wolf moves closer to me and sits in front of me. The orange in its eyes is moving like fire. With one of its huge paws, it gently touches the book and with a claw, it opens the book. I frown at it. “You want me to read it? Now?” The wolf simply nods. “Why? Where did you get that book? I’ve never seen it in your room before.” My dad inquires. I shrug at him. “No idea. One day it was just lying there, in between all my other books.” The wolf growls again. It looks inpatient. “Okay, fine!”

  I look down at the book. My family surrounds me to get a closer look at me. The wolf opened the book somewhere in the middle. The drawing on the page confuses me. I look up at the wolf in shock. “What is this?” I turn my attention back towards my book before it can answer. On top of the page, in black letters, reads ‘The ungabani. My eyes fly over the page. ‘Family of the wolves’, ‘As fast as lightning’, ‘can bite through metal’, ‘fur acts as camouflage’, ‘extreme intelligence’, ‘They live to protect the balance of nature', ‘last ones living bonded to chosen humans and became the cetaria(see page 459)’. The drawing of the described creature has an uncanny resemblance to the wolf in front of me. “I don’t understand…’ My mother whispers. I walk away and go sit on the couch. The wolf motions everyone else to do the same. It walks over to me silently and looks me in the eye. It opens its mouth a couple of times silently. I frown. “You want me to read it? What page? Everyone just read this one,” It holds its paw above the book and with one claw it points to a single word ‘Cetaria’. I nod. “Okay…”

  I skip to page 459, passing a lot of other unusual creatures, and end up on a page with two drawings. One of a human and the other of a big furred creature. A wolf exactly like the one sitting in front of me. “Wow,” This is weird. “There is a drawing in here that looks exactly like our intelligent friend. Exactly like it.” My mother looks confused. My father tells me to read what it says. I nod nervously. The storm wolf is staring at me intently. I swallow, my throat suddenly feels dry, and start to read.

  “The cetaria, meaning the bonded ones, are shapeshifters that have been alive for thousands of years. They originate from the ancient island of magic and were the outcome of a human bonded with an ungabani wolf. The latter, being a magical creature, passed on several powers onto the human it bonded with, making it stronger faster and more powerful than it could ever be on its own. Let me finish Anna. Eleven humans were chosen by the last of the ungabani to follow in their footsteps, to become the new guardians of nature. These eleven became the first cetaria of the now great families we know of. The first family was created more than seventy thousand years ago, even before Alexandrea Dalataga’s time, and is called the van Helsing family. This was the first family that dedicated themselves to the hunt of vampires and the keeping of balance between all magical creatures. To this day they keep using their magic and skills in combat to keep the innocent safe.” I look at the wolf. It is no longer staring at me but staring into the snow-filled yard, ears on end. “Are you expecting something?” I ask it. It shoots a glance at me and motions to the book with a growl. “Okay then… I’ll continue,” I clear my throat. “The result of bonding with an ungabani wolf made humans stronger both mentally and physically. They are immune to most sickness and their lives are prolonged. Having both a human soul and a wolf soul makes them able to switch between forms. They are able to shift from human form to an ungabani. The only difference a true ungabani has in comparison to a cetaria one is that the cetaria is more shadowlike. This is because the soul of the wolf has no body, but shares that one of the human. In wolf form, they have the same abilities as an ungabani. In human form, they have enhanced strength, sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing. They also gain the ability to control magic. Th-“

  I stop reading. A sudden realization entered my mind. The book falls out of my hand. I’m staring at the wolf. Shadowlike fur that camouflages them, incredible speed and strength, extreme intelligence,… It all adds up. That’s why I have difficulty looking at it. That’s why it understands everything I say. That’s why I thought it was special. “You are magical.” I state.

  The wolf glances at me, with those intelligent fiery orange eyes, and nods.