Pack Secrets || WLW

Consider Yourself Detained

 There's no time to call the police. I can only hope June has already contacted Sheriff Gray when she was out of view. Instead, I drop out of the tall truck and run to the opposite end of the building, hoping I can cut June off before she sees the wolves and tries to do something about them. But as I round the corner of the building, putting nothing between myself and the wolves, red and blue lights flash behind me and bounce off every surface.

The presence of Sheriff Gray doesn't stop me though. I need to make sure June is safe. I run around to the back of the building where she should be but she's not here. I strain my eyes against the dark, looking everywhere she could be; behind the dumpster, in the shadow of the hotel, behind the trees that grow higher than the building. But no matter how long I look, she's nowhere to be found. Despite wanting to ignore the ever growing danger I'm putting myself in, I look at the hill and watch as the wolves start to make their way toward me, snarling and licking their teeth. They walk slowly, like they're stalking their prey, their glowing eyes focused on me.

I take a step back and crash into something solid. Sucking in a shaky breath, I whirl around. Sheriff Gray is looking at me with an expression I can't read and a shotgun in both hands.

"What are you doing out here, Harrison?" He moves the shotgun to one hand and grabs my arm, dragging me back to the front of the hotel. "Get in your room. Let the professionals handle this."

"I can't find June." I hate the way the words come out; too panicked, too fast. Like I care too much.

The sheriff gives me a gentle push toward my hotel room. "June can handle herself. Get in your room!"

"Are you blind?" I ask, gesturing to the pack of wolves making their way down the hill. "There's like ten wolves up there!"

Sheriff Gray's eyes go wide, like he's not used to being spoken to like this. Once he shakes the shock off, he pulls his shoulders back and doubles down. "And I'm handling it." He points over my shoulder to my hotel room. "Now get inside," he says through gritted teeth. He doesn't wait for me to agree. Instead, he jogs back to the bed of his truck, pulls the shotgun against his shoulder and shoots the streetlight above them. I jump at the sound even though I'm expecting it. Clamping my hands over my ears is useless. It's too late. My ears are already ringing. Everything else comes in muffled.

I'm taking slow steps toward them when something moves in the back of the sheriff's truck. It's hard to see with the broken streetlight but the figure grows larger and larger, producing a snarl as it does. I step to the side instinctively, trying to get a better view of what's in the back of the sheriff's truck.

My brain has already decided what the figure is but it can't be. Nothing makes sense. It's too big to be a dog. Unless the police department in Glassboro is training wolves to use for their K9 department. I force my feet to move closer to the sheriff's truck but my entire body is numb with fear.

Sheriff Gray drops the tailgate of his truck and the dog leaps from the back, bounding toward the pack of wolves on the hill. Another one follows suit. The second animal must have been positioned behind the first because I hadn't seen it before. I tell myself that's why the dog looked so big. In the dark, the two figures must have melted into one and convinced me I was seeing things.

I walk to the corner of the hotel and peak around the wall, hoping the sheriff doesn't notice me. He may have known June longer than I have, but I have to find her. I want her to be in the safety of my hotel room with me. Not out here with all these animals and the shotgun-toting-sheriff.

The hill explodes with a series of growls and snarls. The two dogs the sheriff had released are snapping at the wolves on the hill but they don't retreat. It's like they know they have the upper hand. They outnumber the sheriff's dogs by seven. I'm so drawn into the standoff at the top of the hill that I almost miss the blur of white from the other side of the hotel.