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Grace was starting to get worried.
Max wasn't answering any of her messages or calls. He usually responded immediately. She kept telling herself that he was fine and that he was probably asleep. The sky was dark after all, but it was winter. The sky got dark quickly. People still don't go to sleep at this time.
Grace grabbed her jacket from her floor and put it on over her pajamas. This was an emergency, she decided.
“Max needs me,” she whispered to herself.
She tiptoed down the stairs. She hated herself for what she was about to do. She took her dad's car keys off of the counter. “Please, Lord, understand this is for someone's safety. I'm stealing so I can help someone,” she prayed.
Without a sound, she made her way outside and into the car. Luckily, she knew how to drive.
Grace packed a little ways away from Max's house. The forest round the side of the two floor building called to her. Max must be in there.
Grace exhaled, her breath swirling in the cold air. She prepared herself as she entered the forest. Hopefully, Max wasn't already dead. She didn't want to be the next victim of whatever thing had taken him.
The full moon was her only light source as she tried to avoid tripping on tree roots.
Grace didn't want to try calling Max's name just yet; she wanted to remain as quiet as possible so nobody knew she was here.
Grace eventually came across a large oak tree with massive scratch marks all over the bark. Max's clothes were in a pile at the base of the tree. She gulped, utterly terrified now.
“Max!” she called. “Max! Please!”
She got no answer. Grace sunk to the ground. It was time to face the facts: her boyfriend was dead. Some creature had stripped him and then ate him. Bones were even in the clearing as proof.
Grace stood up and took a deep breath. She walked over and investigated the bones. They were from a rabbit, the flesh still clinging to the marrow. Grace was incredibly grateful. But Max being killed and eaten was still a possibility. Something still left the scratch marks and the rabbit carcass.
Now, what could it be? What was going to inevitably devour her?
There were so many possibilities. This was Hatchetfield. Crazy things always happened in that town.
Grace looked up when the sound of rustling in the bushes hit her ears. Something was crouched in the bushes. Blue eyes stared at her. Grace scrambled to clutch a stick in her hands. She pointed it at the monster.
“Don't you come a step further!” she threatened.
The creature stepped out of the bushes, revealing itself to be a massive wolf.
Grace threw the stick towards it in an attempt to frighten it. All that happened was the wolf decided to take the stick between its jaws and passed it over back to Grace.
Grace threw it again. She was experimenting. As expected, the wolf returned the stick.
Grace threw it a lot further the third time. Still, the wolf retrieved the stick. It didn't give it back to Grace though. Instead, it decided it was going to gnaw on the wood. Grace was actually glad the wolf took the stick. Her arm was starting to grow tired.
She sat there, feeling like a crazy woman for being calm with a big beast like this wolf.
Grace stood up again. She thought it might be worth looking for Max again.
“Max!” she shouted into the trees. The wolf looked up, tilting its brown furred head.
“You. You can help find someone right?” Grace thought she might as well try communicating with the wolf.
Grace took Max's varsity jacket from the pile of his clothes. “I need you to find Max Jägerman. My boyfriend.”
The wolf sniffed the jacket. The animal snatched it from Grace's hand. It carried the blue jacket in its jaws as it traced a trial. The wolf walked through the bushes that it had appeared from and seemed to only be retracing its steps rather than trying to find where Max had gone.
A couple hours later, Grace and the wolf were back in the clearing with the scratched up tree.
“You’re useless!” Grace shouted. The wolf winced in response.
“Okay. Sorry.” Grace didn't know why she was apologising to a wild animal. Just something about this wolf seemed oddly human. And familiar.
The wolf looked up at the sky, noticing the sun coming back. The wolf looked at Grace for a second before running off.
Grace had been abandoned. By an animal. There was still no sign of Max, and Grace should be home by now. Her parents were going to start to worry. But she has other matters on her hands.
“Grace!” That was Max's voice. Grace felt like she was going to cry out of joy.
Grace followed the sound. Max was naked on the forest floor, dirt and blood covering his skin. He seemed a lot weaker and tired than he usually was.
“What happened?” Grace asked, kneeling beside Max.
“Uh… so… um… that's hard to explain.”
“Just spit it out, you idiot! I was worried about you!”
“I know. You were trying to find me.”
“How would you know?” The only other person (or thing) that knew she was looking for Max was that wolf. “You're not making any sense.”
“God, it's so cold.” Right. Max was naked in the forest on a winter morning.
“Here.” Grace passed him her jacket.
“I can't believe you came for me in pajamas. Old lady pajamas.” Max laughed. Then he coughed. “Where are my clothes?”
Grace gestured for Max to stay where he was as she went to fetch his clothes.
She returned with the pile. Max gratefully took his clothes and got dressed, with a little help from Grace because he was too frail to do it completely himself.
“So, what were you doing naked in the woods with your clothes by a tree?” Grace questioned once Max was completely dressed.
“I put my clothes there, so they wouldn't get ripped. I'm… a werewolf.” Max watched as Grace's expression changed drastically. “You think I'm crazy don't you?”
“No! Everything makes sense now!” Grace stepped forward and placed her hands on Max's shoulders to stabilise him. “Sorry I called you useless by the way.”
“It's fine. You didn't know.”
Grace looked around. “What do you want to do? Do you want to go back inside your house or do you want to stay with me?”
“Stay with you. I'll take that any day.”
The two sat on the floor as Max was starting to sway a little. Max leaned against Grace's shoulder for support. He hated being vulnerable but it was only him and Grace. No one else had to know.
“Hey, Gracie. Don't tell anyone I'm basically a dog.”
Grace did a zipping motion across her lips. “Lips are sealed.”
“Thanks.”
Grace didn't know how she really felt about her boyfriend being a werewolf. She should've expected it, she thought. Max definitely exhibited some wolf-like traits. He growled a lot when messing with his victims. He also joked about smelling fear. Obviously, Grace knew that wasn't a joke.
Max was uncharacteristically relaxed when he was with Grace. Grace noticed he was struggling to stay awake.
“You don't need to stay awake if you're too tired,” Grace told him.
“Really?” He sat up, grinning like an excited puppy.
“Yes! I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it.”
Grace laid down on the grass, allowing Max to rest his head on her stomach.
He looked quite content there. Grace smiled. She, too, closed her eyes. She didn't care about the consequences that would follow when she and Max were found like this.