10. Attacked by Wolves

It was awfully dark in the woods. The full moon was out and a wolf was heard howling through the night, with a loon calling out multiple times after that. Lincoln was extra careful trending through this part of the woods in nighttime. Good thing he had a heavy duty flashlight because he definitely had no night vision like a lion or a tiger or bear would have.

Scary as it was going out here, Lincoln had no choice, he had to find Clyde and save him from whatever danger there was in these woods. He knew that going out here without a type of gun wouldn't be safe, he would make this as quick as possible to find his best friend. "Oh Clyde, where are you?" he thought.

The sound of crickets chirping and some wolves howling was making it all the more scary, but then he remembered how his sisters helped him with some situations. He heard a loud snap as he was still walking through the bushes. Startled, he looked down to find a broken tree branch, then he sighed in relief. He thought of the Slender Man video games he played and it kind of felt like it, going out in the middle of the woods, unarmed with a flashlight.

"Ah, what am I thinking? This is the real world, not Slender." Lincoln thought out loud. "I need to lay off those games for a while."

Just then, as he kept pushing forward, he heard heard a growling noise. Shaking, he looked in many directions, but he didn't see anything at all. Was it hiding in the bushes? He didn't want to stay to find out, that was a promised he made to himself. He ventured deeper and deeper into these parts of the woods, which looked off limits for any campers, considering the fact there wasn't any space to build a campground anyway.

"Hello?" He called out, with only an echo to wail back to him. "Clyde? Are you out here, buddy?" Still no answer, but only an echo.

"Lincoln?" a familiar voice finally replied to him in the distance. It was Clyde, Lincoln knew that voice all too well, and it had to be him. "Lincoln? can you hear me?" he added

"Clyde!" his friend exclaimed as he jumped with joy. "I'm here! Where are you?"

"Over here! Just follow the sound of my voice!" Lincoln was more than glad to hear that his best friend was still alive, and he hurriedly went to the direction from where his voice came from. He didn't even care about the bushes that were in his way, and dodged every tree that would try and stop him from continuing. After at least many yards, say one hundred yards, he finally found Clyde, scared, under a large pine tree. "Buddy! Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I think so. I... I just got scared coming out here. And... I didn't think you would come looking for me." he admitted with guilt

"Clyde." said Lincoln with a sad smile "You're my best friend, and always will be, nothing will ever change that." He got the sense of deja vu from the time Luna comforted him in the middle of the night the other day about how special he was to her, but this time, it was him, and his best friend he ever knew. "I would never think of you as a third wheel, and even if me and Luna might be closer because we are sisters, you're just as close as both of us."

"You... you mean that, Linc?"

"Of course. Clincon McCloud, remember?"

Clyde smiled. "Clincon McCloud." he agreed. Then Lincoln helped him get back up.

"Are you hurt?"

"No. I'm fine."

"Good. I was worried that you would get mauled by wolves or bears or mountain lions."

"Me too." He cleared his throat. "Listen, i'm sorry about what I said back there, and to Luna. I know you guys are brother and sister, but I never meant anything mean or nasty, I was just mad, I didn't mean to say those things."

Lincoln looked at him with remorse. "It's okay, Clyde. Let's just get back to the campsite. It's my fault, I should have been treating you like my best friend. I never meant to treat you like a third wheel. Luna, she... she means everything to me, you know? She is the best sister I could ever ask for, and I'm like the little brother vice versa."

His best friend sighed with guilt. "I know, I know how you guys feel about each other, I even forgotten about the time she helped us escape from mall jail to attend the SMOOCH concert."

"Best show ever!" they said in unison with the devil horn gesture on both hands. "Come on, buddy. Let's get back to the camp before my dad's have a nervous breakdown."

Lincoln chuckled. "Right" Then they happily walked out of these dark and scary woods, with Lincoln shining the way with his flashlight. It was just then that growling noise he heard before and they both jumped, hugging each other. "What was that?"

"I heard that growling before." Clyde remembered. "What is it?"

"I don't know." Lincoln shun the flashlight in many directions to try and see what is out there. then it was just then a large gray wolf came out of the bushes. It was gigantic, and had a scar on his right eye. His color was actually white instead of gray, and it looked terrifying, his yellow eyes glowing and his teeth looking bone white and bare.

From the looks of it's scar, it probably had a fight with another wolf, so he could possibly be the alpha male of some pack. Lincoln and Clyde were more than scared to encounter such a scary beast like this one. Now Lincoln wished he had a gun with him. The beast made a low rumbling growl that scared the boys even more

"Easy Clyde, it's just one wolf. No biggie." said Lincoln.

"Yeah, i guess so."

But just their luck, more wolves that were apparently smaller than the first one, probably a number of twelve, thirteen, or maybe even twenty or thirty wolves, appeared from more bushes. Now Lincoln and Clyde's hearts sank to their feet, and gulped with complete terror. "Maybe these wolves aren't so aggressive, probably just curious." Clyde said

They looked at the alpha male, and they saw the look in his eyes, wanting to maul or eat both of them. "Uhhh, nice wolf." Lincoln attempted to calm it down. "We're just... little boys passing by. He tried to reach his hand to it, but the wolf in return, tried to bite it off, but Lincoln moved his hand back before the creature could lay his teeth on his skin. "Yeah, not friendly

"Any options, Lincoln?"

"Well, I got one thing to say." Lincoln replied

"What's that?"

"RUUUUUUNNNNN!" Then both boys ran through the forest as fast as they could, with the wolf pack pursuing behind them, and the white alpha male in front of them, possibly the fastest one. Lincoln and Clyde ran and ran and ran as fast as they could, but alas, human speed was no match for a wolf's speed, since almost any animal with four legs can run faster than humans.

Before they could even think, Lincoln was pounced from behind him, and rolled on the ground with a few bruises. Clyde was about to help him, but was being stopped by the other wolves in the pack, and then ran up to a tree.

"Lincoln!" Clyde yelled

He found himself face to face with the white alpha male and the monster barred his sharp teeth at him. his left paw was pressing down on Lincoln's body, his claws were so sharp, they were tearing into his orange shirt. If this was keeping up, the claws might puncture into Lincoln's flesh, and might bleed out from four holes on his chest.

The wolf was about to eat Lincoln, starting with the head. Lincoln screamed at the top of his lungs, but when the Wolf's mouth could get it's grip on Lincoln's head, a loud "BOOM!" was heard. Just then, he saw the wolf fall dead. The boy got off the ground and pushed the claw off of his body, scarping the dirt off his shirt.

He looked and saw Luna with a hunting shotgun with her. "Luna!" he exclaimed with joy

"Get away from my brother you mangy mutts!" Luna said. She fired the shotgun again, but this time in the air, and she scared all of the remaining wolves away. She promptly cocked the gun in triumph and put it down to help her little brother. "You okay, Lincoln?" she asked. "Are you hurt? Do i need to call the doctor?"

"No, i'm okay, thanks to you." Lincoln said.

"Always happy to help you, little bro." Luna looked around and asked "Where's Clyde?"

"Up here." he called to her from the tree. Then Lincoln's best friend promptly went back down the tree, more than happy to see Luna again. "Uh, thanks for saving us, Luna, and i'm sorry if I was so mad at you, and the way I acted."

"Aww, it's okay, buddy." Luna replied, giving him a pat on the back. "I understand. And I'm sorry if I was in the way of you and Lincoln's camping together. I knew me coming here was a bad idea."

"No, it's okay. It was great you came here. It was actually fun. Luna, you are a great girl, and a gifted musician too. Can you ever forgive me for my anger outburst like that?"

"Of course, Clyde. I forgive you." then they both smiled gratefully.

"I wonder, where did you get that shotgun?"

"Uncle Brent lend it to me just in case something like this happens before we left. Like he always said, when out camping, always be prepared for anything."

Lincoln laughed "Good ole uncle Brent." All three looked at the alpha's corpse, with blood dripping from his body, into the soil. "I hope he's dead, I would hate for it to jump on me again."

Clyde pulled out a long tree branch and poked the creature's body. It wasn't moving anymore, so it was dead alright. "Yep, it's dead." he said, putting the branch back on the ground. "Come on, let's get back to camp."

"Right!"

"You're dad's were worried about you, Clyde, you know that?"

"Of course I know that." Clyde chuckled. "I hope they are not mad at me."

"Don't worry, dude, they're just worried about you."

It was a little bit of a long walk back to the campsite, but they made it. Harold and Howard were more than happy to see their son in one piece. "Clyde!" they exclaimed with joy. They both picked up Clyde and held him tightly.

"Are you alright, sport?" asked Harold.

"I'm okay." he replied "Thanks to Luna. And Lincoln."

"Good. Son, don't ever run off like that, we were so worried about you." said Howard. "It can be very dangerous out there, especially at night."

"We know that." said Lincoln in agreement. "We just encountered a pack of wolves out there."

"Wolves?" both fathers exclaimed with surprise.

"Don't worry, Mr. and Mr. McBride, I scared them away with this." Luna cocked her uncle's shotgun again. "They won't be bothering us again anytime soon."

Clyde had a look of remorse and guilt to his dad's. "I'm really sorry I ran off like that. I promise I will never do this again."

Both dads smiled "Good." said Harold. "And I believe you owe Luna an apology."

"He already did, sir." Luna pointed.

"Alright."

Lincoln yawned and stretch his arms. "I'm getting tired, I need to call it a night and hit the hay."

"Me too." Clyde agreed.

They all went into their tents where one had Lincoln, Clyde, and Luna, while the other smaller one had the fathers in it. Clyde fell asleep quickly and was snoring through the night.

"Thank you so much, Luna." Lincoln said "For saving me and Clyde. Without you, I would have been made into wolf food."

Luna chuckled, and gently stroke his head. "Anytime, Linc. Anytime."

"Hey, do you mind if I... sleep close to you? not in a weird way, but-"

"It's okay, bro. Come here." then Lincoln was in Luna's arms as they both laid together in the sleeping bag. "Goodnight, dude. I love you."

"I love you too, Luna." Then they both fell asleep, close together, and never breaking up in their sleep together