Chapter 10: A Safe Place

The thundering of boots across the floor causes Autumn to open her eyes. Dustin turns around in time to see Blake coming right for him. The owner of the sanctuary doesn’t hesitate as he grabs the intruder by the throat and lifts him off the ground.

Dustin lets out a gurgle and grabs Blake’s hand as his feet dangle helplessly. Blake doesn’t budge as Roy rushes past him to Autumn’s side.

“Are you okay, Miss?” Roy asks while helping her to her knees.

Blake growls loudly, throwing Dustin across the room into a wall on the other side.

Dustin struggles to his feet and Autumn watches as fear washes over him. “That’s my woman, and this is none of your business!” he screams while pointing at a physically traumatized Autumn.

Blake’s eyes darken as a wicked smile crosses his face. “She is not yours, and you will not touch her,” he says in a deep cold tone.

“Come on, Miss, we need to go,” Roy tries to hurry Autumn to her feet.

“Go?” she whispers, finally able to find her voice again.

The old groundskeeper is being gentile, but Autumn winces as he grabs her elbow to help her up. Blake looks down at them and growls at Roy, who quickly releases Autumn in response.

“Yup, we need to go check out the pack,” he says as they both climb to their feet.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Dustin screams while hurrying toward Autumn.

Once again, she flinches away from him and buries her face into Roy’s chest. Blake growls fiercely as he rushes to cut Dustin off. Autumn isn’t sure how much more she can take.

“Get her out of here!” Blake yells at Roy as he slams Dustin down to the ground.

Roy doesn’t hesitate and he hurries Autumn out of the trailer.

Autumn steps out into the fresh air and takes a deep breath. It feels like a lifetime since she was able to breathe. She lets out a few sobs into her hands. It could have been worse, but that doesn’t discount what she just went through.

“Pull it together,” she whispers to herself while climbing into Roy's truck.

As Roy drives her away from the fight in the trailer, Autumn tries to think about something else. She can’t, the vision of Blake lifting Dustin into the air with one arm is stuck in her mind. How is he so strong? she wonders. Dustin isn’t a tiny man.

She can’t help but think about what would have happened if Roy and Blake hadn’t shown up. She doesn’t doubt that Dustin would have taken her life without hesitation.

Roy pulls up outside the pack gates and Autumn slides out of the passenger seat. They walk up to the entry to find five wolves sitting on the other side of the gate. It’s almost like they’re waiting for her.

“Hey guys, we need to come in,” Roy says calmly while undoing the lock.

Autumn approaches him and the wolves start to growl and show their teeth. Roy looks over at them and furrows his brow.

“Stop that,” he scolds.

His words do no good as the wolves, who are very large and intimidating creatures, begin to take a defensive stance while staring down Autumn.

“Sorry, Miss,” Roy places the lock back on the gate. “The wolves are never like this, so I don’t know what’s going on.”

Autumn feels defeated. “It’s fine, Roy. I think Blake will have to be here when I go in. Will you please take me to the clinic? I’ll sit with the lone wolf until it’s safe to come out.”

Roy nods his head and they load themselves back into his truck. She would have just walked, but her whole body is still shaking.

“Lana,” Autumn says out loud as they pull up to the clinic.

Roy looks over at her. “What about her?”

Autumn shakes her head and opens the door to climb out. “Dustin said that Lana let him into the trailer. Why would she do that?”

A look of concern washes over him as Roy looks away. “I don’t know.”

Autumn watches him drive back toward the pack before heading into the clinic. She can’t make sense of anything right now. Her brain refuses to think about anything too much, and that frustrates her.

After stepping into the building, she locks the door and flips on the lights. Autumn rests her head against the door and takes a deep breath.

“Maybe I should just go home,” she says. The idea alone causes her eyes to burn with tears. She doesn’t want to do that. It isn’t her home anymore, and she has an obligation to her job.

A sudden nudging against the middle of her lower back causes her to spin around. The lone wolf is standing in front of her, causing her heart to momentarily stop. So this is it, she thinks to herself, today is going to consist of one bad event after another.

She closes her eyes and waits for the attack. There’s no more fight left in her, not after everything she just went through. A sob makes its way out of her as she slides down to the floor. Cupping her face in her hands, Autumn begins bawling uncontrollably.

A cold nose against the back of her hands causes Autumn to drop them. The wolf is sitting right in front of her and nuzzles her hand before licking her face.

“You don’t want to kill me?” she asks, feeling defeated. “Now would be your chance, I just can’t deal with this anymore. I’ve spent my whole life being strong and independent, but I just can’t do it anymore,” she says with a quivering lip.

The wolf looks into her eyes and scoots a little closer. He places his head on her shoulder and lets out a deep sigh. Autumn doesn’t fight it and wraps her arms around his massive neck, crying into the creature’s chest. He appears to hug her back by moving his muzzle down, pushing her into his chest.

She cries until there are no tears left to fall and pulls away from the wolf. “Thank you for that,” brushing the tears off her cheeks. “You really are an interesting animal,” Autumn observes, climbing to her feet.

“May I take a good look at you?” she asks.

Part of her expects him to answer as she walks around and checks him for injuries. For some reason, he doesn’t look like he was ever hurt. Autumn can’t help but marvel at how calm this wild animal is. She wonders if maybe he was someone’s pet.

Autumn sits down on the floor and the wolf walks up and lays down next to her. He drops his massive head into her lap and closes his eyes. Autumn starts petting him and talking about everything on her mind. She opens up about her family, Dustin, Blake, and even her job. Something about this lone wolf feels safe and comforting.

By the time she finishes, Autumn feels so much better. There’s something comforting about telling all your worries and fears to an animal. They listen without judgment, and sometimes that’s all that’s needed. A knock on the door causes Autumn to jump.

“It’s okay,” Blake says from the other side. “You can come out, it’s safe.”

The fear of Blake seeing the not-so-injured wolf out of his cage causes Autumn to hurry to her feet.

“I’ll be out in just a minute,” she stutters while trying to usher the wolf back into his pen.

The creature doesn’t want to go in, but Autumn manages to get him behind bars again. She doesn’t lock the cage, but she does close the latch behind him.

She unlocks the door and flips off the lights as she exits. Autumn comes face to face with a disheveled-looking Blake as she steps outside.

“Oh my god, Blake, are you okay?” she gasps.

His clothing is torn and his chest heaves as he breathes. There’s blood on some of the fabric that hangs over his ripped pants. Dirt is smeared everywhere and matted into his hair.

“Are you?” he asks, taking a slow step toward her.

Autumn turns up a corner of her mouth and cocks her head. “Don’t deflect back to me. I asked if you were okay first,” she says stubbornly.

A smile pulls at Blake’s lips. “I’m fine. Or, at least, I will be.”

Autumn steps up to him and pulls Blake into her arms. He embraces her back, and she feels safe. His scent is warm, like honey, and she breathes a sigh of relief.

“Roy told me how the pack behaved when you tried to enter their enclosure. I dealt with it, and you won’t have any more problems,” Blake says quietly as he holds her.

Autumn wonders how he could deal with such a thing. They are wild animals, after all. She doesn’t want to ask how. The comfort in his arms is more important than her questions right now.

“He also said that you told him my mother let Dustin into your home,” Blake continues, causing Autumn to finally take a step back.

“That’s what Dustin told me, I don’t know how true it is,” she replies. The events of the afternoon have caused her to question everything. As if she’s the star of some strange movie or book whose plot has developed out of her control.

Blake looks tired as he sighs. “I see. I’ve moved you to another trailer, one closer to the main house. I hope you don’t mind, but I transferred all your belongings to the new location.”

“No, I understand,” she says. Part of her expected Blake to kick her out after what happened.

Blake takes her by the hand and they walk back toward his house. “I’ll get the cart and take you to your new place. Then we can go get your car from the old trailer,” he explains as they walk along.

Autumn stands in front of the house as Blake goes around back to retrieve the cart. She considers knocking on the door to confront Lana, but she just doesn’t have it in her to fight right now. She trusts that Blake will handle the situation when he can.

The sound of growling causes her to spin around as the largest gray wolf she has ever laid eyes on walks out from behind a bush. Autumn backs up quickly, losing her balance in the process and causing her to fall onto her butt. The wolf shows its teeth and prepares to pounce as Autumn tries to get up.

The cart pulls up and Blake jumps out and stands between Autumn and the wolf.

“Mother, stop!” he yells.