Naked Snow

The forest was white everywhere you looked. The trees wore snow like a winter sweater and the ground had the matching blanket. Everything was silent as the sun rose in from the east, everything but the young wolf creeping away from the center of the woods.  Her paws left a path in the otherwise unmark snow. With a bone snapping wet sound the paw prints turn to delicate footprints.  Snow knew she shouldn’t have been away from the pack, nor should she have shifted out in the open.  But Snow wasn’t known for following rules or thinking of consequences.   At the base of one of the otter trees was a paper bag with clothes.  She slipped in to the damp jeans and itchy over size sweater, nothing was a soft as your own fur.

                Just outside the woods was a highway and a mile down the highway was her Snow’s ride.  She had been walking this road for months now without incidents. Today was no different and she made it to the beat up red pickup in record time.

“Snow get in quickly you are going to freeze.”

“Clive, you worry too much, I am built for this weather. Why do you think they named me snow?” The words felt heavy and awkward coming from her mouth, but she was proud that she used the right words this time. The first few times they met Snow blurted out wrong words every sentence.  She knew how to speak and knew Basic English, but she had very little practical use for it.  A smile formed on her small mouth as she thought of how they met.

With first snow there was very little foraging and Snow refused to touch the flesh of another living creature. No matter how much her pack pushed and beat her down she held strong to her vegetarian diet.  So while everyone slept Snow followed her nose to the edge of the trees. When she was sure no one followed she shifted and began looking for food. Honestly Luck was on her side that day because no one was traveling to see the naked, pale , thin barely a woman running behind a local restaurant, well no one but Clive.

Clive watched as the woman with the long white hair dug at the garbage complete oblivious to the freezing temperature and that she was naked.

“Miss?’

Snow turned to stare at the intruder and froze.

“Miss it is mighty cold and well you are naked. Listen I mean you no harm I just worried, you see. So come to the truck I have a sweater and maybe even sweats.  We could head to the drive in and pick up food. This way you can warm up and not eat garbage, well at least not garbage out of the dumpster,” Clive couldn’t help but laugh at his own joke.

Snow didn’t know how to respond, but her wolf was not trying to fight or flee so she gave him a weak nod.

Snow fumbled on her words as they drove around but Clive didn’t seem to notice. He ended up buying of a salad after she cried when he mentioned a burger, and headed to local Wal-Mart and picked her up boots and jeans. As far as he could tell she was homeless, why she was naked he still didn’t know.

Clive’s voice brought snow back to the present.

“You can’t keep living on the street like this. I have been thinking and saving. I think I can afford a small place for us.”

Guilt sank Snow’s stomach. She knew this day would come when she had to risk being honest with him or risk breaking her heart. By the time they pulled into their normal place, an old abandoned farmhouse,  Snow had made up her mind.

“Clive I have something to tell you, and you are going to react badly I know it. But I love you and wait that not what I need to say.” A low whine escaped her. She opened the truck and stepped into the snow covered yard, she could hear Clive following her. With a sigh she began to shift. The transformation only two seconds but it felt like hours. First her joints popped in to place, her limbs bent, her skin pulled and her white fur pushed from under her skin.

To give Clive credit he did not scream, he fainted. Snow, fully in wolf form, ran to his side. She could hear his heart steadily beating in his chest so she sat down next to him.  After a few whines and face licks Clive started waking.

“Snow? Are you a wolf? Because werewolf do exist. “

Snow couldn’t speak in wolf form, well not to Clive. She gave a soft whine and nudged him with her snout.   Clive was now muttering nonsense so Snow shifted back to human. Her clothes were ruin so she was once again naked in front of him.

“So this is why you were naked the first time we met.”

“Yea, you are handling this well.”

“To be honest I do not know how. I think I might be in shock.”

If Snow was paying attention she would have heard the snap of a twig right after she shifted. She would have known that they were not alone, and that she was now in danger. Clive needed space so he drove to Wal-Mart to pick up more clothes for Snow then dropped her off at their meeting spot.

Snow walked back to their meeting spot everyday for a week and Clive never showed. She was about to give up and tell her pack the mistake she had made when Clive red truck was parked in it normal spot. Her heart race as she ran to the truck.  Clive was sitting inside, pale and white knuckling the steering wheel.

“I don’t understand Snow. I have been thinking all week and I just do not understand.”

“Can I get in? Maybe we can talk?’

“Fine.”

They drove to the drive in where they shared their first meal.

“Werewolves don’t exist, but that is what you are isn’t?”

“I don’t know. If you say yes, then yes. We don’t have a name. We are what we are. We have always lived on the outside of the human world. It how I know how to talk, not that I do often.  We spend most our time as beast, rarely in this form. Mostly for rituals. “

“…Do you eat people?”

“No..oh no..I can’t….no. Everyone else eats rabbits and deer. I am the only one who refuses flesh.  Please Clive…I love you.”

“I don’t know what is going on Snow, but I love you too.”

Tears freely fell from her eyes as she collapsed in his arms. They spent the next hour on the side of the highway talking. When the time came she headed back the way she came. After she was undressed and in wolf form was when the first shot fired. Three more followed. Clive didn’t know what made him go looking for her, but he followed his instinct and ran after her. He found his brother hovering over her bleeding form.

“What did you do Timmy?”

“I knew you would show. You’re a freak and going to hell laying with this demon.”

“You know nothing! I swear I will tear you apart with my own hands, but for now you better run. Don’t you think her family is near? Do you know what wolves do? Run Timmy and run far.”

Something clicked in Timmy’s head. He never thought about her family and what would happen when they found him. He dropped his rifle and ran. Clive lifted Snow and headed deep in the forest. Snow told him pieces about where she lived so he followed the best he could. He knew when he found the stalking wolfs he was in the right place. 

“I did not do this..I swear…but she bleeding and I do not know what do.  Please help her please!”

With tears burning his cheek he set her down and ran.

It took two months for Snow to fully heal. Wolf magic was slow, steady, and painful.  The first thing she heard when she finally came to.

“Snow you are never to see that human again.”