Lupine Dreams--Chapter 1    Author:  Islador

	The cold, crisp morning air of the Front Range made the plumes of steam rising from the nostrils of the huge gray wolf stand out in the sunlight.  The first rays of sunlight sparkled in the treetops as he looked out over the rolling hills in front of him.  Dotting this frosted tan landscape were his prey, cows.  They were huddled together for warmth in the early morning but were starting to spread out for the day’s feeding.  He was going to eat well today.  The humans had not been out here for several days and he knew he could make a quick kill and feast before they would return.

	He had watched their routine for several days, as they rode their horses along the boundary of their land.  Last night they had packed up the horses in a trailer and had driven off, leaving the cattle to roam the hills.  He had to be very careful about how many cows he and his pack of cousins took.  If they hit one ranch too many times, the humans would hunt them down and kill them.  This had happened before, when he had gotten too complacent in his territory and lording his power over these smaller cousins of his.  Normally, the smaller ones would never try to take a full size cow, just a few sheep where they could find them.  He was tired of rabbits and field mice, the normal fare his cousins ate.  Today they would feast on beef. 
 
	He was already drooling, thinking about how good it would feel to sink his muzzle into the soft belly of a fat cow and slurp up the blood that would gush out.  He shuddered in an almost orgasmic wave and then turned to look at his pack.  They were waiting for his signal to begin the chase.  None of them even thought about twitching a muscle before he issued a command, they had all learned this from how their former alpha male had gone down in a flurry of blood and gristle.  This new alpha male was beyond anything the small ones had ever experienced.  Their racial memory told them that this giant and his brothers had once ruled the mountains and valleys, but not anymore.  The one thing that really made the pack uneasy was that the new alpha male hadn't taken any of the females after killing the old alpha.  This was what always happened when a new alpha came into power, but not with this giant.  He would just nip and growl at the females that tried to push themselves at him, vying for position in the pack.
  
	The alpha took one last sniff of the morning breeze and then signaled the rest to begin the hunt.  They slowly spread out as the alpha began to trot down the hillside.  His pace was much slower than the others, giving them time to flank the herd of cattle.  They slipped under the barbed wire fence unseen by the cows and began to surround the herd.  The alpha stayed low in the tall grass at the fence line, knowing that his color and bulk would give his position away too soon.  He wouldn't take chase until the others had spooked the herd and the slowest could be separated out.  The pack of coyotes had finally reached their positions when the beta male made his move.  Before the beta male took three steps its head suddenly exploded in a spray of red and gray, the body whipping around with the force of the explosion.  Then the sound rolled over the valley.  Gunfire!  Then three more coyotes went down in a similar fashion and the unmistakable sounds of rifle shots thundered through again.

	The adrenaline surge hit the alpha like a freight train, but his mind fought the urge to bolt.  If the bullets hadn't found him yet, then the well-hidden humans couldn’t see him.  The muscles bunched under his fur in preparation for flight, but he knew that if he ran now, he'd never make the tree line before his own head would explode with a high power rifle bullet.  The rest of the pack had already started back for the tree line and he could see the puffs of dirt bursting next to some of them as the humans began to fire wildly at the retreating coyotes.  Most of the pack didn't make it to the tree line, but a couple did.

	After several minutes had passed, the humans began to reveal their hiding places.  He watched as several lumps of grass rose up and sprouted legs. ‘Those devious bastards!’ thought the alpha.  Very carefully he lowered himself even deeper into the brush along the fence line; making sure he didn't bend a single blade of grass to give his position away.  The sound of laughter brought his attention back to one of the walking grass heaps that had come within fifty yards of his hiding place.
  
	"We showed those fuckers something, didn't we boys!"

	"Yeah, that'll be the last time they try to take one of our cows."

	"Did you see that first shot?  I love this new rifle!" 

The last voice came from his left.  He slowly moved his head to get a better look at the one who had shot his second in command.  The tall human had pulled his grass cover back and was holding his rifle up for the others to see.  The alpha memorized every detail of that face; burning it into his anger filled mind.  He watched them come together and then walk around to gloat over their kills.  When they had their backs turned, squatting over the body of his former second, he knew his one chance for escape had presented itself.

	Like one of the rifle shots, he was out of the grass and running full out for the tree line.  He heard the shouts of surprise and the curses of the humans behind him as they realized their error.  The sharp crack of a supersonic bullet whipped by his head as he was approaching the top of the hill.  Just as he thought he had escaped their line of sight, the blinding hot pain erupted in his side as the second bullet found its mark.  His left lung filled with blood immediately and he could barely breathe, but the adrenaline and the momentum of his full out run kept him going forward over the top of the hill.  The blood in his lungs shot out his nostrils as he kept running; fighting to stay up on his feet, he continued for the trees.  One more shot rang out as he passed the first pine tree and the bark exploded in his face, blinding his right eye.  The pain was almost unbearable; he didn't have the breath to waste on a yelp, he just kept running.

	He ran for another minute before he was forced to slow his pace.  The adrenaline had begun to fade, and the pain in his side increased.  Coughing up a large gout of blood from his lung, he stopped.  Looking back, he made sure the humans weren't going to try and come after him.  Listening carefully for any sounds of running footsteps or worse, engines starting up, he tried to look back, but the blood in his right eye still hadn't cleared.  Satisfied that he had no pursuers, he shifted his direction and headed for the creek that was about a mile away.
	
	By the time he reached the creek, his whole body ached with fatigue.  His left lung still wouldn't stop oozing blood and he had to constantly cough it up.  He carefully lowered himself into the frigid water, welcoming the cold shock that suddenly flashed through his body.  It helped to clear his mind, snapping him out of his more primal state of pain.  Letting the cold water flush out his wounds, he realized that his right eye still didn't clear up.  He slowly turned his head to look at the wound in his side.  He could see the shattered remnants of three ribs poking out of the gaping wound.  The flesh and muscle shredded by the impact of a hollow point rifle bullet.  Oh, this is bad, he thought to himself.  No wonder he couldn't get his lungs clear of blood.

Slowly lowering his muzzle to the water, he began to drink as much as his empty stomach would hold.  He knew he needed to replenish the fluids he was losing from his wounds.  After filling his belly with the cold, clear water of the creek, he moved back to the bank and pulled himself out of the water.  Looking back at the way he had come, he could see the blood trail he had left.  He needed to get moving soon.  Those cunning humans would follow this trail and find him.  Turning back to the creek, knowing it was going to sap his strength quickly if he stayed in it too long, he began to walk up stream.

	He walked about a half mile before getting out of the creek on the opposite side. He figured that the humans wouldn't want to cross this creek with the water temperature as low as it was, plus the distance he had traveled almost guaranteed they wouldn't find his trail.  Still leaving a blood trail, he walked into the woods and headed for the Front Range.  He picked a valley between two peaks and used that for his reference point to keep from turning towards his wounded side and walking in circles.  He really wanted to stop and rest, but he knew that he had to put as much distance between himself and those guns as possible.  He quickly fell into a fugue state and just kept putting one paw in front of the other, staring at the valley.

	When he finally made the valley late in the day, he knew that no one had followed him.  The sounds of the forest were normal.  He looked at the wound in his side and could still see blood oozing out of it, but the flow had slowed to a trickle.  He hadn't had to cough as often, so he knew that his insides were starting heal.  His right eye still didn't work and the pain from it was constant.  Not having that eye working really threw his depth perception off; he had walked into several trees on his trek because of it.  He knew as the sun went down and the light failed, it would get even worse.  Still, he didn't want to stop.  The deeper into the forest he got, the safer he would feel.

	He had walked another five miles when he heard a sound off to his left.  Something was out here in the forest, something larger than a rabbit.  The wind had died down, so he couldn't smell anything strange.  He stopped and listened for another clue as to what was out here.  The sound of liquid hitting the pine needles drifted out of a copse of scrub brush.  He cocked his head towards the bushes as the sound trailed off.  Then more rustling as something large shifted against the branches.  Before he could move to hide, a tall human female stepped out of the brush, still looking down as she snapped the top button on her pants.  She looked up as she took another step and they made eye contact.  She froze in mid stride with her hands out in front of her.  They were about ten feet apart, looking at each other.

The smell of her fear hit his nostrils like a slap in the face.  The urge to leap at her throat and tear her apart hit him full force.  Fear equaled food in his mind.  But he was in no shape to leap anywhere right now.  He realized that any sudden movement would tear his wound open again and he wasn't so sure he wouldn't bleed out before any food got to process in his stomach.  Neither one of them had made a sound since she had stepped out of the bushes.  Taking his silence as a sign that an attack was not going to happen she slowly lowered her hands.  He watched her carefully to make sure she wasn't trying to pull a small gun out of her clothing.
  
	"Please don't bite me.  I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone."

Her voice was barely audible, just above a whisper.  The expression on her face had changed from terror to pleading.  A single tear flowed down her cheek.  He continued to stare at her with his one good eye, not making a sound or moving a muscle.  He knew how dangerous humans could be in panic situations.  If she had a gun, she could really do him some major damage before he killed her.  He didn't need any more damage to his already broken body today.

	"If I give you some food will you go away?"

This last statement peaked his interest.  Food.  Hell yes, I want some food!  He chuffed through his jowls, spraying blood out his nostrils.  He slowly moved his head up and down.  She jumped at his movement and sound.  Then she looked at him closer, he watched her carefully to make sure she wasn't trying anything sneaky.

	"You want some food?"

This time her voice had a little more authority to it, almost up to a normal level.  Again, he chuffed and moved his head up and down, hoping this female would understand that he had answered her question.  She got a funny look on her face and tilted her head to the side a little, mimicking the age-old posture that dogs have when they hear or see something they don't understand.  This struck him as extremely funny and he couldn't help himself, he started chuffing repeatedly.  Then the pain from his wound hit and he stopped abruptly, causing him to cough up more blood.  The woman watched this display with stunned surprise on her face, but the look changed to concern as she watched him cough up the blood and finally noticed the gaping wound in his side.

	"Oh my God! Your hurt!  You poor thing!"

He could hear the real emotion in her voice this time.  He knew she wasn't a threat now.  He moved his head up and down again and watched her carefully.  She slowly moved her right hand towards the lower pocket on her coat.  He followed the movement but didn't make any noise.  She carefully pulled out a shiny red and silver packet, showing him that it wasn't anything threatening.  He continued to watch her but he visibly relaxed when he saw that it was a food packet and not a gun.  Taking this as a good sign, she carefully peeled the packet open and removed a dark brown bar.  Taking it by her forefinger and thumb, she gently tossed the bar in front of him.  Giving her a look of 'Don't you dare move!’ he slowly lowered his head and sniffed at the bar.  The smell brought back memories, flashes of ladies in frilly dresses and their laughter while they popped little brown balls in their mouths and smiled.  Taking one more look in her direction, noticing that she hadn't moved, he slowly picked up the candy and started to chew.  The taste was sweet, with a nutty flavor mixed in.  He quickly swallowed the food bar and looked at her again.

	"Sorry, that's all I have on me."

Her voice clearly conveyed that she really was sorry that she couldn't give him more.  He continued to stare at her.  Waiting for her to make the next move.

	"I have more food back at my campsite.  If you promise not to bite me, I'll give you more."

This time she had more confidence in her tone, growing bolder with the fact the giant wolf hadn't attacked her, and somehow it understood her.  He studied her for a few seconds, and then moved his head up and down, chuffing through his jowls.  She looked to her left and then slowly began to step in that direction.  She continued to face him, watching to see if he moved.  He let her get several paces away before took a step to follow her.  He didn't want to panic her at this point, especially if she was willing to give him more food.  She kept looking back over her shoulder so she wouldn’t trip over any branches and she slowly walked back to her camp.
  
	She stopped at the edge of the small clearing where her tent was set up and there was a small pit dug into the ground with wood in it.  She waited for him to come closer, but he stayed several feet away.  Still not completely trusting her yet, he waited for her to go into the tent and retrieve the food she had promised.  After staring at each other for several moments, she finally broke the silence.

“You really won't bite me?"

The fear had crept back into her voice as she realized she would have to turn her back on him to open the tent and get the food.  He slowly moved his head side to side.  She shivered as she realized that the giant wolf had once again appeared to understand her question.  Moving slowly, she turned and opened the tent flap.  Reaching inside she pulled a large backpack out of the tent and carefully opened the top.  She pulled out a bag of beef jerky and slowly tossed the pieces at him one at a time.  By the third piece he was standing within throwing distance and was catching the pieces before they hit the ground.  When the bag was half empty, he looked at her and moved his head back and forth, signaling that he didn't want any more.  He continued to stare at her for a few seconds and then he licked his chops and began to look around the campsite.  He didn't see any immediate water source.  The look of recognition suddenly flashed on the woman's face as she caught on to what he was looking for.

	"Oh shit!  I bet you are really thirsty after eating all that salted beef.  Let me get you a bowl and I'll get you some water."

Her voice was normal now, with no trace of fear.  She opened another pocket on the backpack and pulled out a small silver oblong container.  She flipped open the lid and removed all the other items from inside it and set the bowl on the ground.  Reaching inside the tent again, she pulled out a large jug and filled the bowl with fresh water.  He waited for her to back up; once she was several paces away from the bowl, he stepped forward and began to lap up the cool water.  He emptied the bowl, and then stepped back.  He looked at the bowl and then at the jug in her hands.
	"You want more?"

He chuffed his response this time and waited for her refill the bowl.  She slowly walked up to the bowl and refilled it.  After she stepped back to where she had been before, he walked forward and lapped it all up, leaving the bowl slick with his saliva and blood.  Now that he had sated his hunger and thirst, the pain from his wounds returned full force.  He decided he would trust this female human.  Slowly, he lowered himself to the ground, grunting in pain as the shattered ends of his ribs shifted in the wound.  Finally resting on his side, he laid his head down and closed his good eye.  Several minutes passed before he heard her move.  He let her get within arms reach before he opened his eye and looked at her.  He didn't move his head; he just laid there looking up at her. 
 
	"What happened to you?  That looks like a bullet wound.  Did someone shoot you because you attacked them?"

Her questions just streamed together in a rush as her anxiety showed through.  He continued to just look at her, not moving.  Finally, realizing that he wasn't going to do anything but look at her, she calmed down and took a closer look at his wound.

	"How are you still alive with that gaping hole in your side?"

This time her voice had true emotion in it, she was really concerned and in awe of this giant animal.

  "You must be as tough as you are big.”

Taking one more look at the wound, she met his gaze and seemed to come to a decision.

"If our agreement still holds, I'll bandage your wounds."

For several seconds he looked into her eyes, consciously noting they were deep green with flecks of gold.  There was no deception in that gaze, just a deep concern for another living being that was hurt.  He took a deep breath, slowly releasing it though his nostrils, creating little bubbles of blood.  Taking this as a sign that he would let her treat him, she reached for her backpack and removed the first aid kit.  He watched her intently as she removed several packets and tubes.  She opened one package of gauze and tentatively reached towards the wound, watching for the first sign that this giant wolf might change its mind about sitting still for this.  When he didn't move, she touched the lower edge of the hole and began to soak up the blood.  When the gauze caught on the edge of one of the shattered ribs, he grunted in pain, but didn't move his head.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

	She continued to clean the wound with the gauze, taking extra care not to get the loose threads caught on the jagged edges of the rib bones.  Once that was done, she opened a tube of antibiotic cream and carefully rubbed it into the edges of the wound.

"I don't know what to do with this size of wound.  I've never had to deal with anything like this before.  There's too much missing for me to try and stitch it back together."

  She was kneeling there next to him with her hands resting on her thighs staring at the wound with the look of utter desperation on her face.  He slowly raised his head and carefully inching his muzzle closer, he licked the back of her hand.  She jumped and jerked her hand away from his mouth as she suddenly realized that he had moved.  Her attention had been so centered on the task before her that she hadn't noticed the movement.  When she realized that he had simply licked her hand and hadn't tried to bite, she relaxed a little and met his gaze.  

"I don't know what to do."

The desperation in her voice was clearly matched by the look on her face.  He moved his muzzle under her hand and lifted it, slowly shifting it back over to the largest packet of gauze that she had removed from the first aid kit.

	Her first reaction was to jerk her hand back when he made the move with his muzzle towards her again, but something in the look he gave her made her pause.  She let her hand be moved and when he laid her hand on top of the extra large gauze pad, her reaction was one of utter amazement.  This wolf seemed to know exactly what she had laid out and knew what it was for.  How could this be?  What sort of wild animal could ever learn what a first aid kit was, let alone have any knowledge of medical practice.  It had responded to her voice and questions as if it understood perfect English.  Was this some sort of bizarre dream?  Had she accidentally eaten some bad mushrooms and this was the result--a freaky hallucination?
  
	When she didn't immediately pick up the gauze pad and her eyes glazed over like she was going into shock, he nudged her hand again and pushed the gauze pad towards her.  She shuddered and looked down at her hand, picked up the gauze and then met his gaze.

"What ARE you?  You're not real, this is some sort of fucked up dream I'm having."

  After this last statement, the wolf just looked at her and chuffed, blowing little flecks of blood all over her hand and arm.  He carefully opened his mouth just enough to grab the edge of the gauze packet and tore the corner open.  Looking down at the packet, she shuddered again and removed the gauze from the wrapper.

"Alright, alright!  I get it.  I'll cover the wound with the gauze.  Now stop blowing blood all over my clothes."

  She unrolled the gauze, folded it into a square patch large enough to cover the entire wound, and taped it into place.

  "I don't know if this tape will hold with all that fur, but it'll stay there as long as you don't try to get up."

  She gave him a stern look that a mother would give a child, and the wolf rolled his one good eye in response.  At seeing the expression on the wolf's face, she laughed for the first time since meeting this strange beast.  Taking a closer look at his face, she grimaced and hissed.

  "There's a splinter of wood in that eyeball.  God!  I bet that hurts!"

  He just gave her one of those ‘Duh!’ looks and lowered his head to the ground.  She twisted around and reached into the first aid kit to retrieve the additional items necessary for this next bit of treatment.  Sliding over to his head she sat down and crossed her legs.  Patted her thigh to indicate where he should place his head.

"Come on, let's get this over with.  That splinter needs to come out or it will get infected and then you really will be in a bad way." 

 He rose up and she scooted forward so his massive head would lie on top of her thigh.

  "Shit! I must be crazy to let you be this close to me."

  Funny, I was thinking the very same thing, the wolf thought to himself as he laid his head in her lap.  She twisted the cap off the bottle and just before pouring it onto the wounded eye; she met his gaze.

  "This might sting a little, so don't freak out and bite me or anything, okay?" 

 He grunted and closed his eye.  Gently, she poured the saline solution into the wounded eye, washing out the blood and mucus.

"This is the part that's really going to hurt, but I have to do it."

He grunted again and kept his other eye shut.  He felt the tug and then the sensation of the long sliver being pulled free of the eyeball.  Finally it was over and the relief was immense.  He released the breath that he had been holding and gave a giant sigh of relief.  She poured more saline into the eye and then began to put a gauze patch over the wound.

"Now you look like a pirate."

After she said it, she laughed.  He opened his good eye and looked up at her.  Then she really started laughing as she realized how totally bizarre the whole situation was.
  
	He started to get mad over the fact that she was laughing at his pain.  Then he stopped, and soaked up the sound of her laugh.  It was so nice to hear a female laugh, especially one that looked this nice.  He finally let go of his tension and slowly closed his eye, slipping down into unconsciousness.