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Chapter 10

She could smell the rabbit in the wind. It wasn't far away, just a few dozen yards, in the tall grass. It wouldn't fill her like a deer would, but it would satisfy her hunger nonetheless.

Dropping her nose to the ground she crept forward, the rabbit's scent growing stronger. Swiveling her ears forward, she listened for any sign the rabbit had detected her. Just a little further...

There, only a couple yards away, she saw it. In the tall grass, a gray rabbit was nibbling on some greens it had found. As it came into view, it finally noticed her and bolted, but it was far too late for the rodent. Her paws dug into the ground as she shot after it. After a few paces, her hind paws launched her into the air and she opened her jaw wide as she started to fall...

Sophia woke up from her dreams feeling sore. Not in her lady bits, although they certainly felt well used, but in her joints. The aches were dull, like what one had during a bout of the flu. They faded as she sat up and stretched, priming her muscles for the day, but didn't disappear entirely. As she sat there, she realized she had fallen asleep naked and then the night before came rushing back, causing her to blush despite being alone.

Wow, I was horny, she absently brushed her finger along her folds; they were still sticky from her previous night's activities. Her body jerked slightly when her finger brushed her clit. Still am.

The image of the wolves humping played through her mind again and felt her heart beat faster. She shook herself. I can't believe that turned me on; what is wrong with me?

Forcing herself to ignore her feelings of arousal, she got out of bed. Her legs and feet felt a bit sore as she stood, but those feelings quickly faded as she walked around her room. At her dresser, she selected a pair of jeans, panties and a bra. However, she hesitated when she looked over her shirts; the one on top was a purple long sleeve shirt with a howling wolf on it. Seeing it brought uncomfortably tantalizing images to her mind and her face warmed. Instead, she decided to go with the red blouse next to it. She swiftly shut the dresser drawer while averting her eyes from the sweatshirt.

After finishing with her morning routine, she went into the kitchen. To Sophia's surprise, her father was sitting at the table. He was sitting in his usual spot with a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice. He looked up as Sophia came in, his eyes were red and heavy from yet another late night spent at a bar.

"Morning Sophia," he greeted her, his voice a bit hoarse.

"Morning dad," she replied, heading to grab a cereal bowl for herself. "Up early?"

"John asked me to come out today so we could get his fences fixed ahead of the big snowstorm," he explained, before taking another bite.

"Snowstorm?" Sophia repeated in surprise, fingers tightening on her bowl.

"Oh, you didn't hear?" Sophia's dad asked, setting down his spoon. "Radio said to expect our first big snow this weekend. Rain turning to heavy snow; at least ten inches."

This news hit Sophia like a ton of bricks. If a big snowstorm hit, there was no way she would be able to get out to see her wolf.

"When will it be over?" she asked, hoping it wouldn't last longer than Saturday morning.

"It's supposed to start tomorrow evening and stop sometime early Sunday morning," her dad replied, crushing her hopes. "You work tomorrow or Saturday?"

"Both," she replied weakly.

"Don't worry about it," her dad misinterpreted her distress. "I'll be able to pick you up and drop you off in the truck."

"Oh, okay, that would be great," Sophia answered, trying to inject some enthusiasm into her voice.

Satisfied, her father went back to eating, leaving Sophia to grapple with her disappointment. On the face of it, the storm was keeping her from doing something ridiculous. There was no way the wolf could possibly have understood her when she said she'd come back this weekend. As far as the wolf was concerned, human speech was just a series of meaningless noises. Nor would it have any concept of time beyond day or night.

Well, at least it will spare me from my own foolishness, Sophia sourly poured cereal and milk into her bowl.

Yet, she couldn't shake the feeling the wolf had understood on some level. Perhaps not when precisely, but her intent to return. If so, hopefully he would understand if she wasn't able to come this weekend.

Next weekend then, Sophia sat down across from her father and ate in silence.

---

To Sophia's surprise, her dad made good on his promise to pick her up after work Friday night. He had come into the store just before the end of her shift, purchased a few things and then told her he'd be out front. As he had said, he was parked outside in his black pickup truck as she exited the store. After a long day at school and work, she was admittedly thankful to clamber out of the swirling cold and snow into the heated interior.

"Evening," her dad greeted her. "How was work?"

"It was work," Sophia replied, placing her backpack between her feet on the floor. "Lots of people shopping ahead of the storm. Thanks for picking me up."

"I wouldn't let you freeze in this," he grinned.

Except the times you have, Sophia forced a weak smile, but said nothing.

It had begun raining not long after she had arrived for her shift and had transitioned to snow not long before the end. Now, it was coming down thick and heavy. Although the parking lot and roads didn't have any accumulation yet, the vegetation was accented in white and it was thickening rapidly. Her dad pulled away from the store and drove carefully towards home. Letting her dad focus on driving, Sophia watched the falling snow out the front window.

By the time they pulled into their driveway, the roads had become a wintery mess and the driveway looked like it had been covered by a thin white blanket. Sophia's dad entered their garage, parked and turned the ignition off.

Her dad whistled softly, "quite the night".

"Yeah, glad I'm not out in it," Sophia replied gratefully while opening her door. "Thanks again."

"No big deal," her dad responded and smiled in the way Sophia had once found reassuring.

She grabbed a bag of groceries from behind her seat, shut the truck's door and then opened the door to their house. Her dad shut the door behind them before setting his bags on the table.

"I'm going to go change," Sophia told him after helping put groceries away.

"Alright," he acknowledged. "I'll fix us something to eat."

Sophia went back to her room and changed into a set of warm pajamas. When she came back to the home's common area, her dad had turned the TV on to a college football game and was sitting in the living room with a can of beer. The microwave was running in the kitchen.

"I'm making a couple of frozen burritos if you want one," he told her before turning his attention back to the TV.

"Uh, sure, thanks," Sophia forced a weak smile. "I guess I'll be in my bedroom."

"Okay," her dad replied without looking away from the TV. "Love you."

"Love you too," Sophia said automatically, but without much feeling.

Briefly, she felt a strong desire to head outside and try to find the wolf, the weather be damned. However, the sound of a strong gust of wind rattling the windows killed that idea in its crib and she sighed miserably before heading to her room. Turning on the light in her room, she went to stand by her window and looked out at the blowing snow. It was coming down thick and fast now, and it had accumulated to the point she could no longer see any grass.

I hope you found somewhere warm, she pictured the wolf curled up under a tree.

Stepping away from the window, she grabbed her sketchpad and lay on her bed. On the open page was a partially completed sketch of the wolf and her looking out over the valley. Considering for a moment, she grabbed her pencil and made a few strategic erasures before resuming work on the drawing. A bit of shading here, a couple of lines there...

After a bit, she stopped and examined her work. As she had originally set out to draw the night before, it was her and the wolf, but she had modified herself to have the wolfish features she had had the week before. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she felt a surge of melancholy. It had been terrifying, but she had also felt at peace with herself for the first time she could remember.

To feel that way again, she moved a strand of hair from her all too human ear. Is that too much to ask?

Not knowing what else to do, she closed the sketchpad and got ready for bed.

As her dad had said it would, it continued to snow through the night and into the next day. By the time she had woken up, almost half a foot covered the driveway. In Woodbury, a mere six inches was no reason to close a store and she still had to get ready for her morning shift. She woke her dad and the two of them spent an hour clearing the driveway. Traffic was light, and the truck didn't have too much trouble with the snow covered roads, but she still arrived a few minutes late.

Thankfully, most of the townspeople were spending the first snowstorm at home, and no one gave her flak for not being late. Truthfully, it wound up being a very dull shift, and Linda sent her home two hours early when the afternoon cashier came in. By that time of the day, the snowfall had lightened considerably, but the wind was blowing the snow in thick white clouds. Under these conditions it took almost half an hour for her dad to arrive from the time she called him.

"Sorry, I had to shovel a bit to get the truck out," her dad apologized as she clambered into the truck. "No customers?"

"It's been pretty dead," Sophia confirmed, shutting her door. "I think I checked out maybe ten people the whole six hours."

"I don't blame people," he replied. "Roads are lousy. Too bad about losing the money though."

"It sucks," Sophia agreed. "I'll see if I can pick up some time later in the month."

Once again, they drove the ten minutes home in silence. Although she had only driven with him occasionally in the last year, she noticed her dad was still driving far more cautiously than he had before her mother's death. Before that, her mom was constantly telling him he was driving too fast for conditions. Indeed, he had gotten into a few fender benders after hitting slippery patches in the winter. Every time that happened, he would get chewed out by her mother, especially if Sophia had been in the car. Yet, it was ultimately her mother who had died in a car accident while driving in inclement weather.

One of life's cruel ironies I guess, Sophia closed her eyes as she felt tears welling up.

"Home again," her father broke the silence as they pulled into their driveway.

Sophia saw he had cleared a strip in front of the garage, although the wind was hard at work creating a new snowdrift to block them in. Thankfully, they didn't need to go out again for the rest of the day. As if sharing her thoughts, her dad visibly relaxed as he parked the truck in their garage.

"Thanks for picking me up," Sophia said earnestly.

"Nah, don't mention it," he smiled.

Like the night before, Sophia went to get changed. After slipping on a sweatshirt, she sat on the edge of her bed and flipped to the drawing she had completed the previous night. Frustration and disappointment gripped her as she looked at the sketch and then outside. Even with the storm, she'd have much rather been out there with her furry friend than in here. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do at this point.

I'm sorry, friend, she thought, touching the sketch of the wolf. Next time.

She put the sketchpad down and went back to the living room where her father was once again sitting in front of the television. This time, he held a glass of a darker colored drink; whiskey, Sophia guessed. No matter how tight money was, her father always seemed to be able to afford alcohol.

He did manage to stay sober long enough to get me, Sophia studied him. I wonder how he managed that. Suppose I should just head to my room for the rest of the evening.

Instead, she took a seat on the far side of the couch. On the television was another football game, though she doubted he even cared who was playing. For a few minutes, she just sat, watching the game, though she had little interest in football. For his part, her dad just continued watching the game and drinking from his glass.

Finally, Sophia could take it no longer, "hey dad, you want to play a game?"

Her dad actually jumped at her voice, causing a twinge of satisfaction for her.

"A game?" he repeated in surprise, looking at her.

"Yeah, like a board game or something," she confirmed. "It's just the two of us tonight, and we haven't done it in a long time."

"Uh, yeah, sure," her dad answered, sounding quite unsure.

After a moment's hesitation, he set his drink down and turned off the television. Not knowing what she had just committed herself to, Sophia got up and walked to the hall closet where their few board and card games were kept. The family's collection of games hadn't been touched in well over a year, but they were still there, stacked awkwardly. Just seeing them brought a number of now bittersweet memories to the surface.

She looked them over, several were from her childhood - a bit young for her now - and one she had never played, but there were a couple she remembered fondly that they could still play. Selecting a dice game, she carefully slid it out of its spot in the stack, tucked it under her arm and closed the closet door. Finally, clutching it with both hands as though it were a precious heirloom she couldn't bear to lose, she brought it to the kitchen. Her dad was already at the table, looking somewhat awkward. He had taken the time to refill his glass with another round of whiskey she noticed.

"It's certainly been a long time since we played that one," he observed.

"Yeah," Sophia agreed and brought it to the table. "But I still remember how."

Opening it, she gave her dad a blank scorecard and then grabbed a couple of pencils from the drawer with office supplies. Sitting, she grabbed the cup, put the dice in and shook them onto the table.

"Not bad," her dad said, looking over the dice.

Sophia selected a few dice to reroll and shook them onto the table again. Eyeing the new rolls with some disappointment, she selected a couple more and rerolled once again. After entering the number in an appropriate place, she passed the cup to her father.

"We used to play almost every weekend," she commented as her father took his turn.

"Your mom enjoyed games," he replied simply and then chuckled. "I have a hard time sitting through them."

"I miss game nights," Sophia continued.

"Yeah, life has been tough, and there hasn't been as much time as there used to be," he responded as he entered his score.

You certainly have time to drink and be with your friends at bars, Sophia threw the dice in the cup a little harder than she intended.

"How'd fixing fences go?" she changed the subject as she rolled.

"Hmm? Oh, it went fine," her dad replied while she looked at her roll. "No big deal."

"What are you doing next week?" she asked, rolling again.

"Oh, I have some jobs lined up," her dad said, glancing away and anxiously scratching the back of his neck. "I'll be doing some plowing tomorrow."

He's hiding something, Sophia paused a moment to study him before writing down her score.

"That's good to hear," she said neutrally.

"Yep," her dad said, seeming to hesitate before he scooped up the dice and putting them in the cup. "How's school going? Still hanging with Candice?"

Huh, when was the last time he asked about my life? She took a moment to answer.

"School has been alright, nothing notable," she replied, crossing her fingers under the table. "Candice has been very busy with the student council and her other clubs, so we haven't had much time to see each other."

"That girl always did seem to want to be involved in everything," her dad laughed as he handed back the cup. "I wonder how she finds time to sleep. How about you, join any clubs?"

Sophia held the cup in surprise, "no, I've been too busy with work and school."

"I figured you'd be in a hiking club or something," her dad said thoughtfully. "You're like your mother - far happier when you're surrounded by nature. That's one of the reasons we moved here..."

An awkward silence fell at the mention of their missing loved one. Her father idly swirled his drink. Sophia finally broke it with the sound of dice falling on the table.

"Three of a kind," she said flatly, examining them.

"Huh," her dad replied distantly and then drained his drink.

He stared into the empty glass for a few moments before standing and grabbing the whisky bottle from the counter to refill his glass. Sophia pressed her lips together, but held her tongue.

"I had wanted to get outside this weekend," she tried picking up where they had left off. "Can't do that now."

"Well, you can help me shovel," he said, coming back to the table.

"I meant, hike through the hills or something," she clarified.

"Ah," he replied. "Well, the driveway still needs shoveling. Anyway, we should hurry it up, the Idaho State game starts in fifteen minutes."

Whatever connection to her father Sophia was starting to feel faded away and she was left feeling empty once again. She stiffly passed the cup over to him and he picked it up before dumping it out on the table. He grunted in displeasure as he looked over the roll before stiffly gathering up four of the dice. Then he rolled before taking another drink.

A sudden fury seized Sophia and she stood before biting out, "this wasn't what I wanted to be doing this weekend either you know. I thought it would be nice doing something together for once, but I guess not. Enjoy your game and booze."

"Sophia..." her dad said, sounding surprised, but she ignored him and stalked off to her room.

Sophia roughly shut her door, lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Part of her hoped her dad would come and try to make things right, but she was entirely unsurprised to hear the sound of the television after a few minutes.

Grabbing her sketchbook, she looked at the picture of her with the wolf longingly.

"You're lucky you're not human," she said aloud to the picture as a tear fell down her cheek.