Page 80 of The Wild Man

Teeja first came to me years ago. I was out hunting and was just getting ready to kill a fox for dinner when I heard a yelp off in the distance. The sound startled the fox and he took off. When the yelp came again, I could tell whatever it was, was in pain. I went searching for the animal, thinking it would be my dinner instead since it scared off the fox. I came across a wolf pup that had gotten stuck in a tangle of vines. He was so young that he was probably still feeding from its noeny.

Instead of killing the pup, I freed it from its trap. Most of the wild animals in the forest keep to their own kind and don’t mingle with other creatures. I expected the pup to take off as soon as it was free, but it walked up to me, sat on its hind legs, and stared right into my eyes, like he was thanking me for freeing him. When I left the area, it followed. I didn’t know where its noeny was. I had seen other wolf families before, so I knew females usually had more than one pup. This one was alone though. Maybe the family had died.

I didn’t shoo the pup away when he followed me back home. I had been alone for so long that it was nice to have another life near. I shared the little bit of meat I had left from the day before with the pup. He stuck around for days, following me everywhere I went, before he left. But he kept coming back.

Teeja walks up to me now and nudges my arm. With effort and searing pain, I lift my arm and lay my hand on top of his head between his ears. I once saved him all those years ago and now he’s helped save me.

“Go to family, Teeja,” I tell the wolf. My voice is deep and scratchy. “I’m good now.”

He licks the underside of my upper arm then looks at me like he’s asking if I’m sure.

I scratch the top of his head. “Go to Vena.”

He looks at me with eyes that look like the sky before he turns and trots away.

I slump against the log, my eyes feeling like something heavy is trying to pull them closed. The pain in my side is getting worse again since I sat up, so I let myself slowly fall over on the side that doesn’t hurt as much.

Every time I wake up, I feel a little stronger and it’s a little easier to move. As much as I want to force my body up and make it work properly, I know I can’t. I need to sleep and heal.

I don’t know where momor’s family took her. When I was a boy living in the wild, after Peepa and Noeny were eaten by the big bear, I wandered around for days and days, looking for a way out or for someone to find me. I was scared and lonely. I cried and screamed, but I learned fast to keep quiet, because there were animals nearby that I knew would eat me too. I never found a way out or another person. By the time I was older, grew stronger, and knew I could find my way out, I no longer wanted to. The thought of leaving this place was frightening. My memories of the world beyond the wild were faded. I liked where I was. I felt safe here, so I stayed.

Now it’s time I leave. My female is in the big world, and somehow, I’ll find her and bring her back.

twenty-eight

Everlee

If looks could kill, Dad would be dead on the floor right now. I love the man, I really do, but I do not like him right now. In fact, I’m teetering on the edge of loathing him, something I’ve never felt for him before. And my brothers, each are lining up behind Dad, walking a thin line, barely balancing on my ‘like’ meter.

It’s been ten days since they found me and none of them have relented on letting me go find Wild Man. I never expected they’d let me go on my own, but I was hoping they’d eventually agree if one or more went with me. I truly understand their refusal. Their reasons are valid. But I’ll be damned if they’ll stop me from going, so their wisest choice would be to let me go with an escort, because if they don’t, I’ll find a way to go on my own.

“You can hate it all you want,” I tell Dad, straightening my spine and putting steel in my voice. “But you won’t stop me. I will be going. Nothing other than death will keep me from finding him.”

From over to my left, Mad takes a step toward me. I swing my gaze his way and point my finger at him. “You stay the hell away from me.”

He stops, his brows raising at my aggressive tone and the fire spewing from my eyes. I’m still pissed at him and Spencer for holding me down on the bed that day.

They. Fucking. Drugged. Me.

Like I was a mentally unstable patient in a hospital.

“This right here goes to show how foolish you’re being, Ever,” Dad says, and I whip my gaze back to him. “For you to think, even for a moment, that I would allow you anywhere near that man again. You’re not in your right goddamn mind.”

“Allow me to?” My tone is deceptively calm when on the inside, I’m fuming so hot I feel the flames of my rage heating my skin. I am so fucking over them keeping me from doing this. “And how exactly are you going to stop me? Tie me to my bed? Lock me in my room? Put bars on my windows?” I lean forward. “Hold me down and force a needle in my arm again? Keep me drugged and imprisoned? That would make you worse than Wild Man.”

Something flickers in his eyes. They skitter from me for a brief moment before coming back. I’ve never doubted Dad’s love, and I don’t now, so I know what he did bothers him. Just not enough to let me go. And I’m not sure if it’s enough to not do it again. I want to say he wouldn’t, but I wouldn’t have thought he would do it the first time either.

“I won’t apologize for what I did,” he says unrepentantly. “You needed to calm down and that was the fastest and safest way to do it.”

I ignore that. Not because I believe it’s true, but because it’s a moot point. The deed has been done and nothing either of us can say will change it. All it proves is what Dad and my brothers are capable of.

All of a sudden, my anger and animosity drains out of me. I deflate and the weight on my shoulders feels too heavy for me to carry. The stress of the last week has drained so much of my energy. My thoughts of Wild Man and the condition he’s in—if he’s even alive—has consumed my every waking moment. And the longer I don’t know the answer, the bigger the hole in my heart gets. Anytime my brain tells me there’s a real possibility he’s dead, I snap the doors closed to those thoughts, refusing to entertain the idea. He can’t be dead. He’s lived in the wild for over twenty years, fought deadly animals much stronger than my family, survived two rattlesnake bites and a cougar attack at a young age. He has to be alive.

“I love him, Daddy,” I say, my voice much lower now that the strength has left my body. “I love him so much that it feels like my soul is shriveling up and dying and my life force is fading. I know you can’t understand that, but it’s the truth.”

“You can’t love him.”

“Why not? Because you say so?” My smile is flat and lifeless. “You may be the smartest man I know, but right now you’re incredibly stupid. You know love works in mysterious ways. It doesn’t let you pick who you or I choose. It picks you and matches you with the person who’s perfect for you. Wild Man may not be the typical man and our time may have started out rough, but there is no other man out there that I would choose over him. He’s the only man I would ever choose.”