Page 9 of His Hungry Wolf

Exhausted and feeling like my legs were on fire, I eventually stopped. With my head lowered, I struggled for breath. I remembered this feeling. It was how I had felt when the loneliness got too much for me.

When the world felt like it would collapse around me, I ran. Whether as a wolf or human, running was the only thing that helped me keep things together. Running quieted my mind enough to be the person I had to be.

Standing as my swirling mind slowed, I looked around. I knew where I was. I was at one of the stopping points on Titus’s tour. In front of me was a pond that connected to the stream that flowed by our office. Further upstream, it connected to a river that began at the mountains. With the lush green trees surrounding it, it was beautiful, peaceful.

Needing to talk to someone, I returned to the office, shifted back and got dressed. Pulling out my phone, I called the only one I knew would answer.

“Claude, what’s up?” Titus said in his usual cheerful voice.

I paused before I spoke. Why had I called him? I had needed to hear his voice? Did I just need to know that I wasn’t alone?

“Claude?”

“Yeah, sorry. My phone slipped.”

Titus laughed. “So, what’s up?”

“Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No. I just left class. I’m walking back to my dorm. Is Cali with you?”

“No. I was, ah, I was calling to let you know that I got the keys yesterday. We officially have an office.”

“That’s fantastic! Does it feel like home?” Titus joked.

“It feels like a practical space to work from,” I clarified choosing my words carefully.

Titus laughed. “Of course you’d say that. Well, I’ll be up tomorrow to help you move the equipment in. I’m sure Mama will be happy to have it out of the yard.”

“I’m sure she will.” I paused considering what I would say next. “You know, a funny thing happened when I got there this morning.”

“What? Is it leaking already?”

“Nothing like that,” I said as I turned to walk back to the office. “Someone was there.”

“Yeah? Who? Was it a customer?”

“No. It was someone I knew from university. He was an assistant coach on the football team.”

“Really? How did you know him?”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean, what do I mean? How did you know him?”

“He was an assistant coach on the football team and I played on the team. Although, I guess I knew him socially as well.”

There was silence on the other side of the phone.

“Wait. Back up for a second there. You were on the football team at university?”

“Yeah,” I said knowing that I had avoided the topic until now. “Haven’t I mentioned it?”

“No you haven’t mentioned it!” Titus replied stunned. “Are you telling me that in all of the time we’ve been working together, you’ve heard me talk about everything going on with my team and you never once thought to mention that you played ball at university?”

“It didn’t come up,” I told him.

“It didn’t come up? Don’t you think that’s one of those things that you bring up?”