___

The rest of the night, I couldn't get the wolf out of my head. Every time I closed my eyes, I just saw golden eyes staring back at me.

I was sitting at the kitchen table when my grandparent's came in. I sniffed the air and loved what I was smelling.

"Bailey, are you home?"

"Yeah, in the kitchen." I said, putting my plate and cup in the sink.

"How was shopping?"

My grandma put her bags down on the counter and my grandpa said hello and then went upstairs. "It was good. I got some more clothes and shoes, mostly stuff I lost in the fire."

"That's good honey. I have some leftovers from the restaurant, do you want some?"

I shook my head, "No thanks, I just had some waffles. I'm actually going to head up to bed."

My grandma gave me a kiss on the head and then I went upstairs, where I dreamed of the wolf all night long.

***

The next morning, I woke up on the ground outside. Confused, I sat up and realized that I was in the woods. I panicked, not knowing how I even got out here. All I remember was falling asleep in my bed and dreaming of the wolf with golden eyes.

Looking around, I realized that I needed to get home. The sun was just rising and I knew that if my grandma saw me, I would get into trouble. She didn't even want me out here.

I looked around and felt like someone was watching me again. The smell of cinnamon and wood filled my senses again and I had a feeling that the black wolf was near. I stood up and when I began to walk back to the house, the wolf emerged from the bushes. I stopped and stared at it. The wolf was beautiful with shiny fur and gold eyes. The wolf was almost as tall as me, which should have scared me but It didn't.

The wolf came closer to me and I outstretched my hand again and let it smell my hand. Once it realized that I wasn't a threat, the wolf came closer and let me pet it. My hand went through its fur, loving the silky feelings and the electricity I felt when I did it.

I slowly removed my hand from the wolf and stared into its eyes. The wolf's eyes were beautiful and I felt like it could see right through me.

"This is so weird. I'm petting a wild wolf. Fuck, I'm talking to a wolf. It's not like you can understand me but I need to get home. I don't know how I ended up out here. I fell asleep in my bed at home and woke up out here. I need to get home because my grandma might have a heart attack if she realizes that I'm even out here. She warned me to never come into the woods because of wolves like you."

When I said that, the wolf pinned his ears and growled. "Hey, but don't worry, you're nice and I don't think you're going to hurt me. My grandma just wants me to be safe but for some reason, I can't get you out of my head. How crazy is that? A wolf is flooding my head. I really need to go but I'll come back tomorrow and maybe you'll be here too?"

The wolf's ears perked up and I couldn't help but smile. He was like a giant puppy. I began walking back to my grandparent's house. I walked a little faster when I saw the house and before I knew it, I was running. I was smiling the whole time, missing the feeling of running and the wind blowing through my hair. When I stopped running, I wasn't out of breath and felt like I could run forever. I was at the back door and before walking inside, I stopped and turned around to see the wolf sitting at the edge of the woods.

When I went back into the house, I went into the bathroom to shower since I had slept on the ground outside all night. I felt dirty and gross and decided that a shower might make me feel better. When I looked in the mirror, I almost screamed. I blinked five times and my eyes still were that golden color that memorized me so much.

What the actual fuck is going on.

***

Later on in the day, I decided to go back into town in hopes of finding a job and maybe shop a little more to take my mind off of the wolf. My dad gave me his truck to take and I happily took the keys.

When I made it into town, I went to a store that I didn't go in yesterday. I parked the truck and went inside, exploring everything they had. I went to the candy aisle, hoping to find some blue gummy sharks. When I found what I was looking for, I turned around and ended up bumping into someone, causing me to drop everything that I was carrying.

"Oh gosh, I am so sorry." I said, bending down to pick up the things I had dropped. I looked up and saw a cute guy helping me as well. He had black hair and amazing cheek bones and for some reason, I felt like I had seen him before.

"Don't worry about it. I wasn't paying attention either."

We both stood up once everything was picked up and he handed me a few things as well. Our hands briefly touched and I felt a shock which caused me to jerk my hand away from him.

"Sorry," I said. How many times am I going to say sorry?

"Really, it's okay. I'm Chance. Chance Hayes."

"Hi, I'm Bailey Scotts."

"Are you new here? I feel like I haven't ever seen you before?"

I nodded, "My parents and I moved here a few days ago. We live with my grandparents, out near the woods."

His face lit up, "Yeah, that's Clarence and Linda's place, right?"

"Yeah, you know them?"

"They sometimes help my family out with our family business."

I placed my makeup and candy into the small basket I had. "Oh, what does your family?"

Chance gave me a weird look. "We sort of own the town."

I was a little confused. How do you sort of own a town? "Like a mayor?"

Chance nodded. "Yeah, sort of like that. I have to get going now or else I'm going to be late for work. I'll tell your grandparents I saw you."

"Okay, it was nice meeting you, Chance."

"You too, Bailey. Hopefully I'll see you around."

And just like that, he was gone.

____________