The next morning I woke up alone. I laid in bed for a long while, just thinking.

Thinking about Caleb.

Thinking about what his grandmother said to me.

Thinking about if she was right.

I moved to roll out of bed and hissed as a pain shot through my neck, like I'd slept on it wrong. Rubbing my hand across the day old bandage, I ventured into the bathroom. I was never one to rip off a band aid. It stung as the adhesive pulled my skin.

The wound underneath was still raw but no longer bleeding. After discovering the first aid kit under the sink, I ran a washcloth under warm water and cleaned my mark.

I liked that I could feel what Caleb was feeling, but it usually took me by surprise. At the moment I wasn't feeling anything from him. However, I was curious to see what I'd feel if I tried.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and thought of him. I could feel his presence. I could feel that he was alive and safe, but I wasn't getting any certain emotion out of him.

The sound of the front door opening broke my concentration.

"Shit," I said. I closed the bathroom door, locking it.

Even if I put a new bandage on, there was no normal explanation as to why I had it.

"Birdie, you home?" My grandmother called from downstairs.

"I'll be down in a minute!" I called back.

I quickly covered my mark and returned the first aid kit under the sink, before cracking open the bathroom door to make sure she was still downstairs.

With the coast being clear I snuck back to my room, closing the door behind me. I grabbed a hoodie off the back of my desk chair and pulled it on.

If I bunched up the hood on the side of my neck it covered the bandage. It looked odd but not too much to draw attention.

Once downstairs I saw her baggage first. It was a suitcase and a duffle on the kitchen floor.

"So, how'd you fair without me?" She asked, emerging from her room.

"Well, I'm alive," I joked, smoothly avoiding her hug to head to the coffee maker. "How was your trip?"

"It was fine, a lot of books, a lot of signing," she said, taking a seat at the table. "Are you doing anything today?"

The coffee maker gurgled as it heated up the water inside.

"Some homework," I shrugged, leaning against the counter.

"We should do something, I feel like I've barely seen you," she said.

I found myself a mug as she checked her phone.

"The weather is supposed to be nice today, let's go for a hike. There's a great trail we can get to through the back yard," she said.

"Um...I don't know," I said.

I only learned the night before that it was werewolves attacking hikers.

"Come on, it'll be fun," she said, getting up from the table and going into her room. "Go get dressed!"

I needed to come up with an excuse, but what was I going to say?

'Sorry grandma, I'm scared that we're going to be attacked by a giant wolf if we go into the woods.'

"I've got a lot of homework," I said.

"Birdie, I didn't get to see you all weekend will you please just go on a hike with me?" She asked, walking out of her room. "We'll be gone for an hour at most."

I reluctantly went up to my room, not knowing what else I could say. I didn't want to upset her, but I also didn't want anyone getting hurt.

I was fine when I went hiking with my friends, but that could only have been because Caleb was there.

Then again, I wasn't even supposed to know that the hikers were being attacked by werewolves. It most likely wasn't as dangerous as I was making it out to be in my head.

I changed into jeans and wrapped a scarf around my neck for good measure. On my way out of my room I grabbed my bag.

Downstairs my grandmother was dressed and waiting in the living room.

"You're bringing your bag?" She asked, walking over to the entry way.

"Yeah," I said, "it's got all my hiking stuff. Bug spray, sunscreen."

Shoving her feet in her boots she stood by the door and waited for me to do the same.

The trail was right off the back yard. I barely saw it from how thin it was at the beginning. The further we followed the more it filled out.

"How are you and Caleb?" She asked. She'd picked up a large stick and was using it to walk with.

"Um...we're good," I said, shrugging.

"Are you two together?" She asked.

"Yeah," I said, wondering where she was going with this.

"I'm not going to have to ask you to be safe am I?" She said, turning around to face me.

I scoffed, "I've taken Sex Ed, like, twice."

"So you're using condoms?"

"I never said we've had sex," I said, not wanting to continue the conversation.

"Have you?" She asked. I didn't answer her, just bit the inside of my cheek and kept quiet. "So you're using condoms?"

"I'm on birth control," I said, walking past her.

"That doesn't protect you from STDs," she said, keeping up with me.

"Caleb doesn't have any STDs," I said. I was beginning to feel very uncomfortable.

"How do you know that? Because he said so? How do you know you can trust him?"

"Holy shit, can you back off?" I yelled. I stopped walking and looked at her. "This is really intrusive."

Her expression was shocked. She was surprised at my outburst.

"I'm sorry, but I don't feel like talking about this-"

"Birdie-"

"No, I already had a mom I don't need you to parent me I'm practically an adult-"

"Birdie look out!" She yelled, grabbing my arm and pulling me to the ground.

A large animal jumped over us and shook the ground as it landed. My grandmother put an arm over me protectively as I looked up and saw the creature before us.

A red wolf stood tall in front of us, his lips curled barring his teeth.

"Don't move," she whispered to me, her grip on me tight.

The wolf growled in response, taking a threatening step forward.

"We have to make ourselves seem big," she said starting to stand.

"No!" I said, grabbing her and pulling her back next to me.

She was treating this situation like she would with any ordinary wolf. Make yourself seem big. Stake your claim. Prove your dominance.

But I could tell from the size alone that this was no ordinary wolf, and if we tried to prove our dominance we would surely lose.

"We should just back away slowly," I said.

The wolf growled again. He knew what I was saying. I could tell from the menacing look in his eyes that he had no intention of letting us leave.

"Run," I said.

"Birdie-"

"Run!" I yelled, pushing her in the direction of the house.

I could outrun her easily but I paced myself, letting her take the lead. It was no use, the wolf was directly behind us, snapping at my ankles.

He sunk his teeth into my bag and threw me to the ground.

My head hit a rock, flat but hard. Everything became fuzzy for a few seconds. I blinked hard trying to gain back control of my consciousness when I heard her scream.

I struggled to sit up, but once I did I saw the large wolf standing over my grandmother. Her leg was in his mouth as she screamed in pain.

The adrenaline took over my body quickly, so quickly I didn't even notice the pounding in my head anymore.

I scrambled for a couple rocks, stood, and rocketed them towards the wolf's head.

He yelped and dropped my grandmother's leg, shaking his head before setting his sights on me.

That's when my memory prevailed.

I slipped off my back pack and ripped open the front pocket where I had stashed the bear spray my grandmother gave me the day I went hiking with the senior class.

I pulled out the can and aimed it at the wolf. He had already began charging me. I closed my eyes and flinched away from the attacker as I sprayed him.

I sprayed until the can was empty. I tossed it at him as he struggled for breath.

My grandmother was barely conscious as I threw one of her arms around my shoulders and leaned her weight against me, struggling to get us out of here.

I dug my hand into my pocket for my phone, then quickly noticed that I had no signal.

"Fuck!" I cried, throwing my phone to the ground.

I fell to my knees, laying my grandmother back on the trail.

"Please don't die. Please don't die," I cried quietly as I dug through her pockets for her phone.

The operator answered. I could barely remember what happened other than the feeling of panic and the operator asking me repeatedly to calm down, as if that was possible.

I was able to carry her out of the woods by the time they came. She'd lost consciousness despite my pleas for her to stay awake. She'd lost so much blood.

The ride in the ambulance was a blur, the pounding in my head returned as the adrenaline swiftly left.

"I'm fine," I said numerous times when the paramedics turned their attention to me.

I wasn't allowed to go any further than the waiting room once we'd arrived at the hospital.

That's when I'd felt the most helpless.

She'd lost so much blood.

I couldn't lose anyone else.

I never picked my phone back up after I tossed it away on the trail.

My voice was quiet and dry as I walked up to the receptionist and asked to use the phone. I surprised myself that I remembered Caleb's number.

"Hello?" He answered, his voice immediately bringing me comfort.

"Caleb-" I sobbed.

"What happened? Where are you?" He asked, now panicked. I could feel his fear.

"I'm at the hospital," I said, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"I'm on my way," he said, hanging up.

It didn't take him long to get there. I was sitting on one of the chairs in the waiting room when he burst through the doors. His chest was heaving and his eyes frantically searched the room for me.

I ran to him without hesitation. His presence brought so much comfort, I couldn't help but be grateful for it.

He held me tight against him while I cried into his chest.

"What happened?" He asked, his breathing heavy. He must've ran here.

"My grandma and I went on a hike in the woods, and there was a wolf, and it attacked us-" I was cut off by a sob escaping my throat.

"You're okay," he soothed, kissing the top of my head and holding me tighter.

"My grandma, she's really hurt," I sniffled, "they don't know if she's gonna make it. She lost a lot of blood."

"She'll be okay," he said. He was trying to calm me down but I could feel that he was just saying what I wanted to hear.

"I can't do this again," I said.

"You won't," he said, "she'll be okay."

He pulled my head away from his chest, getting a good look at me.

"Your head," he said, moving some hair out of the way to look at my wound.

"I'm fine-"

"You're not fine Birdie, you're bleeding. Did they even bother to look at you?" He said. He was angry. Walking over to the reception desk he grabbed the attention of the nurse. "My girlfriend is bleeding can you please have a doctor see her?"

"Caleb, really I'm okay," I said, the pounding in my head had lessened since being here but it was still painful.

"I'd like a doctor to confirm that, if that's alright with you?" He said sarcastically, smirking.

I scoffed, hissing at the pain it brought.

A young man walked up to us soon after, leading me to a bed.

After shining a light in my eyes and taking my vitals he spoke, "It looks like you have a concussion. I suggest you go home and rest." He moved my hair out of the way before cleaning my wound and putting a small bandage over the cut.

"Can she even sleep with a concussion?" Caleb asked.

"As long as she's responsive and able to hold a conversation she'll be fine," he said.

"I'll take you home," Caleb said.

"No," I said, turning to the doctor, "I want to stay. My grandmother is in surgery."

"The best thing for you to do right now is to go home and relax," he told me.

"I'll bring you back bright and early in the morning," Caleb said, holding out his hand for me. "I promise," he added, seeing my reluctance.

I took his hand and let him lead me out of the emergency room.

"I don't have a car," I said.

"I'll call Jack, he'll bring my truck."

Jack was at the hospital in a matter of minutes, the pack house only being a few miles away.

"Hey Birdie, you okay?" He asked as he got out of the truck and handed the keys over to Caleb.

I just nodded before walking past him and getting in. I didn't feel like talking much.

Caleb got in the drivers side and started the truck up.

"Your place or mine?"

A/N: Hey everyone, sorry for the lack of updates. I'll see you all bright and early Monday morning. Don't forget to vote and comment letting me know what you think!