Recurring Dream

I pause, the need for breath now overtaking the need to run with my pack. Panting with exhaustion from the speed of our route through the forest, I look up at the sky. I close my eyes a brief moment, remembering a time only a few months earlier when I had felt completely lost. I hadn't remembered anything, fear and uncertainty running through me.

Eventually, it had become clear. My pack, ever loyal, had tracked me down and taken me in as one of their own once more. I soon discovered that I'd been missing, they'd lost track of exactly how long I'd been gone. A long time was all they could tell me. My first memory, waking up in that forest, was the first time they'd sensed me since I disappeared.

My pack tell me that you don't remember anything when you switch. My first memory, they tell me, even though I'm human in this memory, is when I first started to change back.

Her light brown, wavy, glossy hair flies gently as the wind coming in through the open window sets it afloat. She turns around, smiling at the sight of me. Her plump, naturally pink lips turn up further at the corners, her chocolate eyes sparkling as the sun hits them. Her whole face with it's pale, milky complexion is aglow.

I let out an involuntary shiver as the image in my mind disappears, chilling me to the bone. Beside me, a member of my pack cocks his head to the side, are you ok? I shrug my shoulders, and his eyes widen in warning. We need to run again. If your heart rate gets too low, you change, and it was excruciating enough the first time around, let alone doing it all over again.

As we gain speed, my heart starts to race again, until it is hammering in my chest. My breathing
 is heavy, yet steady and I begin to pant. The last thing I hear is a loud howl before everything disappears, yet I can still feel my paws hit the ground.

"Barney," she whispers as she approaches, her smile somewhat seductive. I feel myself tense as she reaches out, lightly brushing her fingertips along my forearm, and a pleasent shiver runs right through me. "Barney," she says again and I close my eyes at her caress.
"Rose,"

When my vision returns to me, I vigurously shake my head and begin to run again. This time, my pack is nowhere near me. But I just keep running aimlessly, as my thoughts consume most of my mind. That voice... her voice... it sounds strangely familiar, and I wonder whether I've heard it before. I wonder where it comes from. Who she is.

I've lost track of how long I've been running for. But I know this. I am lost from my pack. I am lone now. I reach a mountain top and take a moment to regain breath. Looking up toward the sun in the sky, I howl.
"Barney," comes the voice again, a whisper in the wind. I shiver. That voice.. Why is it so familiar?

She wraps her arms around me, and I squeeze her tight, kissing the side of her neck. "Rose," I say, throwing my head back and closing my eyes.
"Barney," she echoes.

Suddenly, the image is in my head. Her face. Her dark, sparkling eyes, her soft lips, her pale, smooth skin. The next thing I know, I am running. I don't know where. I know only that my feet are carrying me as fast as they can. I focus on steadying my breath. My body must know something that my mind does not.

There she is, running. She crashes into me then pulls away. She is frightened. Until she meets my eyes. Then, she knows somehow. "Barney," she whispers, wrapping her arms around my furry neck and folding into me. Her voice. That voice. It's her.

I am stationary, but my heart is running fast ahead of me. Unable to speak in my wolf form, I settle for simply nuzzling her cheek with my wet nose. I feel her smile and I know somehow that this is really where I belong.
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Sequel to 'The  Silent Haunt'