being out tonight was a bad idea; a really bad idea, actually, if the general vibe of barton hollow was any indication. these past few days leading up to the full moon had been some of the most tense and unsettling he’d experienced in a while; of course his imagination had run away with him entirety on why. full moon, town with weird happenings - it had to be werewolves.
he shouldn’t have been out, but he was. callum was always out after dark these days, phone at the ready to record and always on the lookout. he never went out this far, though, finding himself in the thick of a nearby wood, having followed a small pack of wolves into the darkness. but he was just a human with a camera, and somewhere along the way he’d both lost the path, lost the wolves, and lost his sense of direction.
finding the white wolf settled silently among the nighttime and underbrush was like finding a ray of real-life moonlight dusting with mars-red around their paws and mouth. he’d tried to approach, simply out of curiosity and wonder, but it also seemed to be wild, hearing him instantly and growing agitated and defensive.
“ whoa whoa whoa, ” he said quietly, hands coming up around his chest - surrender, vulnerability, a block just in case it pounced. “ i’m sorry. i didn’t mean to scare you. it’s just me. ” like the thing could understand. but maybe it could ? he half-hoped his suspicions about the werewolves thing was right, just this one time. “ not gonna hurt you. i promise. ” but one hand did have his phone in it, which - with a few swipes of his thumb while still not looking away from the wold, go him for his millennial multitasking - had begun to record.
for a moment he stood still, the darkness crowding in around them, the only light coming from the full moon high above them, casting silver glows on the surrounding area. “ can you… understand me ? ” he asked then, still evening-soft, not wanting to upset or scare the creature before him.
well, he was certainly no hunter, that much was abundantly clear. the wolf exhaled quickly - the closest thing she could express to an amused chuckle - as she briefly considered how best to communicate that she could indeed understand him and still intended to kill him, maybe present his broken and bloodied body to her alpha as an offering and proof of her abilities... but then again, would this skinny mundane boy even be considered a worthy kill? perhaps not for someone of her experience level, and she’d eaten her fill for now; why steal the kill from a wolf who had more need of it? there was no doubt he’d be dead before the night was through, regardless. she’d never understand why humans insisted on ignoring every warning and plunging themselves directly into harm’s way, but he’d come all this way. she might as well play along.
she stood silently for a moment, listening for the rest of her pack; they never liked it when she played with their food, but they were busy with other conquests. when she was sure no watchful wolf eyes were upon them, she lowered her ears and stepped closer to him, playing the part of the curious domesticated canine humans loved so much. she sniffed curiously at the phone he held (as if she didn’t know exactly what it was and what he was doing in the woods that night) before quickly disregarding it, in favor of bumping her nose against his stomach expectantly like a lapdog requesting pets.
