“You don’t need to do this.” I whispered to him. He shook his head, the dark hair dressing his shoulders in a cloak of shadow. I looked up into his brown eyes, so full of charm and charisma that I was entranced. Chris just put both hands on my shoulders.

“No, it’s your birthday and I’m giving you a present.” He laughed. We sat on the overlook of a beautiful landscape. Hills stretched out beneath us, lazily decorating the earth in bumpy green crescents. Chris took my hand in his own, pressing a small token into it. I looked down, opening hand as he removed his.

A little metal wolf howling at the moon was dangling off a black chain. The silver pendant gleamed in the afternoon sun. I couldn’t stop smiling and shaking my head.

“You know I love wolves.”

“Well of course. I’d be blind if I didn’t know it.” He laughed, knowing that my favorite animal was a wolf. Being in Minnesota for the winter was amazing. I was working as a biologist and studying the populations of grey wolves in this state. Chris had agreed that he would come down here on his week off from the band to be with me.

It was dangerous being down here. There was constantly hunters and poachers roaming the woods. I had to constantly wear an orange vest while tracking to keep myself from being accidentally shot at. But the poachers were a different problem. They would stop at nothing to get what they wanted-wolf pelts.

“Happy Birthday, baby Lissy.” He kissed my temple. I swatted at his tattooed hands.

“I’m not a baby anymore!” I protested. He just kissed my nose as I thanked him for the present, putting it over my neck and letting it dangle on my chest.

---

A year ago today, Chris had died.

We had been walking back from our little secret spot, holding hands and thinking that nothing was wrong. There had been gunshots in the distance, but they were far enough out, I had thought nothing of it.

But when he fell over, dying at my feet and blood coming from his back, I had to scream.

A stray bullet had fallen my gentle giant. The kindest man in the world, with all his piercings and tattoos, was dead at my feet. I yelled for help, letting my presence be known, screaming to save him. They came just after he said goodbye.

So now, in his memory, I was back in the same woods, at the same path, trying to finish the job I had started. After Chris had died, I left immediately back for his hometown of Pennsylvania for the funeral. I didn’t have the finished numbers of wolves that I needed. I just had to go scout out one more area.

Despite the death of my boyfriend, I had to go back. The locals had told tales that these woods were haunted by ghosts of many that had walked in and never walked out of the trees. I could only pray that Chris’ ghost walked among them.

I had left my apartment with my backpack, barely filled with the things I needed. My mind was too clouded with the sadness of the memories that I knew I was bound to forget something. Hopefully I could go on without it.

I pulled my jacket closer around my shoulders, hauling the backpack up on my back and trudged forwards through the wooded area. The snow hadn’t set in because it was early in August. The wolf pendant hung high on my neck, the cold silver tickling my bare skin.

I kept on walking, having an eery feeling that someone was watching me. I still had a couple miles to go before I reached the last spot I needed to take measures on. It was supposed to be a hotspot for wolves…and poachers. I couldn’t spend too long in there.

Instead of dreading things that might not happen and lingering on bad thoughts, I decided to talk to myself for company. Ahna, my best friend and fellow conservationist, couldn’t go along with me on this trip, so I had no buddy to walk with.

When I reached the spot where my life was changed, I stopped. The eery feeling had grown stronger, as if someone was watching me.

“Chris, it’s been a long time.” I whispered to myself, brushing a stray tear away. The wind rustled the leaves, like a warm greeting.

“So the band’s pretty torn up without you. They’re still looking for another singer. Ricky said they don’t know how they’ll go on without you. We miss you every day, Christopher.” I murmured to myself. As I looked to the sky, the clouds started to darken. The sun was going down earlier and earlier every day, but then again, I had started out pretty late on my hike. It shouldn’t take too long to get to the spot I needed to arrive at.

“I still have the necklace you gave me. In fact, I wish you were here to celebrate my birthday with me right now.” I chuckled hopelessly. I passed under a dark shading of overhanging branches, ducking under low pines.

A branch cracked.

I whipped around, scanning my surroundings with an expert eye. Nothing out there. I looked down and realized something.

I wasn’t wearing my orange hunting vest. Oh no.

This was a major safety hazard. Deer hunters might not see me in the underbrush in my grey sweatshirt and blue jeans. I would have to be extra careful.

“Well, now I’m really screwed.” I muttered under my breath and decided to increase my pace. The further I went into the forest, the more scared I got. The path started to fade out. I stopped and looked around where it started back up before I realized that I was at the trail end, where I was supposed to be. Taking out my GPS, I started walking to my coordinates that I was given by my boss.

“Some west, a little east, when you hit the rock that looks like a bear go north, but if you hit the bear that looks like a rock, you went too far.” I chuckled softly at the joke. Bears were also a real danger, but I had pepper spray, an air horn, and other defenses.

I could’ve sworn I heard Chris chuckle from behind me.

Gulping down my fear, I shook my head to clear it, and then continued forward. After an hour of walking, I hit the coordinate and started to walk around, taking measures of the surroundings areas, some pictures, and looking for prints.

It was starting to get seriously dark and I sighed. I had to get to the trailhead, now. As I wandered around, I realized that I was terribly lost. I couldn’t see the GPS screen anymore, or the buttons, or any direction, in fact.

“Oh dear.” I whispered, scared out of my wits. Tears formed at the corners of my eyes, but I tried to calm myself down. I wouldn’t panic.

A whimper sounded from next to me. My eyes widened as I looked up.

Just barely a shadow against the growing darkness was a midnight black wolf with two hazel eyes that were so familiar, it hurt. The wolf whimpered and paced back and forth. I held my breath. It’s ears perked up, tail wagging slowly.

The hazel eyes were on mine the entire time.

I reached up to touch the pendant. The wolf noticed the movement and yipped happily. I tilted my head out of curiosity.

“You remind me of someone I know, or I used to know, actually.” I murmured. The wolf wagged its tail. The beast was tall, taller than any wolf I imagined running into. I couldn’t help but smile a little. Was this one of those wolves people bought as pets and then released into the wild once they got too big because honestly, this was a very friendly animal.

“Hey, where’s your pack? I’m shouldn’t be trespassing, sorry.” I apologized because I knew I was in wolf territory and I was pretty sure I don’t look good with half my face torn off.

I stood up, starting to edge around the beast when it bounded up to me. I resisted the urge to jump back and run. Instead of attack! Kill! The animal nudged my hand. I stroked its silky head, my fingers running through its long hair.

Long, black hair.

Hazel eyes.

Chris.

“Chris?” I asked. The wolf whined and bumped my hand again. I bit my lip. No, I had to be delusional. Was I just dehydrated?

“Is it really you? Christopher?” I asked again. The wolf barked, happily. I smiled and knelt down. The animal licked my face. No, this couldn’t be. I must be dreaming.

Even if I was dreaming, I was out in the open, under the cover of night, without an orange vest or light.

“Come on, I need to get back to my car.” I whispered to him. The wolf let me grab onto a little bit of fur as it bounded forward. I ran, struggling to keep up with the long strides.

We walked, jumped over logs, and kept on going until I felt my feet hit the trail again. I let go of the wolf. He kept by my side until we reached the parking lot of the national park.

I stopped at the bench, catching my breath and drinking water. The wolf Chris put his paws on my legs, whimpering a little.

“Oof, you’re heavy, silly Chris.” I chuckled. He pushed his wet nose against my cheek. I stroked his neck.

“I have to go, Chris. I still can’t believe it’s really you.” I nearly started crying. His hazel eyes sadly met mine as I stood up to go to my car, throwing my backpack in it. I saw my phone resting in the charger, right where I had forgotten it. I mean, I couldn’t carry it in the forest because I no single anyways, right? Chris jumped into the passenger seat of the car as I opened the door to retrieve my purse. I sighed.

“No Chris, they don’t allow wolves in the plane.” I whispered. He put his paw on the drive stick, like old times. I saw my phone and looked at a missed call from my boss. I think she was wondering when I was going back to Idaho.

An idea came in my head.

“I might not be able to take you with me, but I might be able to stay here.” I whispered excitedly to him. He howled in delight. I looked around anxiously. He woofed a deep sound in excitement.

I dialed in the number and waited for my one bar of signal to pick up.

“Hey, Lissy! What’s up? You missed my call!”

“Sorry, Ally. Hey, I have exciting news, but it means I’d have to stay in Minnesota…”

Notes