Home > Sacred Bond (Secrets of Stone Ridge #1)

Sacred Bond (Secrets of Stone Ridge #1)
Author: C.A. Harms

Prologue

 

 

Taryn

 

 

“Taryn! Don’t wander off. Stay out of the forest. Daddy hasn’t checked the area to make sure everything is safe. There could be wild animals that’ll try to eat tiny little girls like you for lunch.” Mom tickles my sides, making me laugh as I try my best to inch away from her.

“Staahhp!” I squeal and she finally lets me go. “I’m not little.” I put my fists on my hips, feeling defiant, and hating how they baby me. I swear my parents are the best, but they treat me like I’m a toddler. I’m twelve now and next year I’ll be a teenager, but to them, I think I will always remain young and delicate.

Mom pulls me into a hug. “Oh you’ll always be my baby. Remember don’t wander far.” I watch her walk back into the cabin and once the door closes, I head around the side of the cabin to look around. The mountains look like they’re so close, but Dad says they’re miles and miles away. They’re big and have a magical appearance to them. Almost like a painted picture, perfect, with vibrant colors and a calmness that draws you in. A peacefulness that soothes me.

No more than a hundred yards away, the opening of the forest calls to me. Lined with trees you can’t see beyond leaving so much to the imagination. What lays beyond? A need so powerful beckons for me to seek out the mysteries it holds. I take one step closer and then another, looking behind me, I make sure my mom isn’t watching. I step into the trees and smile, there’s a huge patch of wildflowers in a little clearing up ahead. Petals of blues and purples, almost pastel hug the ground like a blanket. They are all so bright they almost don’t seem real, more like a painting. I’d never seen anything more magical.

I wish I brought the camera Daddy bought me for my birthday. This would make the prettiest picture. The closer I get to the flowers, I see they’re a bluish-purple with delicate-looking petals like velvet. I want to pick some to take back to the cabin, I can already imagine bringing them to my nose and breathing them in. I bet they smell amazing. As I reach for them, I get an uneasy feeling triggering chills that cover my arms and the back of my neck. I pause, with my hand extended out before me. My heart races, my breath quickens.

I look around and don’t see anything, but that unsettled feeling doesn’t subside, so I decide to leave the flowers untouched. A bird sings in the distance and I follow the sound to see what kind it is. The further I go into the forest, I start to feel lightheaded. My body feels like it’s being pulled deeper into the woods, almost as if something is leading me, calling me.

I stop walking and looking around. “Where am I?” I whisper to no one in particular as my heart begins to race faster. “Mom! Dad!” I cry out immediately regretting my decision to defy my mother's wishes. I spin around looking for something that would show me I was not lost. A familiar path maybe, a limb of a tree I may have stepped over on my journey, but panic starts to fill me as I realize nothing looks familiar anymore. I’m lost.

Prickly leaves of various plants and sticks slap at my legs while I run as fast as I can in the direction I think might lead me back to my parents. A small clearing gives me a sense of hope until I realize that I am only running around in circles. My lungs feel so tight when I attempt to breath making the panicked feeling in me grows more intense. Stopping to catch my breath I hear a twig snap only it’s not from my own movements. I push my hair, wet with sweat, out of my face.

My body trembles with fear as a small wolf comes out from the trees. It’s gray and white with the darkest eyes I’ve ever seen, almost black. Slow and steady it moves in closer, watching me. Tears fill my eyes and slide down my cheeks as I remain perfectly still while it stares at me. “P-P-Please d-don’t h-hurt m-me.”

The wolf starts walking slowly toward me and my body becomes rigid with fear. I don’t know what to do or how to protect myself, so I stand as still as a statue. The closer it gets to me, it lowers its head, and a small whimper falls from its mouth. It’s strange, the wolf almost appears friendly. My body starts to relax and the fear is beginning to fade away, only I don’t move as I wait for its next move.

When it finally stops in front of me, it cocks its head to the side and stares. The little wolf lets out another whiny sound just before it bumps my hand with its nose. Continuing to touch me with its cold, wet nose, until I raise my hand and pet it. “Is this what you wanted?” I can hear the shakiness in my voice, I’m still unsure of what could happen next or if the wolf is truly friendly.

The wolf snorts at me and so I keep petting it. The fur tickles my hand, it’s softer than I expected. “Are you a boy or a girl?” I ask like it can answer me. It does the snort again. “Boy?” He snorts. “Okay you’re a boy. I don’t know if you really understand me, but I’m Taryn. My parents just found out they have a cabin here, left to them by some family I’ve never met.” I look around wondering how far I’ve wandered into the depths of the forest. “Well somewhere nearby. I’m lost.”

He snorts again and starts pushing me with his wet nose. “What? Do you want me to follow you?”

Again, my new wolf friend pushes me with his nose. He leads me through the forest and even though I know he can’t really understand me, I decided to talk to him as if he could get to know me. Maybe it is driven by nervous energy, or the unknown of what is to come, or possibly because I feel so comfortable and protected in the presence of my wolf. I was not a girl lost in the forest any longer, that worry had long escaped me. A calm has settled over me as I walk along his side, his soft coat skimming over my arm with each step, the sound of his breaths and huffs the further we move along, it is all consoling.

“I always wished that I had a brother or a sister, but Mom says she almost died having me and they didn’t want to risk it. When I grow up, I’m gonna get married to the man of my dreams and we’re going to have lots and lots of babies.” I shake my head feeling foolish for talking to myself. “I know it’s stupid, but that’s what I want.”

I reach out and pet the top of his head. “You’re so soft. I could just cuddle you for hours. When I was little, we had a poodle named Pookie, but she got sick and went to dog heaven. I miss her.” It’s like I can’t stop talking. I’m not a talker, ever. Maybe it’s because he’s an animal and I’m assuming he can’t understand me.

“Do you have a family?” He snorts. “Good, I’d hate for you to be all alone out here”

Up ahead I spot the flowers I saw earlier and suddenly I felt sad. I slow my steps, wanting to prolong our walk. “Will I see you again?” I swear he shakes his head, maybe I’m delusional and losing my mind. I drop to my knees in front of him and start to cry, throwing my arms around his neck. The adrenaline I felt earlier has crashed and my emotions are now flooding my mind. I don’t want to let him go, what if this is the one and only time I am gifted time with him. Was this a dream? If so, I’m not ready to wake up. I know I should be scared, after all this is a wolf, a wild animal, an unpredictable predator, but nothing about him scared me.

What is happening to me?

My wolf friend licks my face, his tongue is rough, and not like I was expecting. “I’ll never forget you,” I whisper. “I hope you have the best life.”

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