Eyes of pale blue and gold continue to stare out upon the glistening lake as the calls of the loon echo around. I move to step closer to the calm waters and allow my toes to dip into the first few inches, my head angling downward to watch as it laps against them gently. My eyes slowly close and for a moment I am completely devoid of any thoughts – no memories, no worries, only emptiness. From years of being so burdened by the chaos that is my mind, it is in this moment that I am truly frightened by what I have managed to achieve in this state.

The loon’s cries cease and only the trickling sound of water touching against my toes rings within the cold air. My eyes snap back open and my nares flare out as the odor of another wolf blows in upon a winter breeze. For the longest time I am simply unable to fully connect to what is happening around me as my mind reels from what silence it had conjured; until it is that my consciousness is reclaimed. Large, beautiful head snaps to the right as the stranger approaches closer, though his demeanor is relatively neutral and he is quite young.

I look him over once or twice, keeping myself still as I remain sitting among the shoreline, but my expression is far from friendly. If anything, there is the smallest look of irritation beginning to take its place among my features. With a subtle grunting growl, and a slight upturning of the right side of my upper lip, I acknowledge his sudden presence as he begins to speak to me. His voice is even more irritable than his nearly palpable energy as its tone come off chipper and bright. With a narrowing of my golden flecked eyes I turn my face from him and toward the lake once more, my voice rolling out in deepened feminine chords. ”Do I look like I need a meal to you?” I say with an acerbic tinge to the end. What? I may have changed some but not all of my stunning characteristics are disappeared.