Isabel and the Wolf: (Part 1) (4 page)

“Is it Izzy?” Rob asked as Marianna introduced her.

“No – some people call me Bella actually,” she said.

“I’ve got a couple of friends I call Bella, although their names are Julia and Karen!” Josie said, throwing out the comment like a wise-cracking ’40s film star.

Marianna passed Isabel a glass of red wine and pulled up a chair for her. The garden was a beautiful mêlée of flowering shrubs, lit with candle lanterns.

“So, what brings you to Silver City?” Rob asked.

“Oh, I’m just another artist, here for the light and space,” Isabel said.

“Ingrid is a painter, and Josie is a writer and illustrator, while Bill and I mostly do ceramics,” Marianna said.

“And Rob and I are just artist groupies. He works in conservation, and I’m an engineer,” John added.

“There’s only space for one artist in a relationship!” Rob said, squeezing Josie’s shoulder. Josie smiled at him affectionately.

“You’ve got that right!” she said.

“I’m guessing you’ve just moved here from somewhere further north?” Rob asked Isabel.

“Guilty!” She laughed. “I’m from Chicago – just to complete the cliché of a big city girl escaping out here to be a hippy!”

“You’re not alone,” Josie said. “We’re from Cleveland.”

“I was born in New Mexico,” Ingrid said. “But I was brought up in Albuquerque, so this feels like a different world to me as well!”

Drinks evolved into dinner at a long dining table that looked as it if had been cut from a single tree trunk, intricate with knots, but smoothed over from years of use.

“It’s at least 150 years old,” Marianna said, but probably older than that. “It’s seen its share of births, deaths and marriages, that’s for sure.” She ladled out aromatic bowls of chili con carne. Isabel ate and drank happily, enjoying the constant laughter and lively conversation.

“Tell me more about your job, Rob?” Isabel asked him. “Where are you based?”

“I work in the Gila Wilderness nearby. We monitor the local species of trees and plants, looking out for contamination by non-native varieties. We keep track of the animals – cougars, bobcats, black bears – monitoring for signs of disease and keeping estimates of their numbers. The government’s been looking into an extermination program for coyotes, which are just running wild in the region, so we’ve been looking into the feasibility of that. And, last but not least, we monitor the wolf packs established in the forest, in a joint initiative with the state of Arizona.”

“There are wolves here? Wow!” Isabel said.

“Yeah, they’re part of the Mexican gray wolf recovery program – the only place you’ll find them in the whole of the south, including Mexico,” Josie said.

“Wait – I think I might have seen one just yesterday, actually,” Isabel said. “I was driving down the road to Black Peak City, and a tree had come down across the road. One of the cops at the scene took me on a short cut through a track in the forest, and, at one point, something kind of silver and bigger than a dog ran across the path. It was moving so fast that I couldn’t see what it was.”

“Sure sounds like a wolf,” Josie said. Her eyes were sparkling. “I actually haven’t seen one yet myself.”

“I’ve seen a few,’ Rob said. “Part of the program involves tagging every single wolf in the forest and keeping records of their family tree, which means hunting them down and shooting them with a dart. It’s difficult though, because they tend to die if we keep them for too long. So, once we’ve sedated them and taken a blood sample, we pretty much have to let them go.”

“Isn’t that interesting?” Josie said. “It’s like they’re the ultimate wild animal – incapable of being in captivity.”

“Kind of scary,” Isabel said, with an exaggerated shudder. “I thought Montana was the only place you’d be likely to bump into them.”

“They have died out a lot in the US,” Josie said. “They’ve always been seen as sacred by the Native Americans, but they were unfortunately hated by generations of colonizers, so their numbers have been severely damaged over the years.”

“Sounds like you know more about it than Rob does,” Isabel joked. Josie laughed.

“I have got a bit of a fascination, really. Rob talks about them with so much passion, it’d be hard not to catch some of it.” Josie turned her sparkling eyes on Rob, and Isabel sensed the closeness and love between them.

“So, you said you were out in that storm last night?” Bill asked. “Can’t have been easy driving.”

“That was a storm and a half. Thought the sky was gonna break in half at one point,” Marianna added.

“Yeah, I missed the worst of it. It had stopped raining at least, but the road was totally flooded. And I hate to think what would’ve happened if someone hadn’t seen the tree before I did.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

“I heard about the tree coming down,” Rob said. “It was one of those bull pines – so old it’d been dead inside for years. Must’ve been a monster!”

“That’s pretty much how it looked in my headlights,” Isabel replied.

“So what took you out to Black Peak City? There’s nothing much over there,” Josie said.

“Let’s just say I had an assignation,” Isabel said, and looked down at the table to hide a blush. When she looked up again, Josie was looking at her with undisguised curiosity.

“So, you’re single? There’s a few eligible bachelors in Silver City,” Marianna said, standing up to clear the table. “And I’m sure you won’t be short of offers. Let me know if I can put you in touch with anyone!”

“Thanks, I might just take you up on that!” Isabel said.

The conversation continued through the evening, with people splitting off into smaller huddles. While Rob and John were engaged in an intense conversation about computers, and Bill and Marianna were in the kitchen cleaning up, Ingrid and Josie drew close to Isabel in a nook of the garden.

“We hope you don’t feel like a third wheel here,” Ingrid said to her.

“Uh, that would be a seventh wheel,” Josie cut in. “Don’t they teach you math here?” Ingrid giggled and rested her hand on Josie’s knee.

“There are plenty of single people around here,” Ingrid said. “It just worked out that the friends of Marianna and Bill who were free tonight happened to be couples.”

“It’s fine,” Isabel said. “It’s been great to meet you guys, and to be honest, I haven’t felt like dating until very recently.”

“Were you seeing someone in Chicago?” Josie asked softly.

“Yeah, I had a pretty full-on breakup,” she replied. “It wasn’t the reason why I moved here though. Anyway, that’s a story for another time.”

“And the guy in Black Peak City?” Josie said. Isabel hesitated for a beat.

“Ah that was a first date,” she said. “But the fallen tree put an end to our plans. I don’t know if we’ll end up rescheduling or not.” The girls nodded, tactfully avoiding pressing her any further, although Isabel could tell Josie especially was eager to ask more.

Isabel had no concept of how much time had been passing, but suddenly it was late and everyone was leaving. She thanked Marianna and Bill for their hospitality, exchanged numbers and hugged her new friends goodbye. Then she drove back home with the sleepy satisfaction of having had a fun, relaxing evening.

*

In the days that followed, Isabel’s mind was full of thoughts of her meeting with The Wolf, as she’d begun to think of him. It was an infuriating mix of desire and apprehension from which her work provided no escape. She designed a whole theme for an insurance company’s office in Alabama on autopilot, while her mind roamed free in her fantasies. What would it be like to be held in his arms, to feel his weight on top of her? What would he expect from her?
She’d never done anything like this before, and she was nervous that he’d find out that she was just an inexperienced girl.

Isabel’s sleep was different. Blissful, undisturbed nights, when she hardly ever remembered dreaming were replaced by wild, vivid dreams, and her waking full of yearning and hunger. One night she woke up with a bright light in her face. Dazedly she realized that she must have fallen asleep with the curtains open, as the moon was shining into her room, its rays reflecting silver along the side of her body where her sheet had slipped down. It was low in the sky, a huge, perfect round. A crazy urge took hold of her. Almost before she knew what she was doing, Isabel had jumped out of bed, wrapped the sheet around her naked form, and walked out of her house. The lawn was damp beneath her bare feet. Her toes curled into the blades of grass as she stood and stared at the moon as if she was seeing it for the first time. It was brilliant, almost too bright to look at, and the shadows had so much depth to them. The more she looked, the deeper she seemed to be able to see into it. How much time passed, she didn’t know, but eventually she turned back, and, as if she’d been sleepwalking, went back to her bed.

*

Wednesday evening came. Isabel emailed Kara, sending Peter’s address and a link to his profile.

Wooh, he’s hot!

came her quick reply. Isabel wrote:

You think so? He looks like a standard hottie in the photo, but in the flesh, he’s – I don’t know – kind of unusual-looking?

Kara replied:

Sounds like just my type! Hey, if you don’t like him, you can pass him on to me!

So, let me get this right – you’ve met for a drink and now he’s inviting you over for dinner?

Isabel hadn’t mentioned that they hadn’t exactly had a drink. She wanted Kara to know where she was going, but not to think she’d completely flipped. She wrote:

Ummm… I’m not sure that there’ll be any dinner involved to be honest!

Kara: So, you’re going for a hook-up?

Isabel: Pretty much!

Kara: Awesome! That’s so cool! I’ve always wanted to meet like, a virtual stranger, and have hot, animal sex!

Isabel: Haha! I was starting to wonder if I was doing something stupid.

Kara: Nooo…he gave you his address well in advance, so he’s not some kind of freak. Go and enjoy yourself! You deserve it. I mean, how long’s it been? Six months?

Isabel: Five – since I saw the last of Jason.

Kara: Exactly – way too long. Have fun, girl! And then tell me all about it! Ok, I’ve gotta run. Talk soon, miss you xox

Isabel: Thanks, miss you too! Xx

Isabel closed her laptop, smiling to herself in relief. Good to know she wasn’t the only one who found the thought of having a hook-up with a stranger a turn on. She’d been silly to think her best friend would be anything less than supportive of her as well. And as usual, Kara had got right to the heart of the issue. Since the long, traumatic breakup with her high school sweetheart months ago, Isabel hadn’t wanted to be with anyone else. She wasn’t even sure if she was ready for standard dinner-and-movie dating yet, but some hot sex was definitely on her agenda!

Now, it was time to get dressed. Isabel opened her closet and sifted through a rack of dresses. So, Peter hadn’t been a fan of the tight black one she’d been wearing last time. It was a shame, because it was her favorite. It clung to her curves in all the right places, while still looking classy. She pulled a red one out and held it up. It had small polka dots, with a loose skirt and a halterneck, in a modern twist on rockabilly. Hopefully this would meet Peter’s specifications. Isabel stepped into it, pulled it up and tied the halter around her neck. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her bra was showing, reminding her that she wasn’t supposed to be wearing underwear. She didn’t usually wear a bra with this dress anyway, as the shoulder straps were really obvious. She could have worn a strapless style, but she found she didn’t really need it. Her 34D breasts were full, but luckily they stayed pretty much where they were without support. Isabel unfastened the clasp of her bra and slid it out from under her dress. Her panties were another matter. She’d gone out pantie-less a couple of times when she’d been with Jason, as a sexy game they’d been playing, but this was a very different situation. Reaching up, under her dress, she hooked her fingers into the waistband of her black lace hipsters. Slowly, she eased them down, over the curve of her hips, along her thighs, knees, calves, finally letting them drop to the floor. She stepped out of them, feeling a little bereft. Then, she looked in her closet and chose some shoes – high-heeled black pumps, also with a rockabilly edge.

She studied her reflection in the mirror again. She’d done her hair and make-up already, leaving her hair loose as usual and painting her eyes in dark, smoky shades. She looked like a fashionable girl going on a night out. No-one who saw her in the street would know she was naked under her dress. Isabel bit her lower lip and held it between her teeth. But she knew.

How did a normal girl like her decide to do something like this, she wondered. Her life had been pretty mainstream until now. She had nice parents, plenty of friends at high school and college, and a steady boyfriend that everyone had assumed she’d marry. The only external hint of the unconventional was her decision to major in art and then work as a full-time artist. But even that had been well managed. She’d planned it as a career, researching how she could work for big businesses that would pay her a decent wage. But what most people who knew her – even Jason – didn’t understand was that she had a wild streak, which found its outlet in her sexual urges. Since she was young, Isabel had fantasized about some big man overpowering her, totally. And the thought of submitting to someone felt so hot, precisely because it seemed so wrong.

She glanced in the mirror one final time for luck. Ok, she was as ready as she’d ever be. She gathered her phone and her handbag, and set out on her second trip to Black Peak City.

The journey passed smoothly this time, with no savage pines crashing into her path, and the ones lining the road far less intimidating in the evening haze. Peter’s address was easy to find, since Isabel had already had some points of reference in Black Peak City when she’d looked it up on the map.

“So, this is The Wolf’s house,” she murmured, pulling into his driveway. It was a long, low-slung, sand-colored bungalow, like most of the houses in the neighborhood. The windows had black, Spanish-style shutters, which were closed, and the front door was also black, with a huge, wrought-iron doorknocker.