PROTECTION AND WOLF

I had called Sam Uley yesterday and arranged for a meeting to discuss the security situation at my new compound. Seth had already informed him about the situation, and Sam had agreed to come and assess the area before lunch.

When Sam arrived, I greeted him at the door, and he immediately noticed the twins playing in the front yard. At first glance, I would classify Sam as a natural leader, often associated with military or gang environments due to his strong and defined facial features and confident, commanding presence. He is tall, muscular, and handsome with short black hair and dark, intense eyes. His gaze softened for a moment, and he smiled warmly at them. However, he seemed confused when he looked back at me, probably because of my appearance.

"Seth didn't tell you about my appearance, I think," I said, trying to ease the tension.

Sam nodded and asked, "Where are you from? And what is your tribe's name?"

I replied, "No, you are mistaken. I was adopted, and I don't know my origin. I am recently divorced and came here for a change of scenery."

Sam nodded understandingly and asked, "You bought this place?"

I replied, "Yes, this is Keri and Kame. They're my youngest ones." Just then, Harry and the girls came down the stairs. I also introduced them Harry looked at Sam suspiciously, but Sam nodded at him, and after a moment, Harry nodded back. The girls were hiding behind Harry.

I tried to divert the tension and said, "Kame here saw a wolf when we arrived on the first night, and we noticed a big animal while trekking to find out what it was. That's why I asked Seth about security."

Sam said, "If you need, I and the boys can look outside your boundary and check."

I replied, "Yes that will be helpful. I want a boundary fence, want to cut off nearby trees, especially slanted ones. You can move the fence inside so that you can cut the relevant distance from the forest. I need floodlights and a trail inside the boundary close to the fence so that I can jog around the compound."

Sam nodded and started to walk around the house to observe. After half an hour, he came back without any tiredness or anything.

"I will send you the budget. Give me your email and contact no," Sam said.

Before I could say anything, Harry said his email id and phone number. At that time, Kame and Keri sneezed at the same time, and I looked at them.

Keri said: "He smells like a dog".

"I'm sorry, Sam. They're little, and whenever they sneeze, they say there's a dog. They're allergic to dog fur," I explained.

Sam smiled and said, "Oh, it's alright. I have dogs near my house. I just petted and fed them before coming here. Your kids have a good nose."

Harry looked at him intensely, and Sam nodded at him and said, "Okay, I will send you the details. Goodbye." He then walked two steps back and turned around, slightly hunching.

When the car went away, I turned to Harry and asked, "What was that?"

Harry replied, "I don't know, I didn't like his attitude."

I questioned, "You just met him, and how do you know anything about his attitude?"

Harry responded, "I just felt like I was meeting that bulky guy at the meadow."

I clarified, "Who? Jacob?"

Harry confirmed, "Yes. They both act like we are here to serve them or something."

I corrected his previous statement, "You and your mind. That's not the problem. We need to find you a girlfriend to help you regulate your testosterone."

Keri chimed in, "Harry needs a girlfriend, Harry needs a girlfriend," and the others joined in chanting.

Harry laughed and playfully tried to grab Megan, but she avoided him, and they all ran away.

Harry and I were sitting in the living room, going over the details of the security system we wanted to install. "I think we should definitely have cameras on the forest side. It's so dark out there at night, we wouldn't be able to see anything without them," I said.

Harry nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and we should also have some kind of security function on the front door, like an alarm or something."

That evening we pulled up the email from Sam and we went through the quote he had sent. We made some changes to the original plan and emailed it back to him.

Later that evening, Harry received a call from Sam. I could hear Sam's voice through the phone. "Hey, Harry, it's Sam. I got your email and everything looks good. I can start tomorrow if that's okay with you guys."

Harry looked at me and I nodded, signaling my agreement. "Yeah, that's ok. What do you need us to do?"

Sam explained his plan to scout the perimeter of the house with his boys and then start cutting down the trees and building the fence. "We'll also install some flood lights and other things to make sure your home is secure."

Harry and I listened carefully as Sam went over the details of the plan. "Ok," Harry said. "We'll see you tomorrow."

After Harry hung up the phone, we returned to living room. The twins were watching TV, and I went to sit with them. As I watched their innocent faces, I couldn't help but wonder if we were doing the right thing by bringing them to this new place. I hoped that I was correct.

The sound of trucks and men working woke me up early that morning. I quickly got dressed and went outside to check on the progress. Sam and his boys were already hard at work, cutting down trees and setting up the fence posts. I walked up to Sam and asked how things were going.

"Everything's going well," he replied. "We've cleared out the path for jogging, and we're now setting up the fence. We should have it finished by the end of the day."

"Great," I said. "And what about the security cameras?"

"We're installing them as we speak," Sam said, gesturing towards one of his boys up on a ladder, screwing in a camera. "We're also putting up floodlights around the perimeter of the property."

"That's excellent," I said, feeling relieved. "I really appreciate your help with all of this."

"No problem," Sam said. "It's what we do."

Just then, Sophie, my 12-year-old daughter, came outside and asked me a question.

"Are they all from the same family?" she asked, pointing to the men working.

I chuckled and asked her why she thought that.

"Because they all look big and muscly," she replied.

I smiled and said, "Well, I think they are all from the same tribe, the Quileutes. They've been living here for generations."

Sophie looked impressed and went back inside. As the day went on, the fence slowly took shape, and the cameras were installed. I was pleased with the progress, and I could already feel the security of my home improving.

Later that day, after Sam and his boys had left, Harry and I sat down to discuss the progress.

"I think they did a good job," Harry said. "The fence looks sturdy, and the cameras are in place."

"I agree," I said. "But we still need to install a security system."

Harry nodded. "I'll look into that. I want something that can alert us if someone tries to break in."

"Sounds good," I said. "And what about the floodlights?"

"I think they're already in place," Harry said as we were discussing the installation of new security measures for our home. "I'll go check later."

"Hey, Harry, have you seen the twins? I haven't heard from them in a while," I asked.

"I thought they were with you," Harry replied.

Suddenly, we heard sneezing from outside. I looked out and saw the twins playing hide and seek with Megan. "What are you three up to?" I asked.

Megan quickly responded, "Nothing. They asked me to play hide and seek with them, so I was just playing along. It's weird because they usually smell me out pretty easily."

Sophie chuckled at Megan's response, and then Megan snapped back, "Shut up, you know what I mean. Besides, they always said that you stink more than me."

I turned to Megan and said, "You're 14 and they are 5, Megan. How could you always fall for their tricks?" Then I looked at the twins and asked, "What did I tell you earlier today?"

The twins sheepishly and cutely smiled at me, and I knew that they had been up to something. "No, no, you rascals, that doesn't work on me. You're going to get a red bum today," I said as I headed towards them.

Harry quickly interjected, "Mom, no bad words."

Ignoring Harry, I stepped towards the twins, but they split and ran away. I chased after Keri, while I asked the others to catch Kame. After a lot of trouble, we finally caught them. Those little rascals were fast!

Once we got back to the house, I hit their bum and grounded them for two days. However, sometime later, they both started sneezing, and I found several screws in their room. I scolded them again and confiscated the screws. But, even after some time, their sneezing didn't stop, so I got worried and decided to take them to the hospital.

I called Carlsie and took an appointment. As I drove to the hospital, the twins were still sneezing. When we arrived, Carlsie met us at the entrance. I explained what had been going on with the twins and their sneezing.

Carlsie laughed and said, "It may be some pollen or something in the air due to the tree cuttings. I'll prescribe some medicine."

I noticed some hesitation in Carlsie, so I asked him what was wrong. "You look bigger somehow," he said.

I asked, "Do you mean I look fat?"

Carlsie quickly reassured me, "No, no. I think it's just like a growth spurt in teens."

Curious, I asked, "Oh, do you know something?"

"It's just that I've observed similar traits in some of the natives here. Do you mind taking a DNA test to clarify?" Carlsie responded.

I asked him if there was any major problem, and he assured me that it wasn't a problem. "It just comes, and they grow to a limit, and it ends. There are no adverse effects. It's just that I find it interesting. If you have a different gene, then it may be environmental or both," he explained.

I replied with an "Oh," but I still felt like he wasn't revealing everything to me.

I gave blood for testing and sneezing of twins were reduced. By the time we reached home, they were back to normal self. And Harry and others were waiting for us at the living room when we entered they looked worried.

I said to the kids: its ok Doctor said that they may be due to cutting of trees. Now they seem fine. He prescribed medicine and we will give it to them after dinner. I said to the girls bring the twins to room. And they went upstairs.

Looked at Harry and said to him what carlise said.

He looked at me Are you worried that it is passed on to us.

Yes look at you self. We both look huge compared to others.

If they also has it. It may affect their life adversely.

Harry its ok Mom first let's wait for the result and then we decide what to do.

I nodded and went to prepare dinner.

After dinner I brought the twins to my room and slept together. Keri and kame looking at my face said sorry mom. We don't do it again'

I looked at them and it's not you I am thinking of something else. Just go to sleep my lovely kittens. You don't have to worry. And we slept but my mind keep wandering

The next morning, I woke up very early and started my run. I didn't know what had come over me, but I was very focused on running. It had been a few days since I last ran, so I was really pushing myself mindlessly. After some time, I noticed something moving in my peripheral vision, and I suddenly stopped. To my utter surprise, I saw a big black wolf just gliding along the fence outside the boundary and stopping right in front of me. It was as big as a very large bear. I looked at the fence and then back at the wolf. It just looked at me and at the fence and shrugged, as if it was saying, "It's nothing, I can jump across." At that moment, I felt like the wolf understood me, and I also felt like I had seen it before. Then it sniffed something in the air and disappeared fast. I was left standing there in shock, wondering if I was dreaming or not.

At that moment, I think I heard the laugh of a little girl, but when I listened carefully, there was nothing. I calmed myself and checked the security tape on my computer, but I couldn't see anything. It was as if the wolf knew where the camera was. I had passed by several times, but there was no movement outside the boundary. I stopped what I was doing and woke up Harry. I told him what I saw, and he also checked the security tape, but he didn't see anything. We decided to call Sam for help.

Sam arrived shortly after and appeared disturbed when I told him what had happened. He went outside the fence to search for clues, but after an hour of looking, he returned and said he didn't find anything. I sank into a chair, perplexed, and asked myself what was going on. Did I imagine it? Harry joined me and asked if we should relocate. I pondered for a moment and then said we would wait. I requested Sam to increase the fence's height, electrify it, and construct a short wall to prevent my twins from climbing over. Sam promised to look into it and informed me that electrifying the fence would be easy, but building the wall would take time.

I nodded and said, "Please do it like last time." He agreed and left.

After that, I told Harry, "I'm going to the gym. I need to let off some steam."

Harry chuckled and said, "That's such a stereotypical man thing to say. I think you're turning into Stephen."

I scoffed and replied, "Then what are you, my little maid?"

Harry exclaimed, "Mom!"

I laughed and said, "Close the door and never let them out. After the fence is electrified, they can explore."

I called Seth and arranged a meeting. When I arrived, he was waiting at the entrance. I asked him to wait by the car, and he came up to me and inquired, "What happened?"

I asked him why he was asking, and he replied, "You seem spooked."

I sighed and told him about running, the wolf, and everything. Seth asked, "Are you sure? We don't have any big black wolves around here."

I said, "I don't know. I'm pretty sure I saw it. What confuses me is its human-like expression. I don't know what to think anymore."

Seth said, "It's okay. Let's work out and relieve some tension." We worked out, and after two hours, I left the gym and returned home.

I prepared lunch for the children, took a bath, and attempted to sleep. It was a restless sleep. I kept seeing wolves, running with them, and gazing at a wolf staring at me as I crouched by the lake. I cried and woke up.

After some time, Sam connected the fence with electricity, and he said that he would start building the wall the day after tomorrow. After the children went to bed, I drank some whiskey and watched TV, but it didn't help. I drank a lot, but it didn't affect me as much as I thought it would. Later, I went to sleep, but the same dream of black wolf kept recurring. I woke up early and had no hangover. Thanking God and feeling relieved, I started to run again. But today, I didn't see anything abnormal. It seemed like yesterday's experience was all in my head.