Frankie froze immediately, hearing the soft rustling of branches and leaves as something approached. This was another reason why he set up his site away from others. More chances of actually meeting the wildlife. A lot of the campers he passed earlier would have scared it off. Frankie stayed calm and still as he could, waiting to see if the animal would come closer.
Selina stayed crouched under the bush she was hidden in, only her curious but calculating eyes very visible. Right now she was just curious, as it just seemed to be one male, and one who seemed to know he was off the path and away from everyone. She hadn't met many humans besides the ones she scared away from the den, most of her work was with dealing with others of their kind.
Frankie saw the golden-eyed stare thru the flickering fire-light and his smile turned a little nervous. He knew better than to keep eye contact or risk challenging whatever animal this was. So he turned his head so it appeared as if he was looking at the tree line just past it, though he kept it within his peripheral vision. ”Beautiful.” he breathed softly, the word slipping past his lips.
She was a little shocked when the human talked. There was no one but her around, so who was he talking to? Despite her better judgement, she crept a few inches forward, strangely curious about the comment he had made and why in the world his voice sounded different in a good way. Humans weren't good. They were killers and monsters.
As he saw the large wolf slowly approach, Frankie felt his heart jump into his throat. Partly out of fear, but mostly because of how magnificent it was. He knew how big wolves were supposed to be, everyone he asked assumed that they were about the size of a Husky but wolves were actually a lot bigger. The one in front of him, however, was much larger than what he had expected. He did his best to remain still, his chest the only part of him moving with every breath.
Selina looked around at the camp, noting how tense the guy was and that he still seemed to be looking over her at something. her mind told her that she should probably get back to Sun, but she ignored it, still curious. There was a rustle in the bushes back behind her quite a ways and she could hear her name being called. "Selina? Are you still alive?" She heard the familiar growl of Sun call and she hoped the human couldn't make out the words.
"Quiet Sun, I'm busy," She growled back, her head turning back to see where the other werewolf was before she focused back on the human.
”I hope that’s not your mate.” Frankie murmured softly, his lips twitching slightly, as he heard the two growling at each other. He had heard about how smart they were, they practically had their own language for crying out loud. Honestly, wolves were one of his favorite animals ever since he read The Jungle Book.
Her ears swiveled around when the human talked again and she caught his words, growling and trying to hide a laugh. Sun was definitely not her mate, they had already determined that. Her eyes flashed with amusement from the statement though and she went back to watching the human, hoping her patrol partner got the message and left.
"Let's get going Selina, just scare the human off and be done with it," Sun growled, pacing around a tree a ways away and looking for anything to catch just to keep himself busy.
Frankie couldn't help himself and turned his head quickly to look at the slivery wolf in amazement. ”Do you understand me?” He was almost certain that that last growl sounded like a laugh, something he thought wolves couldn't do.
Selina froze when he asked his question, growling a string of curse words at what she had just revealed, "He's onto us Sun, just go and I'll take care of this." All she heard in response was another growl and something slowly padding away, much to her relief. Now she just had to get the human to leave, or at least move their camp back to the main trail.
Frankie was now completely staring directly at the wolf. The way it reacted to his question… He had been expecting a curious head tilt or just flat out leaving. ”You can, can't you?” he inquired gently. Listening closer to the growling he could almost make out what sounded like words.
"Leave human, go back to the main trails," She said in response, her words still disguised by a noise between a growl and a snarl. Selina stood from the low crouch she was in, still mostly disguised by the bush but it was clear she was both taller than the average wolf and could understand everything he was saying and had said.
”Holy… ” Frankie's jaw dropped at the display, understanding the intent but not the words just yet. ”Ok, look. I'm sorry if I'm trespassing or something here but I don't get along with other campers.” he explained putting his hands up in surrender. ”I just… They don't respect where they are. And I guess you could say I'm a bit of a lone wolf, personally.” his lips twitched again at his poor joke.
She listened to what he was saying with interest, though she knew he couldn't stay just because he didn't get along with the other campers. "No humans respect where they are, they never have." She growled lowly, though it wasn't as threatening as the others were, it sounded like she agreed with him, "If you're a lone wolf as you say you are, then you're here for one of two reasons. To pick a fight and cause trouble for out pack, or to be accepted into it. Because you're human though, you would die either way."
”No, I’m not here to pick a fight with anyone. I didn't even know there was a pack in this area.” Frankie protested slightly panicked but still keeping his voice down. ”I try to respect places like this. I know I'm not perfect at it but I love being this close to nature. It's honestly where I feel the most at home.”
Selina realized he was now able to understand what she was saying and in her mind she panicked slightly, though didn't show it. Once again, she listened to him before replying, "Now you know, there is a pack here, and they're not as forgiving as I am." She knew that now that he knew more and more that she had to make sure he wouldn't tell anyone about this interaction. "Leave and find a spot over by the other campers to feel at home at. You can't tell anyone about this interaction as well, got it?"
”I won't tell anyone about this. Cross my heart.” Frankie agreed, quickly drawing an X over his chest with his finger. ”People would think I was nuts anyway. But there are two problems with your last statement. One, I can't see in the dark to move my site. And two, if I did move where you said then I wouldn't be at home.” he wasn't trying to argue but she needed to see his point. ”Would you be comfortable sleeping near them?”
She snarled and watched him carefully, "I would be, but only because then I could get some revenge for what they do to my kind every year." Slowly, she stepped out of the bush and closer to where he was, pacing in a circle as she tried to figure out where the human could stay. "I know a cave you could stay in that's off our pack land and secluded," She eventually growled, "The only problem is I wouldn't be able to show you where it is tonight. I have to get back to the pack and it's too dark for your human eyes to follow me."
He was surprised by the mention of revenge but didn't push for an answer. It was obvious this was no ordinary wolf, so he knew there were reasons for hating humans and no doubt some of them were justified. ”I would happily camp there; a cave would be a new experience.” Frankie smiled. ”If I could be allowed to stay here for one night I would follow you in the morning, if you came back to show me. I’m an early riser.”
Selina quietly thought about the compromise, growling something inaudibly about the Alpha and the human getting killed. "Fine, one night. Be up at dawn and have your things together," She replied, eyes following him as she paced around, "If you get caught here and killed before I bring you to the cave though, don't blame me. I follow Alpha's directions and even if i don't bring this up, Sun might."
”I’ll be ready and I won't blame you.” Frankie agreed, assuming ”Sun” was most likely the packmate that he heard earlier. Honestly, dawn was a bit early for him but he wasn't going to fight the terms of someone who had a natural claim to the land.
She looked towards the human and gave a small nod of her head, "Then it's settled. Goodbye human." Selina shook out her fur and looked up at the night sky, listening for any howling from the Alpha. When she didn't hear anything, she looked over at the human one more time and bounded off into the woods, silver fur almost shining in the moonlight.
”Goodbye… ” Frankie trailed off as the wolf left, realizing he didn't know what to call it. ’Wolf’ or any form of a nickname based on that seemed a bit rude, ’Silver’ didn't seem bad but… It didn't matter at this point, as the silver coat disappeared. He slumped heavily, taking a shaky breath. I just talked to a wolf! And it talked back!! What the heck!!! He shook his head to try and calm down, climbing into the tent and practically collapsing on his sleeping bag.
Selina was silent as she made her way back to the pack, trotting along and thinking over the encounter and what she had just done. Too soon she reached the pack den though and looked around for Alpha Emerson. She spotted him outside of the den, which was really just a cave they had modified and changed into a suitable home for both their human and wolf forms. "Alpha," She said, bowing her head in respect as she passed by him to go change into her human form again. Emerson was a massive brown and black wolf when in that form, but in human form-like he was at the moment- He was a powerful and very defined young man, with almost hauntingly blue eyes and hair that was coal black.
Frankie had pretty much passed out after the shocking encounter. Some small part of him wasn't completely convinced that it really happened, more like it was just a dream.