in agreement, drawing his gun
and switching the safety off as I did the same, and we started
toward the disturbance together slowly. Once there, he silently
suggested we split up and walk around the perimeter to see if we
can find anything. He mouthed the words “be careful,” which
I reciprocated just as quietly before we began to circle.
I hadn’t made it halfway around before I
heard another rustle of leaves, and my body tensed, my index finger
slipping onto the trigger and preparing to fire. “Come out with
your hands up!” I ordered firmly, taking aim. I waited a minute for
a response of some kind, but there was nothing at first. “I said,
come out with your hands up!”
The leaves rustled again, the sound getting
closer, but instead of heavy footfalls, I heard the ground being
disturbed beneath the sound of a low, threatening growl that
chilled me to the bone. I took a step back, horrified that what I’d
stumbled on wasn’t our human perpetrator, but some kind of wild
animal out looking for its next meal. My concern was confirmed the
minute the animal’s glowing yellow eyes locked on me, and I
swallowed the lump of fear that formed in my throat.
“Hey, doggie,” I said soothingly once it
came completely into view, removing my finger from the trigger and
backing away slowly. The tiny hairs all over my body prickled, and
my muscles tensed as I broke out in a cold sweat. “Good dog. Look,
I didn’t mean to scare you.”
The large dog stalked toward me slowly,
looking around us and then back at me, and once the silver light of
the moon shone down on its thick brown coat, I could see that it
wasn’t just a dog, but a wolf that had me in its sights. I
tried to pass this off as an impossibility because wolves were
extremely rare in Arizona as a whole, let alone Scottsdale. There
were maybe fifty endangered Mexican gray wolves in the state, and
they never ever came this close to civilization.
The more I looked at this animal, though,
the more I realized it was indeed a wolf. However, this
wasn’t like any other wolf I’d ever seen, either, looking to be
about twice the size, which frightened me a little. Gray wolves
didn’t grow this big, that much I knew. There wasn’t a doubt in my
mind that it had to weigh well over one hundred eighty pounds,
which meant it would most likely be able to take me down with
ease.
Its long, sharp canines glistened before it
brought its eyes back to me, its lips curled back into a snarl, and
it took another stalking step toward me. It was obvious that this
animal wasn’t going to back down, and I didn’t relish killing it,
but it was becoming obvious that I wouldn’t have much choice. My
life was at stake now, not to mention that I couldn’t let a wild
animal remain out here in a public park. While my instincts told me
it was unlikely, this could be what killed that woman.
I raised the gun again, steadying my arms,
and took aim. “I don’t want to do this,” I told it, my voice
trembling, and just as I was about to pull the trigger, it sprang
forward. Almost two hundred pounds of solid muscle and bone tackled
me to the ground, forcing all of the air from my lungs. My gun went
flying when my back slammed into the ground, and my head throbbed
from the impact. As I struggled to free myself, the hot, somewhat
putrid breath of the wolf nearly suffocated me when it leaned in
with a warning growl. Its huge paws were on my chest, holding me
down and robbing me of the ability to breathe. It continued to
growl and snarl, its eyes scanning the darkness—probably for anyone
who might try to help me. Before it could bite me, I brought my
hands up and grabbed hold of the looser skin around the animal’s
neck, pulling upward in an effort to hold its face far from
mine.
The wolf was ridiculously strong, and I
started to think I wouldn’t win as the muscles in my arms trembled
with fatigue. It barked again, just as my left arm gave out, and
its teeth sank deep into my shoulder,
and switching the safety off as I did the same, and we started
toward the disturbance together slowly. Once there, he silently
suggested we split up and walk around the perimeter to see if we
can find anything. He mouthed the words “be careful,” which
I reciprocated just as quietly before we began to circle.
I hadn’t made it halfway around before I
heard another rustle of leaves, and my body tensed, my index finger
slipping onto the trigger and preparing to fire. “Come out with
your hands up!” I ordered firmly, taking aim. I waited a minute for
a response of some kind, but there was nothing at first. “I said,
come out with your hands up!”
The leaves rustled again, the sound getting
closer, but instead of heavy footfalls, I heard the ground being
disturbed beneath the sound of a low, threatening growl that
chilled me to the bone. I took a step back, horrified that what I’d
stumbled on wasn’t our human perpetrator, but some kind of wild
animal out looking for its next meal. My concern was confirmed the
minute the animal’s glowing yellow eyes locked on me, and I
swallowed the lump of fear that formed in my throat.
“Hey, doggie,” I said soothingly once it
came completely into view, removing my finger from the trigger and
backing away slowly. The tiny hairs all over my body prickled, and
my muscles tensed as I broke out in a cold sweat. “Good dog. Look,
I didn’t mean to scare you.”
The large dog stalked toward me slowly,
looking around us and then back at me, and once the silver light of
the moon shone down on its thick brown coat, I could see that it
wasn’t just a dog, but a wolf that had me in its sights. I
tried to pass this off as an impossibility because wolves were
extremely rare in Arizona as a whole, let alone Scottsdale. There
were maybe fifty endangered Mexican gray wolves in the state, and
they never ever came this close to civilization.
The more I looked at this animal, though,
the more I realized it was indeed a wolf. However, this
wasn’t like any other wolf I’d ever seen, either, looking to be
about twice the size, which frightened me a little. Gray wolves
didn’t grow this big, that much I knew. There wasn’t a doubt in my
mind that it had to weigh well over one hundred eighty pounds,
which meant it would most likely be able to take me down with
ease.
Its long, sharp canines glistened before it
brought its eyes back to me, its lips curled back into a snarl, and
it took another stalking step toward me. It was obvious that this
animal wasn’t going to back down, and I didn’t relish killing it,
but it was becoming obvious that I wouldn’t have much choice. My
life was at stake now, not to mention that I couldn’t let a wild
animal remain out here in a public park. While my instincts told me
it was unlikely, this could be what killed that woman.
I raised the gun again, steadying my arms,
and took aim. “I don’t want to do this,” I told it, my voice
trembling, and just as I was about to pull the trigger, it sprang
forward. Almost two hundred pounds of solid muscle and bone tackled
me to the ground, forcing all of the air from my lungs. My gun went
flying when my back slammed into the ground, and my head throbbed
from the impact. As I struggled to free myself, the hot, somewhat
putrid breath of the wolf nearly suffocated me when it leaned in
with a warning growl. Its huge paws were on my chest, holding me
down and robbing me of the ability to breathe. It continued to
growl and snarl, its eyes scanning the darkness—probably for anyone
who might try to help me. Before it could bite me, I brought my
hands up and grabbed hold of the looser skin around the animal’s
neck, pulling upward in an effort to hold its face far from
mine.
The wolf was ridiculously strong, and I
started to think I wouldn’t win as the muscles in my arms trembled
with fatigue. It barked again, just as my left arm gave out, and
its teeth sank deep into my shoulder,
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