Page 6 of Jacob Michaels Is Not Jacob Michaels

“You buried the lead, babe.” Lucas was shaking his head as we stood at the edge of the woods behind Oma’s house. “I mean, I never want to turn down making love with you, but you could have told me about the wolves before.”

Chewing at my lip, I glanced into the woods before turning my eyes back to Lucas. The sun was barely up, so I didn’t know why we were. Lucas was standing before me, in his pajamas and Carhartt again—the only clothes he had brought when he came over—watching me skeptically. Not that I could blame him for his skepticism, of course. Three wolves the size of…well, really big wolves…with glowing red eyes attacking me in Oma’s backyard was hard to believe. The fact that I didn’t feel like I could tell him about “Teenage Ghost Rob” and Ernst made the whole thing even more difficult. I certainly wasn’t going to explain to him how fire had shot out of my hand and hurt one-and-a-half wolves, either. An abridged version of events was relayed—three enormous wolves tried to attack me, and I ran for the safety of the house.

“I was…my head wasn’t right after that.” I gave a half shrug and shook my head softly. “I was scared and confused, and I didn’t know what to do, Lucas.”

He reached out and pulled me into a quick hug. He pressed his lips to mine softly before pulling away again.

“And I didn’t think you’d believe me.” I sighed, looking towards the woods again. “I still kind of don’t.”

“Babe.” He frowned at me, though he didn’t put his heart into it. “Of course, I believe you. It’s just…odd, I guess.”

Nodding down at the ground, I couldn’t help but snort in disbelief at his skepticism for my story. Lucas looked down at the paw print the size of a human hand in the drying mud at our feet.

“I mean, obviously there was at least one huge wolf.” He stated sheepishly.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” The frown was unstoppable.

“Rob,” He sighed, “I’m not going to say it again—I believe you—I’m just processing the whole thing, babe. I mean, this is just crazy, even though there was clearly a wolf here. Three huge wolves wandered up into Mrs. Wagner’s backyard and tried to make you a nummy little treat? I’m wondering if we need to tell Sheriff Dennard so he can notify…I don’t know…wildlife management or something? Who deals with this kind of thing? If wolves are wandering out of the woods—which wolves being around here is crazy enough—but if they’re wandering out trying to attack people so close to their homes, that’s a real problem. I don’t know what to do in a situation like this. That’s all. Okay?”

“Okay.” A feeling of relief washed over me. “Lucas, I feel like I haven’t seen you in years. Even now, here in front of me, where I can look into your eyes, I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

Lucas’ brow furrowed as he stared back. He was chewing at his lip.

“That’s weird, right?”

“I guess.” He looked towards the woods.

“I’m so glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad you’re here.” He replied. “So much.”

Swallowing hard, choking back the feeling of loss, like a rock in my gut, I turned to look into the woods with him. There was nothing there but trees and deeper woods peeking through the leafless trees. Spring was coming. Everything felt electric, as though life was excited to push through and make itself known, to announce its presence to the world. I could practically feel the ground and everything around me vibrating with unfulfilled potential. It felt like an energy I hadn’t felt in a long time. It made me feel powerful. But also sad. Something I had no name for was missing. I just knew it.

“I—and don’t make fun of me—but I think they were werewolves.” I spat it out, knowing that if I hesitated, I would stop myself.

Lucas turned, aghast.

I shrugged.

“I mean, they…look, their eyes looked kind of like Andrew’s…that night,” I explained. “They were glowing red, and they looked, I don’t know, intelligent. Not just like wolves looking for a nummy little treat, okay? They had this look in their eyes that they knew exactly what they were trying to do. They were organized and stealthy, and if…if I hadn’t run so fast, I guess…”

Lucas wrapped an arm around me and pulled me into him, side to side, standing there, looking out into the woods. Why wasn’t I explaining to him about Ernst and Teenage Ghost Rob?

“It’s just all so strange,” Lucas stated neutrally.

“Yeah.” I agreed. “Why do I feel so…”

Lucas let go of me and turned to watch me as I stared out at the woods.

“What is it, babe?”

“Right now,” My teeth were gnawing at my lip again, “I miss you.”

Lucas just stared.

“Why is that?” I asked, turning to him, my eyes pleading for an answer. “You know how someone comes home from a long trip, and you pick them up at the airport, and it feels like days or even a week have to pass before it feels like they’re not still gone? Like you can’t believe that you finally have them back? That’s how I feel right now. I’m settling into the feeling of having you back in my life.”

The face I was presented with by Lucas was impassive. Not knowing quite what to make of his hesitation to respond to my, admittedly, odd statement, I reached down and took his hand. Lucas’ fingers reflexively laced through mine, though his eyes didn’t meet mine. They stayed focused on the woods beyond us. Lucas’ eyes looked as though they were focused on something that only he could see, that he wasn’t going to share with me. It should have bothered me; it should have made me grab him and shake him and demand that he tell me what was on his mind. Instead, all I could think about was how glad I was that he was there. Only a few days had passed since I wasn’t even sure that I wanted a guy in my life and now I found myself wanting nothing more than to have Lucas by my side.