Against All Odds.

her finger on it. All of a sudden, she hears a rustling in the bushes nearby. Laura takes a deep breath and slowly starts walking towards the sounds. As she gets closer, she can hear the rustling g

ew seconds, the wolf is gone, replaced by a man. He's tall and muscular, with dark hair and piercing eyes. And he's completely nake

f I scared y

n't me

n takes a step closer to her, and she can feel the heat ra

going to

lly finds

rembling. "My name is Derek," he rep

m not a monster, despite what you might think. I'm just a man who was cursed with this

ething about Derek's voice is strangely soothin

an, someone lik

ys. "Someone who's not afraid of what I am, but is instead willing to give me a c

relax a little, and sh

rson," she says. "You ju

ek n

like to show you that I'm not t

would you be willing to come with

and, she's still a little scared of him. But on the

says. "I need some ti

e all the time you need. But I

alks back into the shadow

t Derek. Is he really as harmless as he claims to be? And if he is, what would it be like to get to know him? She's never met anyone like him before, and she

Finally, it's time to go home. And as soon as she walks through the door, she knows what she has to do. She grabs her coat and heads back out the door, determined to find Derek and

she's about to give up and turn around, she hears a rustling in the bus

you'd come b

you'd be

es a deep

ut I'm also scared. What if yo

her, his expres

t I promise that I won't hurt you. I j

e first time, she feels a sense of pe

ays. "I'll co

k sm

ys. "I promise you

what feels like hours, until they come to a small clearing. In

to the tree, and they s

e Tree of Li

ers. And I believe it can help

ks at him,

" she

s to emanate from it. The light swirls around them, and Laura feels a sense

until he comes to a lake. Suddenly, his face changes from joy to fear. And then, the boy is gone, replaced by a man. The man is sitting

my story,

you know t