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<span>Spoiler: <span class="bbCodeSpoiler-button-title">Blue</span></span>
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</div></div><br/>The nature preserve was the only place where Blue could find solace. With over one hundred thousand acres to get lost in, containing hundreds of miles of grass, impossibly large trees and protected wildlife prancing among the foliage, Blue could always manage to find somewhere new to explore--and, more importantly, hide. Although only small sections of the preserve were open to the public, Blue never allowed rules and regulations to get in the way of his solitary adventures. With little oversight on the camping grounds and hiking trails that existed at the edge of the park, it wasn't difficult for the inconspicuous young man to disappear beyond the bounds of invisible caution tape and large yellow signs that screamed WARNING: WILD ANIMALS ARE DANGEROUS. STAY BACK. DO NOT FEED. Blue had never seen anything more dangerous than a randy rabbit during his excursions, and although it was said that bears and wolves roamed the area, Blue saw no reason to be afraid.<br/><br/>This trip was not unlike the others Blue had previously experienced, although the pain he felt weighing down his chest as he slipped past the borders of the farthest hiking trail and continued on into wild territory was harder to ignore this time. Being named "Blue" by his parents was perhaps the first offense they had committed against him, but Blue had spent over two decades coming to terms with that initial insult. He figured his younger sisters, Little Bird and Chrysanthemum, had it worse than he did. As leaves and stray twigs crunched beneath his feet as he walked, Blue wondered if perhaps he was overreacting. He hadn't expected his parents to take the news of his sexuality well. Despite his parents' unorthodox naming habits, they had strict expectations for their children that did not involve shacking up with an intimate partner of the same sex. Blue's admission that he had no interest in marrying a woman and pumping out a litter of children for his parents to coddle was met with looks of utter disgust. His passionate explanations were ignored, his pleas for understanding were swept aside with contempt and his face still stung from where his father struck him.<br/><br/>Long fingers reached up and gingerly pressed against the warm skin of his cheek.<i>No</i>, he thought bitterly,<i>fuck them. They've made me into a pathetic fucking cliche and I have every right to be pissed about it.</i><br/><br/>Hours passed as Blue continued to trudge deeper and deeper into the preserve, farther than he had ever been before. Perhaps his parents were wondering where he had run off to, as he had so often done in the past. Sometimes running off for days before returning home. Perhaps they were relieved he was gone so thoughts of the sins he had committed with other males did not flood their minds every time they looked at his face. Either way, it didn't matter. All Blue could think about was how he wished he had grabbed his stash before storming out of his parents' house. Cigarettes, joints, maybe even that dime of coke he had left hidden somewhere in Chrysanthemum's room. Anything to take the edge off of the sadness and fury that sloshed around in his stomach, leaving him feeling ill.<br/><br/>Blue did not notice he was being stalked until the predator was<i>too close</i>, a shadow in his peripheral vision that left the hairs on Blue's arms standing up and his blood pumping loudly in his ears. Warnings flashed like neon lights in his mind's eye. What do you do when you're confronted by a wolf? What did all the signs around the campsites say? Blue couldn't remember, he couldn't think, all he could do was scream as a dark hulking shape lunged at him from the trees.<br/><br/>The beast was huge, larger than any wolf Blue could even imagine, with sharp, determined teeth that sunk deep into Blue's shoulder. The young man screamed again, beating at the wolf's face with the fist of his uninjured arm, kicking and squirming as the wolf brought him down to the ground with a heavy and painful thud. Intense pain radiated from Blue's shoulder as the wolf continued to hold him, ignoring Blue's efforts to escape as if Blue were nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum.<br/><br/>Warm blood seeped from Blue's wound and dripped down his arm in thick rivers of red. The wolf wasn't letting go, exhaustion began to sap all energy from Blue's body. Even adrenaline couldn't keep Blue from succumbing to unconsciousness, which took him swiftly once the blood loss became too much for Blue's body to handle. The last image Blue could remember was a pair of bright,<i>intelligent </i>eyes, as if the wolf had been waiting. Just waiting.<br/><br/>Blue awoke groggily, his shirt off and his shoulder wrapped. The pain was there, more intense than before now that there was no adrenaline to dull the unpleasant sensation. The young man groaned and tried to sit up and get an idea of where he was. He was alive, he could figure that. His eyes slowly came into focus and darted around the shack, taking in the small space and, soon enough, the imposing figure sitting near him.<br/><br/>"Who the fuck are you?" Blue gasped, his thick eyebrows furrowed together as he stared at the muscular man before him. He inhaled deeply and blinked, a weak attempt at calming his fried nerves.<br/><br/>"I'm sorry, I . . . You must've . . . There was this wolf, it was huge! Bigger than me. Gigantic. It-it attacked me and I-I must have passed out. I just remember seeing its eyes. I was trying so hard to beat it off but it didn't work, nothing worked.<br/><br/>"I don't know what happened after that. Did you do this?" Blue asked, pointing at the bandaging on his shoulder. "Did you find me?"