trees.
“No!” Mel came to a stop. Up ahead, the path forked off the
left and the right. We all stopped walking. The rustling started up again and a
tendril of fear unfurled in the pit of my stomach. We were lost out here. And
someone was following us. I didn’t dare put it into words, but it wasn’t hard
to imagine how this was going to end.
“Let’s go right,” Brenda said. “We need to keep going.”
She was trying to be brave so she wouldn’t fall apart. I’d
started off like that back in the shack. I didn’t have the strength any more. What
was the point? Someone had drugged us and brought us out here. Now they were
watching us, waiting to make their move.
“Come on.” She tugged on my arm.
I was still thinking morbid thoughts when a creature burst
out of the undergrowth. We all jumped and backed away from the treeline. The
animal was huge and shaggy. An enormous wolf, almost the size
of a deer. As we watched, it reared up onto its hind legs and altered
its shape. It grew taller, more like a man. Then it threw back its head and howled.
It should have scared me, but it made me excited. The noise went right through
me, resonating with something deep in my genetic memory. The howl spoke of
freedom and running faster than the wind. It promised me the chance to be
whoever I wanted.
The wolf-man turned his yellow eyes on me and I saw
recognition there. He knew me. Brenda and Mel kept on backing away. Mel fell
over and scrabbled back to her feet. He paid no attention to them. His eyes
didn’t leave mine. His pointed ears shrank back. His muzzle melted into the
shape of a human face.
“Go back.” His voice was harsh. Fighting
its way out through a mouthful of jagged teeth. He pointed to the shack
at the far end of the path. The other women sidled around me and stood
together, shaking and clinging to each other.
“Now,” he barely raised his voice, but they ran for the
safety of the wooden hut. More howls rang out in the distance. I looked at the
women running away. I looked at the creature standing in front of me. Whatever
this was, I wasn’t going to run from it. Mel and Brenda wouldn’t be any safer
if I went with them. I faced the wolf and stood my ground.
“You’re not afraid?”
I walked towards him, my pulse getting faster with every
step I took. He loomed over me, standing seven feet tall. Or maybe even more.
His eyes blazed through the darkness, glowing golden around almond-shaped
pupils. I was swamped by him. Even his musky smell seemed designed to rob me of
my senses. Gazing up at him, I saw past the hair and the gleaming fangs to
something manly.
“I’m not afraid.” I was fascinated. There I was, face to
face with a monstrous wolf, but my imagination wasn’t throwing up images of him
eating me. I was thinking about how it would feel to be wrapped in his strong,
furry arms. “You know me, don’t you?” I had no idea how that could even be
possible, but I felt the truth of it.
“No.”
“Liar.” Before I had time to think,
he lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder. His muscles bunched beneath me
and he took off into the wood. I held on to his back, plunging my fingers into
the thick dark hair. The earthy smell of him was strong that close to him. He
was so soft. I laid my cheek against his pelt and closed my eyes, lulled by the
motion of his strides. I didn’t care where he was taking me. As long as he was
there, I’d be safe.
I heard the howls again. Closer this time. My wolf lifted his voice in response and it echoed through my body. If only I
could make such a pure and primal sound. I envied the way that he walked
through the world, taking what he wanted. I’d imagined myself content in my job
at the bank and my weekends out with friends. He’d shown me I was lying to
myself.
He slowed down and I looked around us. Bending forward, he
dropped me to the ground and I sat on a carpet of leaf-litter. We were in a
tiny clearing, deep in amongst the trees. Light from
“No!” Mel came to a stop. Up ahead, the path forked off the
left and the right. We all stopped walking. The rustling started up again and a
tendril of fear unfurled in the pit of my stomach. We were lost out here. And
someone was following us. I didn’t dare put it into words, but it wasn’t hard
to imagine how this was going to end.
“Let’s go right,” Brenda said. “We need to keep going.”
She was trying to be brave so she wouldn’t fall apart. I’d
started off like that back in the shack. I didn’t have the strength any more. What
was the point? Someone had drugged us and brought us out here. Now they were
watching us, waiting to make their move.
“Come on.” She tugged on my arm.
I was still thinking morbid thoughts when a creature burst
out of the undergrowth. We all jumped and backed away from the treeline. The
animal was huge and shaggy. An enormous wolf, almost the size
of a deer. As we watched, it reared up onto its hind legs and altered
its shape. It grew taller, more like a man. Then it threw back its head and howled.
It should have scared me, but it made me excited. The noise went right through
me, resonating with something deep in my genetic memory. The howl spoke of
freedom and running faster than the wind. It promised me the chance to be
whoever I wanted.
The wolf-man turned his yellow eyes on me and I saw
recognition there. He knew me. Brenda and Mel kept on backing away. Mel fell
over and scrabbled back to her feet. He paid no attention to them. His eyes
didn’t leave mine. His pointed ears shrank back. His muzzle melted into the
shape of a human face.
“Go back.” His voice was harsh. Fighting
its way out through a mouthful of jagged teeth. He pointed to the shack
at the far end of the path. The other women sidled around me and stood
together, shaking and clinging to each other.
“Now,” he barely raised his voice, but they ran for the
safety of the wooden hut. More howls rang out in the distance. I looked at the
women running away. I looked at the creature standing in front of me. Whatever
this was, I wasn’t going to run from it. Mel and Brenda wouldn’t be any safer
if I went with them. I faced the wolf and stood my ground.
“You’re not afraid?”
I walked towards him, my pulse getting faster with every
step I took. He loomed over me, standing seven feet tall. Or maybe even more.
His eyes blazed through the darkness, glowing golden around almond-shaped
pupils. I was swamped by him. Even his musky smell seemed designed to rob me of
my senses. Gazing up at him, I saw past the hair and the gleaming fangs to
something manly.
“I’m not afraid.” I was fascinated. There I was, face to
face with a monstrous wolf, but my imagination wasn’t throwing up images of him
eating me. I was thinking about how it would feel to be wrapped in his strong,
furry arms. “You know me, don’t you?” I had no idea how that could even be
possible, but I felt the truth of it.
“No.”
“Liar.” Before I had time to think,
he lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder. His muscles bunched beneath me
and he took off into the wood. I held on to his back, plunging my fingers into
the thick dark hair. The earthy smell of him was strong that close to him. He
was so soft. I laid my cheek against his pelt and closed my eyes, lulled by the
motion of his strides. I didn’t care where he was taking me. As long as he was
there, I’d be safe.
I heard the howls again. Closer this time. My wolf lifted his voice in response and it echoed through my body. If only I
could make such a pure and primal sound. I envied the way that he walked
through the world, taking what he wanted. I’d imagined myself content in my job
at the bank and my weekends out with friends. He’d shown me I was lying to
myself.
He slowed down and I looked around us. Bending forward, he
dropped me to the ground and I sat on a carpet of leaf-litter. We were in a
tiny clearing, deep in amongst the trees. Light from
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