Her Destiny

Chapter 7

Odin was conflicted. He hasn’t much time left to decide if he wanted to save the wolf or not. It’s getting dark, and hunters always check their traps before it’s dark. He was a god. He shouldn’t mingle with people or animals on earth, but Huginn acted strangely, not planning on letting this go. But not Huginn alone made him doubt. There was something about that wolf, somewhat unique. There was something inside him that just couldn’t walk away. He had the urge to help the wolf and comfort her, to caress its soft, beautiful fur. Huginn couldn’t wait any longer. Odin took to much time to decide. Scared that the wolf had already given up, he flies closer to it. And starts to give little gentle pecks on the wolf’s head.

The wolf opened her eyes, fascinated by the raven. It looked like the raven and the wolf were talking without making a sound from where Odin was standing. That was just too strange, that’s impossible, right? Only he and Huginn had such an understanding between each other, and that’s only because his mom created Huginn, especially for him.

Suddenly the wolf got up and tried to look in Odin’s direction. It was holding up her left paw, the one that was in the trap. You could see that the wolf suffered. Odin couldn’t take it any longer. He went to the wolf very slowly because let’s face it, it’s still a predator. And animals who are in danger are most likely to act aggressively. He squatted down next to her, slowly extending his hand. The wolf sniffed it a little shy and reservedly. It was almost as if she was testing him as well. Huggin gave one last encouraging shriek. And the wolf put her snout against his hands, encouraging him she could be trusted.

Persephone was never going to hurt anybody. But Odin seemed to doubt that for a second, only coming to her real slowly. The man she saw was handsome, and she liked the feeling of his touch on her. She whimpered a little when he touched the paw that was stuck in the trap.

“Those Basterds, I hate hunters. Hurting such a beautiful animal. “Odin gritted through his teeth, trying to hide his anger. Animals felt emotions, and he didn’t want to scare the wolf.

Persephone was still looking at Odin, trying not to whimper, trying to not make him mad. She loved his gentle touches. It touched Persephone that the man was furious about her suffering. She could feel that one of the perks of being a wolf. She has the feeling that if the hunters arrived now, he would kill them. He smelled so good she couldn’t stop herself anymore and started to sniff him while he was trying to get her out. Odin was surprised when the wolf used her wet nose to smell all over him. He found it kind of cute.

After trying a little bit, Odin succeeded in opening the trap. He could just break it open with his strength, but that would hurt her. So, by being careful, it took him a little longer. The wolf limped to him, thanking him by rubbing against him. Odin touched the fur and started to caress it. That what’s he wanted to do the moment he saw the animal. Persephone was enjoying the touch of his warm, strong hands on her fur. Oh, no, was she wagging her tail? Do wolves wag their tails, like dogs? She looked at the thing confused. Then she looked at it in a warning way. It was like she was staring at her tail to forbid it to wag. Odin had a hard time not laughing at this funny scene. It was adorable. 

“Well friends, it seems like some boy thought he could take away our catch. “

Persephone didn’t like the sound of the voice she heard it sounded evil. She limped behind the guy that had saved her, hoping he wouldn’t give her to them. Huginn was shrieking angry, flying in front of the wolf, warning he would attack if they would dare to come closer. Again Odin was surprised by the strange behavior of his raven.

Odin sighed. He didn’t want to kill people that were created by gods. He knew he shouldn’t have mingled in this. But when he saw the terrified look from the white wolf, something changed in him. He knew he was ready to fight for it. Nobody would ever touch her. And he wanted to take revenge for her suffering. It was obviously the wolf had been through hell. What was happening to him? It’s like the wolf had some sort of love spell on him and Huginn. He took an arrow off his back and put it on his bow, he did it in such a swift move that the hunters took a little step back. That boy obviously knew how to handle his weapons. And the man in front of them looked scary as hell. After staring at each other, overthinking the situation, and estimating their chances, they concluded that the four of them could overpower the man easily.

The leader of the hunters. A man with a scar and a rough beard that wasn’t shaved in a long time took a step forward but was stopped when an arrow landed between his two feet.

“That’s close enough.” Odin was looking at them in a warning way.

 “I don’t want to kill you, but trust me if I say that I will if you take another step closer.”

“Boy what are you trying to do? Are you risking your life to save a predator? He will just leave you if your lucky that it doesn’t eat you. And then what then you risked your life for nothing. “

Even though his eyes were ready to murder, he hadn’t stepped one step closer.

“Look at that thing, he won’t make it another day. That beast can’t be saved.”

“It’s a she, and I’ll take care of her, so go away. “

His voice was ice cold, but the hunter was no p***y, and wasn’t planning on going away without his catch. For that gorgeous fur, he could ask a lot of money. As if Persephone knew what he was thinking, she lowered herself more to the ground. Why would a stranger save her? Huginn felt her anxious and flew closer to her.

“Stop bonding with an animal they're, useless.”

As if Huginn wanted to prove something, he attacked the hunter’s eye cutting it with his wings and nails. The hunter was pushed back because of it but was soon over the surprise and took his knife to attack the raven. However, before he could use his knife, he fell dead on the ground.

The hunters retreated. One moment their boss was ready to attack, and the next moment he was dead with an arrow between his eyes. They hadn’t even seen the man move, but he had already put another arrow on. Huginn was clearly enjoying their victory. Odin could feel that he wanted all the hunters dead. He was angry that they had already hurt the wolf with their trap. Huginn wanted to make the hunters pay for it. Suddenly Odin was also trigged by these thoughts. Those men had hurt something he Cherished. They had to pay for it. The wolf, however, didn’t want to see anybody die. Persephone had seen too many people die already, and she just couldn’t handle it anymore. She carefully bit in Odin’s sleeve and tried to pull him back. She was also staring at Huginn. The raven flew to her and landed between her paws. It seemed to calm his anger down.

Odin let out an irritating breath again. He was a little pissed that he had to retread. But the wolf was right, pulling him back. And he had to take care of her and heal her wound as fast as possible. 

“If you don’t want to end up as this big guy here, pointing at the dead man on the ground. I strongly suggest you go back home and leave the wolf alone.” 

The other hunters seemed to consider that idea, but how could they walk away from somebody that had just killed there boss without taking revenge. Odin noticed the change in mind, he rolled his eyes. These hunters were so dumb. They were still thinking about attacking him. Confident in their numbers, the hunters attacked together. Two men ran to him, trying to grab him. But again, there was one fast move, and they both lay dead on the ground. The third man was a little taking back but shot his gun at him. The others had distracted Odin just long enough to take his weapon, aim, and fire it. Huginn flapped his wings, and the bullet backfired to the shooter, a duff sound, and he also lay dead on the ground. Odin was a little happy that they attacked. Walking away knowing they had hurt the wolf would’ve been difficult for him.

He turned around and saw the wolf with her head bowed and eyes closed. She acted almost humanly. “Huginn seek a place to set up a camp. We need to take care of her first.” It didn’t take long for the raven to come back very proud of the place he had found. A small cave in a mountain. Odin took the sword he had received from the man on the hill and shopped wood with it. He made a warm campfire in the cave, and the wolf gladly lay close to it warming herself up. Even with the fur, she was shivering from the cold. Seeing that Odin feared she also had a cold.

“Can I heal your wound, beautiful girl?” He was talking to the animal in a soft loving voice. Persephone gave her paw, she wanted to thank him for everything. She wanted to touch him, even to kiss him. She enjoyed his attention for her. She was looking at his every movement he made. One moment she couldn’t help herself and licked him in the face.

Odin fell down in surprise but had a big smile on.” You are more a dog than a wolf.” He laughed. She felt insulted because of that and lay next to the fire with her butt in his direction. If Persephone was in her human form now, she would’ve never dared to be so blunt.

Odin stood up and went to sit next to her. Persephone moved her head away from him. When he wanted to caress her, she let out a little growl. Did she just do that? She scared herself and jumped up when she made that sound, causing her to hurt her paw again.

Odin spoke softly and calm to her, “You’ve to watch yourself beautiful I don’t want to see you hurt, lay yourself back down”. 

She obeyed him but made it clear that she only listened because she wanted it too. While she lay down, she was secretly looking at Odin. He was sharing his food with Huginn. When she saw that, her stomach started to make an unladylike sound. How long was It since she had eaten something? 

Odin couldn’t ignore the sound and came to her. He offered her a piece of the meat he was eating, but she didn’t take it. Instead, she took a little bite of the cheese he was holding in the other hand.

“This wolf is really special” he muttered to himself. Persephone had never eaten cheese and enjoyed it. She was really eating slowly to enjoy the taste as long as possible. Odin chuckled and gave her a new piece. He loved to see her eat. Why was he feeling this way about a wolf?

Odin was tired, so he decided to sleep. When Persephone thought that he was in a deep sleep, she cuddled herself against him. Odin opened his eyes and was secretly admiring her. He enjoyed having her so close by him. Persephone wished she could lay in his strong arms and caress his hair gently. But she could never let him show the real her. Then he would hate her too, just as her tribe members. And then he would chase her away. Who can love somebody that changes into a beast? As if Odin knew she felt sad, he took her closer to him. Huginn was looking at the scene happily. He knew who she was, but it was not up to him to tell her secrets. Only the daughter of Aphrodite could speak with animals like him. And Hera had learned how to create Huginn from Aphrodite, so he recognized her blood in Persephone ride away. But if he could recognize her so fast, then her enemies could too. He had to keep an eye on her. Luckily she was not planning on leaving.