4: The Wolves
1120 Words
Selene
The red eyes moved.
Slow.
Silent.
Hungry.
They stepped out of the darkness slowly and with a mission. Their fur was brown and their body stretched unnaturally long. They were nothing like any wolf I had ever seen before.
They looked corrupted and more feral than usual.
I took it as they were wild wolves that were lost to madness.
Exactly the kind the elders warned us about and told the children stories about.
They circled me slowly, noses twitching as they sniffed the air around me.
The horse beneath me trembled.
My heart pounded so hard I could hear it echo in my ears.
'Please go away. Just go away. Please.' I begged, wishing they'll go away but they didn't.
One wolf snarled, saliva dripped from its mouth as it breathed. Another wolf moved closer to me until I could feel its breath on my ankle. The smell was rotten like decaying carcass.
I swallowed hard and tried calling my wolf again. Even a spark. Even something. Anything.
Nothing.
Not even a flicker.
“Shift,” I whispered, my voice shaking. “Please. Please. I need you.”
Heat rushed through my body for a second. My fingers tingled. My vision blurred.
Why won’t you help me? Why won’t you come out? Are you gone? Did the rejection kill you?
A low growl snapped me out of my thoughts and back to reality.
The wolves were done waiting.
One of them lunged for me.
I screamed and threw myself sideways off the horse. I hit the ground hard, rolling across dirt and dead leaves. Pain shot up my shoulder. My breath left me in a gasp.
The horse wasn’t so lucky.
The wolves crashed into her with snarls and teeth. She screamed—a horrible, high sound that made my heart break. Her legs kicked wildly, but there were too many of them.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, voice cracking as tears filled my eyes. “I’m so sorry. I brought you here. This is my fault. I’m so sorry.”
I couldn’t help her. There was not much I could do without my wolf.
I had to run.
My legs moved before my brain told them to. I pushed myself up and sprinted deeper into the forest. My lungs burned instantly. The cold air stabbed my throat. My feet barely found footing on the uneven ground.
Branches whipped my arms.
Twigs snapped under my boots.
My breath came in sharp gasps.
Behind me, the wolves shrieked and snarled. Then the horse’s screams stopped.
Silence followed but it wasn't for long.
I heard footsteps not long after.
Sniffing.
Panting.
The sound of bodies rushing through bushes.
They were coming.
I felt my heart leap into my throat. I pumped my legs harder. My muscles screamed at me but I didn’t slow down. I couldn’t.
A branch caught my ankle and I stumbled, slamming into the ground on my hands and knees. Pain shot up my leg but disappeared almost immediately. The adrenaline flowing in my veins numbed the pain.
I limped forward.
My breathing grew ragged. My footsteps grew slower.
Then I saw something that made my heart stop.
There was a wall of fallen trees just in front of me. Huge trunks, tangled roots—like the forest itself had collapsed in front of me. It stretched to the left and right endlessly.
A dead end.
“No…” My voice broke. “No, no, no.”
The wolves stopped behind me.
I heard their claws scrape the earth.
One growled.
Another huffed, low and hungry.
I turned around slowly.
Red eyes filled the darkness.
More than before.
Dozens, maybe.
They stepped closer, forming a half-circle around me. Their breaths mixed with the cold fog. Their jaws hung open, teeth dripping with saliva.
I backed up until my spine pressed against the fallen tree trunks.
There was nowhere left to run.
A sob escaped my throat.
I called on my wolf again but she didn't respond. It felt like she left me for good.
My legs gave way and I fell to my knees.
The wolves lowered their bodies.
Ready.
One of them crept forward, inch by inch, eyes locked on my throat. Its snout curled back. Its muscles tensed.
This is it.
This is how I die.
After everything, after surviving working for the pack, after surviving the rejection… I die here like this.
I sighed, seeing that there was nothing I could do and closed my eyes.
The wolf lunged.
Something hit the ground in front of me with a loud thud. I expected to feel pain but it never came.
I didn’t feel teeth.
I didn’t feel blood trickling down my body.
I felt… nothing.
Seconds ticked by.
One. Two. Three.
Why wasn’t I dead?
I opened my eyes slowly.
A man stood between me and the wolves.
His back was toward me. His shoulders were broad, his stance firm. His hair was dark and messy, falling over part of his face. What I could see of his skin was streaked with dirt and scratches.
He wasn’t fully shifted.
Claws extended from his fingers—long, curved, and deadly.
His eyes glowed faint gold, like fire trapped under glass.
His teeth were sharper than any normal wolf I'd seen at Blackthorn pack.
The wolves snarled at him, circling, recognizing him as a threat.
He didn’t move for a moment.
He only watched them.
Calm.
Focused.
Dangerous.
Then the first wolf lunged at him.
He moved so fast I barely saw it.
Claw.
Slash.
A yelp.
The wolf hit the ground bleeding.
Two more rushed in. He ducked under one, punched the other in the ribs with a force that cracked bone. He grabbed the first wolf by the scruff and threw it into a tree.
The wolves whined, confused and scared.
Another tried to bite his arm. He twisted, claws sinking into its shoulder. Blood sprayed the leaves. The wolf limped away, tail tucked between its legs.
The rest hesitated.
Then, one by one, they turned and fled into the forest, whining and snarling in defeat.
He stood there, breathing hard, chest rising and falling. Then he turned toward me slowly.
My heart raced.
His eyes met mine. Half-wolf. Half-man. Glowing faintly.
He took one step toward me.
I tried to stand but pain shot up my leg. I looked down and finally noticed the twig lodged deep in my skin, blood pooling around it.
“Oh,” I whispered as my vision blurred. “That’s… not good.”
The world tilted.
The man moved forward quickly—but I was already falling.
Darkness rushed up to meet me.
And I passed out.
- Writer
