Oh My Goddess

Her: A wolf’s howl dragged me out of the darkness. My eyes flew open. For several seconds, I didn’t move. I simply stared upward. Thousands of stars glittered between the branches above me, bright against a cloudless night sky. They should have been beautiful. They were beautiful. And yet, for some reason I couldn’t explain, they looked sad. Lonely. The thought left a strange ache inside my chest. Another howl echoed through the forest, farther away this time, and whatever spell the sky had cast over me shattered. Where was I? I pushed myself upright. Cool grass slid beneath my palms, damp with night air. Thick vegetation surrounded me, growing wild along the banks of a wide stretch of dark water. A lake? No. Maybe a river. I had absolutely no idea. Moonlight shimmered across the surface, turning the water almost silver. I stared at it, waiting for something—anything—to feel familiar. Nothing did. My breathing quickened. How had I gotten here? Surely I had come somehow. Walked. Driven. Someone had brought me. Think. I squeezed my eyes shut. Nothing. No road. No house. No memory of falling asleep. Nothing before opening my eyes beneath these trees. My stomach twisted. Fine. Then start with something easier. My name. I searched for it. Nothing. My eyes opened. What? I tried again. My name. Surely I knew my own name. Everyone knew their own name. But there was nothing. No sound. No image. No faint whisper hiding at the back of my mind. My family? Nothing. Home? Nothing. Friends? Nothing. I couldn't remember a face. A voice. A single moment of my life. There was simply a vast, empty darkness where everything I was supposed to know should have been. Panic tightened around my ribs. “No.” At least, I tried to say it. My lips moved. No sound came. I froze. I swallowed and tried again. “No.” Nothing. My hand flew to my throat. There was no pain. No injury. Nothing preventing me from breathing. But no matter how hard I tried, my voice refused to appear. My heart began pounding. This wasn’t happening. I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know who I was. And apparently, I couldn’t speak. Wonderful. I looked down. And immediately discovered the night could, in fact, get worse. I was naked. Completely naked. My arms flew across my chest. Heat rushed into my face despite the fact that there was apparently no one around to see me. For the first time since waking, I was grateful for the ridiculous amount of hair spilling around me. It was almost white. Silver, perhaps. I gathered a strand between my fingers and stared at it. It reached well past my waist, thick enough that I could pull most of it around myself. At least embarrassment apparently survived complete memory loss. Why was I naked? The thought came with another, darker one. Had somebody done something to me? I searched my arms. My legs. My stomach. No bruises. No cuts. No blood. Nothing. My skin looked almost untouched beneath the moonlight. That should have reassured me. Instead, it made everything stranger. If someone had abandoned me here, why wasn’t I hurt? And if no one had— How had I ended up naked beside a river in the middle of a forest? I slowly pushed myself to my feet. My legs trembled. Apparently they remembered how to stand, at least. Good for them. The world tilted slightly before settling. I wrapped my hair across the front of my body and looked around. Trees. Water. Darkness. No buildings. No lights. No sign of another person. Only the moon. I looked up at it. It hung enormous above the treeline. Full. Brilliant. Beautiful. And the moment I saw it properly, something inside me broke open. Longing hit first. So powerful I actually stopped breathing. Then came something else. Anger. Resentment. Pain. The emotions crashed into one another until I couldn’t separate them. My eyes burned. Why? I had no memories. No idea who I was. So why did looking at the moon feel as though I had remembered someone who had hurt me? A tear slipped down my cheek. I wiped it away angrily. Ridiculous. I didn’t even know why I was crying. A branch snapped behind me. I spun around. The bushes moved. Every muscle in my body went rigid. Another rustle. Then silence. I stared into the darkness. Maybe it was some small animal. A rabbit. Did rabbits live in forests like this? I thought they did. Apparently my brain had erased my entire existence while deciding wildlife trivia was essential information. Wonderful. Something stepped through the bushes. Not a rabbit. A wolf. I stopped breathing. It was enormous. Far larger than any wolf I could imagine should exist, its shoulders broad beneath thick dark fur. Its head was nearly level with my chest. That couldn’t be normal. Could it? Its eyes settled on me. My stomach turned. There was something wrong with those eyes. They were too aware. Too intelligent. I stumbled backward. Another wolf emerged. Then another. Three. Three massive wolves stood between the trees, watching me. Wolves were supposed to avoid humans. I knew that much. So why weren’t these running? The largest stood in the middle. Its gaze traveled slowly over me. Not like an animal. Like a man. I tightened my hair around my body. The wolf looked toward the animal on its left. Then the one on its right. Something passed between them. I had no idea how I knew it. No sound was made. No movement beyond a slight tilt of their heads. Yet somehow, I knew they were communicating. The middle wolf pulled its lips back. I initially thought it was snarling. Then my blood went cold. It looked like it was smiling. Its expression changed a moment later. The wolf's head jerked slightly to one side, its eyes narrowing as if someone had just said something it didn’t like. But no one had spoken. The wolf looked at me again. My heart hammered harder. Think. There had to be somewhere to run. The water? The forest? A tree? Could wolves climb trees? I didn't know. How useless was my brain? The wolf lunged. I threw my arms over my face. My mouth opened in a scream that never came. I waited for claws. Teeth. Pain. Instead— Crack. Snap. Pop. A horrifying series of sounds filled the clearing. Like bones breaking. My stomach lurched. Then everything became silent. I didn’t move. My heart slammed so hard I could feel it against my arms. Slowly, against every sensible instinct I possessed, I lowered them. The wolf was gone. A man stood in its place. I stared. No. Impossible. He was huge. Naked. Human. My gaze darted around him. Where was the wolf? “What are you doing here?” I jumped at his voice. His brow furrowed as he looked me over. “Don’t you know you’re trespassing?” I opened my mouth. Nothing. His frown deepened. “I asked you a question.” I touched my throat helplessly. His eyes narrowed. Then something unpleasant slid into his expression. “You know what we do with trespassers around here?” I backed away. “We usually rip them apart.” My blood turned cold. The other wolves remained behind him. “But you…” His gaze traveled over me. Slowly. A smile spread across his face. “You look like you might be worth keeping alive for a little longer.” My stomach dropped. He glanced toward the wolves. “What do you think, boys?” Boys? I followed his gaze. Before I could understand what he meant, both wolves surged forward. I flinched. Bones cracked. Bodies twisted. Fur disappeared. Two men stood where the wolves had been. My knees nearly gave way. No. No, that couldn’t— My gaze snapped back to the first man. He had been the wolf. They all had. What were they? How was that possible? “H…” I forced air through my throat. Nothing. The first man laughed. “What’s wrong?” He stepped closer. “Cat got your tongue?” The others chuckled. “I don't think she can talk,” one said. The largest crouched in front of me. His grin widened. “That might make things more interesting.” He reached toward me. I recoiled. His fingers closed around my arm. Revulsion tore through me so sharply that I slapped his hand away without thinking. His smile vanished. For one strange second, the entire clearing changed. The moonlight brightened. Not everywhere. Around me. A pale glow seemed to gather across my skin. The man jerked backward. “What the f**k?” I stared at him. I hadn't done anything. Had I? Something moved inside me. Cold. Powerful. Ancient. I couldn’t explain it. Couldn’t control it. But one word entered my mind with such force that it felt as though someone else had placed it there. Kneel. The man’s knees buckled. Only for a second. Barely enough to notice. But I noticed. So did the others. We all stared at him. Then whatever had happened vanished. The moonlight returned to normal. The pressure inside me disappeared. The man looked at me with wide eyes. “What did you do?” I shook my head. I didn't know. I didn't know anything. His shock quickly turned into rage. “You little bitch.” He reached for me again. This time, one of the men behind me grabbed my shoulders. I struggled. The first man's hand closed around my jaw. “Let's see you do that again.” Fear exploded through me. Then a growl rolled through the darkness. Everything stopped. It was unlike anything I had heard from the wolves. Lower. Deeper. Dangerous enough that my entire body went cold. The men froze. The hand on my face disappeared. The one holding my shoulders released me so quickly that I almost stumbled. I stared at them. Seconds ago, I had been terrified of these men. Now all three looked terrified of something else. The largest slowly turned toward the trees. His face lost every trace of color. I followed his gaze. At first, I saw nothing. Only shadows. Then one of them moved. A man stepped between the trees. He was enormous. Tall enough that the others suddenly seemed ordinary beside him, broad shoulders filling the space between the trunks. Dark hair. A hard face. Eyes that seemed almost black from where I stood. Everything about him felt dangerous. Not the reckless cruelty of the men surrounding me. Something controlled. Something far worse. His gaze swept across the clearing. Over the men. Over the hand still hovering too close to me. Then his eyes landed on mine. The world seemed to go strangely quiet. I couldn't breathe. The man beside me swallowed. And with a voice that suddenly sounded nothing like the arrogant one he had used moments before, he whispered, “My King.”