The Werewolf's Prisoner

Chapter 2: Hostage

Chapter 2: HostageThey do not make it to the kingdom seamlessly. An army of Wolflanders surround them. Imra and Jane stand back to back, wary of the men around them. Imra wishes the army belongs to her kingdom, but the men carry the emblem of Wolf Kingdom. They sit proud and tall on their horses while Imra and Jane try to make themselves as small and non-threatening as possible.

She is painfully aware that they are so much smaller compared to the men surrounding them. She has always been small for a lion cub. She had been a small, sick baby. Her mother was almost sixty when she gave birth to Imra and she died giving birth to her prematurely. Her father died in the heartbreak that followed. It is one of the reasons why her brother does not encourage her to fight. Even in her lion form, she is not as strong as some of the bigger shifters in their ranks. While her brother can fight off ten wolves on a bad day, she would only be able to handle one of her best day.

Jane is a rabbit shifter, which means she is small in size naturally.

"Name yourselves," a soldier demands, dismounting and stepping closer to the two women.

Jane does not look small now, brandishing her sword expertly. Imra scents the air and knows that most of the men on the horses are werewolves. This is a fight they wouldn't win. She places a calming hand on her friend's arm and gives her a brief shake of her head.

The soldier approaches them, thinking neither of them as threats, and Jane reacts by shaking off Imra's gentle grip on her arm and lurching forward. She drags the point of the blade across the soldier's cloak, cutting through the wool. The man jumps back with a snarl. He looks down, as though expecting to see blood, but Jane had withheld the blade back, not marking the man's skin.

"Stay back!" Jane growls, an impressive feat for a rabbit shifter. Her long ear adds height to her small stature and she positions herself in front of Imra, her sword held in front of her. "Stay back or I will cut you deeper next time."

The scent of anger in the air is heavy, burning in her lungs as she inhales. She flinches at the thought of the men seeing her ears out in public like this, but does not try to let it show.

One soldier grabs the man in front and pulls him back as another steps closer to them from behind. Their ears swivel back at the sound of leaves crunching beneath his feet. Jane spins the blade and slices across the man's arm, causing him to drop his sword. He leaps back and away.

"I said, stay back!"

One soldier jumps in between them and pulls Imra back as another steps closer to Jane.

"Jane!" she shouts as strong arms wrap around her. Jane spins and lunges at them. Imra twists in the man's arms and ducks right as Jane spears her sword towards the man's shoulder, only to be held back by two more knights behind her, tackling her to the ground.

"Let her go!" Imra demands, lips pulled back into a snarl. There is an angry snarl of apex predator in her tone that makes them flinch and look at her in surprise.

"You're lucky you didn't hurt yourself, foolish rabbit," one of the soldiers say as he pins Jane to the ground, cheek kissing the grass.

Jane fights in the man's grip as the man holding Imra pushes her off into another soldier's grasp. She screams, twisting and pulling against the grip to free herself.

"No luck involved," says a man on the horse. He leaps off the saddle with a graceful move that reminds her of her brother. The man is a full head taller than she is when he stands in front of her and is impressively built. He is tanned with a slight growth of stubble on his jawline. "She's trained," he says.

"Who would train a rabbit to be a fighter?" asks the man who was almost skewered by Jane's sword earlier. He stalks over to her and kicks her in the ribs twice.

"Stop it!" Imra screams.

"Leave the rabbit alone, Lang" the man says in a low voice that makes her tremble.

"My lord, they look like runaway slaves. We should end them," the man pleads, unsheathing his sword.

Fear makes her blood run cold. Imra stares at the man who is obviously in charge, her expression imploring. In all their discussion about their fake identities, she's never thought that they wouldn't make it through the day.

"I'm just joking!" Lang says at the tense silence that follows. Several men have their hands on their swords, but they are looking at him instead of at them. It's almost as if they're ready to strike him down instead.

"Bad joke, Lang," one of the soldiers say.

"What do you have in your bag?" the man asks, staring her straight in the eyes. She clutches the leather pack closer to herself. He has brilliant blue eyes that seem capable of emitting their own light. She forces herself to keep eye contact.

"Medicine," she whispers. "My supplies. I'm a healer. Jane- Jane and I are travelling-"

He interrupts before she can continue her story. "You are a healer?" he asks.

"Yes," she nods.

"Take them. We head back to camp."

"But what of the search, my lord?"

His question is ignored. "We will return to camp," he repeats with steel in his tone. "Now," he says in a decisive tone that makes most of his men comply without further question.

Lang clearly does not value his own life because he starts to talk again. "My lord, you can't believe that the slave-"

"She is not a slave!" Jane spits. "Just because we don't-"

"Enough!" the man growls. "Let's go," he climbs back onto the horse, leaving no room for further discussion.

Jane is pulled to her feet the same some Imra is released from the grips of the man behind her. She tries to run to Jane, but an arm grabs her around the waist and she's swung up onto a horse. Her cry of shock and indignity only makes the men laugh.

She's never been on a horse before. The man on the horse with her looks to be the one in charge of the whole troop. She fidgets and struggles in his grasp, trying desperately to get away. It is no use. She is trapped between his strong arms and he is the only thing keeping her from falling off the horse.

"Let- let go of me!" she demands.

"Enough of this nonsense. If you do not behave, I will put you over my knee and s***k you right here."

That quiets her quickly, her cheeks blushing bright red at the warning. A few men close to them laugh at the threat and she hears Jane snarl as she tries to pull herself free to get to Imra.

"Don't speak to her like that! She is-" The rest of her words are muffled when a man stuffs a rag in her mouth. She screams through the rag in outrage, but there's little she can do with her wrists bound and her weapons taken from her. Unlike Imra, she is draped over the horse on her belly to keep her from moving at all. It looks severely uncomfortable.

Imra keeps her mouth shut after that. She doesn't know if she will survive the indignity of being thrown over the horse like that. At least her rider has the decency to keep her upright.

"You're a child," he comments, his voice so close to her ear that she can feel his warm breath on her skin.

"I am nineteen," Imra responds without thinking, looking around to find Jane. Her friend's horse has gotten further along the path, scouting the way to make sure that they are not ambushed by bandits. The rider is an older looking male in full armor. He keeps to his saddle and looks pityingly at Jane. With minimal effort, he lifts her bodily up and adjusts her so that she is able to sit in front of him. The act of kindness makes Imra relax minutely, but her relief does not last for long.

Her rider wraps his arms around her and grabs the reigns. "Sit still," he says with his chest firm against her back. She shivers. She has never been so close to a wolf before. Are they all this warm?

"Where are we going?" she asks.

She doesn't get an answer. The beast leaps forward and into a gallop.