Painted Tainted

6

The wolf lunged at me, teeth bared but before it could reach me, a blur of dark fur slammed into its side so hard the sound echoed like thunder. Both wolves tumbled across the dirt, but the attacker recovered first, pinning the rogue and throwing it against a tree. The impact shook the trunk, bark cracking where the rogue’s body hit.

The other rogues froze in shock.

Then they turned on the new wolf and charged after him, snarling viciously. The moment their attention shifted, instinct took over.

Run.

My legs moved before I could breathe. I sprinted through the forest, branches slapping my arms, roots clawing at my feet. My lungs burned, my vision blurred, but I didn’t stop. I didn’t look back. I didn’t think. I just ran until my body simply couldn’t anymore.

I stumbled over a root, crashed to the ground, and my head struck a stone.

Pain exploded behind my eyes.

The world spun.

Then everything went black.

—

When I woke up, the forest was quiet. Too quiet.

My head throbbed as I pushed myself up, blinking away the dizziness. And that was when I saw him.

A wolf sat a few feet away, breathing hard. Dark fur, matted with mud and streaked with blood. He wasn’t a rogue not with the way he held himself, alert but not wild. He wasn’t a pack wolf either; he had no scent I recognized.

He had saved me.

He was also injured.

A long branch, sharp at the end was lodged in his lower side. He was wincing as he gripped it with his teeth, trying to pull it free. Blood soaked the fur around it, dripping onto the ground in a slow, steady rhythm.

For a moment I was too stunned to speak.

He paused and lifted his head, noticing I was awake. His eyes dark, unreadable met mine. He didn’t growl. He didn’t move toward me. He just looked.

Then, as if I was nothing more than a fallen leaf beside him, he returned to what he was doing, bracing himself and tugging the branch again.

I swallowed hard.

He wasn’t attacking me.

He wasn’t leaving either.

Just… existing beside me like fate had thrown us at the same disaster.

“Are you…” My voice cracked. “Are you one of the unpaired?”

His ear twitched. That was the only answer I got.

He kept working on the branch, breathing sharply through the pain.

And I sat there watching him, still dizzy, still terrified, but unable to understand why a stranger... a wolf rejected by the same ceremony had risked his life to save me

He tugged at the branch again, a strained growl rumbling in his chest. The sound made me flinch, not from fear but because I knew that kind of sound.

Pain.

Too much pain for one body to hold.

“Stop,” I whispered before I could think. “You’re… you’re just tearing it worse.”

His head snapped toward me, ears flat, eyes sharp as if warning me not to come closer. A low rumble vibrated from his throat.

“I’m not trying to hurt you,” I said softly, raising both hands. “But if you keep doing it like that, you’ll bleed out.”

He stared at me for a long moment—long enough that I wondered if he understood a single word. But then his body wavered, shoulders slumping as another tremor of pain ran through him.

Slowly, carefully, I crawled closer.

He didn’t growl again.

But every muscle in his body tensed, ready to dodge me if I made a wrong move.

“It’s okay,” I murmured, more to calm myself than him.

I placed my fingers gently around the branch. The wood was lodged deep but not beyond saving. I inhaled, then looked into his eyes.

“This will hurt,” I warned.

He blinked once.

Permission.

I pulled.

A sharp breath burst from him...half-growl, half-whimper but he didn’t snap at me. Blood trickled out as the branch slipped free, and he staggered once, almost collapsing.

“Hold still..just a little more.” I pressed my sleeve against the wound, trying to slow the bleeding. “You saved me. Let me help you.”

He stared at me again, that unreadable look in his eyes… not trust, but something close to questioning why I was bothering at all.

Then his body shifted.

Not violently.

Not dramatically.

Just a ripple of movement as bones realigned and fur receded. It was quick and quiet, the way an exhausted wolf shifts when he has nothing left to give.

And then he was human.

A boy older than me by maybe a year—lean, bruised, dirt smeared across his skin. His hair was dark and messy, his breath uneven. His eyes were the same ones that watched me through the wolf: intense, guarded, impossible to read.

He clutched his side, now bleeding openly without the fur to hide it. Even in human form, he kept a bit of distance between us, like he wasn’t sure if I’d run or if he should.

“You…” he breathed out slowly, voice hoarse. “You didn’t have to do that.”

I swallowed, my hands shaking.

“I owed you my life.”

He looked away, jaw tightening as pain rippled through him again.

Again I worked quickly, hands trembling as i pressed the thick leaves against his stomach. The wound wasn’t deep enough to kill him, but the branch had torn through skin and muscle. He winced, jaw clenching, yet he didn’t push me away.

“Hold still,” I whispered.

“I am holding still,” he muttered, even though he was clearly fighting the urge to flinch.

After a few minutes, the bleeding finally slowed. His breathing steadied, though his eyes were still glassy with pain. I tore a strip from my shirt and tied it around his waist to keep the makeshift bandage in place.

He looked down at the knot i made, then at me.

“…Thank you.”

But the gratitude was brief. A shadow passed over his expression, and he glanced around the dimming forest.

“They’ll return,” he said. “Rogues don’t give up that easily. We need to move before they track us again.”

I swallowed and nodded.

“Come on.”

I tugged his arm over my shoulders. He stiffened, clearly uncomfortable.

“You don’t have to carry me.”

“I’m not carrying you,” I said. “I’m helping you walk.”

He grumbled something under his breath which was too low for me to catch....but he allowed me to support him. Even injured, he was careful not to lean too heavily on me. Every few steps he hissed through his teeth, but kept going.

Branches tugged at our clothes. The sky darkened to deep purple. Our footsteps were shaky, uneven. But neither stopped.

By the time night settled fully, we found a massive tree with a trunk thick enough to hide behind. We sank to the ground as we gasped for air.

Then my stomach twisted painfully.

“I’m so hungry,” I murmured silently.

He nodded once, eyes half-closed. “We’ll find food in the morning.”

Silence drifted between us... heavy, but strangely calm. The forest buzzed quietly around us

For a moment… it almost felt safe.

Until a stick snapped sharply somewhere behind us.

Our heads shot up.

There were glowing eyes shimmering between the branches. Then another pair. Then another.

"They are here". He said.

I shot to my feet, though my legs trembled. The boy struggled to stand too, using the tree for support. His breath was shallow, his stance shaky.

Three wolves stepped out, snarling.

I took a step back.

“No, no, no…”

The wolves lunged forward and chaos exploded.

I swung my arm, although it was useless but it caught one wolf across the face, and it barely stumbled. My shifting spark flickered under my skin but I was too drained to do more than a half-shift. The boy tried to fight as well, but he slid down the tree when his injury pulled him back down.

One wolf rushed my side, knocking me to the dirt in an instant. My elbows scraped the ground as I tried to get up. But another wolf circled me, snapping its teeth. Their growls vibrated through the forest floor.

“What are you trying to do!” the boy shouted, trying to drag himself toward me

I pushed myself up again, panting.

“I’ve got it—!”

But I knew I didn’t.

My muscles were failing. My vision wavering. They were too many, and I was alone. I clawed at the dirt, forcing myself to rise, but my body betrayed me and I fell onto my knees.

One wolf slammed me down with its paw, pinning my chest to the ground. I gasped, choking on air.

The biggest wolf stepped forward, towering over me. Then it raised its claws ready to put an end to me..

I shut my eyes as I awaited my end...

And then...

A single, sharp bell rang.

The sound cut through the forest like lightning.

The wolves froze mid-movement.

Their ears twitched. Their heads snapped toward the sound. A low whine escaped one of them before they all stepped back, slowly, as if dragged by something unseen.

My eyes snapped open at the sound..

The bell rang again. Clearer, louder, commanding.

And every wolf stopped moving.