MATED TO THE TWIN WOLVES

MISTOOK FOR A WITCH

As Jupiter gaped at the strange figures, she thought she had somehow died and gone to heaven.

Could this be the afterlife? If so, then where are the Pearl gates she was made to believe she needed to pass through? What of purgatory? Several questions flooded into her mind, but no one was available to answer them. As far as her eyes could see, she was surrounded by a circle of tall flat stones. Now, apart from the circle still in focus, all her companions weren't. She could only see them through a strange haze, their voices, strange and syncing like the sounds of a record or tape that had somehow lapsed into a slow, slurring speed. She called to them, but they seemed not to hear her as they walked out of sight.

Jupiter raised herself from the floor. How she ended up there was a mystery she can't decipher now.

What's happening to me? She asked herself as she tried to carry her legs, which now seemed heavier than usual, and after a few steps, some men suddenly appeared out of the haze. They were tall, with muscles all over their bodies. They carry wooden shields and gleaming silver swords in their hands. Without being told, Jupiter knew who they were.

They were Werewolves.

She had somehow brought them back to this city. One of them pointed at her, muttered some incomprehensible words and three men instantly started closing in around her. She, on the other hand, couldn't seem to move or choke out even a syllable.

A second later, she didn't know where the strength came from, and she was surprised when she lifted her leg and raced through the arching entrance and down the long stone-lined passage that led out of the compound.

Her frantic footfalls led her onto the path that encircled the monastery's graveyard. Here, her fellow tourists were gathered in a huge haphazard circle as they calmly listened to Roland speak about the monastery's history.

"The werewolves are here. Run," Jupiter screeched to them. She paused, turned her head sideways, and her eyes immediately caught sight of the circular bastion she'd spotted from the bus. "We will be safe in the tower, let's go."

Her warning was greeted by several clucks of scorn and disbelief, and eyes looking at her as if she'd taken leave of her senses.

Jupiter didn't stop to hear more of their spiteful words but immediately found her way out of the monastery. Moments later, she heard screams and wails, and then the sounds of footsteps racing close to her, so she increased her stride. Outside, she discovered the presence of a newly arrived ship, and she noticed it was filled with strange-looking men, just like the men chasing her.

But, rather than rowing to shore in any sort of dinghy, they'd chosen to wade in, and they were soaked almost to their waists as they rushed forward.

"Dear God. I think they are going to run me down." She muttered and increased her stride. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Helen running after her, saw one of the men step after her, and then ran her through just under her rib cage, with his broadsword.

Jupiter couldn't believe her eyes as Helen stood shuddering in agony for an instant, then fell forward, onto the graveled path that led to the tower.

This was all the proof she needed to convince herself that the werewolf onrush was real and that she could very easily be their next victim if she didn't get her ass to safety now.

Oh, how she wished this was just another "time slip," which she could stave off with a consoling coke, but it wasn't. An innocent woman had just been run back there. She was simply grateful that she possessed enough knowledge of places such as this to seek refuge where, in centuries past, monks had done so.

Jupiter's eyes focused on the tower's door as she reached its base seconds later. Luckily for her, it was ajar, but she needed a ladder to be propped beneath so she could climb the eight or more feet before reaching the narrow entrance. She circled about the tower in rabid search of anything that might help her reach her altitude and then fought back a sob and the urge to kick the daylight out of the stony structure in a fit of panic and rage. Without some sort of ladder, she knew she'd be as powerless to get inside as these ancient raiders must have been.

Suddenly, one of the men appeared and dived towards her and then clamped his arms around her. All she could send forth at that moment was a scream so muffled only her seizer could hear it. Her right hand dipped into the purse, and due to the training she'd been receiving in a self-defense class she'd recently joined, she possessed the presence of mind to quickly locate and withdraw the tiny canister of pepper spray she always carried with her.

In a twinkle of an eye, she raised the container over her head, and with its nozzle pointed backward, she pressed its sprayer button three times in rapid succession.

This was instantly greeted by a yelp from behind her, and to her great relief, her attacker withdrew his hands.

Jupiter knew she ought to run as her self-defense instructor had always drummed it into her ears, yet a kind of morbid curiosity came into play, and she immediately wheeled about to see a tall, hairy, well-muscled young man standing just inches away from her. He was the one who had instructed three of his kind to chase Jupiter.

He was sucking several pained breaths through his teeth as he rubbed his eyes with his large fist. And because of Jupiter's bottled anger, and also because she had the upper hand, she decided to do the ruffian more harm.

Before he could suspect her movement, she raised her left leg, leaned forward, and kneed him in the crotch, and then watched as he gave forth a wail of agony.

Jupiter growled and trembled with the rage she'd kept pent-up for the past few days, "You dare cut down all these defenseless people in such a holy place! You deserve to go blind, and I hope the pepper spray serves that purpose."

Evidently in too much pain to continue standing after her blow to his groin, the young man dropped one knee, clamped both of his palms over where his privates were located, and then whimpered in pain.

To her surprise, she could grasp one or two things about their language, and she heard him say in a fearful voice.

"Witch... Fiery rain."

She had now been surrounded by several men, and they all listened as he narrated what had befallen him.

Noticing the fear in their eyes, she raised the pepper spray in their direction and then breathed out with relief when they retreated away from her, as though they were convinced she could inflict her "fiery rain" upon them faster than they could draw their swords and run through her.

Once they were a safe yard away, they stopped and began to study her.

Jupiter squinted fiercely, stamped her feet on the ground, and looked as formidable as she could to scare them off, but neither of them budged.

The young man, who was still partly blinded by the pepper spray, pointed at three of his men and said, "Witch or not," take that weapon and bring her to me."

Jupiter watched him leave, apparently in search of water or whatever came to his mind to get rid of that horrible pepper sting. With her stun gun in her right hand, and her pepper spray in her left hand, she was ready for them when they arrived. She smiled when they put their weapons away. That was a mistake they will never forget. She stood at ease, bent down slightly to avoid a blow that would have knocked her out, and immediately placed the tip of her stun gun on a broad chest. She was ready for the leg to swing at her, and she instantly stepped backward and then forward, touching his leg with his stun gun. The two terrified men shake violently for a while as the current passes through them. And because she had increased the power to a very high voltage, their shaking lasted longer than usual. At last, they propelled backward, landed with a great thud, and then laid still. The last man leaped out of Jupiter's reach and ran back to the comfort of his kind.