by Lily Thomas
The Neanderthals let out a war cry and charged the dire wolves, and Andrea decided she’d seen enough.
Dashing through the forest, she hoped to hell the Neanderthals, and the dire wolves would kill each other, and she could get away free. Once she found a new hiding spot, she ducked down, low to the ground.
Within minutes, Andrea heard something crashing towards her hiding spot. Staying hidden behind her bush, she waited to see who it was. Nick burst through the trees.
Leaping out, Andrea called out, “Over here!” She waved her hands frantically at Nick. What a turn of fate. She was now turning to her Neanderthal captor for help.
Rushing over to her, Nick grabbed her arm and resumed barreling through the forest. She wasn’t entirely sure what had happened to the other men, and she didn’t know if Nick being here was a good or a bad thing, but she was going with him anyway.
Howls of wolves once more rang out in the dark forest, and she didn’t need any encouragement from Nick to sprint through the forest. No branch, no rock, and no root would stop her forward momentum. She felt like a deer as she leaped over anything in her way. Adrenaline hyped up her senses allowing her to feel a bit like a super human.
Her breaths came out as pants as she sucked in gulps of air cold night air. Sticks and stones prodded the soft under sides of her feet, but she pressed on. There was a lot of motivation snarling at her back.
A growl sounded behind them, and suddenly Nick was gone from beside Andrea. Risking a glance behind her, she saw two wolves facing off with him in the moonlight. Good luck, Nick, and she meant it, but she wasn’t sticking around to see the outcome.
Chapter 4
Nose to the ground in his dire wolf form, Rokki growled in frustration.
One scent filled his nose.
Neanderthals.
These Neanderthals kept invading their territory, hunting their prey, and despite many warnings, they were still doing it. It was time to send a stronger message, a message the Neanderthals would understand. A message that would stick with them.
Ruub, a pack member, stepped up beside him, his grey fur waving in the slight breeze that drifted through the forest, carrying the scent of the Neanderthals, and… something else. Something Rokki didn’t quite know, but he supposed he would find out soon enough.
Moonlight lit the meadow they were in, and even if it hadn’t, his vision would have been more than adequate.
Glancing around, Rokki found the other three wolves with them. Naab sprinted over to them in his grey wolf form, with Grok and Dholk trailing behind.
With a simple flick of his black furred ears and tail, and Rokki sent his pack members racing ahead, with Rokki trailing after them. He would let his clanmates take care of the Neanderthals, while he tried to figure out what that strange scent was that tickled his wolf’s nose.
Letting out ominous howls, they let the Neanderthals know they were closing in for the kill. They dashed through a nearby forest, following the scent of their prey.
In no time, they broke into a meadow and saw five Neanderthal men facing them. Their spears were at the ready. Despite that, he knew this would be a simple fight.
Rokki crouched low to the ground and snarled at the Neanderthals in front of them. Only two of them shook visibly. The rest had a glint of determination shining bright in their eyes. Their camp fire lit up their faces, which were set in determined grimaces as they readied themselves to fight off the dire wolves.
Charging forward, Rokki picked a target in front of him. The man’s face was covered in scars from previous fights, but Rokki wouldn’t be adding any more for him to show off. He was going to kill him.
The man waved the sharp tip of a spear at him, and Rokki threw his large wolf frame to the side to dodge the sharp tip. Leaping back into action, he drew the man away from his group, slowly backing up, while doing his best not to make it too obvious.
Scar face followed him.
The Neanderthal was too stupid to realize Rokki want him alone. To have his back unguarded.
His men were attacking the other Neanderthals, but Ruub found a moment to turn and nip at scar face’s calf. Scar face jerked around, but Ruub had already gone back to attacking his own Neanderthal, which left scar face open to attack by Rokki.
Rokki lunged. His black dire wolf form sailed through the air, and his mouth full of sharp teeth clamped down on scar face’s arm. Scar face let out a horrific scream as he dropped his spear. His other hand balled into a fist, and he hammered the top of Rokki’s head.
Thrashing his head side to side, Rokki caused as much damage to the man’s arm, before he released it and backed off. Shaking his massive head, he shook off the ringing in his ears from the hammering scar face had given him. Before scar face could grab another weapon, Rokki leaped onto him.
He went straight for the jugular. His sharp canines dug into the flesh of scar face’s neck, and when he jerked back, he ripped the man’s throat out. Blood covered the immediate area, including Rokki.
Opening his jaw, he let the flesh drop from his mouth.
His dire wolf drew its lips back in a grimace. Neanderthal did not taste good. He wanted to find the closest stream and wash out his mouth, but he had other things to do. Cleaning the blood off his body and out of his mouth could wait until later.
Raising his head, Rokki found three Neanderthals and all of his men, which meant one of the Neanderthals had escaped. Lifting his dark nose to the air, he caught the other scent, despite scar face’s blood all over his snout.
Circling around the fighting, Rokki broke out into a lope as he followed the fresh scent that disappeared into the forest. The Neanderthal was delusional if he thought Rokki would just let him disappear into the night.
Breaking into a run, his dire wolf form was perfectly built for this environment. Although large, his sleek frame was built for a wild dash through the forest. His ears pointed forward as he heard his prey crashing through the forest ahead, and there was that scent again. It was different than the Neaderthal’s scent. This time it was slightly stronger, and it called to him. Called to his dire wolf. Told him to run faster, so he did just that.
Rokki caught sight of the Neanderthal in front of him in the dark forest, and he was running next to what appeared to be a human woman. She didn’t smell like a Neanderthal.
Not giving the woman much of a glance, he clamped his mouth down on the Neanderthal’s leg.
Once Rokki dispatched this Neanderthal, he would pursue the woman who was still running through the forest. His dire wolf demanded that they seek her out and explore her scent further.
The Neanderthal fell to the ground with a grunt of pain.
Something hard smack across Rokki’s head, dislodging him from the Neanderthal’s calf. He shook his large head, trying to stop the ringing in his ears and the trees from swirling across his vision.
The Neanderthal jumped on top of Rokki, wrapped an arm around his neck, and tightened its hold.
Rokki’s dire wolf snapped its jaw, but he couldn’t get to the Neanderthal’s arm. There was only one thing he could do. It might leave him vulnerable, but he wasn’t in a great position at the moment either.
Shifting, Rokki slipped through the Neanderthal’s arms, his human form smaller than his dire wolf. Once outside of the Neanderthal’s arms, Rokki shifted again, this time back into dire wolf.
Frustration coursed through him that the Neanderthal would get the better of him. The barrel-chested man had strength but very little brains. The Neanderthal whirled and faced him, a club gripped in one hand.
So that was the weapon that had knocked him in the side of the head.
Rokki hadn’t spotted the weapon on the man. His lips pulled back on his snout as he snarled at the man in anger. The Neanderthal may have landed a blow, but it wouldn’t happen again.
Circling the Neanderthal, he searched for an opening. His opening came when a deer sprinted past them, startling the Neanderthal enough for him to turn away from Rokki.
Without a single hesitation, Rokki dug in his back paws and flung himself towards the Neanderthal. His teeth latched onto the man’s arms, crushing the bone and skin until the Neanderthal released the club.
Releasing his hold, Rokki backed off only long enough to launch himself back at his enemy and knocked the Neanderthal off his feet. With his front paws on the man’s barrel chest, he sank his teeth into the Neanderthal’s throat.
When he pulled away, the man gasped and gurgled as he choked on his own blood and a crushed throat.
Rokki ignored the man’s death gurgles while he raised his snout to the air and searched for the woman’s scent. She couldn’t have gotten far. With a chuff of excitement, he started his hunt.
Andrea was so done with this. She was done with the ice age. She was done with Neanderthals, and she was done with wolves.
She’d given up on thinking this was a dream or a nightmare. People would wake up from this kind of thing. She’d never heard of someone who had experienced such a horrible dream and not woken up. Everyone woke up during nightmares.
Which meant she was back in the ice age. With dire wolves, sabertooths, Neanderthals, and whatever else this world wanted to throw at her. A modern woman was not equipped for this kind of thing.
What she wouldn’t give for a twenty-first century weapon right now.
It wasn’t long until Andrea bent over at the waist and sucked in some much-needed air. Her lungs felt like they were on fire!
Something behind her snapped with a loud crack, and Andrea ignored her protesting muscles and pushed herself back into a run.
Before she got far, something large landed on her, and she hit the ground. With her hands out by her face, she froze on the cold grass and waited for her death. She could feel the hot breath of whatever stood over her back.
It didn’t come though.
No teeth sank into her flesh. No claws dug into her skin.
Andrea felt the beast staring down at her.
Why wasn’t it killing her?
Not that she wanted to be killed. It wasn’t like she was complaining. She just didn’t understand why the beast was teasing her. Animals weren’t usually this cruel with their prey.
Andrea bit her lip, refusing to let any whimpers escape her mouth. She could feel the fur on his legs on each side of her rib cage, and she could feel his furry back legs around her thighs. It was a huge dire wolf, even for a dire wolf.
When still nothing happened, Andrea flipped herself over onto her back.
The snout of a dire wolf was directly in front of her face, and she gulped back her fear, which had to be pounding out of her. She really hoped the wolf couldn’t smell her fear.
Those large golden eyes skimmed over her face. The fire wolf’s black fluffy fur was outlined by the stars high above their heads and the moonlight glinting through the night.
The beast leaned forward, and she let out an eek as its black cold nose pressed to her neck. She heard him inhale, before pulling his head back and sending her a wolfy grin. Those teeth though sent fear pulsing straight from her head all the way to her toes.
Then the unthinkable happened.
The dire wolf shifted into a man. A naked man who was now lying over her naked body, and he was drop dead gorgeous with his think head of black hair and striking blue eyes. Those eyes! They almost glowed in the dark, and her heart skittered around in her chest.
His body dropped, allowing his weight to press her body into the grass… his erection pressing into her thigh! Andrea began to squirm under him as she felt panic pump through her. It was time to get out of this situation. She was so done with predators and men pressing themselves on her in this crazy ass world.
Raising her arms, she attempted to punch the man in his chiseled jaw, but with a growl of irritation, the man leaned back on his haunches, grabbed a hold of her arms, and then forced them above her head. The movement had the wooden bracelet slipping from her wrist, and as it slipped off, she closed her eyes and wished for her bed.
Andrea’s eyes popped wide, and she found the white popcorn ceiling of her hotel room above her. Her legs were tangled in the hotel bed sheets, and a tv show played faintly in the background of the well-lit room.
A smile spread across her face. She was back. Darting up in bed, she ripped the wooden bracelet off her wrist and threw it across the bed, where it landed in the fluffy covers with a soft whoomph.
How crazy.
Again, there was no fuzziness to her dream. It felt just as sharp as a recent memory like she really had been in a forest just a couple of minutes ago. The golden eyes of the dire wolf were burned into her memories as were the blue eyes of the hunk that had been pressing his erection into her thigh.
Her blood heated as she thought back to the man who had been pressed so intimately against her. Even with their brief contact, she’d felt his abs and how muscular he was.
Swinging her legs off the side of her bed, Andrea stood up on the carpeted floor and winced at the slight irritation on the bottom of her feet. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she lifted a foot and twisted it with her hands until she could see the bottom of her foot. There were small cuts after all her running around… which meant that had been more than a dream. She’d traveled to the past.
Andrea glanced over at the wooden bracelet on the bed.
“What the hell did I find?” She was half tempted to tell Emma, give her friend the bracelet, and see if Emma experienced the same things, but then she’d have to come clean on taking an artifact from a dig site.
Andrea shook her head as she got up and walked into her bathroom. She was going to lotion up her feet and get some sleep without the bracelet on her wrist, and she wasn’t sure she was ever going to put it back on.
Rokki stared down at the empty ground below him with a slack jaw. He blinked. She was still gone… disappeared into thin air. Blinking, he stared down at the empty spot below him before shifting back into his dire wolf form.
Sniffing the air around him while he turned his large head, he could tell that this was where her scent ended. It wasn’t like she’d somehow slipped out from under him and ran. She’d just… poofed away. He could still see her outline in the grass.
Using the claws on his paws, Rokki frantically dug at the grass, kicking up large clumps of the dirt. The clumps of dirt flew wildly, landing in the bushes nearby, shaking the branches and leaves. When his digging didn’t result in revealing where the human had gone, he stopped, panting.
One sniff and she was gone. He’d been so close to claiming his mate.
She was his mate.
There wasn’t a single doubt in his mind that she had been his.
And now he had no idea where she’d gone.
His dire wolf threw its head back and let out a howl at the full moon above them as frustration coursed through it. Every wolf wanted to encounter his mate, and he had before she’d suddenly vanished!
He and his men had saved her from the Neanderthals, and he’d expected her to be grateful. Instead, fear had gushed off of her because of him. That had his dire wolf growling in anger. Even if she hadn’t been his mate, he still wouldn’t have hurt her.
Throwing back his wolf’s head, Rokki let out another slow torturous howl of pain and loss. Then he snapped his mouth shut with a clink of his teeth. Glancing around, he made sure that no one in his pack was close enough to have seen the woman and his reactions to her.
No one needed to know he’d found his mate, and then she’d used magic to disappear. There was a prophecy about a witch, and he didn’t want this to reach his brother’s ears. Not yet at least. Not until he knew more about his mate.
Rokki didn’t want to admit defeat in losing her, but there was nothing he could do. She was gone.
With a growl of annoyance curling the lips on his dire wolf’s snout, he turned and loped back to his men. His wolf wanted to go back to where their mate disappeared, but he quickly shut the beast down. There was nothing more they could do for tonight,
and he wasn’t ready for his pack to know he found his mate.
Breaking into the meadow, Rokki slowed down. The pads of his feet gently bent the grass under his weight. He loved this form. If he could stay in his dire wolf form, he would. His dire wolf was more adapted to this environment.
His eyes drifted over to his men in the meadow. One of the Neanderthals was still fending off his men. The Neanderthal spun with a spear gripped tightly in his hands. The sharp stone tip swooshed through the air, threatening to slice one of the dire wolves that circled him.
As much as Rokki wanted to jump in and help his men, he knew he needed to let them figure this one out on their own. If four dire wolves couldn’t take out a single Neanderthal… well, that would be an embarrassment for his people.
A grey wolf with golden eyes that glowed in the dark night lunged towards the Neanderthal. The man spun, trying to aim his weapon, but the grey wolf was too quick. With a snap of his jaws, he captured the spear in his mouth, dug in his four feet, and refused to loosen his hold no matter how much the Neanderthal shook him.
Another wolf, this one covered in thick black fur, jumped forward and latched onto the man’s leg. Together, the two wolves dragged the Neanderthal to the ground, and the other two wolves jumped into the fray.
Within a couple of seconds, the last Neanderthal was dead.
Shifting back into his human form, Rokki called out, “Let’s gather what we can from the bodies and head back to our village.” There was no need to waste the supplies on the Neanderthals. The predators of this forest would take care of the bodies, but those same animals would have no need of the supplies.
The grey wolf with golden eyes shifted into his human form. “Were you the one howling?” Ruub walked over to Rokki. The man’s golden eyes reflected the light of the moon high above them.