by Taft, Nicole
He actually growled. “Don’t be so absurd. Eating up little girls and the like. We didn’t ask to be made like this, mind you. I’ve been good my entire life and where does that get me? I end up locked away for eating a few lambkins. They’re going to get eaten anyway, aren’t they?”
He bounded over to me, and I flinched away from him. His face was way too close to mine. And I had no idea how he managed it, but his breath was surprisingly minty.
“But enough about me. Seems you’ve gotten yourself into trouble. Time to get you down and away from here, my heart.”
He hauled over a large rock with surprising ease and hopped on it to begin working at the knots.
“I can’t believe you found us all the way out here,” I muttered.
My hands fell free. I was tempted to push him off the rock and into the fire, but I was too high off the ground. If I untied my own feet, I’d have a nasty fall and probably hit my head again.
“It’s because I can smell you,” he said, as if that were perfectly natural. “And you, oh, you smell so delightful. I could follow you anywhere, even if it meant out of the forest, and we wolves never travel out of the forest.”
“Smell me? Yeah right. I probably left a blood trail.”
“Ah yes, that was a sweet surprise I must say; there is something very enchanting in your blood. Though perhaps that wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t thrashed around on that window. Really, you should have just let me explain myself to you.”
“Explain yourself?” I practically shouted. My feet came free from the rope noose. I thought he was going to let me fall, but he caught me in his arms and very gently set me on the ground again. Suddenly being right-side up sent a wave of dizziness over me, and I had to cling to his shoulders a moment longer than I wanted to. He held my waist lightly, giving me time to recover. His tender movements took me aback and for a moment all I could do was stare at him, confused. His hair was surprisingly well groomed now that I had the time to pay attention to it.
Then he frowned. “You’re hurt.” He gently touched my chin and tilted my head to examine the cut. He looked angry about it.
I stepped back and batted his hand away. “Never mind that. What do you mean explain yourself? You had a huge knife and you were about to kill a little girl. Not to mention you started feeling me up and sniffing me. Do you know how creepy that is?”
He cocked an eyebrow, mulling that over. “No, not really. And I wasn’t going to do anything to her. I was just…following her.”
“With a knife?”
He grumbled to himself, looking a bit cowed. “Perhaps that was a bit much. Not like we wolves need knives.” He held up his hands. “See? I don’t even have it now.”
I examined him. I didn’t see it, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have it hidden somewhere.
“Would you like to use your hands to find out?” he asked as if he knew what I was thinking.
“No!”
“I hate to rush you my heart, but we really ought to leave before the giants get back.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. This was all just too bizarre.
He stared at me as if I were the crazy one. “What?”
“Giants. So they are real?”
He glanced around like I’d just asked a trick question. “Yes. Giants have always been real. Come, we must go before they return to make a meal out of you.” He paused and eyed me in a way that made me shiver. “Not entirely an unappealing idea.”
“Who are you anyway?”
“Just Wolf.”
We made our way out of the cave, picking our path through boulder fields. I was thankful I had my hiking boots. The extra traction and support gave me a better chance of avoiding a broken ankle.
Once we were free of the boulders, he sped toward the tree line. I let him run and turned back to face the boulders. Marianne had to be in there somewhere. No matter how screwed up this whole situation was, I couldn’t let a bunch of giants eat or do whatever it was they did to kids and people they caught. She had to be here. Maybe in a cave, like I was. I crept up behind a boulder to examine the mountains.
“What are you doing?” Wolf snapped in my ear.
I suppressed a yelp, almost tumbling backward. I would have if he hadn’t caught me.
“I can’t just leave Marianne here,” I hissed back, not at all comfortable being this close to him.
He made a noise like a half growl that sounded like “Rrrrr.” He stared at me, obviously displeased. “This is a bad idea. If the giants should catch us they may let me go, but certainly not you, and I might not be able to get you out again.”
“What?” I whispered loudly. “Why would they let you go and not me?”
“Because I’m a wolf. Wolves are supposed to be in the forest. Humans are always sticking their noses where they don’t belong.”
“Well I wouldn’t have been all tied up if you hadn’t tried to kill me!”
He rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “I told you, I wasn’t going to kill you. You’re much too scrumptious.”
“Oh like that makes any goddamn sense.”
“And if I recall correctly, you attacked me first.”
The both of us shut up at the sound of grunting and the ground shaking ever so slightly. The giant with the club sauntered out of one cave to relieve himself against the side of the mountain.
“Oh gross,” I winced, averting my gaze.
Once he was done, he went back into the cave, talking and laughing, hopefully with the other four.
“I have to get up there to see if Marianne’s in that cave,” I said, inching around the boulder.
My would-be killer/rescuer made an aggravated noise in his throat and grabbed my shoulders, dragging me back down.
“No you will not. It’s too dangerous.”
I gawked at him. “Says the man with the twelve-inch knife.”
“I don’t have the knife anymore!” He huffed to himself. Then he lifted his right leg a little and shook his foot. Then he slammed it down again as though aggravated about something else. A weird tingle nagged at me for a moment and then disappeared. “All right. We’ll see if the girl is in there, but you stay out of sight. Let me do all the talking.”
He slunk up the boulder field toward the cave. I stayed right behind him most of the way and then ducked out of sight around the side of the cave.
“And just in case,” he muttered. He pulled out the rope I’d been tied up with and looped it around one boulder beside the cave. Then he crept to the opposite side and tied it off on a second boulder. He paused at the opening, took a deep breath, and then plastered a grin on his face and strolled right into the cave.
Chapter 3
“Good evening chaps,” Wolf announced, holding onto the lapels of his coat as if he visited giants every day.
The giants all sat around the fire, eating something that was cooking on a spit. Much too big to be Marianne. They stopped talking at once and turned on the newcomer.
“Today seems to be a very fruitful day,” one of them said, a smile forming on his face.
“A fine day indeed,” Wolf said, looking around as if considering where best to make himself at home. “Have you, by chance, come upon a young and very tasty morsel lately?” He smacked his lips. “I seemed to have let her escape by accident.”
“Did you?” said another. “We caught two trying to traipse through our fields here. Snapped them up mighty quick. But you say you just lost the one?”
Wolf smoothed his mane of sable hair. “Well, the larger one is what interfered with my, ah, meal the first time around. Do what you like with that one. Gangly and gamey I’m sure she’ll be. I’m simply interested in the little lambkin.”
“Mm,” said the one with the club. “Sure enough we caught that one.” Then he paused. “Meal you say?”
“Oh yes.” And then there was a long silence. They were looking at Wolf intently, but I could only see his back. Whatever he did, it convinced them that he s
poke the truth.
“Get yourself in trouble with that lot,” the giant across from the fire said. “Don’t let the parents find out, or they’ll have your hide on their wall.”
The giants roared with laughter, and I winced. Even Wolf flinched at the sound.
“Yes, well, if I could just have my snack, I’ll be on my way, if you please,” he said once they finished.
“Aye, we’d like to help out a hungry creature such as yourself.” The giant swung his club around casually. “But we’d already done sold her off to a lot of slave drivers looking for some fresh blood.”
My breath caught in my throat. I hoped to God he didn’t mean that literally. Wolf deflated a little.
“Is that so? Pity, pity.”
“We got six cows for the little thing. Would you like a nibble?”
Suddenly I realized what was on the spit—a whole cow.
Wolf glanced to the side where the other cows were being kept. I thought I saw his eyes change color for a second.
“No, no. As much as I would love to take a taste, I have big things to return to. And cow has never been on my preferred table.”
“Mind you don’t eat too many young ‘uns—farmers with pitchforks will be after ya.”
The giants rocked with laughter again, and Wolf shuffled out of the cave.
“Pass up a lovely meal like that, the things I do just to please,” he mumbled as he emerged.
“Slave drivers?” I hissed. “What the hell kind of place is this?”
“What sort of question is that? You’re here, now let’s go.” He grabbed at my arm.
“I am not going anywhere with you.” I jerked out of his grasp. “You are crazy. This isn’t normal. Any of it.”
“Look, I am the only one that can find that girl and if you want to find her too, then you’ll have to stick with me, do you understand that?”
“Oy! Who are you talking to out there?”
We froze. A few of the giants climbed to their feet while the others leaned over to look outside the cave.
“No one,” Wolf called. “Just, ah, my mate. We were both looking for the morsel, but we’re going now.”
“I think not. She sounds an awful lot like that scrap we caught earlier. Let’s see her.”
I stared at Wolf, petrified.
“No, no,” he yelled back, his hands on my shoulders. “She’s got this silly fear of giants, says they’re too big for her taste.”
“We insist.”
The command was low, dangerous. Wolf gave me a tiny nod and gently pulled me forward so the giants could see me. The one with the club grunted.
“Thought so. Why didn’t you tell us you was a she-wolf?”
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. Wolf pinched me in my side.
“Ah,” I half-shouted. “I, um, was too scared.” I laughed weakly. “Concerned about my…food. At the time. Sorry.”
Their stony faces remained unconvinced.
“Show us your side then,” said one of the standing giants.
I gaped again. My side? What did that mean? My wolf side?
“You can’t,” Wolf said, his voice barely audible. “Run.”
They’ll just follow us. I racked my brain for an idea. I had no idea what they were looking for, but so far it didn’t sound much like humans were fond of wolves. Maybe…
“Well,” I spoke haltingly, “would a human woman do this?”
I looked up at Wolf and braced myself. Oh Caroline, you’ve gone off the deep end.
I grabbed his face and brought his mouth down on mine. He was surprised, but quickly recovered and put his arms around me, kissing me back and milking it for all it was worth.
This is so nuts. I’m kissing a possible serial killer. God, where did I go wrong? This is so beyond screwed up…he tastes like berries and mint…
Finally I pulled away, collecting my bearings again. The rational part of me wanted to move farther away, much farther away, but Wolf held me where I was, his forehead resting against mine looking for all the world like he’d just had the best day of his life.
“Now then,” a giant said, “that’s certainly something.”
I tried not to look at Wolf’s eyes. That kiss had been…quite…. I wished my heart would quit pounding and hoped that he couldn’t feel it. My head started throbbing again.
“Still, in the days of old humans did that all the time,” said another. “And besides, you said she was the one who made you lose your meal in the first place. A dirty lie, I warrant. I say we sup on the both of them.”
The other four cheered in approval and they charged for the cave opening.
Wolf pushed me to the side. “Run!”
I sprinted down a little path around the side of the mountain face, praying I wouldn’t slip and fall, and that the giants wouldn’t be able to catch me over here. I looked over my shoulder in time to see Wolf pull the rope he’d tied around the boulders earlier. It went taut and the first giant’s foot caught on it, sending him banging head over heels through the boulder field. The two other giants had too much momentum to stop themselves and did the same, each one crashing over the other. The club went flying and hit one of them in the head. Then Wolf let go of the rope—I couldn’t fathom how he’d managed to hold onto it in the first place—and waved me on as he ran after me.
Together we half ran, half slid down the mountainside, occasional patches of scree sliding down with us. Far above the giants cursed at one another and the mountains shook and reverberated with their movements and yells.
“Keep going, into the trees,” Wolf shouted behind me. “They won’t follow us in there!”
I didn’t argue and kept running until we were well within the forest again. The light had faded significantly. The sun barely showed through the trees, now just a ball of burning orange sitting on the horizon. I stopped, breathing hard, and leaned against a tree, setting my hands on my hips.
“My, my,” Wolf said, stopping in front of me. He was barely breathing hard at all. “You most certainly can run. Almost like…”
“Like what?” I huffed.
“A doe under the hunt.”
Wonderful. My head pounded. I shut my eyes for a moment. I wanted to lie down and take a nap, but no way was I going to do that with him around. Why had he saved me anyway? He said he didn’t want to kill me, but that’s what a lot of killers said, wasn’t it? Sorry I don’t want to kill you, but I’m going to anyway?
“You’re hurt,” Wolf said. “You should rest.”
“No, I’m fine. We need to find Marianne.”
“Why are you so intent on finding the girl?”
“Why are you?”
He narrowed his eyes and sniffed. Then he shook his right foot for a moment.
“Look,” I said, “you heard those giants. They sold her into slavery. I can’t believe you have that around here. And for a bunch of cows. She deserves to go home. She’s just lost, that’s all. I can’t know all that and not try to help her. That’s awful.” I paused. “Not that I expect you to care. You’re…crazy. Or something.”
I also had no idea how to get back home. I suspected I had to go back through the pond, but that had to be several miles south now and my head was killing me. I couldn’t abandon her. I couldn’t leave her alone. Poor lonely little girl.
“I am not crazy,” Wolf said, his voice more even than I’d heard since meeting him. If one could call a near-death experience a meeting. “I just get a bit…rambunctious, that’s all. You really ought to sit down and rest, my heart.”
Why did he keep calling me that? I shut my eyes again. I needed an ice pack. Concussions weren’t something to be ignored. I needed medical attention, X-rays, CAT scans. Leaves crunched near me.
“Come here, little fawn.”
His hand touched my arm. No way was I going down without a fight. I swung my fist out, hoping to catch him in the jaw, but he ducked out of the way and caught me as I fell. The ground tilted crazily and before I knew it, I was on my
back, staring up at him.
I’m going to die here, in the arms of this killer, somewhere that isn’t home.
“Rest here, Caroline,” he said, his voice soft. “I’ll take care of you.”
Just before the world went dark again, I wondered, How does he know my name?
When I woke, it was practically dark. My head still hurt, but it felt a great deal better than before. A small fire was burning in a little clearing surrounded by stones. Wolf sat across from it, poking at one of the logs with a stick. I reached up to touch my head. It was covered with something cool. I hoped for a bandage, yet what I touched felt an awful lot like a leaf. Wolf’s gazed snapped up and in an instant he’d jumped over to me.
“Don’t touch it now. It needs time to work.”
“What is it?”
“Lavawort covered with gum leaf.”
Hi, I’m Caroline, and I’ve just moved into Fairy Land where everything is cured with lavawort and gumleaf and magic apples, how are you?
“Oh.”
The air around us was cooling down for the night, but the fire was nice and cozy. I gazed at Wolf. He was rather well put together with his brown overcoat, white dress shirt and crimson vest, though his pants were oddly baggy. He had a belt keeping them in place. He still needed a shave though, his jaw line covered in dark stubble. It made him look just that much rougher, but still, somehow, approachable. His eyes were indeed hazel, with no trace of the red-gold I’d seen earlier. His nostrils flared as he breathed in, a pleased smirk on his face. I almost couldn’t believe he was the same person who had come at me and Marianne with a knife earlier in the day. He was…handsome.
“How did you know how to make a fire?” I asked.
He chuckled. “Just because I’m a wolf doesn’t mean I don’t know how to start fires. By the way, do you know magic? Because those little sticks are amazing.”
I frowned in confusion. “Sticks?”
“You know, the ones you just scrape on something and boom! Fire comes out.”
“You mean matches? Wait.” I blinked a few times. “How did you get my matches?”
He pointed to a lump beside the fire. “You left it in the cottage when you ran out like a wild woman.”