by Jane Jamison
“Holy hell.”
A creature leaned on all fours, peering over the rim of the wall, perilously close to falling off. He had no fur covering his bone-thin black body. Bloodred eyes peered at her from a narrow oval face with two holes bored into the flesh that served as nostrils and a long, thin jaw. His front arms hung in front of him like a gorilla’s did when walking. A diamond-shaped spot of white brightened his forehead.
It tilted its head as though trying to figure out what she was and why she was there. But when its mouth stretched wide to expose dagger-sharp fangs, she couldn’t hold back a gasp. It wrinkled its forehead, giving its face a scrunched-up appearance and opening his nostrils wider. He reminded her of the drawings of aliens with their huge eyes and expressionless faces combined with the distorted combination body of a wolf mixed with a human.
Had it thrown her backpack to her? Or, more likely, dropped it? But why did it have her belongings anyway? She swallowed and waited for whatever would happen next.
Scrunch, as she suddenly named the creature, lifted his front paw in what, from a human, would’ve looked like a wave. Whether or not he was male was obvious when he lifted onto his back legs and exposed his erect cock. She widened her eyes then looked away. Would she encourage him by looking at it?
Damn, I hope not. I am not playing Jane to some alien-ape thing.
“Gwegun.”
She jerked her head up again. “What? Did you say something?”
He tilted his head again, reminding her of the way a dog would when trying to understand its master. But was Scrunch the master or was she?
“Gwegun bles.”
Curiosity made a fast track in overtaking her fear. “You did. You spoke.” She took a step toward that side of the pit. “But I don’t understand.”
He pointed at her backpack and grunted several times. The lines of verbal communication were deteriorating. She squatted next to the bag. “Yeah. This is mine. Thanks for bringing it.”
Rummaging through it relieved her anxiety a bit. Nothing was gone except for a couple of granola bars and her water bottle. Even her camera had been tucked securely inside it.
“I guess a couple of snack bars are a good price to pay to get my stuff back.” She searched again, although she was sure she wouldn’t find her water. “But you could’ve left me a little to drink considering I’m stuck down here.”
She stood and he started hopping up and down on his front feet, his excitement brightening his red eyes. “Unless, of course, you can help me get out of here.” But if he did, would she be safe with him? Or safer in the hole? Still, what choice did she have?
“Listen, Scrunch, can you help me out of this mess?” She smiled and was surprised to see him copy her gesture. At least she hoped it was a smile. “If you help me, I’ll buy you a whole carton of granola bars. Even the gooey, bad-for-you chocolate ones. How about it?”
He scrunched up his face even more, giving him a strangely wizened expression. After a couple more grunts, however, she was sure he wasn’t going to give her any help.
“Okay, so don’t help. I’ve done just fine on my own.” Until now.
She plopped down on the ground and resisted the urge to cry again. Scrunch lay down by the edge and stared at her. They stayed that way for a while as the moon floated across the sky.
Suddenly, he stiffened and jerked his head up. His gaze scanned the horizon on the other side of the hole. Every part of his body was ready to spring into action.
“What is it? What do you see?”
Scrunch brought out his fangs and hunkered down, digging long claws into the dirt. Saliva dripped from his teeth and any idea she’d had that he was docile was gone. She had no doubt he could tear her apart if he wanted.
She pivoted toward the direction of his attention even though it put her back to him. But the hole was too deep for her to see anything.
Another deeper, meaner growl rolled out of Scrunch. She glanced up just in time to see him dart away, moving faster than she’d have thought possible.
“Scrunch! No, don’t leave. No one knows I’m here.”
Did she expect him to call for help? It was a ridiculous idea, but, like when the buck had stood over her, having him around had made her feel better. She stared at the place where he’d been and wished for him to return.
Another growl had her spinning toward the sound. She gasped and flattened her body against the wall.
“Oh, holy hell. I am so screwed.”
Chapter Two
Three huge wolves, their gazes hard and steellike, stared down at her. She hurried to her backpack and rummaged through it, hunting her knife. It wouldn’t do much good if all three attacked her, but at least she’d go down with a fight. She found the knife then backed toward the side of the pit that was farthest from them.
Even though her heart pounded in her ears, she couldn’t help but admire them. One was a golden color with shades of light brown covering his haunches. A white streak ran down his face to the end of his nose and tipped the ends of his ears. He stood like the other two, large paws planted apart as he swished his tail.
The one standing next to him had dark hair with lighter brown covering parts of his body then blending back into black before lightening again. He lacked the white accents and he was bigger, his chest wider than the first wolf’s.
The third broke apart from the trio to pace a few feet away. His fur was coal black with no variation in his coloring, making him a striking contrast to the other two wolves.
They were beautiful and majestic, a sight anyone would appreciate. But it was their eyes, locked so intently on her, that took her breath away. The amber in them shone in the darkness, but it wasn’t the color that had her gasping. Instead, it was the way they looked at her.
As she would’ve imagined, their eyes held a hunger. But she couldn’t help but think their hunger was not born from a lack of physical nourishment. No, the hunger was one of longing, like a child’s gaze when he presses his nose against a toy shop window and yearns for the bright, shiny toy beyond his reach.
The first wolf paced the other way and took a position at her back. Surrounded, she moved into the middle of the pit but again recognized the futility of any attempt to win if they decided to take her.
“Get out of here!” She held her knife up in what she hoped the animals would take as a threatening gesture. “Go on. Get! I’ll cut you if you try to hurt me.”
Were they grinning at her? She squinted, trying to see better even though a full moon spread its glow over the land.
Almost as if in challenge to her threat, the first wolf hunched down, then leapt across the hole to land next to his pack mate. She yelped, then hated herself for letting him scare her. Wasn’t it a good sign that he hadn’t jumped into the pit?
Her breathing hurt her throat as she dragged in air. She’d run across wild animals before and had either scared them off or gotten away from them. But this was different. She was vulnerable and caught in a trap with nowhere to run.
Still, she was surprised when the black wolf leapt into the hole and landed a few short feet away. Startled, she moved backward and stumbled over her backpack. She scrambled to her feet, taking her pack with her to hold in front of her.
For the first time ever, she wished she had a gun. But she’d never been able to stand the idea of shooting an animal.
The black wolf tilted his head at her as Scrunch had done. In fact, there were many similarities between Scrunch and the wolves. Almost bone-thin to the point of emaciation, Scrunch had resembled a wolf, albeit with a more human-like face. She shook her head, surprised that she could think of the strange creature while an attack was imminent. She prepared herself for the pain that would come with the first bite.
“Stay back.” Yeah, uh-huh. Like he’ll do what I tell him to do.
Instead, he lowered his head and inched forward. She clutched her pack to her chest and held out her knife. The wolf shook his head. Was he answering her threat?
&n
bsp; When he sat down on his haunches, she was left speechless. In a matter of seconds, he’d transformed from a wild beast to a friendly animal. She lowered her hand, but she still clutched the knife.
They stayed that way for several minutes, eyeing one another, sizing each other up. The black wolf watched her as the two other wolves moved around the hole. But she didn’t sense any danger from them. Instead, they seemed as curious as she was.
“So we’re okay? You’re not going to eat me?”
He pulled back his lips. Damn it all. It’s not my imagination. He’s smiling at me.
She dropped her backpack and slid to the ground beside it. “I don’t know if I believe this, but I’m going to take full advantage of it anyway.”
Daring to put her knife on the ground, she pulled the flaps open and pulled out her camera. “At least if I’m going to end up as your dinner, there’ll be photographic evidence.” She lifted the camera and adjusted the settings. “Smile, big wolfie.”
She almost forgot to push the button when he did just that. Biting her lower lip, she clicked off more photos. With each successive picture, he shortened the distance between them. She fought against the fear stiffening her spine, determined to not let him stop her. Before long, he was less than a foot from her.
The growl rumbling out of his throat threw her off her game. Dragging in a long breath, she lowered the camera and found herself staring into the amber eyes of the wolf.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered.
* * * *
Pete Deacon couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her eyes were big ovals that were locked onto his, in a face so sweet the sight of it would make the angels in heaven jealous. A sprinkling of freckles raced over the bridge of her nose, but that didn’t lessen the sultriness of her pouty lips. Her long, black hair, as dark as his fur, hung in ringlets around her face, over her chest, and disappeared down her back. She was tanned by days spent in the sun and her lean body showed that she was in shape, yet curvaceous.
Her eyes were what lit his soul on fire. He could see fear in them, but beyond that, he saw courage and intelligence. She’d managed to stay calm after he’d jumped into the pit. Even now, when she should’ve been frightened out of her wits, she was composed enough that her hands didn’t shake. Hopefully, that meant she wouldn’t grab her knife and try to stab him.
A growl from his brother, Blue, interrupted his thoughts, but he didn’t take his gaze from hers. Raine, his other brother, would be as anxious as Blue for him to get out of the hole and move into the forest where they could talk. But he wanted to linger not only to memorize every inch of her face, but to draw in her intoxicating scent. The aroma was a heady mix of the woods, sweat, and her own unusual, flowery scent. He could’ve stayed there forever and lived off her fragrance.
But Blue had other ideas. Growling again, he whirled around and dashed toward the woods. Raine danced on his feet, waiting for Pete to jump out of the hole, but when he didn’t, he gave up and chased after Blue.
She glanced up, noted their departure, then lowered her eyes to his. Her lips parted and he had to resist the urge to shift back to human form so he could kiss them.
“Go.”
It wasn’t a command. Her whisper was a plea, but it held a tone of regret, too.
He had to leave. He knew his brothers were waiting for him. In his present form, there was nothing he could do for her anyway. But he couldn’t leave before he did one thing first. Lifting his head higher, he reached out and slid his tongue along her cheek.
She jerked, but didn’t scream or try to get away. Instead, she lifted her fingers and touched the spot where he’d licked her.
She tasted even better than she smelled.
A howl broke the silence of the night. He stepped away from her.
Damn you, Blue. Shut the hell up.
Gathering his strength, he crouched then hurled his body out of the pit. He spun around and looked back at her. She stood, her camera still in her hands, as he lifted his head and howled his answer to his waiting brothers. With a flick of his tail, he bolted and ran toward the woods.
Raine and Blue stood just past the edge of the trees, hidden by the dense foliage, but he could still find them easily enough. Since they were back in their human bodies, he shifted, too.
“How did she get in?” Blue’s eyes, a testament to his name, glittered with excitement.
Although Raine shook his head, his own blue eyes blazing, he still gave an answer. “She has to be a werewolf.”
Pete glanced back at the hole. “No, there has to be another answer. If she’s a werewolf, why doesn’t she shift and jump out?” He shook his head, mimicking his brother’s gesture. “Could someone else have brought her into The Hidden?”
“And then desert her?” Blue sniffed the air. “If someone did, they ought to get strung up. I can still smell the stench of The Cursed.”
Pete caught the scent, too, but at least the odor wasn’t strong. That meant only one or two of the wretched creatures had been around. “If they saw her, then they’ll tell the rest.”
“You don’t think one of them brought her through, do you?”
Pete cringed at Raine’s question. “Let’s hope not. If one of them dragged her inside, then that means they can get on The Outside now.”
None of The Cursed aside from the leader Burac had ever been able to go to The Outside. And they’d had no indication that any of them could leave and return as Burac had done.
Since his death, the Cursed’s attacks on the people of The Hidden had happened less frequently than before. A few had even said they’d run across The Cursed and had seen no aggression from them. But the past was difficult to forget and the people weren’t ready to believe that The Cursed could change.
Blue’s concentrated thought made creases in his forehead. “None of us is getting this right. We’re missing something and the best way to figure out what that is would be to talk to her.”
Pete grabbed Blue’s arm to keep his brother from taking another step. “I agree, but don’t you think we’d have better luck if we had some clothes on?”
As it often did, Raine’s crooked grin preceded his joke. “That depends on what kind of luck we’re wanting.”
But they both knew he was right. As shifters often did in The Hidden, they’d left what few clothes they had back in their tent at camp. Their tent wasn’t very large since they preferred to sleep in the woods at the edge of the community that served as home for all kinds of supernatural beings. Werewolves were the predominant form of shifter within their group, but The Hidden was also a refuge to fairies, werecats, werebears, and skinwalkers. The Deacon brothers often stayed in their wolf forms, running through the forest and howling at the moon.
“Okay, then, let’s get our clothes.”
“We can’t leave her alone, Blue. What if The Cursed comes back?” Pete didn’t want to risk that happening. “I’ll stay here and keep watch. You two head back and grab our clothes. Once we’re dressed, we can show our faces to her.”
“Pete’s right.” Blue was the oldest, but he rarely asserted his authority. Raine was a couple of years younger at twenty-six and Pete a year younger than him at twenty-five years of age.
Pete was thirteen years old when Blue and Raine’s parents had found him wandering the woods surrounding The Hidden. He’d been frightened and hungry, but he’d still tried to fight them by shifting into his wolf form and lunging at them, fangs bare, and claws extended. They’d easily subdued him, and after finding out that his mother had abandoned him, pushing him out of the car on a lonely mountain road, the Deacons had welcomed him into their lives and their family.
Pete’s story wasn’t an unusual one. Often, a human mother couldn’t raise a werewolf child that had somehow transformed without becoming a full werewolf. Seeing their child shift was too hard, and soon, they’d find a way to be rid of them. Many of the children who hadn’t changed yet ended up being raised by the
human social services system while others, like Pete, were cast aside to fend for themselves.
Blue was good at solving problems and Pete envied his older adopted brother’s quick and logical mind. “Good. Then like I said, I’ll stick around and watch over her.”
Raine shoved him. “Why do you get to stay? Haven’t you always claimed to be the fastest runner? As such you and Blue can use your considerable speed and make it quicker than I ever could.”
Pete wasn’t falling for the flattery. How many times had Raine boasted that he could outrun them? “No thanks. Besides, I called it first. I’m sticking and you two are hoofing it. Now get going. I don’t like the idea of hanging around here any longer than I have to.”
Blue arched an eyebrow. “Hang on. Who knows when The Cursed might get back? I’ll stay with you in case they do.”
Raine narrowed his eyes, but he knew he’d been outmaneuvered. “Damn. I wish I’d thought of that. Fine. I’ll go to the camp and fetch our clothes.”
Pete hated it when Raine used canine references. But knowing that Raine had probably done it just to get on his nerves, he refrained from showing his irritation. Raine didn’t mean any harm, he simply liked to joke. “Then get moving, bro.”
Raine took a deep breath and looked longingly in the direction of the hole. “You guys promise not to do anything, even talk to her, until I get back?”
“We’ll do what we have to do. Who can say what that will entail?”
Pete liked that Blue was ready to give Raine a taste of his own medicine. “Yeah. If we have to jump in and snatch her into our arms to keep her safe, then that’s what we’ll do. After all, someone’s got to make the sacrifice.”
Raine snorted his derision. “Some sacrifice. She’s so hot I’m surprised steam isn’t rising from there.”
Pete could see the lust he felt on his brothers’ faces. “She is that. Do you think she’s taken?”
Unlike werewolves outside The Hidden, werewolves inside didn’t get an immediate and physical connection to their future mate. Instead, it was more like a longing, an empty place in their hearts that suddenly felt filled whenever they discovered her. Many of them went outside The Hidden to find their mate while others stumbled upon her before ever discovering the shifter sanctuary. But only a few had ever had their mate come to them while inside their treasured forest.