Girl In The Woods (2 page)

He gloats at me.
He finds it funny. If he wasn’t a wolf, he would be laughing.

“That is rather
bizarre. And why did you leave?”

“Because my parents
wanted me to get engaged. Not me. They invited all the single noble men of the
region and I had to pick one.”

“And? Not anyone
was worthy of you?” he says ironically.

My jaw drops. Is
he mocking me? I’m really mad at him now.

“Why would you
say this? Do you think I am arrogant?”

“You are. So
many men bothered to come claim you and you left them waiting. You are spoiled.
If you were my daughter I would have tied you up not to leave.”

“What? How dare
you? This is my life. It’s my choice. If I don’t want to get married it’s my
right. And no, it’s not that they were not worthy of me. They are all handsome,
rich and kind. I…I just want something else.”

“May I ask what
that is?”

I close my eyes
for a moment. I wish I knew.

“I don’t know. I
really don’t know. I do know though I don’t belong in the world my family has
set up for me. None of those men can give me what I desire. I can sense it. My
heart aches to find what I’m looking for.”

When I’m done
talking, he stops. I hadn’t realized we had reached a crossroads. I stop too.
There are two paths in front of us.

“Here is where
our journey stops,” he says.

I look at him
puzzled.

“If you follow
the path on your right, it will lead you eventually back to your house. If you
choose however the path on your left, then you will continue your journey with
me.”

“What happens if
I choose to follow you?” I ask.

“I will reveal
to you what you are looking for.”

“How can you
know what I am looking for?”

Great. A wolf
tells me that he has all the answers and I listen to him. I must be going
crazy.

“Because I do.
But you will have to trust me.”

“Trust you?” I
scoff at his confidence. “You are a wolf. How can I trust you?”

“Fine. I only
want to help you, but if you don’t appreciate my offering, go back to your
predictable life,” he says and heads to the left path.

I stride and
stand in front of him. He shows me his teeth in defense.

“Please, please,
don’t go. Give me a chance to understand. How do you know what I’m looking
for?”

He sits on his
two back feet.

“I can’t tell
you. It’s not something that can be told. It has to be experienced. But in
order to let it reveal to you, you must trust me. I have to warn you, though.
If you choose my path, there will be no way of return. At least until I want
to. Only I know the road to getting you back.”

As if I can’t
remember the path on my own? What is he talking about? It’s just a forest. I’m
sure I’ll find my way back.

“Calista,” he
says sternly and presses his paw against my leg, “if you come with me, you will
not be able to deny me anything. You will only be able to return when I think
it is right and when you are ready. Can you accept this?”

Can I? Not deny
him anything? Not go back unless he wants me to? Do I want to go back? He is
offering me a chance to discover what I’m searching for.

Calista, this
is the chance you were expecting. Don’t let it pass. You will always regret it.

I feel the blood
running faster in me, my heart beating with excitement and fear at the same
time.

“Yes, I accept.”

“Good girl,” he says and I follow him.

He was right. It
has got pretty dark and the path twists and turns among high trees. I can’t
keep track of how we have gotten here. I am at his mercy.

I get panicked.
What have I done? I abandoned the safety and love of my family to follow a wolf
into the night in the woods? I’m shaking in terror. Right before I scream and
run far from him, we reach a clearing. In the middle of it is a lake, lit by
the newly risen moon. It isn’t full moon yet. I guess it will be in four or
five days, so the forest is lit sufficiently by its bright light.

The scenery is
so captivating, that I forget all about escaping. Conor has stopped walking and
has turned his head to look at me. As it is night now I can barely see his dark
colored eyes.

“Beautiful,
isn’t it?”

“Yes,” I say,
unable to add anything more, looking all around me.

“Come,” he prompts
me.

There is a small
wooden hut by the edge of the lake on our right. It’s really cute. I can see
light coming from inside. Who lives here?

“A man lives in
that hut and he is my friend, but he is away right now. He will return in the
morning,” he answers my unspoken question. “You can stay here tonight.”

I nod.

The hut’s door
is half open. It’s really cozy and warm. There is only one room. In front,
there is a table with two chairs and on the side is a lit fireplace. I guess
the man that lives here lit it before he left. It’s the beginning of summer, so
it isn’t so cold, but being in the forest is always chilly at night. On the
opposite wall there are some shelves with tools. Along the wall on the back is
a semi double bed and beside it a short closet with two drawers on the bottom.

“You can change
your dress. There are lots of women’s clothes in the drawers. He won’t mind if
you use them. You wouldn’t want to sleep wearing this long dress.”

He has a point.
I head to the closet and open the top drawer. There are women’s underwear as
well as nightgowns. A woman used to live here, that’s for sure. I pick a white
nightgown and just when I am ready to take my dress off, I remember I am not alone.
The wolf is standing in front of me with an inquiring look.

“Please turn
around, so that I can change,” I say.

 He doesn’t seem
pleased by my request, but he respects it and leaves the hut.

I swiftly take
off my dress and wear the nightgown. It feels like it hasn’t been used for a
long time. It reaches the length of my knees. Conor comes back in and tells me
I can sleep on the bed.

“I can’t sleep
on someone else’s bed,” I say. It’s disgusting.

“He changed the
sheets before he left, don’t worry,” he says. How does he know what I think?

“Where will you
sleep?” I ask.

“On the floor.
It’s your first night. Sleep tight. I will be fine.”

He sits on the
floor close to the fireplace. I thought wolves are afraid of fire. I want to go
pet his fur. He looks like a big dog curled up like that and I was always fond
of dogs and cats. However, he is a wolf of the forest, not a domesticated dog.

I decide that
it’s best I lie on the bed. It’s actually quite comfortable. Thoughts of my
parents keep me awake. What did I do? I left them without a warning. They must
be worried sick. I can be so selfish. No, this was a mistake. First thing in
the morning I will explain to him and I’m sure he will let me go. This is the
last thought I remember before delving into a world of darkness.

I wake up
feeling the morning breeze caressing my body. The next thing I know is that I
can’t move my hands or legs. I’m tied to a tree opposite the hut. The sun has
just risen at the edge of the lake and the birds are singing cheerfully.

What is going
on? Who tied me? I try to move my arms but I can only pick them up lightly. And
my ankles are tied with a rope that goes behind the tree, leaving my legs
spread wide open.

Conor comes out
from the hut. Oh, thank goodness.

“Conor!” I shout,
“I thought you left! What is going on? How did I end up being tied up?”

“I tied you,” he
says with a serenity that makes me tremble.

“You?” I ask
bewildered. “How could you tie me up?”

“Like this,” he
says and walks towards me. As he approaches me, he miraculously turns into a
man. A man! How did he turn into a man?

He stands in
front of me totally naked. I have never seen a naked man before. Well, apart
from naked statues, but they don’t count.

He is in his
early thirties from what I can figure out. His hair is black like the wolf’s
fur was and his eyes possess a deep brown shade. He may not be a wolf anymore
but his eyes belong to a predator, that’s for sure. Even though he was black as
a wolf, his skin is slightly darker than my pale white body. I look at him in
the eyes. I dare not look any lower. He is a rather attractive man. So
different though from all the men that were in my party yesterday. He owns a
rugged beauty as opposed to the gentle features of the men I know.

“How did you…?
What are you?” I ask. My voice has become so high – pitched I can hardly
recognize it.

“I told you that
you are in an enchanted forest and that anything can happen.”

“So what? You
can change into a wolf again?”

“Anytime I
want.”

This is bad.
Really bad.

“No one lives in
the hut. It’s yours,” I mumble.

“Exactly,” he
says coming closer to me.

“How did you tie
me? Why didn’t I wake up?”

“You were
sleeping deeply. You were probably really tired from our walk last night.”

He raises his
hand and caresses my cheek.

“No!” I scream.
“Don’t touch me! What do you want from me?”

“What do I want
from you? What do
you
want from me? You told me you were looking for
something. You accepted to come with me and not deny me anything. Did you
forget what you promised me so quickly?”

“Please let me
go. I beg you. My parents must be out of their minds. They will be looking for
me. Please…” Tears flood my eyes.

He grabs my neck,
with his thumb still caressing my cheek.

“Calista, you
should have thought of that yesterday. You agreed to my terms. Didn’t you? I
told you there would be no way back, unless I wanted to. It’s too soon for you
to leave.”

Tears stream
down my cheeks. He places his other hand on my neck as well and sweeps them
away with his thumbs. His touch is gentle.

I wish I could
pinch myself to wake up from this nightmare.

“What are you
going to do to me?”

“Nothing that
you don’t want to.”

“I don’t want to
be tied. Please, release me,” I beg.

“I’m afraid that
is the only thing I can’t do. We are going to play a game. I am going to do one
thing to you and you will tell me if you like it or not. If you don’t like it,
I’ll stop and release you. If you do like it, I will go on. The only thing I
want from you is to be honest. I don’t wish to hurt you, Calista. You are here
for a reason. If you can’t trust me, trust what your heart desires. What you
ache for.”

His words calm
me. But I still feel my heart beating like a drum.

He softly passes
his thumb over my lips, taking my breath away.

“Do you like
this?”

Calista, you
can end it all now. Say no and he will stop.

I close my eyes
trying to decide what I want.

“Don’t think
about it,” he interrupts my thoughts. “Just tell me if you like it. There is
nothing wrong if you like it. It’s just you and me here. And the birds and some
squirrels, but I can assure you that they will not judge you.”

He makes me
smile.

“Is that a yes?”

I nod.

“Good.”

He takes his
hands off my neck and as I see his face approaching mine, I instinctively turn
my head away. I feel his lips on my neck. And then his tongue. I can hardly
breathe.

“This?”

“Yes,” I
whisper.

He lowers my
nightgown down my shoulders revealing my breasts.

“No, please,” I
say as I turn to look at him again.

“You don’t like
this?” he asks.

“No,” I close my
eyes in embarrassment.

“Why not? Did I
hurt you?”

“No.”

“Then why?”

“Because I’m too
ashamed to be naked.”

“Yes, I got that
yesterday. And last night I was an animal. So, you are ashamed of the birds as
well?”

“No.”

“Then why are
you ashamed of me?”

“You are a man.
And it’s not appropriate.”

He stares at my
naked breasts with lust in his eyes. Not the one my candidates had. A more
primal one, making me feel my lower belly clench.

“Do you have any
idea how beautiful you are? Has anyone ever seen you naked? I mean as a grown -
up.”

“No.”

“I thought so,”
he looks in my eyes as if he wants to penetrate my soul. “Why do you want to
keep this beauty for yourself? Why don’t you want to share it? The world is
made of shared grace and harmony. Look at the sun shining, at the bees flying,
the flowers blossoming. What would happen if they were ashamed like you are? No
beauty would be revealed. We would live in an eternal shadow of what could
exist.”