Ravished by Wolves (9 page)

He would have killed me.
She felt anger for what the man had planned to do to her, and a vast relief that the wolf had attacked when it had. Standing as still as she could, she hoped he wouldn’t attack her as well. There was no sign of Fador or Michael, but she sighed in relief when the wolf ran back into the fray, taking down another man as he did so.

There was more than just moonlight now illuminating the scene before her and she saw now that the compound was on fire. The flames grew even as she watched, transfixed, momentarily forgetting the very real danger she was in.

“Amber! The boat—”

Fador’s call was cut short, but it was enough to set her into action.
Amber spied the dock, off to her left, not far from where she stood. She ran toward the nearest boat, avoiding the thrashing, screaming men that had decreased in number again to only four. She glanced their way, but was unable to discern which, if any, were Fador or Michael. She had only just reached the dock when a gunshot split the night, followed by a heart-wrenching yelp. The blood froze in her veins and she turned in time to watch the magnificent black wolf fall to the ground. The man who had shot it stood aiming a gun at her now.

“Fucking bitch! Burn to place down while we sleep, will ya? I’ll show you.”

No way out.
Her eyes were riveted to the barrel of the gun. Fear kept her glued to the spot.
He killed it. That poor wolf… he killed it. It saved my life and the bastard—

She found herself glaring hatefully into his cold black eyes, hating him with every fiber of her being. He came at her too fast for her to respond, grabbing and twisting her arm as he came around behind her.
Amber felt cold steel against the back of her head.

“See what you did, you fucking whore? Do you have any idea how many people you fucking murdered?”

Oh God, Fador… where’s Michael?
She hadn’t heard him, even when Fador called out to her. The four men continued to fight, and she could see now that the man being jumped was Fador. Michael would never have left him to fight alone like that.

There’s no way out….

She watched as Fador shoved the three men he was fighting out his way, bowling them over in his ferocity. He jumped over their prone bodies and ran toward her, his hair wild, rage and hatred burning in his eyes. He screamed at the man behind her to let her go.

“Fador, no!”

And then the steel was no longer at the back of her head, was resting on her shoulder instead. The world split apart and her hearing went out as a shot cracked the night. Fador crumpled to the ground over the top of the wolf. Hysteria consumed her and her heart stopped as she watched him fall lifelessly to the ground. Amber stared blankly at him, for what seemed an eternity, expecting at any moment that he would move, until a sound from behind her brought her back to the present. The man behind her was laughing.

Fador… he murdered Fador. They murdered them both… they tried to save me and the bastards murdered them…

A rage unlike any she had ever felt was growing inside her, suffocating her in a black hatred for the man behind her.

Murderer. Sorry fucking bastard—

The world grew brighter, more crisp, even as the color seemed to leak out of it. She heard the beating of the black heart of the man behind her, the labored breathing of the other three men who were even then recovering and standing. Sharp pain twisted through her body and she fell forward out of his grasp, turning toward him as she fell down to her hands and knees. His face was a frozen mask of sheer terror, eyes bulging, and his mouth worked in a silent scream. She turned all of her hatred on him, wishing with all her heart that she could tear him apart with her bare hands.

A growl rose in her throat and she jumped to her feet, slapping him across the face with all the force in her body. Blood splattered across her own face as she did and the man, finally recovering his speech, howled in agony and fear as part of his face was split apart. The gun slipped from his hands and he fell backward, screaming madly, struggling to his feet and running away. A pained cry from behind stopped her intended pursuit. She fell again to her hands and knees when she tried to turn.

What the fuck?

Her eyes fell on Fador, who was now standing, clutching at his stomach, shock written across his face. The other three men had apparently run away when her attacker did.

Fador!

Her voice couldn’t get past the lump in her throat, but she ran to him anyway, jumping into his arms. His expression was pained and there was something else there as well. Awe.

“You’ve… changed.”

He held her tightly against his chest several minutes before settling her back to the sand.

“Amber you… you’re
one
of us?”

What do you mean?

It slowly started to register in her mind that something was terribly wrong with her. Something
had
changed. When she looked down at her arms, she found them replaced with two white, fur covered legs. The legs of a wolf. Her mind went numb with shock.

Oh my God This… this can’t be happening—

“Shh. Don’t panic. Go get in the boat. We can talk when we get to safety. I promise… we’ll explain everything.”

Fador stooped over and carefully lifted the wounded black wolf, clutching it close to himself and walking toward the boat, his breath ragged. The stench of blood was thick in the air.

Michael…?
With a new wave of horror, she realized with a certainty that the wolf in Fador’s arms
had
to be Michael. The rage, the horror, the fear, all seemed to melt out of her and she found herself sitting, human again, looking after the retreating men and feeling completely drained.

“Werewolves.”

She could hardly deny what they were, as insane as it seemed, even knowing she was now one of them.

“Come on! We don’t have much time. They’re likely to regroup any minute now. We have to get the hell off this island.”

Amber got to her feet, obediently following behind Fador, terrified by the stillness of Michael’s prone body in his arms.

* * * *

“Tell me everything.”

The sky was lightening now, the rose colored fingers of dawn stretching across the wide open ocean sky. Michael, human once more, lay across her lap on the blanket she had brought up on deck from the cabin below. His breathing was smooth and deep now, not labored as it had originally been.
Amber smoothed the raven black hair on his forehead, running her fingers through it.

Fador stood behind the captain’s wheel and looked out to sea. He no longer clutched at his stomach, but stood straight. His expression, when she turned toward him to see it, was unreadable to her. Michael stirred in his sleep, but lay still when she went back to stroking his head.

“We were cursed centuries ago.”

“By who?”

“The white wolf. Remember what I said before, about Michael and I being wolf hunters?”

Amber
met his eyes and nodded.

“I remember. You used to hunt to feed your family.”

“That was before we encountered that damned wolf. That day… the wolf lead us deep into the woods. We shot at it, both of us, but there was no stopping it. It attacked me. The next thing I knew, I was covered in my own blood, laying on the ground beside Michael. I should have been dead. We both should have been, as much blood as we lost. And… I knew.”

“Knew…? Knew what?”

Fador paused, looking away out to sea, seemingly looking back across time and space to that night, so long ago.

“I knew I would live as long as the wolves survived. I knew that I’d been cursed to guard the same animals I used to hunt for sport. And I knew I would never be able to live among humans again. We were cast out of our own village when they saw us, covered in blood like we were, still able to walk. We’ve been alone ever since, Michael and I….”

“How are you so sure it was a curse? It brought you to me….”

He turned sharply at that. Shock was written across his face and
Amber wondered what in the world had made her say something so stupid.
Of course he wouldn’t see that as a reason for all the suffering he’s been through.

“I… I’m just saying… well, what if the wolf did what he did because he knew you two were the best men for the job? My grandmother always said, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Maybe you two were chosen and blessed, not cursed. Eternal life and health sounds pretty good to me. Lots of people would give anything for that.”

Michael stirred in her lap again and when she looked down she meet his clear blue gaze.
I would never have met them if they hadn’t met that white wolf first. They would have died a long time ago. If I hadn’t been abducted by accident….
The thought that she would never have even known of their existence seemed more like the curse to her.

“I think…” Fador’s voice broke and trailed off, but he was staring intently at her when she looked up to him.

“I think you may just be right. In all this time… we’ve never met anyone like you. You’re different in so many ways Amber.” He glimpsed down at Michael a moment before continuing. “You’re the mother of Michael’s baby.”

“What? How— how could you possibly know that?”

A smile touched his lips.

“I am a wolf, my dear. We both smelled the change in you as soon as it happened. You’re the only woman who has ever become pregnant by either of us.”

Pregnant!
It was a shock, but thinking back she realized it shouldn’t have been. She’d dismissed her nausea as hunger and nerves.
A baby. I’m actually going to have a baby.

“So, what happens now?”

“I guess that’s up to you. We’ll understand if you want to go home. I… we were just hoping you might stay with us.”

You can never truly go home.
Amber looked down at Michael and could tell the look in his eye was askance. Fador, when she returned his gaze, looked scared, but hopeful.
Scared I’ll say no?
Try as she might, when she looked to her heart, she found no desire to be anywhere except with the two of them.
I’m where I belong.
They
are my home now
.

“I hear they’re still shooting wolves over in Colorado.”

Amber buried her face in Michael’s hair and felt Fador wrap his strong arms around her to hold her tight.

“You’re sure?”

She smiled into his face, lifting hers for a kiss that set Michael to growling jealously. She laughed.

“I’m sure that if either of you wants to get some practice in for the next baby, you’d better meet me down below in five or less.” She laughed out loud as both men scrambled to their feet and tried to beat each other down to the cabin.

The End

By

Nicole Ash

© copyright by
Nicole Ash, 2013

This is a work of fiction.
Previously published under the title Dark Carnival, this story has been lengthened and revised. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact.  Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

“Are you hungry?”  His voice sounded harsher to him than he had intended, a fact punctuated by the wordless stare she sent his way.  Several moments passed before he finally became irritated with her silence and gawking. 
Hell’s fire, hasn’t she ever seen a demon before?
  It struck him like a blow that she likely never had.  There were so very few left now ….  He shook his head in annoyance.

“Are … you … hungry?  You do speak Anglish, yes?” This said
sarcastically, as he shook the food at her. He wanted to shack something else at his. His cock agreed. It was not at all bothered by her silence and continued to press his loincloth outward. 

She blinked several times.  It seemed that she finally realized he was speaking to her. 

“Uhm y-yes.”

He walked closer to her with the loaf of bread and goat’s cheese in hand.  Her body tensed and he could smell the acrid scent of her fear.  When he was only a few inches away from her he knelt down and placed a finger underneath her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes.  When her brilliant green eyes focused on his face, he asked, “Yes, what?” 

This time she looked up at him as though he had just grown a third horn in the middle of his brow. 

“P-pardon?” she asked with a slight effrontery that amused him. 

“I asked you if you were hungry and you said yes, and I asked you yes what?” he repeated as though he were speaking to a child.  The look she gave him would have made him laugh out loud if he wasn’t so determined to ravage her.