Page 10

Vuk

ONE DAY BEFORE THE FULL MOON

M y little human slept fitfully up in her tree for the first half of the night.

Startling herself awake every time the wind blew then blinking owlishly until she remembered where she was.

She would move around a bit, find a comfortable spot, then glare down at me, where I watched her from below.

As if it was my fault she climbed up there in the first place.

I’ve been watching Hana carefully, worried she might fall from her precarious perch, even though the branch she chose is wide and sturdy. It seems my worry was unnecessary, once she fell into a deep sleep her restlessness ceased.

The morning dawns bright and cloudless, with my stomach growling. Hana is showing no signs of waking, so I let her sleep. Making my way to a mountain fed stream, I’m lapping at the cold water when a rabbit bolts from the underbrush.

I’m after it in an instant, but it’s quick and manages to escape my jaws before it takes me on a good chase. In the end, I’m victorious. With its limp body clutched between my teeth, I find a sunny spot to enjoy my meal.

An unexpected sense of guilt hits me as I pick at the stringy rabbit meat. I should be sharing this meat with the female.

The humans rejected your last gift, I remind myself as I start on the rabbit’s tender organs and innards. Leaving the best part for last, I savor the richness of the delicate meat, then lick the taste from my chops.

Forcing my thoughts from the humans, I focus instead on escape.

Despite all my efforts, I cannot get through the barrier. The runes are still a mystery. My plan to use the humans to bargain my freedom is flawed as well. Now I only have Hana, who am I going to bargain her to?

Throughout the morning, I make sure to periodically check on Hana, in case she wakes and tries to sneak away. Each time her position shifts a bit, but she remains asleep. The hours pass and it’s late in the day when I do another cursory pass, only to find her gone.

Chiding myself for not staying closer and checking on her more often, I drop my nose to the ground.

Her scent is fresh, and relief floods my system, assuring me she can’t have gone too far.

Following her trail away from the tree, I’m surprised when she leads me in the opposite direction from the other humans she’s been so determined to get back to.

Keeping to the thick underbrush, I creep up on where I find her perched on a flat boulder beside the fast-moving stream I was at earlier.

The sun hits the side of her face tilted up and I’m fixated on the way her throat works as she swallows down her drink, the setting sun changing her dark skin to a fiery shade of crimson and gold.

My eyes slide closed and I breathe her warm scent into my lungs, only to be hit with the salty tang of her tears.

She is crying and upset over her friends.

Although I don’t understand why? They were alive enough to escape and have likely made it out of the forest by now.

I should have killed them. I wanted to, but I didn’t want Hana to make it to the barrier, where I wouldn’t be able to go after her.

When I open my eyes again, she’s vanished.

Jumping to my feet, I twist my head to the side as her shadow disappears over the hill, heading back to her tree.

She doesn’t get far before I catch up to her. Peeling my lips back from my teeth, I let out a low warning growl.

She stiffens and I expect her to run faster, knowing I’m coming after her.

My heart starts pounding, craving the prey drive pushing me to chase.

To capture. Instead, she freezes and slowly turns around.

When she sees me, her eyes widen, showing white all around the dark orbs, and her plump lips part.

My chest constricts as I take a moment to appreciate the way the fast-setting sun filters through the trees to cast all of her in fire. Savoring the way her sweet scent is peppered with the sharp scent of her fear. If I wasn’t trapped in this animal body, I would have groaned at the deliciousness.

I take a step toward her, and she rolls her shoulders back, standing up straighter.

“What the fuck do you want with me?” she shouts. Her hands are clenched into tight fists at her side. “Huh? Why won’t you leave me alone?”

Ignoring her, I move closer.

She staggers back a step and I’m about to advance when she suddenly spins on her heel and sprints away.

Yes .

I let out a happy yip at the chase this female is taking me on. Letting her lead while I stay back enough to let her think she has the advantage. She changes direction at random, trying to lose me, or maybe confuse me. Silly female, I could hunt you blind.

Content to let her set the pace and direction, I’m enjoying the chase until she comes too close to the barrier. With a burst of speed, I overtake her, cutting her off and turning her so she’s forced to run back the way she was going.

Once she’s a safe distance, I fall back again, letting her set the pace once more.

We play this game until the shadows start to stretch as the sun sinks below the horizon.

I let her run, only redirecting her when she gets too close to the barrier.

Nipping at her heels with just enough force to move her back to a safe distance.

“Oh, come on !” she pants when I cut her off once more.

Her exasperated huffs amuse me. I’m quite enjoying our dance. At least I am until her steps falter. A few steps later, she manages to trip over her own feet, nearly tumbling to the ground.

Worried for her safety, I reluctantly back off to give her time to catch her breath so we can restart our chase. Instead, she takes the opportunity to scurry up another tree where I can’t reach her.

Circling the base, I let out a frustrated bark.

She looks down at me and sticks her short, pink tongue out.

This time my growl is low and deep, followed by an unbidden image of how I would put her pink tongue to work if I were a lycan and not a wolf.

I’d wrap her thick braid around my fist and guide her while I pressed my member between her pillowy lips.

Stretching her jaw with my girth. Making her taste me as I sank into her warm, wet mouth.

Gods, she would feel so good wrapped around my hard flesh.

I whimper, aroused and disgusted by the imagery. I stalk into the trees, but not so far that my human thinks she’ ll be able to run from me again. What is wrong with me? Why do I keep imagining these things?

Dropping to my belly, I watch Hana fold her arms across her chest and curl up against the trunk with a humph .

A moment later, her stomach lets out a horrendous groan loud enough to make my ears twitch.

She covers her stomach with her hands, then pulls her pack around her to rifle through the contents.

Pulling out a small clear bag with barely a handful of nuts and dried berries, she sighs at it, then takes out a couple of the nuts.

Popping them into her mouth, she chews slowly, putting the rest away.

Realizing she is hungry, but has no food, bothers me. I shouldn’t care, but?—

My nose twitches, catching the scent of a rabbit before my ears pick up the sounds of it moving through the brush.

Without another thought, I’m after it. This one is slow, and I catch it quickly and easily.

Snapping its neck with a single bite, I make quick work of peeling its pelt from its flesh, then treat myself to the tender organs, making sure to lick the cavity clean.

With the rabbit’s still warm body held carefully in my jaws, I hurry back to the tree where I left my human, catching her as she’s trying to sneak down from the tree.

Growling around the rabbit in my mouth, I cut off her escape.

“Damnit,” she hisses under her breath.

Keeping my head down, I take a step toward her, forcing her to stumble back.

“Nice, wolf.” Her voice quivers as she takes another step back. “That’s a tasty-looking rabbit. You’d much rather eat that than me, right?”

I snort. If she knew where my thoughts have been lately. What would she think? Surely she would be horrified.

I back her up until her back is to the tree, then, without taking my eyes off her, carefully set the rabbit on the ground. She stares down at it and then up at me.

“Did you—how the hell did you skin it like that?” she slowly shakes her head. “I don’t think wolves are supposed to be able to do that.”

I snort, wishing I could tell her I’m no wolf. Instead, I nudge the rabbit with the end of my nose, then sit back on my haunches. Behind me, my tail moves back and forth across the leaf strewn ground.

“This…is for me?” She frowns hard at the rabbit, then turns another questioning look at me. “What the hell kind of wolf are you?”

I’m getting frustrated with her questions, so I stand up and give the rabbit a hard nudge with my nose before stepping back again.

“ What in the Twilight Zone is happening here? ” she mutters to herself, shaking her head in disbelief. Very slowly, she creeps forward until she’s close enough to reach out and pinch what’s left of the rabbit’s brown fur with her thumb and forefinger.

My tail wags harder as I pant happily when she takes the food I hunted for her.

Hana gives me a wary look and takes the rabbit back to the tree. She sets it on a pile of leaves, and I watch her curiously as she works to build a fire.

“I can’t eat this raw like you,” she tells me as she uses something from her pack to light the kindling.

Eyeing me carefully, she builds up the flames, then makes a tripod with some green branches.

I watch her, fascinated, as she sets the twigs over the crackling flames.

They are tall enough that the wood doesn’t catch.

The whole time she talks quietly. “I’m only eating this because I need protein to keep my energy up, so I can keep running.

I’m not much of a hunter. Water will keep me alive, but meat will keep me strong. ”

While the small fire crackles, she takes a knife from her pack to cut strips of meat from the rabbit that she lays over the tripod to cook.

I’m captivated with her efficiency as she works.

When the smell of cooking meat has her stomach growling again, I cock my ears toward her, but she doesn’t seem as bothered by the sound this time.

Using two long twigs like a utensil, she pinches the strips of meat, turning them so they cook evenly over the fire.

When she notices me watching her, she clicks the ends of the sticks together.

“Chop sticks,” she explains, like I should know the strange phrase.

“Handy when you find yourself in the forest without any of your cooking gear.”

The smell of the cooking meat has my mouth watering. She catches me licking my chops and tosses me the rest of the rabbit, which I accept gratefully.

“It’s too bad you couldn’t have hunted me a pot and some veg to go with this rabbit. I could have made suimono,” she says as she watches me gnaw on the bits of meat left on the bones.

When she decides the meat is properly cooked, she uses the twigs to hold one of the steaming strips of meat. Pursing her lips, she blows on it before taking a small bite, humming appreciatively.

“Not bad for not having any seasoning,” she says and eats the rest of the strip.

After all the meat is gone, and the fire is crackling cheerfully, she leans back against the tree trunk where she watches me with her dark eyes.

“What are you? And what are you doing here?” It’s a rhetorical question, of course, since she knows I can’t respond. “Maybe you’re trapped here like I am.”

I let out a soft chuff, and she nods, as if she understands. Letting out a long sigh, she looks up at where the nearly full moon is almost directly overhead. The silvery glow battles with the warm, flickering firelight across her skin. Silver and gold. Hot and cold.

“Why won’t you let me get back?” she whispers to the sky.

Even if I could answer her, the answer I would give her isn’t the one she wants. I keep telling myself I’m only using her as some kind of leverage, but the longer I keep her here, the less I want to let her go. I don’t want to be trapped in this cage alone, and I am beginning to crave her company.

The silence stretches between us as the fire dies down and her eyes grow heavy. Soon her breaths start to even out and finally her eyes fall shut. I watch the steady rise and fall of her chest and the way her folded arms fall into her lap.

When the fire is little more than a smoldering ember, she starts to shiver.

Letting out a soft huff, I stand up and make my way over to her.

I start with her boots, sniffing the strange material.

Watching her for signs she might be waking, but she continues to sleep.

Creeping closer, so I’m standing over her, I fold my legs under me and drop to my belly so my head rests across her lap.

She stiffens under me and for a moment I think she might wake, but then she relaxes with a sigh and drops back into a deep sleep.

Closing my eyes, I let myself relax too.