Page 2 of Little Red Riding Hood

The beast loomed over him, its hot breath ghosting across Red’s skin. He scrambled backwards, leaves and twigs catching in his long hair and cloak.

“Stay back, monster!” Red shouted. He fumbled for a rock, anything to defend himself.

The wolf growled, low and menacing. It stalked forward, muscles rippling beneath its thick grey coat. Blood rushed through Red’s ears as the predator’s bulk eclipsed the moonlight. He shrank back, the rough bark scoring his palms as he flattened himself against the ancient oak.Fuck.He was trapped. Those smouldering golden eyes bored into him, stripping away his confidence until all that remained was a trembling husk of a boy.

The wolf tensed to spring. Then a deep, gravelly voice cut through the night.

“Well now. Don’t you smell delicious?”

Red blinked. Had he gone mad with fright? But the wolf had paused, its amber eyes now filled with an unsettling intelligence.

“Did you… speak?” Red whispered, scarcely believing his own words.

“Aye, I did,” the wolf rumbled, as rough as tree bark. “Name’s Wilhelm. Though most call me Wim.”

A wolf is talking to me. A wolf that wants to eat me is talking to me, and telling me his name.

Red gaped for a moment before clamping his mouth shut, his mind reeling. He stared at the wolf. “You’re… you’re a…”

“A wildling. A shapeshifter,” Wim the wolf finished, a hint of amusement in his tone. “And you, little one, smell delicious.”

The beast’s hot breath washed over Red’s face, carrying the scent of earth and something primal.

“D-delicious?” Red stammered, in barely a whisper. “Me? I’m not… I mean, you surely don’t mean to…”

The wolf’s lips curled back, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. His eyes seemed to glow brighter, filled with a vicious hunger that sent chills down Red’s spine.

“Oh, but I can,” he growled, tone deepening to a guttural rumble. “And I will.”

Thewolf lunged forward, jaws snapping inches from Red’s throat. Red yelped and tried to scramble away, but his back was pressed firmly against the tree. There was nowhere to run.

The creature’s massive paw pinned Red’s shoulder, claws digging into his flesh through the fabric of his cloak. Red whimpered, terror coursing through his veins as the wolf’s muzzle pressed against his neck, inhaling deeply.

“Aye, you’ll make quite the tasty snack.”

This was how he was to die? Alone in the woods, mutilated by an animal? Would anyone mourn him, back at the palace? Would they even bother to send a search party?

“Tasty snack? I am but skin and bones! Please!” Red begged, tears stinging his eyes. “Don’t—”

But the wolf wasn’t listening. His eyes had taken on a feral gleam, all traces of humanity vanishing. He snarled, saliva dripping from his jaws as he pressed closer, teeth grazing Red’s skin.

Red squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable pain of those fangs tearing into his flesh.

Suddenly he had one of his flashes of brilliance.

“Wait!”

The wolf paused, his breath hot against Red’s face.

“How about instead of one tasty snack, I offer you two?”

A low rumble in reply. The beast stepped backwards, creating an inch of space between them.

“Go on.”

“Earlier this eve, I spied two idiots following the river. The bumbling fools have clearly never ventured through the forest before.” Neither had Red, but he was pulling off the feat quite nicely. For the most part.

The beast did not look convinced.