Her legs moved on their own as she fled, back into the thicket she had come from. She could hear the growls and barks behind her, closer and closer.
It was only a few feet away.
Fear permeated her entire being. Adrenaline boosting her as she swiftly turned direction, turning to the left. The wolf skid to a stop farther than her, but was back at her heels again.
The growls grew louder and louder, barks more threatening than before. The ruby on her chest shone brightly, enough to be seen through the scarf.
Her eyes fought to keep track of the forest floor through the red haze clouding her vision. She could only just make out the ground enough to place her feet in front of the other.
She couldn't feel the braches hitting her as she ran, couldn't feel the burned wound in her chest, or the bag knocking against her hip repeatedly. Harper could feel nothing aside from her wildly beating heart, and the paralysing terror.
She knew that if she stopped, she wouldn't be getting up again.
Chancing a look back over her shoulder, she pivoted again using a tree as anchor. What she saw had her eyes widening.
There it was, the wolf. The same wolf she had seen in the clearing, but different.
The wolf was frothing at the mouth, its hackles risen. It was somehow larger than before, more muscular. It's eyes were bloodshot, and canines and nails were longer.
The wolf was feral. And it was coming right at her!
Harper turned back to her new pathway, intent on running again. It was no use.
The split-second pause had been enough. The wolf pounced on her.
𝘎𝘳𝘳𝘳𝘳!
𝘈𝘩𝘩𝘩! She fell with a shriek, her back thumping against the ground as the wolf stood above her.
The animal opened his large jaws, snarling, about to bite down-
-"Eeeek!"-
-when she shoved her sidebag between where his teeth would snap.
He growled, and jerked his head from side to side trying to throw it away, as she kept pushing the bag in.
But the wolf was too strong.
The bag did not hold for as long as she had hoped, and soon it was thrown away, and to the side. The wolf growled, menacing jaws opening above her as he bit down again, aiming at her neck.
She barely had time to put her hand in front of her.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
A bloodcurdling cream left her lips as the teeth pierced her skin. The pain was unbearable.
Tears flowed down her cheeks and into the grass as she bawled, her other hand pushed uselessly against the snout. Hoping, pleading, for some relief.
Jerking of the injured arm from side to side brought a fresh bout of pain, as she screamed again.
This was it. This was how her life was going to end.
She was going to die.
Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, just when she was about to lose consciousness and give in to the oblivion, the pressure was suddenly snatched away.
She cried out.
Harper did not have enough energy to understand what was going on, her mind still reeling from the pain. She cradled the injured hand against her chest as she lay there.
Off to the side, she could hear a scuffle going on. She turned her head to the sound, opening her eyes.
There were two wolves there, fighting. Rolling on the ground.
She watched in a haze as the new wolf, a brown one, pushed at the silver wolf, who fought to get away and come at her. He nearly did once, but the other wolf had a hold of him again.
Harper scrambled up hastily, crawling back and back. She didn't dare take her eyes off the wolves.
She was nearly away when her back touched something. She froze the dread returning.
Slowly turning around, her eyes landed on a pair of legs. Human legs. She frowned, confused.
Her eyes traveled up to see the face before she gasped and covered her eyes. It was a human alright. A human man.
A naked human man.
Tinkling laughter met her ears as she faced forward again, towards the wolves. She got up on her trembling legs, not looking at the human, and scrambled away from the man behind her, keeping care to not get close to the wolves.
She walked back in an arc, and soon everyone was in her sight. Being particularly careful not to look below the guy's face, she also noted that the wolves had stopped fighting.
The brown wolf was holding the other wolf down, and he had stopped his struggles. It would have been reassuring, if all three of them, two wolves one man, were not looking at her intently.
But right now, they were.
It was strange, that the wolves not look at the other human near them, and look at her. And not as a prey, either.
As something else.
Because there were no more barks or growls. And the ferality of the silver wolf, the reddening of eyes receded. Harper refused to note that the wolf seemed somehow smaller than before, like he had physically retracted his muscles, and his elongated limbs.
Because that would be absurd.
"And who might you be." The man interrupted her train of thought. She jumped, startled.
He stood there unashamed with his hands on his hips, almost proudly, as he looked at her. A smirk lined his face, head tilted to the side as his gaze persued her.
Harper was not used to such attention. Especially not from the opposite gender. And not from guys who looked like...well, him.
Tall, well-built, with flowing dark hair that reached his chin and sculpted face.
She shook herself mentally, and thought back to his words. It was not a question, more a curious observation. One she was in no hurry to answer with the trio in front of her. She had only one motive right now.
Get out.
And she would have done just that had the wolves not suddenly started to shift. The silver one pushed the brown one off him, and the brown wolf playfully retreated before it suddenly looked like the air itself around them moved.
In a matter of seconds, the fur, claws and snout receded, and where previously two wolves had stood, were now two men. Two more naked men.
She gasped, taking another step back. What was happening?!
Harper had decided- she was just going to continue with her previous plan. She was going to run, when a voice stopped her.
"My Queen." it whispered, reverently.