Peter noticed the three burly men eyeing him as soon as he walked into the Red Fox pub, the village's only tavern. Peter had never seen these men before; the village was so small everyone pretty much knew each other. Their gazes weren't menacing. In fact they were open and friendly and to his surprise, one waved him over to join them. He automatically glanced behind him; surely they were waving to someone else, but there was no one else near him. It was still early on a Saturday and the pub was quiet except for the trio and a couple of other lone men seated at the bar hunched over an ale. Why not, Peter figured, curiosity getting the best of him. He changed directions heading over to where the three were seated.
"I'm Elias," the waver stated offering his hand. And this is my mates, Levi and Henry. We're new to these parts, but it's always easy to spot a fellow woodsmen."
"Peter," he responded shaking Elias's outstretched ham sized hand. It closed around Peter's making him feel almost frail in comparison.
They were all big men as was Peter himself, but Elias was such a hulk he looked like he could haul a log around on each shoulder with ease. Peter wasn't thrilled seeing these other lumberjacks in his territory. He felled enough trees to keep some of his closest neighbors in firewood and hunted and farmed in the warmer months when the trees were too sappy to chop. They could hurt his little business even if he wasn't making a fortune. But what he did eke out was plenty enough to provide comfortably for his small family. There was no room for more woodsmen to work the area.
"So, what are you all doing in these parts?" Peter asked.
"Just passing through. Headed to work further south. We're staying at the inn across the road for few days taking a bit of leisure till our next job. But like I said, we spotted a kindred spirit and thought you might like to join us for a drink."
Peter felt a mental sigh of relief. "Sure."
As he worked through his first pint, Peter noticed that other than the initial greeting and handshake, neither Levi or Henry had much to say. It was Elias who did all the talking. He also wondered if they were all brothers with the same strange pale yellow closely set almond shaped eyes that slanted up a bit on the outer edges. He'd never noticed anyone with eyes like theirs before. They also all had super thick heads of bushy hair and abundantly hairy forearms exposed by half rolled sleeves. Ever the backs of their hands were furry.
"Peter." Elias said. "I asked if you had a family. You seem to be woolgathering on us."
"Sorry," Peter replied. "Yes. My wife Enid and two young sons." He didn't tell them though Enid was quite the pretty woman with cheery blues eyes, and a sweet disposition, he had no real passion for her. Actually, he'd never had passion for any woman he'd ever met, but he needed a wife and she was easy to be around. Now why in the world did he think of that, he wondered? Being with these men had shaken something loose inside him. To his horror, he felt an attraction toward Elias.
"I'm sorry," he said suddenly jumping out of his chair. It is getting along toward supper time and I shouldn't be late. A pleasure meeting you all and best of luck." He turned leaving most of his ale and hustled out of the pub.
The three men watched him go, feral grins lighting their faces.
"He's perfect, Elias said. "You can smell it all over him. Even if he doesn't realize it. Levi and Henry smirked and nodded in agreement.
Peter was doing his best to get ahead of his work that day. He had been out chopping wood since sun up and was ready to pack it in for the night. The time had gotten away from him and now that he'd stopped working, the late autumn evening chill was setting in fast as the sun dropped behind the western ridge of mountains. The leaves had all about dropped off the trees and he knew it was going to be an especially cold one this year. He needed to make sure the family had enough firewood to make it and he had a stockpile to sell off.
He grabbed his jacket off the ground and slipped into it pulling it closed against the cold. He needed to get home fast before it grew any darker. It was heading into mating season also and some of the wild animals weren't so docile even before that.
As if to emphasize his thoughts he heard howls in the near distance. It sounded like wolves though there hadn't been any wolves sightings in this area in decades. Still best to get out of the forest, he though picking up his ax and hurrying toward the family cottage at the edge of town. One never knew for sure what lurked in the thicker areas of this forest. He'd come back early tomorrow with a horse and cart and his two adolescent sons to collect it before the wood poachers discovered his hard days work and robbed him.
Peter suddenly realized he had wandered out further than he thought and felt turned around as he peered into the darkening forest searching for the foot path he'd come in on. The thick carpet of fallen leaves were now making it impossible and everything looked the same. He became concerned he might not be able to find the spot to collect his wood when he came back in the morning. But first things first; he had to get home. It grew darker by the moment and he didn't relish the idea of spending the night out here with nothing but the clothes on his back. His stomach growled with hunger as well, but he didn't want to attract any wild animals and never carried food along either.
He felt his situation growing worst as he distinctly heard not only one, but a chorus of howls echoing throughout the forest; it sounded quite close this time. One thing was certain, he had to get out of this area and hunker down with a fire to ward off anything lurking out there. He put his hand in a jacket pocket relieved to find his pieces of flint while assuring himself he was quite strong at wielding his ax and at least he had some protection. It was likely only a pack of stray dogs, but even they could turn vicious if hungry. Better not to chance running into them.
Peter hurried along in the opposite direction from where he'd heard the howls and soon came across a small outcropping of rock he could huddle against for the night. A full moon was on the rise and he wasn't sure if it was to his advantage or not as he set about gathering twigs and dry branches to start a fire.
His wife Enid was probably frantic by now. She was pretty high strung anyway which could drive him crazy, but he couldn't blame her if he didn't show up all night. That aside, she was a good wife and took care of him and the boys seeing they were always well fed and had clean if a bit shabby clothing. Again he thought of how there had always been something lacking in the marriage. He turned her away in bed more than he cared to admit, and when he did take her, he did it with fantasies he later self-denied ever crossed his mind. Now there was nothing more he wished to do than to hunker down into their soft, warm, goose down bed beside her, as he fought to get comfortable huddled against the hard rocks and the cold ground. The heat of the fire made it slightly more bearable and Peter finally sunk to one side in a fetal position and dozed off into a fitful sleep..
It took him several moments before the sound of heavy breathing and snarling disrupted his unsteady slumber. He jumped up in a sitting position, wide awake, but it was too late. Towering over him was a hairy hulking beast. And it was all male gauging by the long, thick appendage dangling from between it's muscular thighs.
Peter was paralyzed in fear as his brain tried to make sense of what lurked before him. It stood upright and though covered in sleek hair it had the physique of a human. But the head was far from human. Large yellow eyes glittered at him and the moonlight lit up rows of sharp teeth and white froth on its gaping maw. He remembered when he was a boy the tales of monstrous werewolf looking shape-shifters that could slip in from other planes, but it was only childish tales he and his friends used to scare each other with. Nothing like this really existed. Did it?
A second beast lumbered up beside it. He finally pulled himself out of his trance and jumped up to run, and he did, smack into the powerful chest of an even bigger monster than the other two. He was now trapped in place by the outcropping and the heart stopping trio.