Daughter of the Witch Wood

03.

The Rainy Season

It was hard for Min to believe she wasn't dreaming again when she looked over and saw another person who wasn't her mother, however bestial his appearance was, walking so close she could have reached out and touched him. Sergen was a curious specimen, one she couldn't stop staring at: tall and broad, with arms and legs made of thick, wrought muscle, covered in a mat of thick, grayish fur from the tips of his ears to the bottom of both feet. Inside the little hollow, his face had looked dark, with skin like oiled leather and a mouth of sharp canines; when his

head

changed shape, something she still had trouble processing, it grew longer, more animal-like, with sharp ears atop his head and a long snout. Sergen didn't threaten her again, but rather kept a quick pace through the woods, obviously expecting her to keep up—Min didn't want to find out what might happen if she didn't.

Living in the woods her whole life gave Min some advantages: the soles of her feet were tougher, she wasn't bothered by the sun, and she knew how to tell what direction she was going in. They took what she estimated as a northwesterly direction. That part of the Witch Wood was mostly flat, a gradual downgrade ahead of them into a valley of some kind. Trees grew up so thick it was impossible to see very far, yet the great wolf-man sniffed the air and kept moving in the same general direction. Min had no choice but to follow—he'd threatened her mother's life, and hers besides, but running from him was such a poor choice that it wasn't really a choice at all.

"So why are we going to meet these people of yours?" she asked.

"My tribe are under attack, like I told you," he answered, not looking back. "You and others like you may help turn the tide in our favor."

"'Others like me.' You mean witches."

He nodded, still keeping a steady pace.

"But you're a wolf-man! You killed a bear all by yourself! What is somebody like me going to do? If you want magic, my mother would've been—"

"My choice is made." He stopped, turned, stared her down. He was a brute of a figure, tall and menacing, but Min tried to not shrink back. "I needed one of you, I made the decision, it is done. Accept it. Move on." With that said, he turned and started jogging again.

She was quiet for a moment as she matched his pace. "Then what

is

the threat? Who's attacking your people?"

"They are the children of Bhalot, the She-Bear. They allied themselves with one of your kind, a witch named San." He snarled after saying the name. "She grants them otherworldly strength, yet it corrupts their bodies and minds as you saw."

"But why did the bear attack my mother and I?"

"Who knows?" He shrugged. "I cannot speak for the mind of a witch or the beasts that ally themselves with her. You will assist my people in stopping her, or you may wish the bear had caught you instead." With that ominous warning, the wolf-man turned away and didn't speak again.

The thunder that started rumbling when they emerged from the little ravine finally fulfilled the lingering promise of rain, and in the rainy season that meant it came as a deluge. Min took the opportunity for that second bath she'd been craving, rubbing her hands all over her body as she jogged behind Sergen. The rain was warm on her bare flesh as she rubbed the bit of excess dirt and filth away, washing over the few scabs she'd picked up, but the scratches were shallow and they didn't trouble her. The wound on her shoulder had closed completely due to some power Sergen possessed—her injury was gone, save for sore muscles and a bit of burning if she overused it. Perhaps the Kelash had some magic after all, in spite of what he said.

Thunder crashed and lightning tore the sky as the rain continued. Min scrubbed her breasts and belly clean, making sure to be thorough on her tender flesh, even between her thighs to rinse away any sticky, lingering remnants of his seed. She saw Sergen stealing glances back at her as they jogged along, but he didn't say anything. Her pussy was a touch sore, but she didn't feel any ill after-effects of his claiming her, and—in her heart of hearts—Min didn't mind the soreness, given how pleasurable her first time with a man had been.

They jogged for hours, and the rain refused to let up. By that time it was starting to get dark, and Min halted first to catch her breath, leaning against a thick, knotted tree trunk. "Can't we stop and rest? For a little while?"

Sergen, who still hadn't stopped, finally did so and turned around. He came right up to Min, face to face, and let his eyes bore into her. It was a look of challenge, though she didn't think it one of anger.

"The rain isn't stopping," she said, pushing her wet hair back, swiping a hand across her face. "I'm

not

going to run away." She faced him down, putting her hands on both hips. "I said I'd do anything you wanted, remember? No running. Just...please. I'm tired, so let's rest. At least for a little while."

Sergen narrowed his eyes at her, but Min stood her ground, swallowing past a nervous lump in her throat. After a moment's stalemate, he finally nodded and turned away. Ahe bit back on an urge to sigh with relief and went to look about making some adequate shelter.

It was still warm in spite of the rain, so Min didn't trouble herself with preparing a place to start a fire, and given how deep in the woods they were, she didn't want to attract any unwanted attention. Instead, she spied a nearby

tarotaro

tree and hurried over to it. The tree bore leaves almost as long as she was tall, so Min started breaking them off from their long, drooping green stalks and started stacking them for later use.

"Stay here," he said. "I'm going on patrol—there's still another half-day's journey left until we reach my tribe's hunting grounds." She heard more of that disjointed, painful cracking sound that put her teeth on edge, but Min couldn't tear her eyes away as Sergen began to change. More than his head, his physical body began to shrink: his limbs shortened and thinned, his torso collapsed in on itself, and his head sank into his shoulders. In another moment, where before a furry, misshapen man had stood, now a four-legged beast remained. It was the very same wolf she'd spotted after he'd killed the bear to save her life, only perhaps a bit more soaked and dripping. On all fours, he stood tall enough to reach past her waist, and she was sure he could've torn her to pieces on four legs as easily as on two.

Was she hearing his bones break and reform every time his body changed? The thought made her shiver—it had to be a painful process. Sergen gave a harsh shake, throwing water all about in some vain hope of drying himself, and he disappeared into the gloom. She watched him go, wondering why her mother never told her that men could turn into beasts, then she continued building her shelter.

The huge, heart-shaped leaves couldn't protect her on their own, but she could lash them to dead branches with thin vines and form a makeshift tent over a natural hollow she found in the earth near the base of the tree. After the space was large enough for the two of them, but just barely, Min shoveled out the wet rubbish of dead leaves and undergrowth, leaving a relatively dry beneath. After piling up more rubbish around the edges as a makeshift barrier to keep out the rain and wind, Min settled in and listened to the hiss of the rain on the roof of her little tent, staring out into the gathering darkness.

She missed her mother. Min was too old to cry at being alone, too old to cry at having to finally leave home. Part of her had always knew it would happen eventually, even though she'd never dreamt it would come on behalf of a man who could turn himself into a wolf. Or perhaps all men were

also

wolves, and her mother hadn't seen fit to tell her so.

Min didn't try to contact her mother again, though—what could she say? What good would there be in worrying her even further? It made her sniff with annoyance, burrowing down deeper into her warm little hollow. She made a pillow out of some leftover bits of soft leaves, laid her head back, and closed her eyes.

Occasionally, Min would hear noises in the dark: animal noises, a hooting here or call there. The first time made her start up in surprise. As they continued and came closer, she tried to make herself smaller in her little tent. Nothing stirred in the dark over the noise of the storm, and in time the noises ceased and she was able to drift off to sleep.

The smell of wet fur woke her up. She worried it might be another bear for a moment until she saw the familiar flicker of golden brown eyes glittering in the gloom. The rain was still falling, but her tiny shelter was holding up well, with no drooping ceiling or water trickling in where it wasn't wanted.

Sergen gave another wild, vicious shake of his grey fur, then stuck his nose under the lip of her green leaf roof and started to crawl inside.

"What? H-hey! Careful!" Min protested, starting to move out of the way, but the monstrous male slithered right on top of her, pinning her to the ground as he lay atop her. She sputtered and pushed back a bit of her wet hair that went askew. "Are we comfortable, then?" Min pursed up her mouth at him, too surprised by his behavior to be truly scared of him at that moment. He could've killed her or left her to die a dozen times over by then, so she failed to see his reasoning in doing so now.

Sergen wasn't an unattractive male, by any means. His eyes were like lanterns in the dark, and she could see his face and muzzle as he leaned in so very close to her. "May I...touch you?" she said, with some reluctance.

Sergen didn't seem eager to change back. His ears swiveled and he tipped his head to one side. He licked his chops, but it wasn't a threatening sort of motion. He also wasn't growling, which was good.

"I told you I'd be a good girl," she said. "I promised." When he didn't bare his teeth or show any further displeasure, she reached up and carefully slid her fingers through the fur of his head, around his ears and his thick neck. "I hope you don't feel the urge to change in that larger shape of yours," she said. "I'm not sure the shelter is big enough for that."

He was quiet while she petted and stroked his head. It felt surreal, being so close to a wild beast-man, even one with his obvious intelligence. He even closed his eyes partway, leaning his head this way and that into her scratching fingernails, enjoying as it got more vigorous.

"It's just a shame we can't talk," she said, speaking softly as the rain hissed and fell around them. "If you say you've 'marked' me the way you have, I'd talk about that." She felt her face go warm. "Maybe I shouldn't have liked it so much as I did."

What Sergen did next, she didn't anticipate: he licked her face once, swiping up from jaw to temple. It was so sudden, so unexpected that she laughed in surprise. She gave him a little mock glare, gently tousling his ears. "Seeing if I taste good before you eat me whole, are you?"

He licked her again, up her neck and under her chin. Min's laugh was a little softer that time as he rested his head on her chest, looking up at her in something like expectation.

"Where did a man like you come from?" she said. "I've lived all my life alone, my mother and I...and now I wonder if I'll ever see her again." Min closed her eyes, resting her head back as she sighed. "I suppose I should be furious with you," she continued, eyes still closed. "Showing up like that, saving my life, and then cornering me in a cave—"

The wolf-man picked up his head and licked her again, but this time he began to bathe the curve of one breast with his tongue; she was struck by its rough texture when it swiped across one nipple, sending a lightning jolt of a different kind through the air, leaving sparks in her eyes.

"Oh!" Min gasped and pushed up on her elbows, staring down at him. Sergen continued licking, caressing her, teasing her, giving new pleasure that made her breath come in shorter, quicker starts. Their eyes met for just a brief moment, and then he shimmied backwards, crawling on his belly again, taking care not to upset their shelter; the fur on his soft underbelly brushed across her stomach and thighs, making her suck her lip into her mouth again.

When his nose reached the parting of her thighs, he stared her down, and she saw some unspoken urging in his eyes. Min opened her legs wide after only a heartbeat of a hesitation—it was obvious what he wanted, and she felt herself wanting the same thing. When he started to lick her again, she rocked backwards, back bending, toes pointed, her muscles tensing up. "Oh fuck!" she called, being as loud as she wanted under the roar of the storm. His wild, wonderful tongue stroked her clit, slid into her tight puss and nearly bottomed out inside of her with every swipe. She loved it. Grabbing her breasts, pinching her nipples, Min shuddered and rolled her hips, trying to open herself even the tiniest bit wider for him, to give her new lover access to places no one had ever reached before.

Her first orgasm was blinding-fast, so hot she could sense steam lifting off of her. "Yes! Yes!" she cried. "More, oh, please, more!" If he was going to pleasure her in this manner, she'd at least try to prolong it as much as she could.

That slippery pink muscle wriggled in and out of her cunny-hole with gusto, driving and stroking, pulling and tasting. Min soon began alternating between gasping and weeping, her body shaking as a second orgasm followed the first. She curled her hands in his fur, now trying to pull his head away, to give her a moment of relief. "Please! Let me...let me breathe!"

Sergen crawled back up into the little shelter, covering her heaving body with his, only now there was a darker, eager glimmer in his eyes. Min looked at him, stared into his eyes for a moment, and took a breath, which sounded calm in spite of her pounding heart. Again, it was obvious what he wanted, but now her inexperience frightened her.

"I don't... I'm not certain what to do," she said, feeling very small and vulnerable. "Is that alright?"

He licked her cheek. She took that as a positive sign, and took a breath, calming her pounding heart. Then, closing her eyes and moving by feel, Min slid a hand into the mass of fur between his legs, felt his cock already twitching and straining. He whined at the caress of her fingertips, but she took that moment to feel it for herself: almost scalding to the touch, deceptively smooth, a tapered tip and swollen base as she remembered from before, and a fuzzy, heavy sac beneath.

He whimpered a second time, pushing with his hindquarters, impatient for her to obey. "Yes, yes," she cooed, curling the fingers of her other hand into the scruff of his neck. "I told you I'd be a good girl," she repeated, only now the words carried a deeper, more permanent meaning in her mind: doing this willingly was something that Min could never take back. The first time had been forceful, him claiming her body for himself. This time, she was giving that body back to him.

Min steered his hard, straining cock to the soft gap of her pussy and let it go. Sergen didn't wait—he pushed forward, swallowing her up in a mess of fur, of strong limbs and clawed hands. Setting his head on her shoulder, he pounded with his rear legs, fucking her with hard, deep thrusts that set the swollen base of him to beating hard against the door of her cunt, already straining and fighting to get in.

"Oh gods! Yes! Yes! Yes! More! Fuck me! Fuck me!" Min wrapped her legs around him, laced them tight against his back and buried her face in his fur. She grit her teeth and felt her ass pounding at the ground below with every thrust, felt his muscled form pound against her. She was helpless in his embrace, and Min loved every second of it.

The pressure against her pussy was deliciously intense, but she never forgot that this creature was still a beast—she'd promised to be good and she would keep that promise. "Fuck me, fill me, more, more! Please! Please! Your cock is so good, it's...it's...! Mmmmmm, goddess

yeeeessss!

"

His knot only took a few moments more before it penetrated her and again she welcomed it. When it locked their bodies together, Min squealed, bucking her hips against him with every sharp, high-pitched sound she made. "Good girl, good girl, I'm your good, good girl!" she whined as his loins grounded hard against her clit, his fur and muscled flesh grinding on her, making her cum again already

Her nipples were burning hot, brushing in and through his fur; her breasts were full but felt tight and tense while rubbing against his chest. Her clit was so engorged and sensitive that every rocking motion of his hips, every thrust and grinding motion of his loins to hers sent more white, blinding flashes into her eyes.

The storm roared. The wind howled. The rain beat down over and around them. But in that tiny hollow they were protected, and Min felt the world melt away.

"Here it comes, here it comes, hereitcomeshereitcoooooooomes

ohhhhhfuck!

" In anticipation of his climax Min squeezed every muscle around him, legs and arms shaking from the strain, her cunny spasming and flexing as much as she could until she was exhausted. Then the piping-hot rush of his essence flowed into her like the sweetest, most delicious flood imaginable. "Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!" Min called it out one last time, then let every single muscle go slack and sagged beneath him. She felt Sergen tighten his limbs around her, a strange and sweet thing, as though protecting her from the black storm over their heads.

"So good," she whimpered, over and over again. "So good, so good, so

fucking good

. Mm. Mmmm..." Min nuzzled her face against his neck. "Good girl," she whimpered, still shaking from her orgasms; as one slowed down, another took its place and sent her heart to pounding and her cunt to squeezing and milking him, while her belly began to swell from the continued pouring out of his seed, filling the hot, willing vessel of her womb.

Min was no naive maiden—her mother told her what lying with a man could cause, of how some women fled to the Woods to give birth and raise their children in secret. Erden had done no different. But if sex felt

this

good, why shouldn't Min enjoy it? And she wouldn't be the first woman to raise a child alone; after he was through with her, Sergen might release her, and she'd go back to her mother's cottage again. It was the way of witches to live alone, raising their children under the dark boughs of the Witch Wood—surely, Min would do the same.

"Good girl," she murmured, pressing soft kisses to his flesh, rubbing her hands up and down his panting flanks. "Your good...good girl..."

Sergen licked her face again, gently, even tenderly. It wasn't what she expected from him, but she wasn't about to turn it down. Sweet, tender aftershocks of pleasure continued to blossom in her belly, in her breasts, her nipples. She slid her hands between their bodies, cupping her rounded stomach in her hands, looking up at him through heavy-lidded eyes. "Was I good...this time?"

The beast-man licked her face, her mouth, making her smile. They were still locked together, flesh to swollen flesh—she ran her legs along the sides of him, ankles brushing through his thick fur.

"Good," she said. Her body gave little jerks and spasms, muscles tensing, arms tightening. In the middle of it all was her belly, the core of her body, feeling very full and warm.

"Can you stay here with me, for a little while?" Min's voice was very small, very sleepy. "I just want to rest. I'm a good girl...good girl..." She was losing herself, pushed beyond exhaustion, and the hum of the rain was so soothing and peaceful. Sometimes she went too far, tired herself out with no way to recover, and often fell asleep in her mother's arms. This felt like that, but even better.