After 10 months of villagers turning up dead with their throats ripped out; the morning after each full moon, flyers began appearing in nearby towns offering a reward for killing the beast. Times were tough and my family was preparing for winter. After the most recent thin harvest, the money would go a long way towards survival. As the best hunter out of the siblings, I packed my bag and headed out the next day.
It had been a few days of hiking before I had ended up in this small clearing. I sat along the edge, my back pressed against a tree, and watched the sky darken from its pale twilight to a deepening blue. I stared longingly at the dwindling amount of rations from my pack. With a sigh, I stowed what remained and wrapped my cloak around me tighter, shivering slightly with the cold. I didn't want to run out of food out here, hunting was not something I wanted to attempt at this time. The closer I got to the heart of the forest the less evidence there was of available game. Not unusual for a forest that has recently become home to a wolf.
The bright trills of songbirds faded, and the forest began to come alive with the first tentative chirps of crickets. Slinging my pack onto my back, I stood, checking that my crossbow was loaded and I had a few bolts in the quiver. I picked my way carefully through the underbrush edging the clearing and began making my way deeper into the forest. I suspected that the creature that I sought had a lair nearby, but I was no closer to finding it than when I had started two days ago. There had been no fresh signs that I could follow, but my window of opportunity was closing; I was only a day away before the height of the next full moon, and the next predicted attack.
I move slowly, scanning for any tracks or signs, keeping my footsteps light. The canopy above me got thicker, the forest darker with each passing moment. I heard the trickle of a small nearby stream and headed towards the sound. The water source should attract all sorts of animals, and I would hopefully spot some fresh tracks. It didn't take long to see the stream glittering silvery in the moonlight. In the mud of the bank were a smattering of tracks, but from nothing bigger than a squirrel. Sighing internally with disappointment, I found a nice flat stone jutting into the water. The water looked clean and relatively fast-moving. Kneeling on the stone, I dipped my hand into the water, which proved shockingly cold. I reminded myself that I am closer to the mountain range than I had been in a long time. I pulled the water skin from my bag and filled it. I took a long drink before refilling and tucking it back into my bag.
Just as I was about to rise, I realized that the only noise around me was that of the stream- the night birds and insects that had been calling had gone quiet. Something big must have entered the area. I clicked the safety off my crossbow and stood slowly, scanning around and listening for it. The snapping of a branch sends me spinning, looking for any movement, any sign of the cause of the noise. After a moment, the tentative calls of nightbirds reached me. I crouched, moving slowly in the direction of the rustling ahead.
There was a sliding crash of stones through the brush as I arrived at the edge of a ravine. The crashing continued deep into the ravine, and I was careful to keep my back foot planted and my hand braced on a tree, as I peered over the edge into the gloom. I strained my eyes in the deepening darkness trying to catch a hint of movement. A noise behind me caused me to spin and raise my crossbow on instinct, when my world went suddenly sideways.
The crossbow was ripped from my numb fingers before I ended up on the cold earth, a heavy weight on my back pinning me face-down. After a sharp tug my pack was ripped and tossed away. It crashed heavily down the side of the ravine. I tried to arch my back and get my hands underneath my shoulders to push myself up; I had barely risen up before being forced back down. I attempted to peer over my shoulder and identify the weight pinning me down, when very sharp teeth snapped at my face and a very large hand pushed my face down into the ground. A hand? No wolf had hands. This is way more than just a lone nomad wolf that needed picking off. I was going to die out here at the claws of a werewolf.
"Stay down," it growled at me in warning, the hand on my head pressing down. It felt like I had a knee on my lower back, pinning me. I could feel the hilt of my belt knife hooked at my side of my belt when I heard a deep rumbling growl and a rush of hot breath on the back of my neck. My blood ran cold and I froze, thinking it had noticed my movement, I was afraid it was going to snap my neck with its powerful jaws.
Figuring that this creature is probably going to kill me otherwise, I grabbed the handle of my knife and swung back behind me towards the breath, trying to roll the beast off of my back. My hand jarred as I felt the blade connect, and the air was filled with a loud pained yowl. I had just rolled over in an attempt to stand when I was knocked back to the ground, and my wrists pinned above my head. I stared up at the werewolf staring down at me, teeth bared in a snarl and blood dripping from a cut on his cheek. The cut on his cheek healed as I watched, the blood left behind the only indication that I hurt him at all- all I had managed to do was severely piss him off. He slammed my hands against the ground repeatedly until I lost my grip on the knife, which was tossed away into the underbrush.
Jaws snapped in my face, a rumbling angry growl coming from deep within the Wolf's throat. Hot breath blew down my neck as I felt the scrape of teeth around my throat. I close my eyes with a whimper, preparing for my end, but instead was startled by a snuffling, then the warm wetness of a tongue along my neck. With a gasp, my eyes snapped open to meet the intense amber gaze. I snarled up at him in turn.
"What are you waiting for, huh? Just kill me, don't drag it out! You caught me - you won, end it!" I had no plans for my death to be a long, dragged-out affair. If I had to go out via claws and teeth, let it be quick.
The deep growling turned into a chuffing noise. At first I thought it might have been a bark, but then realized it was laughing at me. "Such a fierce little rabbit."
I sputtered indignantly. But before I could formulate a reply it lowered its head, muzzle brushing where my ear met my jaw. He was inhaling at my skin, as if I was a loaf of bread fresh out of the oven. I shivered and shifted uncomfortably, and the beast groaned and growled.
"Just get it over with please! Kill me, eat me, do whatever, just don't drag it out." The huffing, I figured for laughter came again, the body on top of me shaking.
"So polite in begging for death," he rumbled, "I have no desire to kill you, little rabbit."
He licked up the sweaty nap of my neck and behind my ear. "However, eating you may not be off the table yet; you are a delicious little morsel." He gave that huffing laugh as I whimpered..
"Oh please keep making such delightful noise," he huffed, his tongue lazily moving along the shell of my ear. I shivered and whined again, feeling my stomach flip as his voice deepened. He groaned again, and I felt his hips grind down onto me.