Chapter 16
Robin found herself in the middle of a dense forest, the full moon’s light bouncing off the snow. Everything became crystal clear as she peered around, listening to every little sound, smelling every little scent that drifted on the slight breeze.
Elk!
She turned her head and cocked an ear to listen for the animals she’d caught wind of. The slightest sound of a hoof pawing the snow to get to the vegetation underneath it filtered into her ears.
Walking at first, she began to run as the scent became stronger, filling her nostrils and making her mouth water. Soon she’d get to eat, and she was starving.
Her long legs moved easily over the snow-covered ground. She came to the edge of a small cliff, seemingly ending her hunt. But then her eyes caught sight of three elk, two of them were small enough for her to catch.
Without thinking, she jumped off the cliff and flew through the air in silence, hitting the snow with a light sound. But it was enough to stir the elk from their grazing and when they saw her, they all three bolted.
She picked up speed as she chased them. No matter how much they ducked and dodged, they couldn’t shake the she-wolf who’d found them. Robin could smell the fear in the air as they became more and more frantic.
Getting close enough to the larges one, she made a leap for it, but it managed to turn itself around entirely, leaving her with a mouthful of snow instead of delicious elk.
With the confusion, the larger animal disappeared into the woods, leaving the two younger ones alone and helpless. They seemed to be in shock without their mother to show them where to go. The two small elk began bellowing, calling to the mother who’d left them to become a meal for the hungry she-wolf.
Just as Robin was closing in on the two shivering creatures, she heard growls come from all around her. She paused her forward motion to look around and found five sets of eyes watching her. More wolves and they were after a kill that was rightfully hers.
She growled at them fiercely, letting them know she wouldn’t be giving up the scrumptious creatures that cowered in fear just feet away from her. She’d fight the males if she had to, but she would eat that night. Her hunger was driving her insane.
The five males came closer, and her growls grew louder, but so did theirs. She could see they were set on getting what she’d corralled.
As they came into the open, the little elk cried even louder for their mother to come rescue them. But their mother was nowhere to be seen. Their fate was set.
The largest wolf, the black one, leveled his piercing blue eyes on Robin, showing his teeth that were much larger than hers. She barked and snapped her jaws in his direction. She would show no fear to him or any of them. Her teeth were sharp too, as were her claws. If he came at her, he’d leave with some lacerations too.
A blond male wolf moved in closer too, flanking the black one on his left. One by one, the other wolves fell into position around their leader. On the right the darker blond wolf came up then a brown one moved in on the left, and finally a brown one with lots of gold in his fur took up the last place on the right. The whole pack was coming to get her, ignoring the tasty young elk.
Robin had no choice but to turn to face them, so her back wasn’t to the pack of wolves. And with her movement, the elk took off into the safety of the woods. And she couldn’t follow, or the wolves would surely chase her and attack her from behind. No, she had to stand her ground. Or at least retreat very slowly.
Robin knew she was no match for five huge males. Her growls continued as she backed up slowly. Her empty stomach clenched and cramped as it knew she’d lost the easy meal that it had hoped for.
Her life, far more important than being hungry, had Robin doing the smartest thing, backing away nice and easy. But no matter how far she retreated, the wolves just kept coming. For every step she took back, they took one forward, the distance apart never growing or widening, merely staying the same.
Finally, the cliff she’d jumped off of to get to the elk stopped her, and she was stuck. Now the distance began to close between her and those who sought to end her life.
But why? She wondered. Why her? What had she done to these males to make them want to kill her?
When they were only inches apart, they stopped. The growling continued until Robin understood what would save her life. She went to her stomach and whimpered as she looked away, averting her eyes to let them all know she had submitted.
The growling stopped, and the black wolf jerked his head to the right. The dark blond wolf ran off and came back with a rabbit, hanging limp and lifeless in his strong jaws. One small trail of blood ran down it, leaving drops of red on the white snow.
The wolf laid the rabbit in front of the black wolf and the four stepped back and sat on their haunches. The black wolf eyed Robin and then cocked his massive head as he looked her over. Then he shoved the rabbit to her, using his nose to push it.
She whimpered as her stomach growled in hunger. Then she took it into her mouth and ate it up quickly before the male changed his mind. He’d fed her instead of killing her. It was a nice surprise.
But as nice as it was to have a full belly, things didn’t stay that way as the black wolf began to bend and shift. The cracking of bones, the grinding sounds as they shifted, made Robin yelp as the terrible noise hurt her sensitive ears.
Then the wolf was no more, and a naked man stood in his place. His dark hair hung only from his head, waves cascaded to his broad shoulders. The she-wolf was confused. Where had the wolf who’d fed her gone?
The man produced a red leash and came toward Robin who barked and snapped at the man. His eyes danced as he commanded her, “Stop.”
One simple word from him and she did as he’d told her. She lay back down and let him put the leash around her neck. He pulled on the leash, making her get up. “Come.”
She followed the man who walked through the snow, naked yet not seeming cold in the least. The other wolves came in to flank them both as they went where, Robin had no clue.
Fear was in the far reaches of her mind, but there was something else too. Hope. She had hope the man would feed her and give her water to drink, and she’d no longer have to look for those things.
Maybe he wouldn’t be so bad to her. Maybe he’d allow her to run free most of the time. But when they got to a huge cabin deep in the woods, he took her to a cage and placed her in it. He and the other wolves went inside, into the warm home, leaving her alone in the cage.
She began to cry and howl, as she’d have fought the man if she’d known this was how it would end for her. Trapped in a cage. Out in the cold. And as she looked around she found nothing to eat or drink as well.
Her cries grew louder as she mourned what she’d lost. Her freedom.
Robin woke up to the sound of her own cries and found herself being held but no cuff held her to the bed. She choked back the sobs and tried to move her arms, but she couldn’t as she was held too tightly.
“Baby, you okay?” she heard a man ask her.
She turned her head and gasped. “Why?” she cried.
Her body was bare against his. And he pulled her even closer to him as he shushed her and kissed the top of her head. “Everything will be okay. You’ll see.”
But all Robin could do was cry and plead, “Let me go, Shaw. Please, let me go.”
Shaw found himself near tears with her pitiful pleas. If he could let her go, he would. But she didn’t understand that his wolf didn’t think the way he did. His wolf was wild and had limited compassion for anyone.
He kissed her once more on top of the head and rocked with her. “It will all be all right. You’ll see. Just rest, baby.”
Robin closed her eyes, but she knew rest wouldn’t help a thing. No matter what Shaw said.