6. A monster's Mercy

"If you please me, I might even keep you and make you part of my harem. You’d have a warm bed, food from my table, and a roof over your head. That’s better than rotting out here in the dirt with your throat cut, wouldn’t you say?"

His words sank in, and something inside me snapped.

Before I could think better of it, I spat straight into his face.

He went completely still as my spit ran down his cheek. He wiped it away with the back of his hand, then slowly looked at me again. The amusement was gone. His eyes were cold.

"You filthy little—"

His hand came across my face before he could finish. My head jerked to the side, and for a second, all I could hear was the ringing in my ears. My cheek burned, and when I swallowed, I tasted blood.

"Do that again," he growled, "and I’ll snap your fucking neck right here."

"Go on, then." My voice came out hoarse, but I forced the words through the pain. "Kill me."

He reached down and started undoing his belt.

"Oh, I’m going to kill you," he spat. "But I think I’ll have some fun with you first. Keep fighting me and I might just slit your throat and fuck your warm corpse instead. You won’t be spitting on me when you’re dead, will you?"

My stomach twisted violently at his words. I wanted to believe he was only trying to scare me, but the dead, hungry look in his eyes crushed that fragile hope before I could hold onto it.

He meant every single word.

I tried to crawl away, but my body refused to cooperate. I was already so weak and exhausted that even the smallest movement felt impossible.

Even if I somehow found the strength to fight him, what would it matter? I couldn't overpower an Alpha like him. There was nothing left for me to do but close my eyes and wait.

Just then, a thunderous roar erupted from the direction of the creek.

It wasn't the howl of an ordinary wolf. The sound was so deep and powerful that it seemed to shake the trees and rumble through the ground beneath me.

The Alpha froze above me.

"What the—"

Something hit him from the side with so much force that his body flew off me. He went sailing through the air before crashing into the trunk of a massive oak.The impact made a sickening crack.

The shadow slowly stepped out from between the trees, and my breath caught in my throat.

I had seen wolves all my life. I had seen Alphas who towered over everyone around them, wolves so large and powerful that others instinctively lowered their heads in submission.

But I had never seen... this.

It looked like something that had crawled straight out of a nightmare.

It stood almost ten feet tall on its hind legs, its head nearly level with the lower branches of the trees around us. I had never seen a creature that big. Even from where I lay, I had to tilt my head back just to see its face. Its thick black fur seemed to swallow the faint moonlight, and the only things I could make out clearly were its enormous shape and the long claws digging into the dirt as it came closer.

What... what was this thing?

The Alpha scrambled to his feet, nearly stumbling in his panic.

"Stay back! Do you know who I am? I’m the Alpha of—"

The beast didn’t let him finish.

A massive clawed hand flashed through the air. The Alpha’s scream died in his throat as his head was torn clean from his shoulders.

For a second, everything went strangely quiet.

Then his body hit the ground.

Blood splattered across the dirt, and his severed head rolled a short distance before coming to a stop. Only moments ago, he had been standing over me, threatening me. Now he lay lifeless at the beast’s feet.

I covered my mouth as my stomach twisted violently. My hands were shaking so badly that I could barely keep them against my lips. I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. I just stared at the blood soaking into the dirt, unable to tear my eyes away from the beast that had caused it.

I should have been relieved. He was gone. He couldn't touch me anymore.

But the beast that had killed him was still standing there.

It continued tearing into what was left of him with wet, crunching sounds that turned my stomach inside out. I could hear bones snapping like dry twigs under its jaws. When there was almost nothing left, it slowly dragged its long tongue over its jaws, licking away the blood before finally lifting its head.

Those glowing crimson eyes found mine, and every drop of blood seemed to drain from my body.

I closed my eyes and waited for the end.

This was it.

Twenty-three years of being overlooked. Twenty-three years of being treated like I was worth less than everyone else. Twenty-three years of surviving a life that had never once been kind to me.

And this was how it ended.

"Just make it quick," I begged silently as it stopped at my feet. "Please."

I waited for the pain, for its teeth to sink into my flesh and give me the same brutal end it had given the Alpha. Instead, something warm and wet brushed against my shoulder.

My eyes flew open.

The beast had lowered its head until I was practically nose to nose with it. Up close, it was even more terrifying. I could see the thick black fur covering its face, the slow rise and fall of its chest, and the enormous teeth behind its lips.

But I couldn't look away.

There was something about those crimson eyes that held me there. I knew I should have been afraid. I knew I was lying inches away from something that had just torn a man apart, yet I couldn't bring myself to move. The longer I looked into its eyes, the stranger I felt, like some part of me recognized it even though I had never seen it before.

Then it opened its mouth, and every muscle in my body tensed. But instead of biting me, its rough tongue slowly dragged across my cheek.

I stared at it, too stunned to even react. I couldn't make sense of what was happening. This creature had every reason to kill me, yet it was standing over me, touching me with a strange gentleness I couldn't understand.

Was it going to kill me? Or was it simply... toying with me?

For a long moment, it simply stared at me. Then it lowered its massive head and shifted closer. I tensed as its huge body curled around mine, shielding me completely beneath its warmth. Instead of pulling away, I found myself relaxing against the heat, even though every part of me knew I shouldn't.

Then it leaned closer and slowly exhaled against my face.

A strange warmth spread through me, starting somewhere deep in my chest before slowly washing over the rest of my body. My eyelids grew heavy, and no matter how hard I tried to keep them open, they kept slipping shut. The fear, the exhaustion, even the tension in my muscles seemed to fade, leaving me too weak to fight whatever was happening to me.

The last thing I saw was those crimson eyes still fixed on me, strangely calm as they watched over me.

Then everything went black.