The Wolf Hunter's Daughter

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…” Drumroll please. “Our last item of the evening.” The auctioneer laid the suspense on thick while I waited in the eaves, shaking and exhausted. There were so many girls before me that were auctioned off and I stood there for hours. He kept me for last on purpose, that cruel wolf. Because that was what they did with the hated ones.

“I give you… Erina Saul, the wolf hunter’s daughter.”

A roar went up from the crowd. They were hungry for blood. My blood. Because of what my parents were.

The handler shoved me onto the stage. I hardly kept my balance on the ridiculous heels they made me wear, and the shackles on my ankles made it even harder. Glaring spotlights hurt my eyes, but I welcomed the heat they provided temporary relief to my frozen body. A gray sea of faceless people stared up at me. Probably for the best that I couldn’t see the hatred on their faces.

“Pretty, isn’t she?” the auctioneer grabbed my face, turning me towards the crowd. “Shall we start the bidding at five thousand?”

The crowd roared with laughter. It was an insult. The other girls fetched high prices from the start. I couldn’t care. This was the least insulting of what I had to endure the last couple of days, or had it been weeks? I wasn’t even sure anymore. Beaten and bruised but still alive. For the moment.

“I’d give you ten dollars for the pleasure of ripping out her throat,” a menacing voice rang out.

“Tsk, tsk. Now, don’t be rude. She can be bred. Now wouldn’t that be irony for ya?” another crowed. The crowd thought it was hilarious. I was hyperventilating. This wasn’t how I imagined my last days would be.

I was innocent, never hurt a single living thing. Unlike my parents. But these were animals, werewolves, an abomination. That was what they instilled into us from birth. We should annihilate abominations.

I was never a part of the hunt until I became the hunted.

“Come on, ladies and gentlemen.” The auctioneer droned on in his game-show voice, “Who’ll give me five thousand for this prime female?” He ripped the flimsy dress down the middle, exposing my breasts down to my sex. I had no underwear.

I shrunk down, shielding myself with my arms. The auctioneer snarled, yanking my hair to lift my head. The handler came and grabbed my hands, pulling my arms to my back, forcing me upright.

“Unspoiled. Checked her myself.” he grinned at my face. “Wouldn’t want that to go to waste, now do you?”

The reaction was deafening. The bidding had begun. I closed my eyes, trying to zone out. Imagining myself at my favorite place. Ignoring the pain of my arms being pulled back so viciously, exposing my breasts even more. Don’t listen to the taunts. Ignore the insults, the lewd remarks.

“One Million.”

All sounds ceased. You could hear the blood course through your veins. My eyes snapped open. I couldn’t make out features, but the man-creature that loomed at the back of the old theater dominated the place. He was the largest of his kind I’ve ever had the displeasure of seeing.

“Your excellence!” the auctioneer gasped. He bowed his forehead almost to the floor. The handler brought me to my knees without letting my arms go.

“Bring my purchase to the back. And put some clothes on her, for fuck’s sake!” the giant creature’s voice boomed over the crowd.

I lifted my face in time to see him exit the double doors at the back before I was hauled to my feet.

The auctioneer sneered at me. “Lucky you. You’ve just been bought by the werewolf king. Enjoy your last hours, girl.”

The handler guffawed as he dragged me away. He shouted at a woman to get me a dress. “Don’t know why we bother. He’s just going to rip you apart. But maybe he likes his meal packaged.” He laughed at his own joke and shoved me towards the waiting woman.

“That’s a hefty price for a meal,” I dared to say, which earned me a slap that made my ears ring.

“Hey, don’t damage the goods!” The woman came out of the dressing room and pulled me behind her. “Do you want to die? The Lycan will have your head.”

The Lycan. I could only guess why he wanted to buy me, and it spelled nothing good.

I let the woman dress me in a black velvet gown which had a low neckline, barely covering my breasts, an open back and slits that exposed my legs. They could’ve just left me naked. She combed my hair and even fixed my makeup. She uncuffed the shackles from my ankles, and I almost cried with relief. I rubbed my abused skin to get the blood flowing again.

“There.” She stood back to admire her handiwork. “We can’t afford to displease the Lycan king. Listen, girl, keep your head down and don’t piss him off if you want to survive.”

“Why do you care?” She was one of my tormentors. I had to endure a lot of abuse from her in the past days. Why the sudden change?

“I don’t. But you are not like the hunters I’ve encountered. There’s something about you, something different.”

Yes, I was an absolute disaster.

I wanted her to elaborate, but we never got the chance. A different man came through the door to fetch me. He was of the same size as the mountainous creature who bought me.

“Come,” was all he said, and I had no choice but to follow him out the door into the night.

Driven by the biting wind, snowflakes licked at my exposed flesh as we stepped out into the cold. Freezing and shaking, I lost my precarious balance and slipped, landing on knees and hands in the sleet.

Shiny black shoes came into view. I looked up to find the owner and my breath caught in my throat. It was him. Had to be him. Yet I couldn’t see his face, as the light was behind him.

“Do they call that a dress?” his voice, like thunder, rolled over me. “Get up.”

I struggled to my feet, slipping further into the muck. The next moment, he yanked me up and warmth enveloped my shaking shoulders. A wolf pelt, I realized, as my frozen fingers sank into thick fur, and I pulled it closer to cover my front. He didn’t hesitate but lifted me into his arms like I was weightless. Too afraid to look at him, I pressed my nose into the warmth of the pelt.

He only put me down to get into the black limo that waited for us and slid in behind me.