Bared and broken

MYRA’s POV.

~~~

I was surrounded.

My breath hitched as I watched four wolves appear out of the hidden shadows, white-mist eyes gleaming with gratifying intensity as I shuddered from their presence.

“What in the actual hell…” My lips were numb as I pulled myself up from the ground and leaned back on the tree. There was no escape; the four sides were covered, and now I was their prey.

They circled me, as if all were waiting for the right moment to attack, while I watched these monsters as my body buzzed, hands trembling and a pinch to my skin to break my frozen demeanor.

This wasn’t like when I’d met the black wolf; I felt something close to a rush, and as crazy as I may sound, a connection treating him, but I could feel the bloodthirst coming from them as they watched me.

And even though the wolves weren’t as large or as menacing as the great black wolf I saw last night, four wolves meant that I wasn’t going to survive this in any way, well just my rotten luck.

And I knew no one was coming for me, especially after I just hit Nate in the groin and was quiet. I was on my own, at least my story would be a good documentary and I’d finally meet my parents.

So much for having my appointment with a realtor for my dream practice space in the city. It was never meant to be. It’s over, I tell myself.

So why the hell was I charging into a fighting stance right now? Why was my will to live so strong? I had taken a large branch on the floor as my weapon, and the wolves looked rather amused at my predicament.

My voice cracked, but I bared my teeth. “Come and get me, you overgrown mutts You want me? Here i am,” I muttered under my breath as the first dark brown wolf leaped, my branch did nothing to protect me as it gnawed off the wood while I scurried for safety.

It was a flimsy and piss-poor distraction I know but it was a buy for me to begin sprinting out of the woods, they were hot on my tail, but I didn’t stop, pushing my face even as my bones ached and my teeth rattled.

I ran with all my might, but just as I came out of the open field, I felt a heavy weight blood to my torso, pushing me as my body slammed against the tree.

The attacker knocked a winded breath out of me as the sharp branches lodged themselves into one of my thighs, I screamed from the agonizing pain of the indented wood that rattled my senses with pain.

I screamed and thrashed, trying to pull the deeply indented wood off as they gathered me once more, and that was when I realized, they were playing with me and it was to them… a game.

I was screwed, and no way out as my wound bled, body weaker as I crawled away, throwing sticks and stones to no avail. “Someone, please…help me…anyone…please,” I cried with a silent prayer as I bled out, closing my eyes to accept my painful fate.

But then I heard a roar as shadows tousled over me, and I was unharmed. The snarls, cries, and yelps of the wolf garnered my attention as I opened my eyes to see a bloody battle between the four wolves…no, five! One had appeared.

One that was very familiar, the same black beast that bit me, his fur as dark as midnight, and his eyes with a crimson power as he raged between the two wolves, his eyes and stature held so much power.

He went for the neck of a light brown-black wolf, gutting out its life from its neck as bone cracked; the familiar brown jumped at the opportunity while he was distracted to take him down.

But he failed terribly as the black wolf turned in time to land a damning blow to the wolf's skull, slamming to the ground as it landed close to me, its neck crooked and eyes far gone for me to know it was dead.

No, no, no, I needed to get out of here! I panicked, crawling just as another wolf was slammed next to the tree to my left, and my breath hitched.

Having to cover my mouth to stop the air from escaping, I was hyperventilating at this point as I watched the war between the two animals rage, and of all four beasts, there was one left.

The wolf bowed its head, backing away as it pleaded for mercy from the black wolf, but he didn’t back down, howling out to the forest that echoed as he aimed for the wolf's hind leg, breaking it with a wicked crackle as the wolf cried.

But it seems the dark wolf had a scrap of mercy for the wolf or maybe a warning to the other and him as an example as the wolf limped shamelessly away with its tail between its legs.

And from those four wolves, he came out as champion. The battle was over; he’d won. And I was next. Fuck.

“You…you came back to finish the job, didn’t you…“ I called out, my breathing harsh and barely even awake, as I was losing blood, and from the battering on my body, I was slowly slipping away from consciousness.

I feel a cold snout touch my injured leg as I flinch, afraid of what it's going to do next. My face forms from confusion to fear and then shock when I begin to hear the crackle of bones.

This cannot be happening or real, but it was. The huge wolf shapeshift began to change into a human form, Bones splintered—not broke—reforming as midnight fur receded into skin and in seconds a fully grown and naked male stood.

He faced away from me, and I could only get a look at his back and his midnight-black shoulder-length hair, tousled and blown by the wind.

“This has to be a dream; it has to,” I slurred my words just as I heard the crunch of the dry leaves and the sound of him walking closer, but I was already far gone as my consciousness slipped out of me, but not before I heard a husky voice by my side.

“There you are, human. I’ve been looking for you.”