Wolves Could Love Too

• Chapter 2 •

Daisy

As never before, the forest had fallen into silence. There was not a sound of bird song, not a howl of a dangerous beast. Ominous gnarled branches hung like creepy chandeliers from the reddened bushes and trees. The loose clay soil under my feet reminded me of blood from an unhealed wound.

I felt sick just from looking at it.

The road to Grandma's hut was not very long. Basically it took about half an hour as she lived three miles from the village. But it was not my intention to go straight there. My aim was to explore the forest first, find the hideout of the wolf terrorizing my village, and then destroy the monster.

"A great undertaking, but difficult to accomplish," I thought bitterly, stepping cautiously on the slippery leaves.

There was a peculiar smell of dampness, moss and fresh grass in the air. I tried to navigate myself by tracing the paw prints in the mud or the gray hairs stuck to the resin on the barks. When I was little the people from the village warned more than once to look out for wolf traps, and that's exactly what I did. I would bend down, feel the sticky ground, then get up again and continue. I honestly don't remember how long I wandered aimlessly. I came across some strange shadows, while I was spinning in circles. I was admiring the peculiar nature, breathed from the fresh air of the forest leaves and even met some cute little animals such as bunnies, owls and squirrels. I tried to follow my mother's advice and stay off the main trail, but the more my curiosity grew, the more I got lost behind the crowns of the thick pines.

The pale sun was slowly setting over the gloomy valleys. Before I knew it, the moonbeams had already begun to creep over the gray horizon of fog and clouds. A much colder wind blew, causing my scarf to dry off my head and drift off into the wild.

I felt extremely vulnerable and depressed.

I wanted to go back home, sleep under the warm blankets or finally go to grandma's, where I knew I would feel cozy and safe.

"Curiosity killed the cat," I said angrily to myself, but inside I was raging against my recklessness and stupidity.

How could I even believe that a naive sixteen year old girl like me could handle a Big Bad Wolf!?

"Well done, Daisy! Your mother will be proud of you for getting lost," I murmured quietly and sarcastically enough to distract myself from the fear that made my body tremble.

Everything was plunged into incomprehensible darkness.

No trails were visible. There were no trees suitable enough for me to climb if it was necessary to do so. The only thing I could make out in the twilight was the thick fog and reddish moonbeams, complicating the already complicated situation I found myself in. And when I was just thinking that it couldn't get any worse, I suddenly caught someone's glowing gaze hidden in the dark hoods.

My blood ran cold with horror.

Those eyes did not belong to any sane human being. They were huge, yellow, wild, and stared at me so predatorily as if they were trying to tear my soul into pieces.

Crazy, but successful.

A cold sweat broke out on my forehead. I felt the color drain from my face, leaving a transparent pallor. My hands suddenly went limp and I scraped my wicker basket to the ground. The food prepared by mom rolled dully towards the wolf, but he did not reflect it at all. His attention was riveted on me.

I swallowed my fear with an impossible effort.

I didn't have a lot of options. I had to think fast. So I clenched my hands into fists, bit my lips, and immediately ran away.

It happened in seconds.

The wolf rushed after me furiously. I galloped forward like a frightened doe. I didn't stop, I didn't stop running even when I felt my legs start to weaken from exhaustion. My pulse raced. I dared not look back for fear of tripping. In an instant, the skirt of my dress got caught in a thorn bush and I had to pull it hard, scraping my leg badly. Dozens of sharp spines stuck into my flesh at once, but I overcame the pain and limped on. The horror started to catch up with me. The blood in my hand was an additional stimulus to the beast's monstrous hunger. It almost caught me in its outstretched furry paws when I slipped on the autumn leaves and flew headlong down a gully.

I will never forget the pain I felt then.

My body was literally on fire from overload and tension. My white socks didn't look white at all, but torn, wet and stained with mud, grass and blood. My knees were bruised. My muscles quivered in agony. One of my ankles was all swollen up, and the other looked so grotesque and bloody that I could not bear the hideous sight. The strong metallic smell that permeated my skin made me even more sick. I turned my head to the side, but instead of calming down, I cried uncontrollably like a little child. My dress was ruined, my pride was hurt, and on top of that, I had failed.

"Mom and Henry are going to be so disappointed," I thought sadly, feeling my tears grow wilder and larger.

I felt so hopeless and broken in my grief that I did not hear someone approach me and kneel beside my small form.

It was a human.

I felt it in his footsteps and the stance he had taken.

A man at that.

His smell was intoxicating and remind me of wood, fire and musk.

I lifted my chin up slowky and stared straight into the stranger's face, my eyes clouded with tears. Interesting, but I didn't expect to be amazed by his primitive beauty, a trait which had always attracted me in any young man. His hair looked terribly dark, darker even than the night, and it stood disheveled in a strangely attractive way. He was tall, I could see that even from my sitting position. His body was large but muscular and exuded strength and dominance. Just the kind I liked a man to have. His nose was slightly crooked, as if it had been broken many times, and his features were razor sharp and straight.

"Are you alright?" he asked me in his incredibly deep voice, making my heart tingle with curiosity and excitement.

I didn't answer him. I knew I shouldn't. I knew I had to run.

But even so, a part of me whispered that my place belonged precisely with the stranger. I decided to listen to my mind and get up from the ground. I shouldn't have shown my weakness, that's why I backed away slowly from the man. In turn he smiled smugly with his sharp white teeth and began to move closer and closer to me until I was pressed against the trunk of a dead oak tree. There was something unnatural and all too familiar in his eyes, which shone like two yellow lanterns in the night. Something about the way it piqued my interest and made my chest heave unevenly with excitement and fear.

"What big eyes you have," his sharp nails caressed my cheeks, which were all reddened from the cold, "And what full lips," he whispered hoarsely, inhaling deeply from the scent of daisies in my hair, "I could eat you up!"