The Unhappy Heart (Book 1 of The Wolfheart Trilogy)

11. The Hunter

Andrea headed back through the forest. She trudged slowly, almost dragging her feet. It was as though her whole body had become weighed down from the guilt and fear. She did not want to go back to Harriet's and face them, knowing what she had done. She could already see the disappointment in Harriet's eyes. Why couldn't she have just trusted them and told them the truth right from the start? Why had she kept everything to herself as if it was some dark secret? If she had told them, Harriet would surely have known Felan wasn't what he seemed and would have worked everything out. But what was Felan? A werewolf? A shapeshifter?

Andrea dragged her feet forward. No, she couldn't face them. But where else could she go? A strange feeling washed over her and the hair on the back of her neck rose, as a cold shudder ran down her spine. She was being watched.

Spinning around, Andrea saw something that caused her to freeze with terror. A large black wolf stood on a rise watching her. As Andrea studied it, she felt her heart sinking. This wolf wasn't like Felan. Its eyes were yellow and murderous. Its long sharp fangs had spilled blood before, and Andrea knew it. As it crouched low, its body trembled with enraged hate.

But as Andrea faced it, the fear left her as a wave of hopelessness and despair washed over her. Pulling the dagger from her belt, that Blade had given her incase Felan had tried to attack, Andrea held it up in front of her. As it glinted in the light of the dying moon, the wolf emitted a deep rumbling snarl.

"Try me!" Andrea screamed, her voice echoing the emotions that overwhelmed her inside.

There was a blur of movement and Andrea was sent flying back as a heavy weight smashed into her chest. Her head cracked against a rock stunning her. All she was aware of, was the heavy weight that still pinned her to the ground. She forced her eyes to open and through the blurry haze, she saw the yellow eyes of the wolf staring hungrily down. But as their eyes met, something strange occurred. 

A deep whine sounded, and the wolf backed off. As the world began to sway and flash in and out of focus, the last thing Andrea heard was a lone howl of anguish.

* * * * *

She was running. Her heart pounded in her chest and her breath came in gasps. A breath of hot air touched her neck. Then she was falling. Falling as the black monster with yellow eyes, knocked her down. And she was screaming for help, but no one came. The black wolf grinned down at her. Then his teeth latched around her arm and he was shaking her viciously.

Andrea awoke with a start. She let out a frightened gasp as the shaking continued. Grabbing her knife that she had laid by her side, she twisted her body around and stabbed at whatever held her in its tight grip. There was a sudden hiss and a violent string of curses, as a tall figure leapt back, clutching his hand to his chest. Andrea pushed herself to her feet and faced them. In her dazed half-awake state, she thought for a brief minute that Hugo had finally found her. But as she pushed away the tiredness and studied the person before her, she saw she was wrong.

It was a young man dressed in well-worn fur. What Andrea noticed first were his cold hard eyes. They were eerily pale with a stare that seemed to see right through her. Andrea swallowed nervously, her grip on the knife handle tightening.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

The young man raised an eyebrow in an almost scornful way. "That's the first thing you are going to ask? What about, are you okay?" He held his left hand up, showing the streams of blood that now trickled down to his elbow. His other hand was also blood stained from trying to stop the flow.

A twinge of guilt pulled at Andrea, but she refused to show it. "Well, it shows you should be more careful waking people up. You never know how they could react."