Before a Once Upon A Time

Wolf Of Man - The Faerie Huntress?!?

Story 3 - Wolf Of Man

Part 7 - The Faerie Huntress?!?

            "How nice to have finally met my future husband. Tell me, is life difficult like that? As you are, I mean?" Lupe looked at her with sudden suspicion.  What did she mean, as he was? Wasn't he fairly normal- well, beside the fact that he became a wolf and hunted all manner of little critters when the sun went down? And difficult? She must be a little deranged. Life was much easier as he was now- he never had to talk to other people as food was always easy to get, he had a peaceful life with no problems or scares, and he got to enjoy the silence and peace. Until now, of course.

            "I mean, don't you ever get lonely? It can't be easy, living as you are, since no one wants to be near someone who could hurt them easily and quickly with little thought. Haven't you ever felt like you were alone?" He gazed at her in surprise. Him? Hurt people without thought? No. He never would again, not after that night….

 And either way, humans underestimated the members of their own species. Any human in a village could probably hurt another with little thought and have no problem continuing on with life as though they hadn't. He had felt alone, yes, at first. When he was still getting used to being his newer self, when he hadn't quite worked the town and pack mentalities yet out of himself yet. Before it had finally come crashing down on him that no one would ever want to be in a town or pack as long as he was in it.

That reality was why he had stopped trying to be part of a pack or town or group or really any contact at all with others. He knew that he would end up hurting them, even if he didn't actually end up hurting them physically. He would hurt them simply with his presence, nothing else, no other effort required. So he avoided them. He didn't even consider that he could be part of something of that nature at this point- and this girl seemed to think he could. But she also seemed a bit crazy, and a bit delusional. Considering the fact she was talking to a giant wolf  who was standing on two legs, walking around and talking like a human and who was the cause of a colossal number of stories and 100 times that many nightmares, he could almost confirm her insanity right there. (Not that she could confirm that he could talk as this point, considering she had yet to hear him speak)

            He would have smiled, except that his muscle structure didn't allow for that and it would only make him look maniacal or like he was about to eat her. So instead he snorted and gave a deep chuckle. "I am a beast. A horrid, terrifying to see or be around beast. I've killed people and everyone knows it "At this her eyes seemed to harden suddenly before they quickly softened.”I live in a castle in the woods, all alo-"He hoped that his already hard to understand words would muffle the fact that he had almost just said all alone and corrected himself "With only one other person. My only happiness is the garden which I tend and it has recently been destroyed, by your father. Until now, I have had to reason to feel loneliness, because I always had the garden. And now? Even though I have lost the garden, I have you."

            The girl’s eyes widened just the tiniest bit. He didn't really know why. She just seemed surprised. Was it something he said? He turned to look behind him and saw nothing. When he turned back around, the girl was adjusting her skirts a bit and seemed a little flustered. Oh. He had overstayed his welcome, even if it was his castle. "I will have my boy bring you to your room- and you will have dinner with me."

            "I'm not really hungry." The wolf in him took this as a challenge, threatening to raise his hair and cause his erupt into a deep growl. However, his human side tried to take it with good grace.

            "Of course.  Then my boy will be in shortly. Goodbye."

            He left the room and closed the door before shrinking into his human skin. He felt much more comfortable in this skin but also more exposed. If something happened, he wouldn't be able to do anything to stop it. He walked back into the room after reassuring himself several times nothing would happen- after all, she was only a girl and only his guest. He really should stop thinking of her as a girl. She was at least his age physically or right around it anyway. He had almost lost the ability to tell age or differentiate faces in his mind. Too long alone, he guessed. She would be considered a woman in most places and he shouldn't call her a girl because that was insulting.

            "Miss, you're room is ready...."He said, already walking through the threshold before he was struck silent with awe. The girl's baggage had been opened and placed carefully in piles around the room. But he wouldn't have stopped just because of that. No. The luggage was not normal clothes or finery or even entertainment that a lady would want to take with her to a new home- these were weapons of war. Crossbows and guns, swords and staffs, whips and axes. He turned in a circle and wondered not only how she had unpacked so quickly but how he hadn't heard her doing so, or even why he had not seen strain on her face from carrying it all.

            So he was wrong. Something was definitely happening here. Something big and scary and potentially deadly for both parties. She girl looked up from silently loading a gun and smiled at him. "Oh. I was just wondering when you would show up. So? How do you think it best to kill the beast?"(See? You see why that old guy was suspicious before and even more so now. )

            Lupe gaped at her, his mind trying to catch up with the implications of what was going on here. "What....How....Why...."He couldn't even seem to form his confusion into a question, it was so total and complete.

            The girl smiled at him as she moved on from the gun to shining an ax. "I was sent by the villagers obviously. They grew tired of the oppressive hand of the beast controlling their lives. So they hired me to kill him." She shrugged. "I was hesitant at first because of the pay but when they told me how long he'd been around I just knew I had to hunt for this prize."