The Breeder

III - Wolves

Jenna's eyes were hazy as she blinked, light fading in and out.  Her heart rate beat rapidly in her ears.  It was difficult for her to keep her vision steady.  If her head wasn't already resting on the soft snow, she knew that she would have immediately passed out unconscious.  She listened to the pounding in her ears that seemed to get louder within each second, but then realized it wasn't the pounding of her heart that beat but the urgency of many wolves.

The wolves ran past her in a blur, growling at the scent of an intruder along the pack lines.  They paced along the border for a few minutes, then seeing no imminent threat began retreating.  Jenna watched all this with tired eyes.  She really just wanted to close her eyes and sleep but couldn't, and a small part of her was afraid that she would never wake up after the most recent abuse.  

A small breeze carried through the forest making the boughs on the evergreens sway and tickled her fur.  It carried her scent through the trees to the large wolves protecting their territory.  Almost immediately the wolves stopped and ran back to the source of the scent of the she-wolf.  Jenna heard the crunching of the snow under their paws as they paced around her.  She closed her eyes, the drowsiness starting to finally take its toll on her weak body.  A soft groan slipped from her muzzle.

A hand moved some of the boughs away and Jenna opened her eyes with what little strength she had left to see a young man in his twenties with short cut brown hair and hazel eyes.  The young man frowned as he took in the scene of the injured she-wolf from the blood to the pained look in her eyes.  Jenna blinked languidly.

"Jesus Christ," he muttered under his breath, "What happened to you?" 

The young man hesistantly moved his hand to pet the top of her head and down her neck.  When the she-wolf made no move, not even a muscle he slipped his fingers through her fur.  The she-wolf moved not even a fraction of an inch.  He frowned deeply.

"Cale get over here!" He looked over his shoulder.

Another young man came into view, larger than the last with darker brown hair and green eyes.  "What the hell, man?!"

"I know.  Link the infirmary, she doesn't look like she'll last much longer.  

Cale slipped away, linking the pack infirmary.  

"My name's Ben, " said the first young man in a low voice, "I won't hurt you." He moved his fingers softly through her fur.  There was a patch of fur missing along her ribs where the men had grabbed her during the breeding ritual as they mated with her.  A flash of the abuse flitted across Jenna's mind.  The tearing of her fur. The grunting.  The chant.  The pain.  She whimpered as his fingers grazed across a bruise across her hip. 

"I'm sorry." Ben whispered.  He felt a kinship towards the she-wolf and felt troubled at her injuries.  He pulled his hand away only then to notice the blood in the snow by her tail.  His fingers twitched and he leaned forward slightly to see what injury the blood was seeping from into the cold snow.  

Jenna widened her eyes not trusting this male and growled lowly in the back of her throat.  She tried to back away on quivering legs, but the trunk of a tree that she rested on prevented her from scooting too far.  Ben sat back noticing how the she-wolf retreated.  

Cale walked back, "They are on their way."  

Ben nodded. 

"We aren't going to hurt you, she-wolf.  You're injured..." He tried to explain.

Jenna whined.  She didn't want to trust these males,  but what choice did she have?  One part of her was afraid they would mistreat her, but another part of her didn't care as long as she could heal.

"Don't bite me, she-wolf." Ben spoke softly.  "I'm going to pick you up now."  

He eyed the she-wolf warily for a second before reaching forward.  He put one arm around her waist and another under her chest and pulled her out from underneath the tree.  Her gray fur quivered and trembled underneath his touch.  Another whimper slipped past and Ben hoisted her higher in his arms.  

"It's going to be okay."

Jenna made another sound of pain.  The pain would not stop.  Her whole body hummed and throbbed with agony.  

Ben walked with the she-wolf in his arms carefully trying not to jostle her too much.  Her head relaxed and rested on his shoulder.  He spoke soothing words to the she-wolf again, trying to bring some sort of comfort to the poor creature.  He frowned at the thought of the abuse she had endured.  It made his heart hurt to his one of his kind mistreated so.

The pack doctors met Ben and the other pack warriors halfway.  Two doctors: one pulling a travois and the other carrying a rather large medical bag.  

"How is she?" One of the doctors asked.  His black hair messy in the breeze, his dark eyes piercing.  

Ben nodded, " She's bleeding, but she wouldn't let me find the injury."

Jenna lolled her head back to her the pack doctors.  They looked at her with kind eyes.

"We'll take good care of you, she-wolf."  One of them gently told her.  Her voice was soft and kind.  Her brunette curls tied back into a large bun with wisps around her face.

"Gary bring the travois over here."

Ben gently lowered the she-wolf into the travois.  

"Careful." The female pack doctor chided.

Jenna whined loudly at the pressure on her hips.  She turned, trying to turn around from the painful touch and slipped out of Ben's grasp onto the travois.  

"Don't drop her!" 

"I wasn't!" Ben snapped back.

He looked over the she-wolf to make sure she wasn't injured more.  

"I think there's something wrong with her lower back."

The female pack doctor looked over the she-wolf, gently touching her skin.  Jenna's muscles spasmed under her touch.  She softly ran her fingers down the she-wolf spine trying to find the injury.  When the doctor's fingers pressed against her lower back, the she-wolf's back bucked under her fingers.  

"Shhh.." The pack doctor urged.

She continued and checked her tail feeling for bone beneath the fur.  She could feel the broken pieces of bone and the ridges of fractures.  The pack doctor's face paled under her new realization.  She stroked the soft fur of the she-wolf's neck then turned.  

"Let's get her back to the infirmary right away.  I'll finish my assessment there."  Her voice commanding.

The other doctor obeyed without question and the warriors followed.  Many eyes looked curiously at the she-wolf wondering what her story was, where she came from.  Jenna curiously stared back until the rocking of the travois finally lulled her to sleep.  A sleep she most welcomed.