Fifteen years ago Wade and his family encountered something in the forbidden forest. The men in his family were stupid and every year they snuck inside and camped a little further away from town for a few weeks. This year Wade would be sixteen and deemed a man. He was now able to go with his father, uncles, and cousins. In total about eleven men from their family would pull on their hiking boots, pack their bag, and wait for the shift change of the patrollers.
Wade was excited. His family had done it for years and he was ready to be looked at as a man. Of course he had heard the stories, everyone knew of the stories, but his family had been camping in the woods long before he was ever born. Not one person had ever seen anything.
They had hiked for three days before deciding to stop and make their base camp. Wade was thankful. Hiking just wasn't his thing, but he knew better than to complain and embarrass his father. They would camp for a week and then start back to the town.
The first night was peaceful. The men had gathered around the campfire drinking and talking. Wade's uncle, who was the town drunk, gave him his first sip of beer. They all laughed as he cringed and made a face.
The second night something weird happened.
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
The men looked up from their fire to somewhere in the dark woods behind them. It was like something was beating on a sturdy tree. The three knocks came again. The men stood up and grabbed their weapons.
"What the fuck was that?"
"A bear maybe?"
"You're so fucking stupid, Carl. Yeah I'm sure a bear is knocking on trees in the woods."
Wade peered out into the darkness. The feeling of being watched crept up on him slowly. He turned around and looked into the forest behind them. He could have swore his saw red eyes glinting at him. He didn't sleep well that night.
The third day started off fine. Everyone woke up when they felt like it and ate breakfast. Wade was the first one up, but he didn't leave his tent until he heard the others shuffling around. One thing he knew for sure, he didn't want to be wandering out in the woods by himself anymore. He was done and ready to go home.
Wade had begged his father. "Please Dad, something doesn't feel right. I think we are being stalked by something. I think those tree knocks were a warning. Sasquatch does tree knocks, Dad."
He was dismissed. "You are just like your mother."
Later that evening as the sun began to set, the men jumped up when the tree knocks came again. This time they were even closer.
"What the fuck?"
Tension filled the forest. It consumed everyone. It filled every gap, hollow log, and man's chest.
Suddenly a roar came from the unknown. Wade watched in horror as a giant hairy monster popped out from behind them. Then another one came from in front. Then another, slightly smaller one, came from the middle.
The men screamed like women and took off. The biggest monster grabbed Wade's father. Wade watched the thing beat his father like he was nothing. The deafening sound of his father's neck being broken is a sound Wade could never forget.
His body froze, pissing on himself when the Sasquatches turned and looked at him. He snapped from his trance and darted off into the woods. He heard the roaring behind him, and could feel the footsteps of the giant creature vibrating behind him. It was toying with him. Purposely letting him stay ahead and giving him a false hope of being ok.
He had lost his father, two uncles, and a cousin to the woods that day.
When he had met up with the still living relatives, none of them stopped until they made it out of the woods. They all rushed to the patrolling office and told the guy what happened.
"Y'all must've been having a great time out there." The guy laughed at them. "Had too much to drink that night."
"Sir," Wade said stepping closer, "I watched the monster kill my dad." Tears fell from his face freely.
The officer shook his head. He looked grim. Running a hand over his tired face, he looked to the remaining men. "Y'all all know you ain't supposed to be in those woods. You all know it." He said again. "I could put you all in jail for even admitting you were in there. The best thing for y'all to do is go home, tell the family it was a bear and forget about it."
"Nobody is going to do anything?"
"No son, just stay out of them woods."
~~~~
The warm bath felt amazing. Azzalea didn't realize how sore she was until she relaxed back on to River and allowed the water to soothe her. He rubbed her back for her and planted kisses in random spots on her shoulders. He hadn't stopped dotting over her. River acted as if she would break into a million pieces if he moved her the wrong way.
River ran his fingers through her hair and smiled when she acted like that was the best thing ever. He felt complete. He had a mate who loved him, his home was no longer empty and his days would no longer consist of just boring things. A male can only go look out at the same woods everyday for so long before growing weary. Of course he would have to go mark his territory again and make sure everything is in order, but that could wait. He had a mate now, who needed to be tended to.
River helped dry her off and watched her get dressed. "I don't know why you are doing that. I will just rip them from your body later." He laughed.
Azzalea looked up to him as he spoke. She was pretty sure he said something flirty and popped him in the arm. He looked away sheepish. "You better get dressed yourself. I want to go outside."
It wasn't long, Azzalea stood by the man who looked like the creature Bigfoot. He had fluffed his hair and beard out. River had insisted Azzalea take a fur. She wrapped the warm thing around her and stepped outside. She wished she would have brought some different shoes, other than flats, but it is what it is.
River rolled the rock back and looked to his mate stepping in the cold snow. It came up to her ankles.
Before she could object, River plucked her from the icy ground and held her close to his chest. Azzalea giggled and allowed him to do it.
She looked up to the sky as her mate carried her. They had spent the day away, making love and laying with each other. Azzalea couldn't think of a better way to waste a day. She nuzzled her head under his chin and listened to him growl with appreciation.
River was moving so fast. Faster than she could have ever moved in this snow. Azzalea had relaxed against him. He could tell by her breathing, she was nearly asleep. River smiled. His love mating had worn her out and he was a little exhausted himself. He kissed the top of her head when they reached the place he wanted her to see.
Azzalea popped her eyes open and looked out. She gasped. He had brought her to a rock cliff, overlooking the forest. The sky was turning a deep shade of purple, the moon already started to show itself.
You could see the river, the mountain range, countless trees. River sat down on a freezing cold rock and situated Azzalea on his lap so she could watch the sky change its colors better. It reminded Azzalea of the incredible nature shots they would play in movies.
She turned on his lap and brought a hand up to his face. "This is happiness."
~~~~
Randy cursed at himself as he fiddled with his sleeping bag. He couldn't get the thing to roll back like it had been. "Should have never opened the fucker."
"Randy."
The miserable man looked over to his brother. "What?" He growled.
"I know you miss Azzalea and all, but there's snow on the ground. There's no way she's still alive if she went out in those woods."
Randy spit on the carpet and turned back to the sleeping bag.
"Randy, I'm serious."
He threw the bag to the floor and turned his angry eyes towards his brother. "So help me God, if you bastards don't get on board, I'm going to kill the lot of ya!"
John threw his hands up as Randy tossed a lantern at his head. "Randy, the snow's fixin' to get worse. Let's wait, ok? Let's wait till early spring and then we will all go with you. There is no sense in all of us freezin' ta death, looking for a woman who don't want to be found."
Randy spit again. "She'd still be here, if y'all'd've left her alone."
John gave him a look of disgust. "You know that ain't true and I ain't even gonna argue with you. We will go in early spring."
Thanks so much for ready! The next update will be 3/29/21. ~Autumn