It all stopped the moment she closed her eyes.
The pain was gone, the weight of the wolf on her chest, the fear. Everything disappeared and was replaced by a crippling silence. She felt nothing, not even the cold snow surrounding her body; not even the wounds that littered her body and left her surrounded by crimson snow. Why this was, she didn't know, but Grey welcomed the peace and took in a deep breath.
She lay there as she released the breath in a sigh, her body completely relaxed. She took this as death but when a sound so eerie erupted her silence, she thought she might be in hell. The sound repeated again, a cross between a deep moan and a loud sob echoed in her ears over and over until she realized that sound was coming from her. She was crying, sobbing so hard the only thing she could feel was her body shaking.
Then it seemed reality came flying back. She was thrown back into a world of searing pain and a heaviness in her lungs. Her own sobs weren't the only sounds reaching her ears, they simply muffled the sound of skin being torn from the bone, yelping and growling. There was a battle happening meters away from her but she was paralyzed by fear and pain she was unable to move and watch the scene unfold. Even if she had wanted to see what awaited her, she couldn't, her body was still shutting down and death's cold hands were wrapping around her.
By the time Grey's breathing became slow and shallow and her body had grown numb from the cold, the sounds had all stopped and left was a heavy panting. Snow crunched beside her under a large weight until there were puffs of warm air fanning across her clothes. Above her body then loomed a large wolf, a familiar one at that, one that sent shivers down her frozen body and caused a stirring in her stomach. It was khishchnik.
He simply stood there, panting heavily with blood matting the fur near his mouth, his bright eyes watched Grey who was frozen in her place. As much as she wanted to move away from the beast, she was unable; the pain having paralyzed her as well as the realization that Petra's theory was true. He didn't want her dead - he'd saved her from that fate - he wanted her. Plain and simple.
Somehow she found her voice, it was barely there, raspy and thickly laced with pain, but she still managed a snarky remark to the beast who could end her life in the blink of an eye. Little did she care, because mythical creature or not, what could he do to save a girl already in death's grip?
"Is this your way of playing with your food?"
If beasts could smirk, she would've sworn those lips had curled into just that. And that scared her; more than werewolves being real and more than one wanting her, the fact that a wolf could smirk shook her to her core. For it was a sinister sight to see before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and her body succumbed to the eerie whispers of death.
• • •
Grey was drifting between the land of the living and the land of the dead. Her eyes fluttering open occasionally to look at the branches of trees intertwining above her, watching curiously as they passed her by. She thought for a moment she was floating until she registered the slight shake in her body and the arms wound beneath her back and knees. She tried to move, to fight whoever was carrying her, but her arms were limp, draped across her still-bleeding stomach and the other swinging through the air by her side, dripping little red droplets of blood in their path. Her lungs still felt heavy, her breathing shallow and wheezy. She was barely holding on to life, a tiny sliver of light in the darkness called death that had surrounded her.
Her head lulled to the side on a particularly heavy step, away from the treetops to see the old barn in Petra's backyard through eyes that she struggled to even crack open. Standing on the back porch of their house was an frail old woman who she knew as the grandmother of Petra, and beside her stood Dimitri who looked paler than the snow at their feet. His eyes were on her, taking in her graying skin and bloodied body with a little fire of anger in his eyes.
Grey's eyes fluttered shut as they neared, open long enough to see the old woman glaring at whomever carried her. As the feeling slowly creeped back into her body, she began to shiver violently, the cold finally reaching beneath her skin, yet the pain was still gone and for that she was thankful. The arms supporting her wrapped around her tighter and she found herself practically curled against a heated chest. She breathed out a content sigh at the smell of the forest radiated off the firm chest and invaded her senses.
"I thought we had a deal." The chest rumbled with each word and if Grey had control over her body, she was sure she would've hummed against it.
"I apologize for my granddaughters reckless behavior. It won't happen a-" Petra's grandmother spoke smoothly, a hint of irritation on her tongue but she was cunning enough to hide it.
"No you don't understand, Klara." The unknown voice turn hostile. "She almost got killed. If I hadn't stepped in she'd be dead. Your naïve grandchildren have already broken our deal twice. If it happens again, she is mine."
Grey could imagine the fury blazing in the old woman's eyes as she spoke. "No. You don't understand. She does not belong here or to you. She is from America, she has a life. You cannot just take her because that beast inside you wants her blood."
The chest her face was pressed against rumbled as a vicious growl left his lips. "We want more than just her blood. She will be mine, Klara. Your grandchildren are stupid and she is too curious for her own good. She follows the pull too easily and it will lead her back to me always. You cannot stop it." His voice was almost sensual, yet there was a threat underlining his words.
After a moment of silence, Klara spoke. "Dimitri, take her inside."
The chest she was against rumbled violently, yet again in an animalistic growl. "I don't want that mutt's filthy hands on her."
"He won't hurt her. She's freezing, she needs to be inside if you want me to heal her." Silence. "She will die if you hold onto her any longer."
There was a silence and she felt her body leave the warmth of the stranger and into the arms of who she guessed was Dimitri. His warmth nothing compared to the stranger.
The stranger spoke again. "What's her name?"
"Her name is Grey."
Their voices began to fade as Dimitri took her away, yet nothing could've stopped her from hearing the way the stranger's Russian tongue spoke her name.
"Grey." He paused again. "I'm trusting you, Klara."
"You have my word; she is in good hands."
And as the voices became silent, nothing but the sounds of her own shallow breaths and Dimitri's footsteps, she realized who the stranger was. She realized why his voice was so oddly familiar and why the feeling of him felt so right.
It was him.
It was khishchnik.
• • •
When Grey finally came to, she found herself on an unfamiliar bed with Petra sitting beside her reading a book. She stirred and Petra's head snapped up.
"Welcome back to the land of the living." She set down her book and smirked at the girl.
"I died?"
"No, thanks to yours truly." Grey frowned at her. "If I hadn't saved your ass, that wolf would've had you six feet under."
Grey simply stared at Petra, not because she was shocked, but because something deep down was screaming "Lie! She's lying!" And for some reason she believed it with all her being.
Why did she lie?
"What about khishchnik?"
"He never came Grey. . ." She hesitated and the smirk on her face faltered a bit. "I guess you two aren't bonded."
"But-"
"I'm sorry, really Grey. I shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion and put you in a dangerous situation like that." Grey noticed the way her eyes glazed over. "I've just been waiting for the day I become bonded and I overreacted with you."
Grey frowned. "You're lying."
"No I'm not." Petra became hostile. "Go shower and I'll bring you food when you're done."
With that, Petra climbed off the bed and walked out the door, leaving Grey alone and confused on the bed.
After a few moments to gather her thoughts and bottle them away, she finally tried to sit up and shift, but the pain in her abdomen left her breathless. With a tight knot between her brows and a shaky breath, she pushed herself up carefully and stood to her full height.
The door to the bathroom was open and the light illuminated the little room. Shutting the door behind her she began to carefully take off her ripped and stained clothes. What once was a gray T-shirt, now bore four stripes down the middle and a large patch of red. Grey shuddered.
After stripping bare and starting the shower, she noticed the rusty colored bandages wrapped around her stomach, hand and leg. She first removed the wrap on her hand, the holes where the wolves teeth had imbedded themselves were still slowly oozing with blood yet they looked days old, not fresh. She breathed, and with shaky hands, she unraveled the other bandages until her skin shone under the bathroom light. She felt nauseous as she looked at herself in the mirror. The skin on her stomach was red and irritated, surrounding four jagged scars that were roughly the length of her own hand.
Grey then realized that the wound on her leg as well was not even scarred, but gone. She remembered the wolf taking a good bite from her skin yet there was no trace of it ever happening. She'd been attacked yesterday, and her wounds that almost killed her looked like they happened months ago. Running her fingers over the scars on her stomach, she frowned as she felt a jolt of electricity pass through her hand; sparks almost.
After a long and thoughtful shower, Grey emerged with a newfound sense of determination and stormed downstairs with her hair dripping onto her clean clothes. Finding Petra wasn't hard, she was sat next Dimitri, whispering to one another in their foreign tongue. Upon her entrance, they looked up, eyes wide.
"How am I alive?"
"I saved-" Petra began.
"Don't you dare lie to me, Petra." Grey's voice was fierce. "I'm tired of living in the dark. Just tell me what's really going on." Grey watched Dimitri hurry from the room.
The girl hesitated before giving Grey a small smile. "Grey, are you okay? That wolf must've done more damage than we thought."
"Petra what are you-"
"Grey, there was no one else in those woods but you and I. Khishchnik never showed up. I saved you."
Grey felt her heart skip a beat. "No you didn't! I was screaming your name but you didn't show up! I saw him, Petra."
"No you didn't. Grey, listen to me-"
"He was there. He carried me here. He was talking to your grandmother." Grey continued to talk, Petra simply shook her head.
"Grey. You were dreaming. He was never there."
Grey felt like she was losing her mind. "Yes he was! I saw him, Petra!"
"I'm going to get my grandmother, stay calm." Petra quickly stood and walked out as Grey broke down.
"I felt him, Petra. I felt the bond."
Petra stood frozen in the doorway for only a moment before she continued to walk out and away from Grey. Her presence was soon gone from the entire house and Petra's grandmother, Klara, was wobbling into the room to put Grey in a magic-induced slumber.
{sorry i've been slow with the updates.. i've been reading a whole bunch on here and i've been writing not one but TWO new stories which i am SUPER FUCKING EXCITED ABOUT and i can't wait to debut them after they are finished as well as this.
i love you dudes.
stay safe. }