Little Red and the Wolf

by Alison Paige

  Her pace quickened, though for no good reason she knew. It wasn’t full dark yet, but she used the flashlight to scan the woods as she went, first one side then the other. Some small part of her brain realized the flashlight kept her at a disadvantage. The bright beam pinpointed her location for anyone or anything that might be tracking her.

  She kept walking, body tight, eyes darting back and forth, hoping to accidentally shine the light on any attackers before they leapt. The odds were slim but that didn’t stop her from hoping. The overgrown path traveled upward, and when she shined the light to her left she saw the tops of trees.

  A better look made her realize the forest floor dropped off a few feet from the path. A fearless traveler venturing from the trail here could find themselves tumbling down a very steep, very long hillside. Maizie didn’t want to think about it. Careening down hillsides was something she knew too much about already, even if she couldn’t remember. She kept walking, resuming her flashlight scan to the right and left as the forest leveled off.

  After more than an hour, full dark had fallen and above, the moon’s soft white light barely penetrated the forest’s thick canopy. Finally, Maizie strained to see a few small flickers of light through the trees up ahead.

  “Wood Haven housing plan.” She exhaled the words. Relieved.

  It had to be the quaint streetlights of the neighborhood. Maizie allowed a little smile despite the pinch of disappointment.

  She hadn’t stumbled over Gray’s house as she’d hoped, but she’d made it through the woods without being gobbled up by any big bad wolves.

  Believing civilization was less than five hundred feet away, her confidence returned. Her shoulders relaxed, flashlight aimed in front of her. She trusted she’d make it to the nearest street and hopefully a convenience store where she could call a cab.

  Three steps and Maizie’s confidence evaporated with the rustle of movement off to her left. She froze, adrenaline tingles racing up her spine. She flicked the light to the left. A sapling and a cluster of tall ferns swayed. Had something brushed past them or were they moved by a breeze she only now noticed sifting through her hair?

  Maizie dragged the light farther left, taking in all she could. There was nothing there but vegetation. She scanned the other way and found nothing out of the ordinary.

  She forced a half laugh she didn’t feel. “Paranoid much?”

  No sooner had the words left her mouth than another movement, this time on her right side, iced her to the bone. She swung the light, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was moving out there. Nothing.

  She stared for several long minutes. Without moving her feet, she dragged the flashlight beam in a circle around her, her body twisting to cover as much area as possible.

  She started to turn back and felt the familiar thrum of invisible fingers at the base of her neck.

  The light swung fast in the direction she’d come and reflected off two glowing white eyes. “Oh shit!”

  Her feet scrambled backward without benefit of thought or the shifting of balance to keep her upright. She landed hard on her ass, but didn’t hesitate for even a second. Flashlight forgotten, her hands and feet dug at the ground, crab-walking as fast as humanly possible.

  Without the reflection of the light, white eyes turned blue in the cool darkness and fixed on her. Maizie couldn’t look away, didn’t dare or risk the animal’s inevitable attack catching her unaware. Somewhere in her brain a voice screamed Get up! Get up! But Maizie couldn’t find a moment she was willing to spend on getting to her feet rather than moving away.

  Watching those eyes, the same kind of wolf eyes from her childhood, the same frightening eyes from hundreds of nightmares and sleepless nights, meant she wasn’t watching where she was going. The hard smack of a tree against her head stopped all progress.

  She dropped to her ass with an oath. For one slim heartbeat she closed her eyes, her hand going to her head on reflex. She snapped her eyes open again and found the haunting blue orbs were still watching her—only closer. She could see the full body of the wolf now, big, muscled and…honey-brown.

  This wasn’t the same wolf Granny talked about. This wasn’t Maizie’s naughty silver wolf. This wasn’t even the wild beast that’d chased her the other night. This wolf was male and big, with a crazed look in his eyes.

  The animal growled, its lips curling back from huge white teeth, its thick fur vibrating from the sound. Maizie pressed back against the tree, her sneakers digging at the ground as though she could push herself through the thick trunk to the other side.

  “Nice doggy. Now, go away. Go home.” It was worth a shot. But the massive wolf came nearer. Slow, deliberate steps, its eyes focused on her so intently she could feel the icy chill of it working to paralyze her body.

  She had to get away. Maizie leaned to her right, pivoting against the tree trunk, ready to spin around to the other side. But just as she shifted her weight to her hip, a warm wash of air rippled over her shoulder and the side of her face.

  She glanced sideways and caught the snarling jowls of a second wolf. Its coat was a light brown, the ends tipped with blonde. The female wolf that’d chased her the other day. It was close enough its saliva dribbled over her shoulder, the hot wetness soaking through her T-shirt.

  Shit, how’d it get so close without her noticing? Maizie didn’t waste time wondering. She spun the other way and got to her knees before a third brown-sugar wolf met her face to face—eye to eye. “Fuck!”

  Maizie pushed back on reflex, landing on her ass again. She pressed her back to the tree, shoved herself up and managed to get her feet under her. The shortest of the three wolves came to her hip at its head. The tallest, the male with the honey-brown fur, was only a half inch shorter than her silver wolf had been.

  The growls mixed and merged, uniting to become one low rumbling sound that vibrated through her body like nothing she’d ever heard or felt before. They were too close, the larger wolf creeping nearer, snarling and drooling. Caged with wolves in front and on both sides, with the tree at her back, she was running out of escape routes fast.

  Maizie rocked around the tree and ran. The soft fur of the wolf waiting at her left pressed against her leg, snagged through her fingers as it lunged to try and stop her escape. She got away.

  No. They let her get away. On some level Maizie knew it was true. Why? Screw it. She didn’t give a damn why they’d let her go.

  She was free, running full-out toward the flicker of lights from Wood Haven. Maizie’s panicked mind raced, trying to map the most direct route, but something was wrong.

  She could only see one light now and it was fainter, as though a thick blanket of trees blocked it from sight. Where were the other lights? The dozen or so street lamps, the warm glow from living rooms and TV screens? There should be more lights. They should’ve been closer.

  For a split second she shifted her attention from the hope of a single flickering light to the forest around her. The faint overgrown path she’d been following was gone. In her panic she must’ve run the wrong way. So what was the light she was running toward if not Wood Haven?

  The soft thumping sound of padded feet crunching behind her chased the question from her brain. They were coming. The wolves had given chase. The hunt was on. Is that why they’d let her go? So they could chase her?

  Maizie’s heart thundered in her ears, her blood pumping adrenaline-rich oxygen through her body. Her lungs burned but she wouldn’t slow up, couldn’t, or risked being caught, eaten. Oh God.

  Up ahead a huge fallen tree blocked the way and she veered to the left to go around it. She barreled through the old limbs, cutting the distance she had to travel by several feet. The instant she broke through her whole world slammed to a halt.

  A wolf. A fourth one, every bit as tall as her big silver wolf and only a few pounds lighter, stood before her. Its fur was the same brown-sugar color as the other two, its eyes a haunting luminous blue. Its lips hiked over its canines, trembling with a lo
w menacing growl.

  A trap. She’d been herded to the slaughter like a stupid sheep. The forest crunched and rustled as the other three wolves caught up and circled in. The brown, blonde-tipped wolf jumped to the fallen tree, towering over her right shoulder. The other smaller wolf stayed at her back and the last, the big darker-furred wolf, came around to her left.

  Maizie’s muscles trembled from the sprint, from fear and the overpowering urge to run. Her body tingled, flight instincts warring with common sense and odds of success. There had to be something she could do. Some way to get out of this, to get help. Only one glimmer of hope came to mind.

  “Gray.” She spoke just above a normal tone, unsure what the wolves’ reaction would be. The growls rose in volume but otherwise they remained where they were, each a good four feet away.

  “Gray, help! Help me! Someone hel—” The wolf in front of her stepped two feet closer then stopped. Maizie’s breath caught. Shut up. Shutup shutup shutup. Self-preservation and fear screamed at her not to make another sound or risk the beasts’ attack.

  Intelligence told her, her voice was her only hope. She needed to use it while she still could. She breathed deep to get as much volume as she could. “Heeeellllp—”

  The big dark wolf on her left lunged, slammed into her, knocking the remaining air from her lungs. Maizie opened her mouth with a silent, breathless scream as its sharp teeth snagged on the hem of her shirt, barely grazing the skin. The biggest wolf lurched toward her, but his massive body slammed into the darker wolf and they both tumbled into the weeds.

  An instant later her shoulder stabbed with pain, as the smallest wolf drove sharp teeth through muscle and meat. In the next moment, Maizie gasped air and made the scream real and loud. But the wolf’s powerful jaws clamped tighter.

  Maizie writhed under the weight of its body, her hands frantic, pushing against its neck, fingers tearing out chunks of fur. The beast wouldn’t let go. She looked around, searching for something, anything to use against her attacker, but all she saw was a quick blur of blonde-tipped fur racing toward her. She held her breath, braced herself for the next stab of pain, the next bite.

  It came from the exact same spot on her shoulder, when the wolf’s teeth ripped from its hold on her, its body flying off several feet away. The blonde-tipped wolf had knocked her loose. Who cared why?

  The wound was deep and it hurt like hell. Even the slightest move sent a shower of pain pulsating out from the spot. It didn’t matter. She had to get out of there. Maizie rolled to her hip, pushed up, trying to get to her knees and then hopefully her feet. She didn’t make it to her knees before instinct told her things had suddenly turned from bad to fucked-up-beyond-all-recognition.

  Her gaze shifted to the honey-brown wolf standing between her and the only manmade light she could see. He was creeping closer, low, as though stalking wounded prey. And he was.

  She glanced behind her and saw the big brown-sugar wolf staring with unblinking blue eyes, recognizing her for what she was—food. Off to her right were the two wolves that had attacked and freed her. The latter still pinned the former to the ground, but both had their attention riveted on Maizie.

  She was bleeding. The red smear of it was everywhere. There was enough blood the odor of it must have saturated the air, triggering instincts they had no reason to ignore. Definitely FUBARed.

  The wolf in front, the darkest of the four, lunged first. Maizie saw it coming in time to spin away on her hip, but not fast enough to keep his huge white teeth from catching her calf and sinking in. She screamed and another set of powerful jaws snagged the back of her T-shirt. The fabric ripped just as a third nipped at her leg, catching her sweats in its teeth, scratching the skin beneath.

  “Help me! Help! Heelllllpppp!”

  Maizie tucked her head between her arms, protecting her face. Heavy paws scratched at her back, pushing against her, walking on her, fighting over her. She peered down her body at the enormous furry heads, nipping and snapping, tearing at her clothes, at each other. And then there was one less.

  She blinked just in time to see another wolf sail backward into the woods. A big hand clamped around the neck-scruff of the third wolf, lifted, and sent it flying, its whole body squirming and twisting through the air. Finally two hands clamped on the muzzle of the fourth wolf, the wolf whose teeth were still deep in Maizie’s calf.

  One hand on top, the other underneath, he pried open the wolf’s jaws. Maizie jerked her leg free, her gaze darting to the face behind the hands. “Gray.”

  Still holding those powerful jaws in his hands, Gray twisted the wolf’s neck, forcing it away. The wolf’s long legs stumbled back and Gray let him go. It shook its big head then snorted as if trying to realign its senses. It glowered at Gray, growling, its front shoulders lowering as though it would attack.

  “She won’t save you from this, Shawn. She can’t. Push any further and you’ll die here. Now,” Gray said. “What’ll it be, boy?”

  The honey-brown wolf’s growl stopped. It swayed back and forth on its front legs as though deciding on a course of action. A hard snort again, and then it turned and jogged off. Gray looked at Maizie, still sprawled on the ground.

  “What are you doing in my forest?”

  “Bleeding,” she said. “Where’d you learn to speak wolf?”

  Chapter Eight

  “Holy Taj Mahal, Batman. You could fit the whole downstairs cottage in here.” Maizie gazed over Gray’s shoulder at the bedroom as he carried her into the master bath. “Including the sunroom.”

  The room was enormous, bigger than any bedroom needed to be. The king-sized bed, light wood color with thick, spiral-carved posts and matching swirl designs across the tall headboard, would’ve dwarfed her bedroom at the cottage, but in this room it was just a piece of furniture. It matched the armoire, dresser and chest of drawers, and the nightstands too.

  The sitting room with its upholstered beige leather chair and matching ottoman, the classy fireplace, the small wooden minibar and compulsory floor globe was straight out of the decorating guide for rich-guy bachelors. The only thing that kept her from thinking she’d stepped onto a photoset for Architecture Magazine was the open masters chest with the gaming system and TV inside along with an impressive stash of games. One controller was stretched across the floor in front as though someone had been sitting on the leather-cushioned storage bench at the end of the bed, playing.

  Gray sat Maizie on the counter. Her leg and shoulder throbbed dully, but a strange heat and excitement surging through her veins seemed to overpower the worst of the pain. Adrenaline is a wonderful thing. “This is your bathroom? Seriously?” She’d stayed in hotel rooms smaller than this bathroom.

  “Yes, Maizie. My bedroom suite is large.”

  “Very large.”

  “You’ve established that. Now answer my question. What were you doing out there? You’ve been told since you were a child to stay on the paths. To stay away from this part of the forest.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “You know how.” He squatted, reaching to the cabinet doors underneath. He tapped the inside of her knee, coaxing her to spread her legs. When she did he opened the door behind them. “Your grandmother and I have been friends for a very long time.”

  Maizie swallowed. Seeing that thick mane of silver and black hair bobbing between her thighs brought a rush of dirty-girl ideas to her head.

  “You’re too young to have been Granny’s friend when I was a kid. You can’t be more than ten, maybe twelve, years older than me.”

  He glanced up. “I’m older than I look.”

  His gaze dropped to the V of her legs. His expression melted from distraction to focused interest in an instant. He licked his lips then glanced to her face as though remembering she was watching. His cheeks warmed a shade then he went back to his search under the counter.

  “There are things about my family, about me, you need to know. Especially after tonight. You see, we’re not exactly normal.�
� Gray stood, his hands stuffed with gauze, tape, scissors, disinfectant and what looked like three different boxes of Band-Aids, one of them featuring the characters from Scooby-Doo.

  “Not normal. Yeah, I got that the last time I was here.” She scooched back, closed her legs, remembering the interplay between family members on the patio. “A real…close-knit family.”

  How could she forget? Power struggles with his nephew, battles with his sister-in-law, a niece who seemed pissed at the world and a mother-in-law apparently oblivious to it all. Gray was stuck in the middle, trying to make everyone happy, which to her mind was only making matters worse. She kept that opinion to herself.

  “Close-knit. That’s one way to describe us.”

  A deep breath felt warm in her chest. Her clothes squeezed her body, the air grew heavy, seemed to press in on her. “Why’s it so hot in here?”

  Gray set the medical supplies on either side of her and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. His brow creased with the familiar scowl but he didn’t comment.

  Maizie closed her eyes. His hand was cool against her skin and brought the yummy scent of sweet male cologne and fresh forest closer to her nose. She tried not to enjoy it, but things were turning a little loopy in her head and the heat was making her body feel tingly, oversensitive.

  The fact that she’d been considering every possible way to be alone with the ruggedly sexy man since she’d nearly jumped him by the quarry lake might have had something to do with it. A lot to do with it, actually. Not that it mattered. She was chicken when it came to letting a man know what she wanted. But tonight, somehow, she wasn’t so chicken anymore.

  He hooked his finger on the collar of her T-shirt and tugged enough to peer underneath.

  “Looking for something?”

  He let it go. “This shirt’s ruined. And I need to get to the wound.”

  “Oh. Okay. So what do you want—”

  A hard yank and he ripped along the seam from the collar to her shoulder before she finished the sentence. It jerked her whole body and made her heart leap into her throat.