Savage Wolf

by Natalie Kristen

  Behind him were two young men, presumably his sons. Bianca could see the familial resemblance. All three men had stony faces, close-set, shifty eyes and moved with the same heavy gait. The corner of their mouths were downturned, as if they were perpetually unhappy with the world.

  Bianca heard Sariah addressing the man with the eye patch. “Here she is, Cliff. Right where you want her. Now where’s my money?”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Cliff canted his head at the thin, bald witch. “Witches will do just about anything for money,” he said over his shoulder. “Remember that, boys.”

  “Yes, Pa,” the two young men answered.

  Cliff smirked and handed Sariah some dollar bills.

  Sariah counted the money and looked up, her red eyes blazing. “This isn’t what we agreed on, Cliff.”

  “This is what you’re getting,” Cliff sneered. “Be grateful I’m paying you anything at all.”

  “You…!”

  Cliff moved to the car and dragged Bianca out. Sariah lurched forward and screeched, “No! I won’t let you have her until you pay up, you dirty wolf!”

  Bianca yelled as Cliff and Sariah each grabbed an arm and began a tug of war. She wished they would both go to hell.

  Bianca bit down her scream when Cliff dug his claws into her arm. She tried to kick him but Cliff yanked her forcefully to him and closed his fist around her neck.

  “We had a deal,” Sariah screamed in rage. “Don’t cross a witch, Cliff Woodrow.”

  “No.” Cliff bared his teeth in an ugly smile. “But I will always double-cross a witch.”

  Sariah stepped back, her arms raised to throw a hex at him. “Rake, Rufus,” Cliff snarled over his shoulder. “Get rid of her.”

  Rake and Rufus dropped to the ground, shifting back to wolf form. The two black wolves charged towards Sariah, their claws and fangs glinting.

  Bianca concentrated on freeing herself. She clawed at Cliff and tried to bite him but Cliff tightened his grip around her throat until she couldn’t breathe.

  Bianca coughed and choked, tears stinging her eyes. When he finally released her, she dropped to the ground, wheezing and retching violently.

  Through her blurry vision, she saw Rake and Rufus attacking Sariah. The witch shrieked and tried to cast a spell on them, but before she could finish her incantation, the wolves tore into her.

  “You are a monster!” she screamed at Cliff. “And monsters will be destroyed!”

  “Speak for yourself, Sariah,” Cliff spat. “You cast dark spells for anyone who will pay you. Look in the mirror, witch. Take a good, hard look at yourself. You are decaying even before you’re dead, Sariah. Who is the real monster here?”

  Sariah tried to hurl herself at Cliff but Rake and Rufus blocked her. The witch was covered with blood, her eyes glowing with an unholy fire.

  “You will pay for this, Cliff Woodrow,” she warned. With a demented laugh, she added, “You’d wish that you had just paid me in full today. We had a deal!”

  Cliff picked up the dollar bills that Sariah had dropped on the ground. “A deal?” He smirked. “Nah, I don’t trust witches.”

  Sariah backed away as Rake and Rufus closed in on her. She kept scrabbling backwards until the ground fell away sharply behind her.

  Sariah glanced over her shoulder and saw that she was at the edge of a steep ravine. Rake and Rufus kept advancing, their sharp teeth bared.

  Fear and anger rolled off the witch in waves. Sariah desperately threw rocks at the two wolves, but her aim was way off. The rocks thudded to the ground harmlessly behind the wolves and rolled away.

  The wolves lunged forward and Sariah stumbled back. Her foot slipped and she fell over the edge, screaming.

  One gnarled hand clamped onto the lip of the precipice. The witch was literally clinging on by her fingertips.

  “Help,” Sariah begged, looking at Bianca. “Help me, please...”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Bianca hesitated. She stared at the black wolves closing in on Sariah. The witch had nowhere to run. It was either throw herself into the ravine, or be torn to pieces by the wolves. Sariah was trapped—in a trap of her own making.

  Her choices had led her to this place.

  Bianca winced. Why should she help the mercenary witch who had kidnapped her and delivered her to these black wolves?

  Yet…

  She was in no position to cast the first stone. Who hadn’t made mistakes? She understood too well how easy it was to choose the wrong path.

  Gulping, Bianca snatched up a broken branch at her feet. Sariah might be weak, crazed and misguided, but Bianca knew that she couldn’t just stand by and watch the wolves kill her.

  “Sariah!” Bianca yelled. “Grab hold...”

  She lurched forward, thrusting the branch out. Sariah’s trembling hand instinctively reached for the lifeline.

  Bianca kicked Cliff away and managed to get near enough for Sariah to grab the end of the branch.

  Rake and Rufus growled at her, but they didn’t attack her. They turned to Cliff, waiting for his orders.

  Cliff crouched to watch the two women with a disdainful smile on his lips. “You’re wasting your time and energy, Bianca,” he said.

  Bianca ignored him and tried to get a proper foothold on the loose gravel. The branch was scraping her palms raw, cutting painfully into her flesh. Every muscle in her body was screaming in agony but she refused to let go.

  “Hold on, Sariah!” she yelled. “Just hold on. I can do this...”

  Bianca continued fighting against gravity, but she was sliding dangerously close to the edge of the ravine. She screamed as she stared down into the dark, rocky ravine, her arms hanging down to grip the branch tightly.

  “Tsk, what do you think you’re doing, Bianca?” Cliff taunted. He was looming over her, with his boot on her back. “Do you know who she is? She is the witch who tricked you and drove you here. She brought you here to die. So why are you trying to save her?”

  “Fuck you!” Bianca shrieked. “You have no right! You have no right to judge or kill anyone!”

  Cliff snorted. “Listen to her. She’s not even making any sense. Only a stupid human will try to save a witch.” He ground the heel of his boot down on Bianca’s back. “The witch deserves to die. In fact, she’s as good as dead.” He laughed harshly.

  “Hold on,” Bianca wheezed, looking into Sariah’s red eyes. “I won’t let go. I promise...”

  Sariah looked up at her, and in that moment, something changed in the witch’s eyes. The red seemed to recede just for an instant, and Bianca glimpsed the smiling blue eyes behind that blood red haze.

  Sariah managed a small, sad smile and whispered, “Thank you, Bianca.”

  “I’ll save you, Sariah,” Bianca swore.

  Sariah smiled again, and this time she looked happy and at peace. “You already did.”

  With that, she let go of the branch.

  Bianca screamed as she watched Sariah plunge into the dark depths of the ravine.

  “No! No!”

  Bianca sobbed as Cliff yanked her to her feet and pulled her towards the barn.

  “That was a fitting end to her. We didn’t even have to get our hands dirty.” Cliff chuckled. “Good riddance!”

  He turned to Bianca and his smile vanished. “Now, let’s get down to business. Look at me. Do you know who did this to me?” He tapped his eye patch. “That’s right. You were there that night. You saw him rip out my eye.”

  Cliff circled Bianca’s right eye with his claw and whispered in her ear, “An eye for an eye, love. You’ve got to pay for what Talon did.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Talon locked up the shed and walked to his truck. He had managed to get some work done, but his mind had been on Bianca the whole time. He wanted to be by her side, making sure she was safe. He had felt uneasy the whole afternoon. His wolf was on edge and the hairs on his arms and neck were standing on end.

  It was almost as if he coul
d sense the presence of an enemy. But when he let his wolf out and sniffed the air, he didn’t detect any intruders.

  Talon got into his truck and started the engine. It was still three hours before the diner’s closing time but he wanted to get there early.

  Talon flicked on his headlights as he drove down the dirt road. The forest seemed darker than usual, and he thought he saw someone darting between the trees.

  He squinted into the shadows. Was someone out there? He had the strangest feeling that he was being watched.

  Something flashed again. The movement was too quick to track.

  Talon was so busy scanning the shadows he almost couldn’t stop in time.

  A figure dashed out between the trees right in front of his truck.

  Talon swore and stomped on the brakes. “Shit! What the…!”

  He scrambled out of the truck at once. A bloodied woman was on the ground, trying to push herself up.

  Talon was pretty sure he had jammed on the brakes in the nick of time. There was no impact. He couldn’t have hit the woman, but why was she covered with blood?

  “Ma’am, are you okay?” Talon asked anxiously as he rushed to help her. He realized what a stupid question it was the instant it left his lips. She was obviously not okay. Her cloak was dirty and torn, and there were deep cuts all over her hands. She had a hood over her head so he couldn’t see her face, but when he helped her up, he could feel how thin and bony she was. “Come, I’ll drive you to a doctor right now. You need...”

  “No...” The woman put a mottled, wrinkled hand on his arm. “No time,” she rasped.

  “You’re hurt,” he said. “You need help...”

  She shook her head. “No, not me. I don’t deserve help. But she...she needs you, Talon.”

  Talon reeled. “What are you talking about? Who are you?” he demanded.

  “My name is Sariah. I...”

  “You are that...witch!”

  She bowed her head. “Yes. But you have to go now. Bianca needs you.”

  “Bianca! Where is she?” He gripped the witch’s thin shoulders and shook her. “And why should I believe you?” He stared at the blood on her skin and clothes. “This...all this could be a trick. A spell or some sort of sick glamour...”

  “You are right to distrust and despise me. But I’m telling the truth, I swear. Bianca needs you now. She...she saved me. Even after what I did to her, she risked her life to help me. I need to save her. I can’t let those wolves kill her...”

  “Wolves!”

  Sariah nodded. “Cliff Woodrow and his sons,” Sariah whispered. “They have Bianca.”

  Talon’s claws stabbed out, his wolf surging to the fore. He yanked the truck door open and snarled, “If they hurt her...”

  “They’re not at their ranch,” Sariah said, staggering after him. “They’re at an abandoned barn...towards the other side of town. I...I can show you the way...”

  “No,” Talon said, holding his wolf down so the beast wouldn’t tear this treacherous witch from limb to limb. “Stay away, Sariah. You have caused enough trouble. Stay far away from me and mine, if you know what’s good for you.”

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Bianca screamed at the top of her lungs as Cliff dragged her into the old, deserted barn. The echo of her own scream told her that no one was coming to help her.

  There were no houses, no buildings and dwellings for miles around. Just trees, rocks and dirt.

  And the ravine.

  Bianca hiccuped a sob when she thought of Sariah lying bloodied and broken at the bottom of the ravine. Was that where she would end up as well once they were done with her? Would they just roll her body down the ravine after they’d tortured and killed her?

  “Murderers!” she screeched at Cliff and his sons. “You won’t get away with this!”

  Rake and Rufus had shifted back to human form and were following their father into the barn. Rake, the elder son, closed the heavy barn door behind them and bolted it.

  Cliff shoved her forward and Bianca fell to the ground with a cry. She pushed herself up from the dirty floor and glared at her captors.

  “Let me go,” she said in a firm, defiant voice. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing her cower.

  Cliff smirked. “If you ask nicely, maybe you’ll get what you want.”

  Rake strode forward and kicked at her legs. “Beg, you little bitch. Beg on your knees.”

  Bianca scrambled to her feet, grimacing. She refused to bend her knees for these louts. “I will never beg you for anything,” she spat. “You’re nothing!”

  Rake raised his hand to hit her, but Cliff stopped him. “Easy, boy,” the older man said. “There will be time for that later. We don’t want to mess up her pretty face just yet. Why spoil our own fun?”

  Bianca’s blood froze as she comprehended the true import of his words. She tried not to let them see her terror and revulsion.

  “Don’t...don’t come any closer,” she said, backing away. She looked around desperately for a weapon. But all she saw were some cardboard boxes, dried grass and tissue paper.

  Cliff laughed. “You’re a pretty little thing. It’s a pity you have to lose an eye,” he said. “But debts must be paid, in kind. Justice must be served.” He lifted his eye patch to show her the mangled mess beneath.

  Bianca grabbed the broken cardboard box from the corner and threw it at him. “Get away from me!” she screamed. She saw that there was a side door at the other end of the barn and made a dash for it.

  Rake caught her and pinned her against him. “Where do you think you’re going?” he growled in her ear. She flinched when he sniffed her face and neck. “You know we’re wolves. When a prey runs, it gets us all excited. You can run, but we’ll catch you in the end. And the end will be much worse for you. So just behave yourself and we’ll make it good for you.”

  He loosened his hold and she scrambled away. “Still want to run?” Rake asked lazily.

  Bianca shook her head mutely and wrapped her arms around herself. She was determined to escape, but she realized that she had to be smart about it.

  She had to get them to lower their guard.

  Bianca let big, fat tears roll down her cheeks. “Can I just sit down for a while?” she said, sniffing and shivering. “I don’t feel well...”

  The three men stared at her and exchanged glances. They were silently debating whether to believe her.

  “Sit down,” Rufus said suddenly. “Go sit on that overturned crate by the corner.”

  Bianca flashed him a grateful smile and limped over to the crate. “Thank you,” she said softly. “You’re very kind. You’re all kind men.”

  Cliff snarled. “Shut up! I can see what you’re trying to do. You’re a lying, devious, deceitful little female.” Over his shoulder, he said to Rufus, “Don’t be taken in, son. She’s just like your mother. These bitches are all the same. They look sweet and soft on the outside, but inside, they’re cold, cruel and cunning. They snivel and scheme, and they drag you down with their tears and lies. Bitches are good for one thing only. Remember that, Rake, Rufus. Don’t ever get soft on a woman.” Cliff spat and added, “Don’t be like me.”

  No, Bianca thought. You’re lying, Cliff. You want them to be like you. Exactly like you.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  Bianca lowered her head and let her hair fall over her face to hide her eyes. From her corner, she sneaked glances at the three Woodrow men to observe their interactions. Cliff was obviously the alpha wolf here. He gave commands and expected his sons to obey his orders without question.

  Rake carried out Cliff’s commands with mindless efficiency and diligence. Bianca suspected that he craved his father’s approval. But Rufus seemed less eager and willing than his brother to obey his father’s cruel orders. The youngest Woodrow wolf hung back and seemed determined to keep his distance from her. So far, he hadn’t laid a finger on her.

  Bianca decided that Rufus was her best chance of escape. If she could el
icit some sympathy or pity from him…

  Bianca hugged herself tightly and rocked to and fro. She groaned and muttered loud enough for them to hear her, “My tummy...hurts...”

  Rake scowled at her. “What the hell is wrong with her?” He stepped towards her and barked, “You better not throw up, bitch. If you make a fucking mess, you’ll have to clean it up—with your tongue.”

  “I think she’s really ill,” Rufus spoke up. “She looks kinda pale.”

  “Nobody asked you,” Rake snapped.

  Bianca hunched in and pretended to shiver. Cliff stared at her and shrugged. “If the bitch is sick, then we don’t want to catch whatever she’s got. She can keep her germs to herself. I’m not fucking a diseased bitch.”

  Rake started to protest but Cliff cut him off.

  “There are plenty of bitches in town. You can get pussy anytime. Don’t get distracted, Rake. We’re here for her eye, for revenge,” Cliff said as he unsheathed his claws. “Hold her down, Rake. Rufus, come here!”

  Bianca bit back a horrified cry. She tumbled off the crate and scrabbled back as Cliff and Rake came for her.

  “No,” she panted. “No! Leave me alone! Don’t touch me, you bastards!”

  She saw Rufus standing at the corner of the barn, his face hidden in the shadows. He didn’t join his father and brother. He wasn’t going to dirty his hands. But it looked like he wasn’t going to help her either.

  Bianca got to her feet and tried to run. But Rake tackled her and pinned her down beneath him.

  “You don’t look diseased to me,” he leered. “I can smell your cunt, and I can tell you’re horny, you little slut.”

  Bianca screamed and tried to kick him, but Rake backhanded her and for a moment, all she saw were flashing lights and stars. She heard distant echos and distorted voices. As she tried to regain her focus, random images and snapshots surfaced from her memories and flickered on the back of her eyelids.