by Jenna Payne
“I don’t have service, guys,” Linda said, holding up her cellphone to the sky. Linda had two kids and this was the first time her husband, Jeff, had the children all by himself. Most of the seven-hour car ride was Linda explaining to Jeff where things were in the house. Mia could not understand how a couple could be married for five years and only one of them knew where things were in the house.
Carissa, who was usually quiet the entire time, was bringing up the rear, flush faced and angrily wiping her black wispy hair behind her ears.
“We’re here, though,” Mia said, “yay?”
“Where is here? I only see trees,” Tatianna said, spinning around.
“That’s why we have sleeping bags in our packs,” Mia said, shrugging nervously.
“Wait, are we actually sleeping on the ground?” Linda asked, pinning her phone to her ear, “Hang on, girls—Jeff can you hear me? What do you mean you’re looking for the girls? Where are they? Where are you?”
Linda’s voice trailed off as she walked away from the group. Mia shook her head and looked back to Tatianna and Carissa who were looking at Mia like they could stab her. Mia offered a nervous laugh and dropped her pack on the ground in the clearing.
“Mia, what the actual fuck? Are we really sleeping under a tree?” Carissa asked, throwing her pack down.
“I thought you wanted to actually see nature?” Mia asked, shrugging her shoulders, “You know, adventure, fun—girl bonding?”
“We could bond with half-naked, muscular men giving us lap dances, Mia. Like normal a bridesmaids’ weekend. Is this why the bride didn’t come?” Tatianna asked, stepping towards Mia.
“Um, no? I mean yes. I mean no. She had to meet with the caterer over a shrimp cocktail emergency. She just happened to be busy,” Mia said, biting her bottom lip.
Tatianna buried her face in her hands, took a deep breath and looked at Mia. Mia was sure fire and smoke were about to come out of Tatianna and Carissa’s faces.
“Come on, it will be fun,” Mia said, whining and pleading with the women to understand.
Tatianna was a city girl from Miami and was a director at Miami General Hospital. She did not ever leave the city. She moved to Miami from New York for the promotion. And to draw Tatianna to the woods, Mia may have lied and said that they were staying in fancy cabins, and that the sleeping bags were a formality.
“Mia—” Tatianna said, pausing and rubbing her temple, “are we really sleeping outside on the ground for three days?”
Mia pursed her lips, trying to think of a lie, but she was a terrible liar.
“We’re going to die,” Carissa said, throwing her head backward.
“Nooo,” Mia said, trying to ignore the sounds of wolves in the background.
“There are wolves out here?” Carissa asked, shuffling into Tatianna’s shadow.
“No,” Mia said, but the sound of howling sounded like wolves.
“Whatever, can we make a fire or something?” Carissa asked, looking over her shoulders.
“Hey, sorry girls. I’m back. What did I miss?” asked Linda, shoving her phone into the pocket of her cargo shorts.
“We’re sleeping on the ground,” Tatianna said.
“I’m sorry, what?” Linda said, pulling out her phone again.
Mia shook her head, and walked over to a patch of scorched earth and started gathering dry branches for the fire. The other three women were arguing and Tatianna and Carissa were filling in Linda. They sounded like chatty hens. Mia hoped after she got the fire going and they had marshmallows on sticks they would be over it. Mia lit a match, threw it on the dry branches and watched them lap up the fire. The sound of the crackles drew the women and thankfully silenced the cackling hens.
The sun was fully up, but north Florida was not sunny south Florida. It was fifty degrees even with the sun fully up. Mia felt relieved when they all sat around the fire, but her heart sank because she knew it was going to drop into the thirties. By the time the sun went down, it would be freezing and apparently there were wolves.
*****
“I think Jeff lost my kids. I actually think the man I married has no idea where precisely on earth our children are located” Linda said, biting down on a s’more.
Mia stifled a giggle and put more marshmallows on her stick.
“This trip is about us getting to know each other and not worrying about what’s going on at home. No kids or husband talk,” Tatianna said, leaning into the fire.
“I don’t think I know a topic that doesn’t revolve around my ex-husband being an idiot. We’re divorced but his mom is sick so somehow I’m still helping,” Carissa said, plopping a graham cracker in her mouth.
“It’s why I never got married. Tatianna Smith is a free bird,” Tatianna said, smirking at Carissa, “Sex is better when you are not obligated to see them again.”
“Jeff and I have sex!” Linda said, looking affronted.
“Doesn’t sound like it,” Mia said with a sheepish smile.
“We just have to be quiet with the twins,” Linda said, her face looking flushed.
“Bob and I have sex. At first it was an accident. His mom had a bad night and Bob lives with her so I stayed the night. Several glasses of wine later his dick was just out. I fell for it and now it’s nonstop. It’s too hard to find a new man when we’re still in each other’s life. Ugh, being in your thirties is so weird. I would never put up with this shit in my twenties,” Carissa said, cupping her face.
“Speaking of twenties, what about you?” Tatianna asked, jutting her chin at Mia.
“Me? God, I’m twenty-seven so I count myself as a thirty-something too,” Mia said, feeling all of the eyes on her.
“Ooooh, twenty-seven so you should know what you like by now. Indulge us, what are the kids doing today?” Carissa said, raising an eyebrow at Mia.
Mia did not know how to answer that. She had not had sex in months, not since she and her ex broke up, and even when they were together it was not that exciting.
“Nothing at the moment, but my ex went through a weird spanking phase. He was watching some sort of weird porn and just sprung it on me,” Mia said, shuddering at the memory.
“I like a good spank,” Tatianna said, grinning wickedly.
“Ew, I’ll pass on that imagery,” Linda said.
“What about…more than one? Isn’t that a thing now?” Carissa asked.
“More than one what?” Mia asked, stoking the fire.
“She means more than one penis,” Tatianna said, “I did it. It was confusing at first. Just arms everywhere, but when you get a groove, it’s fucking amazing.”
Mia’s cheeks felt like they were on fire. She had always been bashful about sex. It was something she did in her relationships because it was expected. It was rarely the mind-shattering experiences she read about and usually after sex, she was just waiting for the guy to go to the bathroom so she could discreetly finish herself.
“I don’t think that would be for me. I’m a big girl and so is Jeff. A big man I mean. We only have a queen bed. It would be madness,” Linda said, shaking her head.
“I’d do it. As weird as it sounds I’d want Bob there because I would need someone whose body I knew. God, this sounds so sad. Even my fantasies involve Bob,” Carissa said, reloading her stick with marshmallows.
Mia did not add in. Not because she had a strong opinion one way or the other, but because she could hear the wolves again. She and her father had gone camping all around the United States and Mia felt well-versed in the American woods. Even though they were sleeping on the ground, this was a campsite and animals rarely came this close to people. To make it worse there was not just one or two wolves calling to each other as before. Mia strained her ears and her stomach tightened. She could hear a whole pack.
“You okay, Mia?” Carissa asked, touching her shoulder.
Mia jumped, snapping back to the conversation.
“Yea…no…I don’t know if it’s a good idea to sleep here,” M
ia said, rising from the log she was sitting on.
The other women looked to each other and then over to Mia.
“I mean it, girls. I think we should run,” Mia said, grabbing her pack.
Before the women could react, Mia heard rustling leaves. Someone or something was coming closer. The sounds of crunching leaves were all around them. Then a series of low menacing growls.
“What the hell is that?” Carissa asked, rising to her feet.
Mia pressed her index finger over her lips, shushing Carissa.
“I will not shush! What the fuck is happening?” Carissa asked, her voice quivering with fear.
Carissa huddled around Linda and Tatianna, whimpering and mewling. Mia was on the other side of the fire, gripping the straps of her pack. She was trying to think. The car was a mile down the road and the sounds of the wolves were drawing in faster and faster. There was only one option.
“Run! Run now!” Mia yelled, backing away.
The women were frozen, absolutely paralyzed by fear. Mia kept yelling, urging them to follow her but it was no use.
“Behind you!” Mia yelled, jogging backward.
Where there was once a dark blanket of trees, there were now yellow eyes peppering the woods. Mia was looking in the face of not one but ten, maybe more, of the largest wolves she had ever seen in her life. One of them, a large black wolf with a round spot on his forehead, rose to his hind legs and roared a loud growl in Mia’s direction. The other wolves rose to their hind legs and seemed to be over eight feet tall. They were grabbing the other bridesmaids.
The wolf stared at her and laughed in a low demonic voice. Licking its lips, it fell forward on all fours and stalked towards Mia.
“I’ll give you a head start,” it said.
*****
Branches scratched and pulled at Mia as she tore through the woods. Her breaths sounded ragged and she could hear the massive wolf chasing her. Her brain was rattled with confusion and fear. She could not understand why the wolves could talk. She could not understand why they were here and why one of them was the size of two large men.
“Leave…me alone!” Mia yelled, gasping for breath and waving branches out of way.
“Where…is…the…fun in that?” the wolf said, nipping at her heels.
The problem for the wolf was the deeper she went into the woods, the tighter the pine trees were together. It was like trying to run through the weave of a loom. Mia’s slender frame and her natural athleticism made it a cinch. The wolf, though faster in the open forest, was having a lot of trouble.
“You’ll only make it worse when I catch you!” the wolf yelled, clawing futilely at the dense trees.
Mia took a deep breath and charged forward. Her head was spinning. Nothing made sense. There were no wolves in Florida. And then there was the talking happening behind her. Mia was sure if not for the adrenaline propelling her forward she would pass out from shock and exhaustion. The forest was clearing and she needed a plan. She looked around her for anything she could use as a weapon. There was nothing. She had no weapon. No hope of escape.
“Shit!” Mia yelled, running out to the clearing.
Behind her was the woods and ahead of her was a steep cliff, leading to the ravine. Mia looked back at the wood to see the wolf burst through into the clearing, covered in dead leaves. It shook its massive head and its yellow eyes zeroed in on Mia.
“I hate chasing my food. If I have to take one more step, I will chew slowly,” the wolf said.
Mia backed up to the edge of the cliff, hearing rocks fall behind her.
“I’m warning you,” the wolf said.
Before Mia could speak two other wolves, one tawny and the other gray, jumped out of the woods and tackled her assailant to the ground. The wolves wrestled, clawing and biting at each other. Mia kept trying to inch around them, but the giant bodies were kicking up dust and rocks and blocking the path.
“You two have no idea who you’re messing with,” the black wolf said, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
“Get out,” the tawny wolf said, bearing its teeth.
The black wolf howled loudly and ran back into the woods. Mia exhaled loudly and the two wolves turned to face her. They rose onto their hind legs and leaned their large heads towards her and sniffed. The grey one licked his lips, bearing his teeth at Mia.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Mia said, trying to inch away.
“Let’s see,” the tawny wolf said, blocking her path, “are you as delicious as you look?”
*****
“What do you want?” Mia asked, staring up at the two large wolves.
“That didn’t sound like a thank you,” said the tawny wolf, looking hungrily at Mia.
“Well, I don’t know what you plan on doing with me so forgive me for not being grateful. And I don’t understand. How is this even possible?” Mia asked, holding her forehead.
“The short story is magic,” the gray wolf said, looking behind them and sniffing the air.
“What’s the long story?” Mia asked, cautioning a look around for more wolves.
The wolves looked at each other, cracked their necks and then they seemed to shrink in front of her. The tawny wolf was now a tall, muscular tousled haired blond. The grey and white wolf was now a dark-haired man, also muscular. The fact that they were men in real life made Mia’s mouth fall open. They were wearing only torn jeans and were barefoot. They were about Mia’s age in their human form and if the shock of them being shape shifters was not startling enough, they were gorgeous.
“What the hell?” Mia asked.
“Come we should walk. We don’t know those wolves and once they get done eating, they will come after us,” said the dark-haired man.
“Easy, Micah. No need to scare the lady. I’m Brutus by the way,” the blond said, touching his chest.
“Mia. Eaten? You think they ate—oh my God,” Mia said, covering her mouth in horror.
“You can’t think that a pack that large would let all of that meat go to waste,” Micah said flatly.
“Meat! Those were my friends…sort of,” Mia said, marching away from them.
Brutus grabbed her arm, making Mia jerk backwards.
“Look, as fun as this dramatic banter is, we should maybe move in the opposite way of the killer wolves,” Brutus said, winking at her.
“We’re taking her with us?” Micah asked, balling up his fist at his side.
“Don’t worry, tough guy. I don’t want to go with you monsters anyways,” Mia said, jerking out of Brutus’s grasp.
“How exactly do you plan on surviving in the woods with wolves passing through? And what do you mean sort of your friends?” Brutus asked, narrowing his eyes at her.
Mia took a deep breath and bit her bottom lip. She was terrified and running out of options. The other bridesmaids were likely dead by now and she was at the mercy of two werewolves.
“Well?” Micah asked, shrugging at Mia.
“I…I just met them on this trip. We’re all friends with Cora. She is my friend from high school and the other women were her friends. None of us knew each other before this trip. This is all my fault,” Mia said, ringing her hands together.
“How is it your fault?” Brutus asked, looking confused.
“I suggested the woods. We should have just gone to a casino. I just thought nature would do us good. Are you sure we can’t save them?” Mia asked, looking backing in the direction of the campsite.
“No, and we’re not checking,” Micah said, combing his inky black hair back off his face.
“Be nice, Micah. Mia, it’s not your fault. It’s the circle of life. I’m sorry you have to see that. Some of us eat animals. I personally love bears. Micah here loves deer, but other packs hunt humans. It’s sick since you know we can turn into humans but they don’t care,” Brutus said, his lips thinning.
Mia paced, trying to think. There was no way to go back to the car because the other wolves were blocking that path and the sun was going to be risi
ng soon. She needed to rest so she could make good of the daylight when it came.
“We should move,” Micah said, walking down the steep hill.
“You heard the man. Want a piggy back ride?” Brutus asked, winking at Mia.
Mia smirked at him and followed Brutus down the hill. Mia was not a delicate woman. She knew the woods because of her and her dad’s many hiking trips. Now that her adrenaline had subsided and her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she would be fine. There was still the matter of not losing daylight later. It was nighttime and if they marched on all night, it would throw off their sleep schedule.
“Should we get some rest before the sun comes up? I don’t want to be sleepy in the morning,” Mia said, catching up with Micah.
“No,” Micah said. His handsome face was contorted into a scowl.
“Are you always so charming?” Mia asked, scoffing.
A slight smile spread on his face, but he quickly composed himself.
“Oh, so your friend can smile?” Mia asked, looking at Brutus.
Brutus had a face-splitting smile on his handsome tanned face. His disposition seemed a lot more kind than Micah’s. Micah seemed to have a chip the size of a mountain on his shoulder and was leading the way. When he wasn’t scowling, he was sniffing the air and making slight adjustments left or right. Brutus seemed content with following Micah.
“Where are we even going?” Mia asked, speeding up to keep up with Micah.
“Eventually North Carolina. Far enough away from the pack we will sleep, but not now,” Micah said, stopping dead in his tracks.
“I smell it. Be right back, gorgeous,” Brutus said, collapsing on all fours.
His body bent and twisted until he was covered in fur and was back to being a large, tawny wolf.
“What? What’s happening?” Mia asked, backing into Micah.
“We have company. It’s just dinner. Calm down,” Micah said, smirking at her.
“Oh. Do I even want to know what’s on the menu?” Mia asked.
“Venison. You can let go of my arm now,” Micah said with humor laced in his voice.
