Under the Skin

Prologue

The grass was darkened with the blood of the gray wolf who laid on the forest floor. His chest was rising with difficulty and his eyes were barely staying open as he watched his family being circled by the armed men. His mate could only watch helplessly when the wolf used his last strength to reach for them with his paw. A cry tore from her throat when he gave his last breath. 

The woman did not have the time to process the death of her mate, her instincts urging her to protect her pup. She pushed him behind her when the man in front of her took a step closer. He wore a smirk on his face, which deformed the scar that ran from the top of his head to his chin on the right side. He pointed his crossbow at her, which prompted the two other men with him to do the same. 

"Shift." She shook her head and tightened her hold on her son's arm. She watched as the man nodded to one of his men. Before she could react, she felt her boy being forcefully torn from her grasp. 

"No!! Leave him alone!!" A man was holding him against his chest with a knife dangerously close to his neck. 

"Mama." The little boy whimpered and a tear ran down his cheek. The woman's hands were itching to get him back in her arms, back to safety. But she could only tighten them into fists and stand there helplessly. 

"Shift!" The lead hunter barked at her. She knew there was nothing that could be done to avoid this, and they knew that too. That's why they weren't afraid of making her shift. They had the upper hand. 

She closed her eyes and soon enough a wolf stood in her place, surrounded by torn clothes. The she wolf could not speak, but her eyes never left her son's, trying to compel all her love into a single look. 

 In the blink of an eye, an arrow lodged itself into her throat while another went straight to her heart, killing her almost instantly. 

The boy was able to scratch deep, red marks into the man's arm before he was released. He collapsed beside her mother's body while loud sobs escaped his mouth. He wrapped his little arms around her and pleaded for her to come back, his tears soaking her fur. 

"Well, that's another job done boys. We'll get a nice sum for those pelts after we clean them." The man with the scar said as he lit up a cigarette and took a drag, looking bored. 

"What do we do with the boy?" The hunter's cold eyes fell on the kid, who was still holding onto his mother. The silence stretched for a while as he seemed to think.

"We'll bring him with us, he could be useful." 

Seven years later

Under the canopy of the trees, a dark matted wolf was prowling silently with his nose pressed close to the ground. All his senses were alert since he knew by the scent clinging to the leaves and branches that his target was close by. 

His steps slowed and he crouched lower, his belly almost pressed into the dirt as he hid behind a large bush.

There, just a few meters away another wolf was busy inspecting what seemed to be berries. 

A sudden pang went through the wolf's chest while he watched the wolf. Its head started to hurt slightly, like something was scratching at his head and wanted to come out. The wolf shook its head several times to focus back on his prey. He knew they were watching him. He had to do a good job to be able to eat tonight. 

Several moments later, the dark wolf leaped out of his hiding place and pounced onto it. The other wolf was startled, allowing him to do some damage before it began to fight back. 

The struggle lasted for several minutes, before the dark wolf felt something brush his ear. The other wolf stumbled and fell to the ground with a whine, an arrow sticking out of its chest. 

Soon enough, three men all armed with crossbows joined them. The injured wolf suddenly gave place to a woman. She lay naked on the ground, with bite marks and scratches all over her body and blood gushing out where the arrow had hit her. 

"Goddamnit, you should've went for the heart!" While the men argued with each other, the dark wolf's blank eyes were fixed on the woman who had her final breath. He whimpered slightly when he felt another pang inside his head, his paw scratching at the ground. 

"Wolf! We're leaving!" Without looking back, the wolf forgot all about the woman and turned to follow them, leaving the dead woman behind.