Red and Her Wolf

Chapter Two

(Rebecca)

Night fell quickly. The trio of men hunkered around a dying pit of fire, ignoring the muffled cries of their captive. Try as she might, the young maiden was helpless to escape the bite of the rope that imprisoned her. Tears of shame, of fear, streaked down her face. She could only imagine what these ruffians had in store for her.

She prayed to the heavens that someone, anyone, would come searching for her. Surely by now, her absence had been noted. If no one else, her Grandmother would surely come to her aid. The elder woman was all she knew of her family. Her parents had perished early on in her life, according to Grandmother. She had no way of knowing if the elder woman was in fact of her blood. It mattered little. The aging woman treated Rebecca with all the kindness in the world.

One of the men dressed in tattered clothing rose from his place by the far. He shuffled over to her. His hardened face chiseled with years of poverty and disease, he knelt before her. With a grunt, he offered her a slice of meat. Her stomach cried out for it.

"Eat." The man spoke.

He was not asking. Fearing what would happen should she decline, Rebecca opened her mouth. He shoved the slice of meat between her lips, his weather-stripped fingers lingering a tad too long for her liking. She bit down.

He snatched his fingers back with a cry. His comrades found this amusing. He did not. The palm of his hand connected with the side of the face. She took the hit, refusing to cry out. Blood trickled down her chin.

The man returned to the fire with a huff. The trio did not speak English. They conversed in a language Rebecca could not understand. From the occasional glances thrown in her direction, she gathered they were discussing what her fate was to be.

Rebecca had been harvesting herbs near dusk the previous evening. She'd known better. Grandmother always warned her it was dangerous for a maiden of her youth and beauty to remain outside the village walls past nightfall. She'd thought herself to be safe.

The village was not known to many. It was sheltered, secluded. People thought this forest to be evil in nature and, thus, many did not dare stray within. These men were different. They'd snatched her, gagged, and bound her, before she'd had a chance to utter a single cry.

A shiver traveled the length of her spine. Winter would be upon them soon. The higher into the mountains they climbed, the colder it would get. Rebecca could not fathom why these men took the hardest road. It might have been the quickest from the village but there were shorter, less dangerous paths from the village.

Their heavy woolen vests, and fur-lined boots, would accommodate them against the chill. Rebecca wore nothing but a thin dress and a torn cloak. Her shoes had been lost in the scuffle. Her feet were battered and bruised from the travel. The men cared little for her comfort. Any time she dared slow their pace, they would tug the ropes that bound her with no mercy.

The palms of her hands bled openly. She felt no pain. The chill of the evening air had seeped into her bones, dulling her senses. She shifted. One of the men took note of her movement. He took hold of the rope at his waist, yanking it without mercy. She lurched forward, sprawling onto the half-frozen ground.

Two of the three men laughed. The third did not. His eyes narrowed, teeth digging into the meat within his fingers. He said nothing, however. He did nothing. Rebecca lifted herself from the ground, tucking her legs back underneath her. She tilted her face away, not wanting them to see the tears.

They all fell into silence. Eventually, the men retired to their cots. None offered her one. Nor did they allow her to creep closer to the flames they left burning. Eventually, the embers died and they were once again enveloped in darkness.

Rebecca did not sleep. She curled into a ball, fighting against the blistering chill that now set in. She would not survive the journey. Either the cold would kill her or one of these men would. She'd seen the lecherous way they each stared at her. She was not blind nor ignorant. It was only a matter of time before one, or all of them, decided to have their way with her.

The young maiden was moments from sleep with the snap of a twig shaking her awake. Perching onto an elbow, she peered into the darkness. Her eyes narrowed slightly, fear creeping up the length of her spine.

"Aint nothing out there yer got to fear, miss." A voice hissed.

Rebecca flinched, jerking all the way up. One of the men, the one with the hard eyes and even harder hands, crouched behind her. A blade in one hand, he held her imprisoning rope in the other. His tongue snaked across his bottom lip, covering it in a layer of saliva.

"Do as yer told and no hard with come to ye." He instructed. He crept closer. Rebecca attempted to scurry back. His grip tightened on the rope, the thick material digging into both wrists. He would not allow her to escape.

Fingers wrapped around the base of her neck. Sticks and tiny pebbles dug into her spine as he forced her back. His blade traveled along the inseam of her dress. The sound of ripping fabric echoed through the forest as the blade crept higher. His companions stirred behind him but none awoke.

"You's a pretty little thang..." He purred, his lips caressing the crook of her neck, "Yelisa gonna take right care of you. But...yer gotta take care of me first."

Bile rose in the back of her throat. She didn't dare resist. The man was three times her size. There was little she could do to stop him from taking what wanted. His blade disappeared, his hand taking its place.

The crack of branches, the roar of some creature, and the man atop her screamed. His scream died in the back of his throat as something inhuman latched its vicious teeth around the back of his head. A spray of crimson fell upon the young maiden.

His comrades launched into a disorganized panic. Rebecca scurried from underneath the man's crumbled body. A wolf stood before her. Its crimson eyes stared at her a moment before it turned its attention to the others.

She ran. She snatched the rope from off the ground and fled into the depths of the forest. She did not make it far. Something snagged the edge of her dress. She tripped and darkness overtook her.