These Little Women ✔️

Merciful Alpha

"Why does Grandmother insist out living here...?" Emily said aloud as she made her way through the forest along the stone path. She glanced down at her basket, giving a small sigh. Well, there was no use arguing with the woman. She was so stubborn...

For whatever reason, Emily's grandmother lived in a small cottage deep within the large forest. But it was dangerous for her to live there! Did she not think about the giant wolf-men that populated the area?!

Monstrous creatures, those wolf-men were. On average, they stood around eleven feet tall with animal instincts. She had only seen one before when she was a little girl, but she could still remember him clear as day. It had been a dead one, one that the local townspeople had hunted down and killed.

Large claws for hands, hunched over with so much fur... But the creature had a human-like face... But with vicious fangs in his mouth that could tear a man apart, more of a dog nose than human and furry. And bright red eyes like the devil himself.

And that had only been one out of God knew how many were actually out here in this forest. She shouldn't have been traveling alone either... But her grandmother had insisted on her coming over today. She had tried to get one of her male hunting friends to come along with her, but everyone seemed to be busy today. So she had no choice but to go alone.

It was a bit unsettling. While the forest was peaceful enough so far, she couldn't help but to be wary of every noise she heard. People said that as long as you stayed on the path, you would be fine, but... A wolf-man could still easily snatch her up from the road and eat her.

She shivered at the thought. She just had to get through this forest. She was already halfway there... Just a little more and she would be at her grandmother's to deliver her the treats in her basket.

She would have nothing to fear.

XXX

Matteus couldn't help but to laugh softly to himself. The girl was completely unaware that she was being stalked from behind the large trees and bushes.

Truth be told, the creature had always stalked her whenever she made her way down the path to that little cottage in the middle of his domain. He could remember the first time he saw the human girl... She had only been a child then, ten years ago. Now she was a young adult, very pretty in her cute red outfit.

She was wearing a red cape with a little hood to help her block out the sun's rays from hitting her face. But from his angle, he could still see her wavy dark brown peeking out from the hood. It was a shame that he couldn't see her face as well. She had such a pretty face, smooth light skin, soft green eyes...

He made it a habit, secretly escorting her to and from her grandmother's house. He didn't know why she would come alone... The fool would be the perfect snack for another wolf-man. Or toy, depending on who found her aside from him. But because he had "claimed" her, in a sense, no one dared to come near her.

It shouldn't have been surprising. He was considered the Alpha of the land. Standing thirteen feet tall, he was massive figure with dark grey fur and bright vermillion eyes. No one would dare challenge him or try to hurt the human he had been following the moment she had set foot into the forest.

Matteus slowly followed behind the girl along the path. He wasn't sure why he had grown attached to the human. He had remembered seeing her when she had been lost in the forest when she had only been a young girl, probably no older than eight. She was alone, scared, and crying. She shouldn't have survived, but because he had been the one to find her, she had.

Perhaps it was some long forgotten parental instinct inside of him that had awaken upon seeing her. Hurting her just hadn't been an option. She was defenseless, vulnerable, and merely a stupid little girl who had gotten lost. He hadn't done much, simply alerted the villagers looking for her and calling out to her to the girl's location.