Yandere Fairy Tales AU

A Wolf in the Woods // Big Bad Wolf! Prussia x Red Riding Hood! Reader.

Hey there, little red riding hood...

The wolves had always been your neighbors.

As long as the forest had been there, the wolves had been there too. They hunted, they roamed, they howled. They lurked in the shadows, yellow eyes gleaming within the dark forest. As a child, you had always been warned about them. You all had.

"They'll tear you to bits."

"Swallow you whole."

"They're vicious."

"Monstrous."

"Wolf."

Just that one little word was enough to strike fear into your heart. And though you had never seen the wolves, you had seen the damage they did. You still remembered the day Ludwig had run into the schoolhouse crying. His brother Gilbert had run ahead while they walked down the forest path...and then he was just gone. You still remembered the fear bubbling up inside, the confusion and heartache. How could your best friend just be gone? How could a person just vanish while walking the same path they always did?

As a child, you hadn't understood it. As an adult, you knew what had probably happened to Gilbert. He had, everyone assumed, been snatched up by wolves. Since then, you had feared the woods and the wolves. Attacks still happened and so did disappearances, cattle was still slain. The wolves still roamed the woods and you, you still feared then.

You never went near the forest again after Gilbert vanished. You still had nightmares about that place, about wolves stalking you as you ran through the trees. It was always the white wolf that captured you, dragging into the shadows. You felt so silly, being a grown woman afraid of your own home. Even Ludwig had shed his fears, choosing to become a hunter. He was in the forest nearly every day! The more you thought about, the more silly you felt it was. So the next time your mother asked you and your siblings to make the trip to your grandmother's house, you volunteered.

"Oh, dear, are you certain?"

"It'll be fine, Mama. It's just a day's journey and besides...it's been so long since I've seen Granny."

The next day, you woke up early. You packed your basket and slipped on your scarlet cloak. You kissed your mother goodbye as she warned you over and over again to be very careful. You could tell that she was just as nervous as you were so you but on a brave smile and kissed her goodbye. The gate clattered behind you as you left home, glancing back to smile at your mother one last time. As you waked, each step bringing you closer to the forest, you remembered everything you had been told before.

"They'll tear you to bits."

"Swallow you whole."

"They're vicious."

"Monstrous."

"Gilbert!"

You stopped, looking up at the mighty trees. For a moment, you saw not a sunny winter morning but the darkness from your nightmares.

"Nightmares, that's all they are." you whispered. "Just dreams."

And then you entered the forest. It was as though you were in a completely different place. The trees were so tall and thick that the sunlight just barely slipped through them. Everything seemed darker and colder, the leaves you walked on seemed louder then they had before. And at times...you were certain that you heard other footsteps as well. Just animals, you told yourself. Or perhaps Ludwig and some of his hunters.

You walked and walked, still trying to tell yourself that nothing was wrong. That you weren't scared. That there were no-

"Well, well. What's a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?"