Stripping For The Alpha King

Chapter 39

I shifted my body onto my scraped elbows. The bob of my camera against my chest revealed just how hard I was breathing as I attempted to get my legs underneath me. The horror of coming face to face with a wild predator was not something I felt I would ever be prepared for. Denver was surrounded by wild animals and my mother always warned me about them. And I had managed to avoid them the entire time I was there.

But now, I was in Germany and facing off with a snarling wolf.

"Alright," I breathed, speaking to neither myself nor the wolf.

My mind reeled as I tried to get my bearings and figure out a plan. I was down and mildly injured. Were wolves like sharks? Did the smell of blood send them on a war path? Were they like bears? If I appeared larger than them and yelled loud enough would I spook it away? Was I close enough to the house or other people that if I yelled they would hear me? It seemed debatable. For now, I just needed to put space between myself and the beast.

So I just used my elbows and feet to slowly scuttle myself backwards as my mind raced with all of my possibilities.

But the wolf moved with me. Each movement that drew me away from it he stepped closer. He wasn't actively pursuing me. He was lunging towards me with snapping jaws. But the way he was growling at me was enough to bring terrified tears to my eyes. I should have listened to Ajax. I should have stayed in the house.

"Help," I whimpered out, my voice barely above a whisper.

The wolf jus tossed its head and let out a violent noise. The unusually blue eyes seemed to flash at the sound of my voice.

My mouth clamped shut and my scuttling speed increased. But I had nowhere to go. I had moved myself off of the gravel path that led me out here. Soon I would be swallowed by the forest. The forest that was this wolf's home. The forest that I couldn't navigate. Even if I got away from this wolf there was a good chance that I would get very lost. And then it would only be a matter of time before another predator found me.

As my palm sunk underneath my weight, giving out to the soft moss, I let out a defeated noise.

The wolf cocked it's head, almost looking confused as it drew nearer. But even if a wolf was capable of feeling anything other than bloodlust, the confusion didn't override its desire to tear into me.

Though the first attempt hadn't gone well I knew that it was my only chance at getting away from this beast alive. My head tipped back and I sucked in the biggest breath I could manage through my panic. "Help!" I wailed into the tree tops above.

And, like a lifesaver tossed into dark water, a voice responded to me.

"Keiko!"

"Ajax!" I screamed back.

And at his name the wolf in front of me stopped pursuing me. The large ears on the top of his head swiveled around, searching for more. The eyes that I thought were so human suddenly looked terrified. But he was the apex predator.

Behind me there was the sound of movement as more than one person raced towards me and the wolf.

"Her scent is still altered, he thinks she's a rogue!" Ajax shouted, his voice so clear and so close now.

Though I was terrified of looking away from the violent predator before me I couldn't help but crane my neck around now. My gaze locked onto Ajax briefly. He was sprinting towards me through the forest. He moved with confidence and speed that told me he knew the forest just as well as the wolf before me. The basketball shorts were still on his body but his chest was bare, like he had left training in a hurry. And he wasn't afraid.

He was livid.

Then, with his eyes locked onto the wolf in front of me, he leapt into the air.

"Ajax! No!" a man beside him shouted.

But there, right before my eyes, the man I had grown so fond of turned into a beast. In midair he let out a grunt that could barely be heard above the revolting sound of bones snapping, breaking. And his whole body twisted as hair sprouted into fur, covering his entirety. His hands and feet were now paws. The shorts that had been around his waist were shredded. The lips that I had kissed were replaced by a muzzle, filled with teeth that were just as sharp as the other wolf's.

When he hit the ground he was a wolf.