Dirty Lying Wolves

3. Truths in the Forest

June

My head was buzzing. I felt sick, and I couldn't remember where I was.

Around me there was some shuffling. A whimper, a snarl.

"She bit me!" A man's voice startled me.

"Deal with it."

That voice. I had heard it say 'sorry' right before...

I gasped, opening my eyes.

Now I remembered.

It was dark, and I saw trees. Not trees from the arboretum though, but big trees all around me. Wild plants, unruly bushes. I was definitely deep in the woods somewhere.

Oh god, they were going to kill me. This is where I die. Me and that naked chick and that guy on the ground.

I winced as I moved slightly, pain shooting up my arm from a tender part of my forearm under my elbow. The sleeve of my hoodie had been rolled up to give the wound some air. My eyes widened as I realized. That was no woman, it was some kind of wild thing with teeth.

"She's up," someone commented.

I moved my head a little so I could see. I was laying on a blanket on the ground. It smelled weird like my grandpa's attic, and it was itchy but at least it was stopping the sticks on the ground from poking me. The men who had taken me, because now I was realizing I had been taken, had managed to find shirts to wear and the woman... thing, was now in a long knit dress that was a couple sizes too big for her but at least she was covered.

Everyone, save for the two that were on the ground grunting and moaning, was staring at me. From left to right was 'I'm sorry guy' with a short haircut and sharp jawline. Then there was a short one who looked like he had been through boot camp or something, the way he held himself was kind of militant. Then there was the gangly young one with messy yellow hair, and one on the end who was poking a small campfire with sticks and frowning at it before looking up at me.

My hands smacked at my hips, searching my pockets for my phone and lanyard. My heart sank. Of course they were both gone.

The 'I'm sorry' guy stood slowly, taking a couple steps toward me.

I squealed and sat up straight, the pain in my arm stinging and bringing a tear to my eye from the surprise of it. I scrambled backward and gripped the bite on my arm.

"S-stay back!" I hissed, kicking my legs in front of me and managing to do nothing but stir up last year's fallen leaves and twigs.

The man stopped, raising his hands palms out. "I'm not going to hurt you, but you'd benefit from listening to me for a minute."

"I'm not listening to my kidnapper!" I snapped, and scrambled back some more until my back was to a thick tree.

"She's got you there, Dom," one of the men, the young blond one, said. The one poking the fire laughed, then tried to cover it up as a cough.

Dom. Dom had hit me, knocked me unconscious. He made me nervous, he was a big guy to begin with and if that muscle definition meant anything, I could see he was some kind of athlete or at least a very active person.

He ran his hand over his short hair, grunting in frustration. "Okay then, do one of the other guys look less scary to you? They can explain it instead."

I glanced between Dom and the other three. Not much of a choice. I wasn't going with buzz cut, the young blond one reminded me of a gangly puppy with too much energy, and he'd probably botch the job. The one poking the fire seemed... not bright. Nope, I didn't want to talk to any of them.