The warm season of Minevera was coming to an end and was now growing cold, especially at night. Thankfully I had the warm body of a werewolf to keep me warm at night, but soon I will need to think of something to wear to keep me warm.
The bond between Kingston, Kyrah, and I came in handy when figuring out where they went. After almost a full day's worth of walking, we finally found them, but I wasn't prepared to see them fighting three massive beasts that had the upper body of a bull and the lower body of a man and had to be at least 8 to 10 feet tall with thick bulging muscles.
"What in the hell are these?" I asked Wolfe as we hurried to help the others.
"They are called Minotaurs; they are level 12 beasts. They aren't knowledgeable, but as you can see by their size, they are muscular and have thick skin that makes them hard to kill. Why don't you help Kyrah while I help Kingston and Princely."
With a nod, I pulled Scorpius free, then ran over to where Kyrah was fighting the smallest Minotaurs with black and white markings like a cow.
Scorpius materialized beside me in her monstrous size, making me feel grateful that she was on our side.
"Thank you for helping me with the Wendigo; I wouldn't have returned to the cave if it wasn't for you."
"There is no need to thank me, Wielder; I was happy to be able to help."
Kyrah whooped joyfully when she spotted me, "I'm so glad to see you! These Minotaurs attacked us from nowhere; we could use your help."
Scorpius guided me through defeating the massive creature, but as Wolfe had said, the skin was so thick that it wasn't cutting deep enough to kill it.
Think, Harlow, think...and then I figured it out!
"Kyrah, the skin is too thick. You must shoot the Minotaur in the eye, where it's most vulnerable."
"Tisk, why didn't I think of that?" I watched as Kyrah notched an arrow, then let it fly. The arrow whistled as it passed through the air, then hit right in the bullseye.
The beast roared in pain, falling to its knees. Wolfe appeared next to me, and with a quick swing of his sword, he decapitated the Minotaur, spraying blood everywhere and ending the creature's life.
Kyrah and I were over here gasping for breath and got nowhere close to killing the damn Minotaur, and this man had barely broken a sweat and cut off the beast's head like it was made out of butter!
With a growl, I stomped to Wolfe and kicked him in the shin.
"Hey, what was that for?" He asked, not even bothering even to pretend that it hurt.
"I wanted to kill it myself!" I complained as I tried to wipe the bull's blood off my face.
This amused Wolfe, so he smirked and said, "You would have been dead long before you landed a kill hit. That Minotaur is much stronger than most of the beasts you have fought before, but I will let you have the life orb; you need it more than I do."
"Master, your back!" Thankfully, Smaug chose that moment to appear.
I quickly grabbed the life orb, then hurried over to my horse-sized wyvern, wrapping my arms around his scaly neck. "I missed you!"
Smaug wrapped his taloned-tipped wings around me as he nuzzled against me. "I missed you too, master."
"Where were you?" I asked, "You should have been helping the others with the Minotaurs."
"Using my fire on the beasts was too dangerous while the others fought nearby. I didn't want to risk hurting one of our friends, so I tried to find you and the werewolf, and I knew the werewolf was strong enough to take on these Minotaurs."
Well, that makes sense; his fire reduces anything to cinders. I'm glad he is intelligent enough to realize that and decided to look for Wolfe, who he knew was the better choice.
With a sigh, I walked over to Wolfe, who was busy removing the hide from the Minotaurs using his werewolf claws.
"I'm sorry for getting angry. I shouldn't have kicked you like that."
Wolfe stopped, then looked up at me with that crooked smile, "It's okay; it didn't even hurt, but thank you for apologizing. Why don't you sit with the others while I skin these Minotaurs."
"Okay," I told him with a smile; after a quick kiss, I headed back toward the group.
"So, what was it like spending a week alone with Wolfe? Did you two... Y" Do it?" asked Kyrah as I sat beside her.
"Oh, my goddess Kyrah!" All the blood rushed down my face, "Why would you ask me something like that?"
Kyrah smiled, then shrugged like it was no big deal, "Psh, we are all adults here, Harlow. Hell, at least you're getting some."
"Will you please stop? I don't know if Wolfe would like me talking about something like that." I said, peering over at Wolfe, who was looking over Kyrah with a murderous look.
"Fine, I will stop. I don't think it would be wise to make him angry." She says, looking at the three bodies of the headless Minotaurs.
Wolfe took a long time to skin all three beasts, so we decided to camp close by. After he was done, he guided me to a nearby stream so that I could rinse off all the blood.
My whole body shook when I saw the water, and I refused to take another step closer.
"What's wrong? Why are you so scared?" Wolfe asked with a worried look on his face.
I explained what happened with the Kaapa and what Kingston told me they would do if you got too close to the water.
"Do you trust me enough to keep you safe?" he asked, cupping my face in his hands.
"Umm, I do trust you, but..."
"What is it? He asked, caressing my cheeks with his thumbs.
"Umm, would you shift into your werewolf?" I asked, feeling a little embarrassed.
Wolfe chuckled, then kissed my lips, "Of course, my sweet mate, I will shift for you anytime you want."
"I feel bad asking you to shift when I saw for myself how much it hurt you," I said
"It doesn't hurt as much when I'm not forced to shift during the full moon," Wolfe said, then with a quick kiss, he took a few steps back, then shifted into his werewolf. I was surprised he wasn't groaning in pain as before.
He gave me a wolfy grin, then held out his clawed hand, "I will keep you safe," he said in a deep voice. I was shocked at how well he could speak compared to his alter ego.
Sucking in a deep breath, I took Wolfe's outstretched hand.
When I opened my eyes the following day, I was back at the lake where that damn Kaapa tried to pull me into the water. It was late at night, and a thick fog filled the air.
Something compelled me to walk over to the water's edge, then out of the water rose a zombified Kaapa that was missing most of its skin and had haunting blood-red eyes.
I was utterly petrified with fear as the beast grabbed my arm and pulled me into the cold water, dragging me deeper and deeper into the dark abyss.
"Harlow, my sweet, please wake up."
Wolfe's voice pulled me from the dream, waking me with a gasp. My whole body shook with fear as he held me tight. I threw my arms around his neck, then burrowed my face into the crook of his neck.
Wolfe was patient as I calmed down, rubbing my back and stroking my hair.
I pulled away to look up at his handsome face, not wanting to worry him anymore. "Sorry, I had a horrible nightmare."
"No need to be sorry, my sweet mate. You have been through a lot since you came into this world, and it was bound to catch up with you eventually."
Of course, he understood. I remember him telling me that when he was just a young boy, around 10, a pack of rogue werewolves had attacked his village. He also told me that his whole family had been killed and that he was the only one who survived because one of the werewolves liked his fighting spirit.
This werewolf... What was his name again? Oh, right! It was Kain!
Kain turned Wolfe into a werewolf and made him do unspeakable things. Kain liked to call him Lyall, and that's how he learned to hate his name.
When Wolfe was 20, he left the rogue werewolves and trained to become an imperial knight, where he stayed for many years until he was betrayed by a fellow knight, then was forced to leave.
Soon after he left the knights, he became a bounty hunter, going from town to town, killing bandits and whatever else came his way, living the life of a lone wolf.
A few days later, we stepped into the small village of Wekasa, then went to the Inn called The Wailing Banshee. After checking in, we all disappeared into our rooms to take a nice hot bath and have a nice long sleep on a soft, comfy bed.
That night I lay curled up next to Wolfe and thought about how we were getting closer and closer to our destination. The more I thought about it, the more terrified it made me. I remembered how hard it was for me to kill that Minotaur, and It made me wonder if I even stood a chance against a giant dragon.
I asked Wolfe if he could train me to become a better fighter the following day.
"I'm happy that you are asking me to train you, my sweet, but if I train you, I fear you will grow to hate me," he said, gently caressing my cheek.
"There is nothing you could do to make me hate you," I said, not knowing I would soon regret my words.
That afternoon, Wolfe took me to a weapons shop to buy me some awesome-looking throwing knives and a wicked-looking dagger. After leaving the shop, Wolfe took me to a large clearing in the forest, where we would have enough room to train.
Wolfe pushed me hard for the rest of the evening as he explained how to use my new weapons. We didn't leave the forest until the sun began to set. I was sore and exhausted by the time we made it back to our room. My sweet demon, whom I was trying not to hate, was nice enough to order me a hot bath and even gave me an excellent massage. I was so tired that I fell asleep before he finished.
The following day I woke up to find myself all alone. Where did Wolfe go? I wondered, then shrugged it off because I figured he wouldn't be gone long.
I screamed when the bedroom door burst open, banging hard against the wall. I gasped in fright when a vast zombified werewolf with blood-red eyes stepped through the door.
"Wolfe, is that you? What happened!"
I ran towards that werewolf like a dumbass. The creature lifted me from the ground, then tossed me into the cold water of the wooden tub. Somehow I was transported back into the lake, where the Kaapa pulled me deeper and deeper into the inky darkness.
Suddenly, a searing pain ran across my face, and I gasped awake. I was so disoriented from the dream that I screamed and flinched away from Wolfe as he tried to reach for me. The poor guy looked so broken-hearted as when the fog in my brain dissipated.
I still felt a little wonky from the dream, but I reached out and took Wolfe's hand. I knew it had hurt him when I flinched away, and I never wanted him to think I was afraid of him.
"I didn't mean to flinch away from you, sweetie. My head was still cloudy from the nightmare, and I know you would kill yourself before you hurt me." I couldn't hold back the tears that filled my eyes and fell down my cheeks.
The look on his face broke my heart, so I climbed into his lap, then pressed my lips to his. My sweet devil wiped away my tears before grabbing the back of my head to deepen the kiss.
A little while later, we went downstairs for something to eat, then returned to the clearing in the forest where Wolfe trained me until the sun fell beneath the trees.
We stayed in Wekasa for a week before we decided it was time to head out. Wolfe was worried that we wouldn't be able to reach the city of Lambert before winter arrived, so we needed to get as far as possible before the weather could slow us down.
So after replenishing our packs, we checked out of The Wailing Banshee, then stepped back into the wilderness.