She ran her hand against the bark of the oak and felt the roughness scratch her skin. Everything had been so… soft lately. Hunter liked making things easy for her. Which was fine, but was that life?
Twyla wandered away. She sniffed a flower or two and touched a tree here and there. How was she going to find Hunter? What did she do now? She meandered along the trail, enjoying nature while she considered what she should do next.
Then she heard it.
A howl.
Not a dog.
Definitely not a dog.
Oh no.
Twyla's heart pounded. She could not outrun a wolf. To be fair, she couldn't outrun a dog either.
She looked around as she sprinted. Where was the castle? Which way had she been going? Why hadn't she been marking trees or something?
Choosing a random direction, she ran. And the sound got closer.
"Damn!" she cursed. Branches ripped through her hair and scratched her skin. Her shoes did nothing to protect her feet from the sharp twigs that littered the forest floor.
The howling picked up. There was more than one wolf. If it was a wolf. It had an almost… human quality to it.
The bright moonlight lit the way and she stumbled over fallen logs and between intertwined trees.
A stitch bloomed at her side and she cursed again. She had lost some of her fitness while she ate cake and played games.
She chose another direction as the howling came from in front of her now. She had never seen wolves in the forest. Not that she had been into the forest though she had looked out of her window often. And she didn't think she ever heard howling. But now all those paintings in the castle made sense. This was clearly a wolf forest. But why would they build a castle when there were so many wolves?
She should have listened to Arke. And Iynx. And Hunter…
Maybe wolves migrated and they stopped here for a few days. Thank goodness the moon was so bright today. How would she have managed to stay upright if there was less light?
Twyla stumbled over a branch. The taste of dirt hit her before she realised that she had fallen. Scratches marred her exposed skin. She peeled herself off the floor and looked up.
And wished that she hadn't.
Twyla had never seen a wolf but surely they weren't normally that big. Weren't they the size of huskies? This wolf was as tall as her. Those silver eyes level with hers. Silver, not grey. Its eyes looked like liquid metal burning bright. Gigantic canines protruded from either side of a row of deadly teeth as it growled. Saliva dripped from between all those teeth. Ears flattened as it snarled. It was staring at Twyla as it prowled closer. Twyla tried to back away but found herself trapped against a tree. Her foot caught in a vine.
She tried not to hyperventilate. All the tips she might have read on the internet went through her head. None of them seemed useful now. She remembered a particularly useless one about not putting your fridge in front of a window. Then she realised that that was for bears.
It lowered its head and Twyla knew it was about to pounce. She screamed.
Her voice pierced the forest.
The wolf hit her and she slammed into the tree. She heard a crack and her vision went white. She may have screamed again. The wolf was snarling and nipping at her. Saliva flew at her. Its paws held her against the tree. She had a feeling that it was playing with her before it killed her. She tried pushing it away. Its breath was hot and smelt of wet dog. Her hand got caught in the grey fur. She knew this was a bad moment to notice but she couldn't help it. The wolf's fur was so soft. It sniffed her. And nipped at her again. She saw its mouth open wide. There were so many large, pointy, sharp teeth….
She felt the touch of its teeth and then -
The wolf was suddenly not there. Twyla tried to catch her breath and looked around. The grey wolf was pinned under another wolf. This one was larger. The first one had already been as tall as her. This one… This one was enormous. She was sure she had seen elephants smaller than this wolf. Maybe she was delirious. The new wolf was a warm brown, with lighter streaks. The same colour as… as Hunter's hair. The brown wolf swiped at the grey one and the grey one howled. The grey wolf was trying to fight back. It tried to push the brown one off. The brown one snarled. Twyla felt the hairs on her arm raise. The grey one whined. The brown one hit the little wolf across the face and Twyla gasped as blood streaked in claw marks.
Twyla looked away. Sure, the grey wolf was about to kill her but she didn't want to see it being killed. It was just a wolf. She heard howls and squeals of pain. She felt the ground rumble as the two wolves rolled around. There was a sickening snap and a thud. Twyla looked up just to see a tree fall where the wolves had been.
The sky started to brighten and Twyla realised that it was already sunrise. She must have been wandering around the forest and the dark castle for a lot longer than she thought.
Both wolves howled again. But this time it sounded like both of them were in pain. Twyla looked back at them. Something strange was happening to them. Something she wasn't sure she wanted to see.
Twyla tried to back away but her foot was still caught in the vine and the tree still at her back.
She could hear their bones cracking. She could see their bones cracking. Their bodies contorted. What was wrong with them? They were clearly in pain. Their bones were reshaping. Their whole bodies were rearranging themselves. The skin under their fur was just like… like human skin. Their fur was falling off in clumps. Their claws were shortening into nails. Their fingers snapped straight. Their snouts receded to -
"Nope. Nope. Nope," Twyla refused, shaking her head. She shut her eyes and kept repeating the word. She also put her hands over her eyes in case it kept what was happening around her out.
"Twyla. Please open your eyes," Hunter's voice pleaded.
"I'm having a nightmare."
"No, Twyla, please." Hunter touched her hand and she yanked it away like she had been burnt.
She did open her eyes and put her hands down. Hunter was standing in front of her. His eyes were still liquid gold and slanted up. Just like the brown wolf's had been… He was completely naked with patches of fur still clinging to him. He shook roughly and the last of the fur fell out and his human hair grew back to its normal length. She looked up and down his muscular body. He was definitely human. Now.
"You're… You're… a-" Twyla couldn't say it.