Cherry #2
“I’m sorry if we scared you. I promise we’re just trying to help. You need to eat and drink. We’ll see what else we can find for you, but meat is going to be the best option to help you recover properly.”
He pauses, tilting his head as his gaze seems to sink deep into me. “Please don’t try to run off. Let us help you, okay, little wolf?”
I swallow nervously, not trusting him. The strange part is, he doesn’t feel like my enemy. In some weird way, it’s like I know he won’t hurt me, that he is here to help me, but my mind keeps replaying all the times men at the facility said they were just trying to help.
When I don’t respond, he presses his lips together and stands. He turns his back on me and leaves the cave. I’m not sure why, but it upsets me to see him leave. That expression on his face was… disappointment? Is he disappointed in me? For some reason, I don’t like that.
What is wrong with me? I don’t even know him.
I watch the others as they slowly turn and leave until only the two wolves remain. They lie across the entrance, watching me. When a few minutes pass and they haven’t moved, I lower myself to a lying position, never taking my eyes off them. They don’t seem aggressive, they seem… calm.
One of them lets out a chuff, then rolls to his back.
His tongue hangs out the side of his mouth as he wiggles around with all four legs in the air.
I tilt my head, trying to figure out what he’s doing.
He stops and stays like that, unmoving other than his panting breaths.
After a minute, he wiggles around again.
Inside my head, I giggle at his actions.
When was the last time I laughed? I know the answer to that and it instantly sobers me.
I drop my head to rest on my paws as I watch him wiggle around the cave floor.
The other wolf doesn’t take his brown eyes off me.
After a minute, I notice him trying to move closer to me extremely slowly.
So slowly, I didn't notice at first. It’s only when I realize he is now several feet closer than the other wolf that I even realize he’s been moving.
Almost like a stealthy, slow-motion crawl.
I lift my head as I watch him, and he stops.
He eventually drops his head to his paws, and I do the same. I notice the other wolf is now lying on his stomach as his head darts back and forth between us.
The stealthy wolf starts to move closer again, and I lift my head. He stops. I narrow my eyes on him. What is he playing at? When he moves again, I jump up, my heart pounding fast as I try to move farther away, which is impossible when I’m already at the back of the cave.
He lifts his head, then surprises me by crawling backward until he’s back at the cave entrance beside the wiggler.
After a few minutes, when my heart’s stopped racing, I drop back down with my head on my paws. He doesn’t try to come closer again; he just watches me.
Soon, the man with black hair comes in holding a large leaf. “I have some berries for you, princess.” He slowly walks toward me, and I sit up, unease filling me as he moves closer. He places the leaf on the ground in front of me, then snatches up one of the berries and eats it.
Is he trying to show me they aren’t poisoned? He backs away to watch from the cave entrance, where I notice the other two men have joined him. All five of them now watch me.
I swallow nervously as my stomach rumbles, and I look down at the berries. I may as well, right? Even if they are poisoned, I clearly won’t get out of the cave without their permission. So best to play nice for now.
I lower my head, and my tongue darts out to snatch up a single berry. I swallow it and watch them. They just stare right back, giving nothing away in their intense gazes.
After a minute with no adverse reaction, I eat a couple more. When nothing happens, I eat the rest of the pile in a couple of mouthfuls. When I finally look up, Maddox is smiling.
“Good girl,” he says with a nod.
If I could blush in wolf form, I probably would. Those words make me feel strange, and I shift my weight back and forth between my front paws. The corner of his mouth tugs up, as if he’s amused, and the giant smirks at him when their eyes connect.
“Let’s see what else we can find her to eat,” the black-haired one states as he exits the cave. This time, the two wolves follow him, and Maddox and the large blonde lumberjack sit in the cave entrance with their backs to me, looking out into the clearing.
They must not think I’m a threat if they’re willing to give me their backs like that.
It makes me angry to be dismissed, like I’m not a wolf, but I know I don’t have a chance to take them, even in their human forms. They would have heightened senses like me, probably better, as they aren’t weakened like I am.
Eventually, the others return with a few types of berries and a few nuts.
I eat all of it. They even give me a bowl of water, which I drink through three times before finally feeling hydrated enough to stop.
I start to get sleepy, but fear has me trying to stay awake.
I try to keep myself upright, but my head keeps dipping as I nod in and out of consciousness.
Eventually, I can’t fight it anymore, deciding that they had already been around me while I slept and nothing bad had happened. So, I lie down and let sleep overtake me.