Cherry
Iwake up feeling better than I have in… well, years, probably. I don’t feel great, but I do feel better. My side isn’t aching as much as it was before, and I feel decently well-rested.
My stomach rumbles with hunger. I know I need to eat some meat, but just the thought of it still gives me a stomachache. I’m afraid that if I try eating it, I’ll throw up.
Something beside me moves, and my eyes fly open as I stiffen. When nothing happens, I slowly roll to my stomach and turn my head to see one of the wolves from earlier lying beside me. He raises his head and turns to me.
We stare at one another, and I stay completely still, unsure of what to do. Is he going to hurt me? Why is he so close?
He stares at me for another minute before dropping his head and rolling to his side, so his back is now pressed against me.
I frown as he tilts his head back to look up at me from where he lies, his head now under mine.
Why is he putting himself in such a vulnerable position?
His brown eyes bore into mine as if he’s trying to tell me something, but I don’t know what it is. Then he completely shocks me by leaning his face away and exposing his neck.
What the ever-loving-hell is going on?
He doesn’t know me at all. Why would he do that? Even I know never to expose your neck to another animal, or human. When he doesn’t move, I glance around and see the other wolf watching me intently from the entrance. Is he worried I’ll hurt his friend?
I look back down again, and he turns his brown eyes back to me and nudges my chest with his nose. He then turns his head away again.
What is he telling me to do? I doubt he wants me to hurt him.
I lean down a little and hear the soft thump of his tail hitting the ground. Is he wagging his tail right now?
I’ve never been more confused in my life. My parents never exposed us to any other wolf shifters so the only experience I have to go by is with my family. We’d roll around in the grass and play in our wolf forms sometimes. Is that what this is? Is he trying to… play with me?
I lean closer and, sure enough, the wagging increases. Again, it slightly irks me that these men don’t seem to be threatened by me at all. Did I want them to be? Not really. These weren’t the men I’d love to fear me.
Deciding to trust the part of me that says this wolf is safe, I follow my instinct and lower my head, gently inhaling near his neck. He smells… amazing. Like crushed pine needles with a burst of citrus.
I move my nose in further, letting it press into his fur to let the smell completely surround me. His scent feels alive, crisp, grounding but energizing. It’s so comforting it makes me sign in contentment as I close my eyes.
As if it has a mind of its own, my tongue suddenly darts out to see what he tastes like. The second my mind catches up to what I’m doing, I recoil my head back. What in ever-loving-hell am I doing?
I stay frozen in place as the wolf turns his head back to me and presses his nose into the side of my neck, smelling me the same way I had sniffed him. He gives my neck a quick lick, making me flinch, then I watch with wide eyes as he shifts into his human form.
Now a naked stranger is lying against me.
I refrain from looking any further down his body, but from my current view, what I can see is pretty spectacular.
He has beautiful brown eyes, and messy brown hair that hangs around his ears, and a short scruffy beard that makes him look rugged.
Beautiful tattoos flow across his chest and down his left arm.
He looks strong and handsome and—I shake my head, unsure where those thoughts come from.
What is he doing to me?
I don't dare move, afraid of what he’ll do. He rolls further onto his back, which shifts him closer to me, and slowly lifts his hand to my head. He stops an inch away, but I don’t move. Everything about this terrifies me.
Finally, he bridges the gap and gently strokes the back of my head and my neck. His fingers are firm and the connection feels strangely soothing.
“Wow, baby girl, you sure are gorgeous.” I don’t move, I just watch him pet me as his eyes roam all over my face. I don’t hate it, and I don’t hate the nickname either. Not from him.
“Do you think you could shift back for me now? I’d like to talk to you. Find out your name?”
Did I want to switch back? Kind of. I wonder if he’d keep petting me if I did. But I can’t protect myself in human form as easily, so I stay as I am and give my head a little shake.
He nods as if he expected that answer. “Alright, are you still tired?” I gave another shake. “Good. Why don’t we find you something to eat then?” He stands up so fast I don't have time to look away, and when I get a glimpse of the rest of his body, I yelp and spin around to face the other way.
He chuckles as his footsteps move away as I scowl at my own stupidity for just giving him my back.
A few seconds later he calls out, “Okay, you can turn around now.” I peek over my shoulder, and when I see him wearing pants, I turn all the way around.
“Alright, come on, let’s get out of this cave. I’m sure you need to relieve yourself, you haven’t done so since we got here three days ago.”
Three days?
It makes sense. I was exhausted from all that running, plus my previous regeneration and my injury. I’m surprised it hasn’t been longer.
I watch him pull on a fitted tan T-shirt and wonder what they’ve been doing for the past three days out here.
Why didn’t they do anything to me? Is it possible they aren’t my enemy?
That maybe they aren’t a threat to me? Letting my guard down isn’t a good idea, though.
I need to be vigilant and stay alert. Nothing comes without a price, and until I knew what the cost of their kindness was, I would keep my guard up.
But I have no idea how to survive in this world without my parents, so leaning on someone else might be necessary.
The brown-haired man takes me to where I can relieve myself in private, in between some trees, then motions back to the fire.
“I’m Hunter, by the way. My twin brother, the other one in wolf form, is Chase.
Come over to the fire when you’re done. I’ll introduce everyone.
” He walks back toward the camp, and I glance around.
When I see no signs of anyone, I take care of business, then look around again, a little more carefully this time.
Have they really left me alone out here? Now’s my chance to get away!
For a second, I wonder if I actually want to get away from these men. But then I remember the guards who pretended to be my friend, only to make me pay for it later.
I need to get away.
Nobody is nice for no reason, they just haven’t told me their form of payment yet. And I’m not interested in waiting around to find out what it is.
I turn away from the camp and run into the woods. The wound in my side pulls painfully, but it’s much better than it was before I arrived at the cave.
I weave around trees and keep my eyes on my path as I run. I’ve only made it about fifty yards when a giant wolf steps out in my path, causing me to stop short so I don’t crash into him.
Swallowing nervously, I take a few steps backward. This wolf is the biggest I’ve ever seen. His fur is almost completely blond, with a little bit of gray mixed in. His eyes are a pale blue that I recognize from the largest man at the cave, the lumberjack.
He caught up to me so fast I have to wonder if he can move that quickly, or if he was already out here.
He watches me like he’s waiting for my next move. But if he could catch me here, he must be faster than I am, so I know there’s no point in trying to run again right now.
I drop my head in defeat as he steps toward me. I tense up as I wait for him to hit me or bite me for running away from them. What I don’t expect is the soft touch of his nose against the side of my head, causing me to look up at him in surprise.
His blue eyes bore into mine, then he uses his nose to point back in the direction of the cave. He’s telling me to go back.
I think for a second about a way to escape, but quickly decide it’s pointless. I’m already exhausted.
Turning, I keep my head down in defeat as I walk ahead of him back to the clearing.
When Hunter sees us, he quickly stands up and walks in our direction. I’m terrified he’ll be mad I didn't listen to him, so I quickly dart to the cave as he calls out, “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you alright?”
Not even close.
I curl up in the back of the cave, hoping they’ll leave me alone. Hunter steps up to stand at the mouth of the cave with a frown etched on his handsome face. The large wolf has turned back into a man, with track pants on, thankfully, and says something quietly to Hunter.
His frown turns to a look of sadness, and he sighs in what sounds like disappointment. Crap. Why did that keep bothering me? Why do I care about disappointing these men?
I don’t, nope, not one little bit.
I must have fallen asleep again, because when I wake, it’s dark out.
Looking around, I’m relieved to see I’m alone in the cave.
I slowly stretch out my limbs and try to extend my senses beyond the entrance.
The sounds of a crackling fire and murmured voices reach my ears.
I know my wolf senses should be able to hear what they’re saying, even from this distance, but I’m still too injured.
But what I really care about right now is food. Not raw meat, but something cooked.
I sniff the air to see if it’s still the same five men out there, and the scent of each reaches me and pulls me closer. I don’t know why, but something about their scents makes me feel safe and want to move closer to them.
Suddenly, I catch a whiff of something else… meat. Cooked meat. I can’t be sure, but I think it’s rabbit.
Slowly, I move to the front of the cave entrance, where I see them sitting around a campfire. None of them looks my way. I lie down and watch them with my head on my paws.
The twins, Hunter and Chase, and the shorter man, Maddox, are sitting on the left side of the fire, and the lumberjack and black-haired man are on the right. They’re mostly sitting sideways to me, so I’m not in their direct line of sight, but I’m not behind their backs either.
It’s the first time I’ve seen Chase in human form, and I’m surprised how different he looks, considering Hunter said they were twins.
Chase is bulkier than his brother, as if he lifts weights regularly.
He also has a head of light pink hair. But the more I study his jawline and face, the more I realize that they are, in fact, identical otherwise.
The lumberjack stands up to rotate a stick with some large meat skewered on it.
I lick my lips when I see it’s brown and juicy.
The scent makes my stomach twist with hunger so sharp it hurts.
My mouth waters, making me crave it so badly my chest aches, but there’s no way I’m going to walk over there. I need to stay far away from them.
They’re silent now, telling me they know I’m here, so running would be pointless. They’d catch me within seconds.
Eventually, the meat is pulled off the fire, and they share it around, each pulling off their own piece to eat. I watch as the lumberjack bites into a piece of meat and the juice runs down his chin. I lick my lips, wishing I could get my mouth on him. On the meat, not him.
Yummy.
Where did that thought come from?
All at once, they stop eating and start glancing at one another.
I swallow nervously, wondering if they are talking through a pack bond.
They all throw glances my way, and my ears press down instinctively, trying to make myself smaller.
Which I know is stupid, they can obviously see me lying at the cave entrance.
They share another look, then Hunter stands up and brings a bit of meat toward me.
Jumping up, I scurry back into the cave. He stops at the cave entrance, watching me carefully. He shows me the meat in his hand, then places it on the floor where I had been lying, then goes back to sit at the fire.
I try to calm my shaking body as I breathe deeply. The smell of the rabbit mixed with Hunter’s pine and citrus scent has my mouth watering again.
I wait a full minute before the sounds of them all eating tell me I’m safe to move, so I slowly stand and walk toward the entrance, taking a second to peek out at them.
None of them are looking my way, so I quickly grab the meat in my mouth and retreat to the back of the cave.
It only takes me a couple of quick bites to finish it.
The flavor explodes on my tongue—smoky, rich, tender.
It’s so good it nearly brings tears to my eyes.
I haven’t had cooked meat in over ten years.
For a heartbeat, it feels like home, like the warmth of my mother’s hands passing me a plate, my father laughing as my sisters tease him for cutting up Mom’s piece like he always did.
The memory guts me. One moment I’m tasting comfort, the next I’m choking on grief. I see the last meal I ever shared with them, hear the echoes of voices I’ll never hear again. The sweetness of the meat turns bitter in my mouth.
Any thought of wanting more food dies as I curl up against the back wall of the cave, pulling into myself as if I can shield against the ache. I let the weight of the memory crush me, thinking about my family and everything I lost that day.