Gray
The men emerge from the treeline, and I count four of them—different faces than the ones who captured her before, but the same hungry look in their eyes. The same weapons at their sides. My claws extend involuntarily, digging deeper furrows in the soil.
Maris doesn't run. She doesn't even step backward. Instead, she draws herself up to her full height—which isn't much compared to these men, but there's something regal about the way she holds herself that makes her seem larger.
"You're trespassing," she says, her voice carrying clearly through the forest air.
One of the men laughs, a harsh sound that makes my ears flatten. "Trespassing? This is God's forest, witch. You're the one who doesn't belong."
"Am I?" Maris tilts her head, and there's something almost predatory in the gesture that makes pride surge in my chest. "Because the beast that protects these woods seems to think differently."
The men exchange glances, their easy confidence faltering. Good. Let them be afraid.
"You admit it then," another one says, trying to regain his bravado. "You consort with monsters."
Maris smiles, and it's not a pleasant expression. "Consort? Such a small word for what we share." She spreads her arms wide, encompassing the forest around her. "You think you can hunt here? You think you can threaten what's mine?"
My heart swells with fierce pride even as terror claws at my throat.
She's magnificent, my mate. Brilliant and brave and utterly fearless in the face of men who could kill her without a second thought. But this is the best plan she could come up with? Making herself seem more dangerous, more connected to me than she already appears? Before, they only thought I cared for her, and they sliced her with a knife and tied her to a tree. If they know we’re connected—consorting as they call it—there is no telling what they will do.
"Call off your creature," the first man demands, but his hand is shaking where it rests on his weapon. "Remove your curse from our village, and we might let you live."
"My curse?" Maris laughs, a sound like breaking glass. "You think what's been happening to your people is my doing? You think I'm the one you should fear?"
She steps forward, and amazingly, the men step back.
"I don't curse people," she continues, her voice dropping to something barely above a whisper. "I don't need to. I simply... ask. And my guardian is very good at listening."
No. No, Maris, don't do this. Don't make yourself a bigger target than you already are.
But I can see the strategy in it, even through my panic. She's making them think she has more power than she does, making them believe that hurting her would bring down something far worse than they're prepared to handle. It's clever. It might even work.
But it also paints her as exactly the kind of threat they're here to eliminate.
"If you leave now," Maris says softly, "and if you convince your friends to stop hunting in these woods, then perhaps I won't mention your visit to my companion. Perhaps I won't describe how you threatened me. How you made me... upset."
As if summoned by her words, I let out a low, rumbling growl from the shadows. Quiet enough that they might think they imagined it, but just audible enough to raise the hair on the backs of their necks.
The effect is immediate. One of the men goes pale, another's hand flies to his crossbow. But they don't flee, and my stomach drops. They're scared, yes, but not scared enough.
Not yet. I can help with that.
I watch the men's faces, see the fear warring with stubborn pride, and know that words alone won't be enough. Maris has done brilliantly, but these are the kind of men who will only believe in power they can see and feel.
Moving as silently as I can, I circle around behind them, using every skill I've learned after years of avoiding human contact. The forest is my domain, and I know exactly where to step to avoid the dried leaves that would crackle underfoot, which branches to avoid that might scrape against my fur.
When I'm positioned directly behind the group, I let out another growl - louder this time, closer. The sound rumbles from deep in my chest, a warning that any creature with sense would heed.
All four men spin around, weapons drawn, but they can't see me through the thick underbrush. I'm a shadow among shadows, a hint of movement that could be wind or could be something much more dangerous.
"Where is it?" one of them hisses, crossbow raised and ready.
"Everywhere," Maris says from behind them, and there's something almost musical in her voice now. "Nowhere. Does it matter? You've already made your choice by coming here."
I move again, deliberately stepping on a branch this time. The sharp crack echoes through the trees, and the men whip around again, trying to track the sound. But I'm already gone, melting back into the forest like mist.
"This isn't natural," the leader whispers, and I can smell the acrid scent of his fear. "No wolf moves like that."
"No," Maris agrees, and I can hear the smile in her voice even if I can't see it. "No ordinary wolf would care enough to listen to me. To trust me. To consider me—" she pauses, letting the silence stretch, "--family."
The word hits me like a physical blow, warm and terrifying at the same time.
Family.
Is that what we are? Is that what she wants us to be?
I circle them again, closer this time, letting my presence be felt without being seen. A glimpse of gray fur through the trees. The sound of something large moving through the undergrowth. The sense of being watched by eyes that see everything.
"We should go," one of the younger men says, his voice cracking slightly. "This was supposed to be reconnaissance, not—"
"Reconnaissance?" Maris cuts him off, and there's ice in her tone now. "You came here to spy on me? To gather information for a larger hunt?"
The temperature in the clearing seems to drop several degrees. Even I feel it, the way her voice carries a threat that has nothing to do with magic and everything to do with the promise of consequences.
I let out a snarl this time, low and menacing, and I see the leader's hand shake as he tries to keep his crossbow steady.
"Tell me," Maris continues, taking a step toward them, "how many more of you are planning to come? How many hunters think they can walk into my home and threaten what's mine?"
The men are backing away now, almost stumbling over each other in their haste to put distance between themselves and whatever they think is stalking them through the trees.
"This isn't over," the leader tries to say, but his voice lacks conviction.
"No," Maris agrees pleasantly. "It isn't. But the next time you come here, you might want to bring more men. Or better yet..." she smiles, and even I can see the predatory gleam in her eyes from where I'm hidden, "don't come at all."
I add one final touch, a howl, long and mournful and utterly inhuman. It echoes off the mountains, seeming to come from everywhere at once, and the sound of it makes even my own fur stand on end.
The men break. They turn and flee, crashing through the underbrush like panicked deer, leaving behind only the smell of fear and the echo of snapping branches.
When the forest falls silent again, I wait several long moments before emerging from my hiding place. Maris is still standing in the clearing, but now that the danger has passed, I can see the way her hands are shaking, the way she's holding herself too rigidly upright.
"Maris," I say softly, padding toward her on silent feet.
She turns toward me, and her smile is brilliant and terrifying and proud all at once.
"Did you see their faces?" she asks, and there's a fierce joy in her voice that makes my heart race. "They'll think twice before coming back here again."
I want to tell her how magnificent she was, how clever, how brave. But I also want to shake her for putting herself in such danger, for making herself an even bigger target than she already was.
Instead, I just press against her side, offering what comfort I can, and try not to think about what happens when those men make it back to their village with tales of the witch who commands monsters.
Has my cowardice endangered her life, put her in a jeopardy I won’t be able to undo?