Gray
There are things I will forgive, but threatening my mate is not one of them.
Even the memory of the knives pointed at her makes me snarl, and I shift deeper into the cave to ensure that Maris does not hear me.
She sleeps now, exhausted still from stress, and I will not wake her.
For hours, I held her, cradling her while she slept, until finally I could stand the silence and my own loud thoughts no longer.
Now, I pace, claws clicking on the cave floors as I stalk back and forth in each room, muttering to myself while I try to work out a plan.
Something must be done, of that I am certain. I cannot allow the humans to threaten my mate. No matter how much I dislike violence, Maris must come first, and with no pack to protect us as I had once had, that leaves it up to me.
The only question is what to do. Will I upend the years of work I have done to prepare for my mate and run? Or should I stand and fight, as I had not done when the humans came before?
I worked hard to create this life we have and to prepare this cave for us to dwell in and be happy. I can’t imagine giving it up and starting over, but I will do whatever it takes to protect her.
To protect us.
They are back now, of that I am certain. When I hid—and Maris, brave soul that she is—stood firm against the crowd, I breathed deep and catalogued the scents of everyone hateful human there; I do not forget those that threaten my mate, and I will remember them later.
But one of those scents was familiar. It didn’t belong to any of the men in the clearing but it was a familiar tang that still clung to their clothes… I recognized that smell. It still clings to my nostrils, burns in my throat like the flames I can still taste.
The day my pack was killed, our home was burned, and those men were there. At least one, perhaps more, were part of the wholesale slaughter of my pack. They are the reason that I am the last wolf, the reason the curse falls to me.
For just a moment, even in the midst of my anger, I think of what things could be if my life was different, if the humans hadn’t come to hunt my pack that day.
I have no doubt I would still have found Maris somehow; it’s fate.
But with a partner to balance the curse, and others to pass it on to, my seven years as a wolf would have passed quickly, and I would have been human again once that time was up.
I would have been able to spend time with her, court her properly, instead of slinking along the edges of the village and eating her food like some sort of wild dog.
I would have been able to love her properly.
Not this… not this strange half life where I fear for her every moment of the day, and miss what could have been. If not for these men.
A low snarl rips from my throat as I turn away, dropping to all fours so that my claws can dig more firmly into the ground.
So it seems the answer is simple: I cannot allow the humans to put Maris in danger again.
I cannot allow them to ruin the happiness we have.
I may be a coward, but if I strike first, it won’t matter.
One last night of holding my mate close, and then I will hunt them all down. Remove the threat before she is in danger again, and prove that I am a worthy mate for her.
Once and for all.