“What in the Saints are you doing?” a deep male voice behind me made me jump.
“Stop! Don’t move!” I hissed, whipping my gaze between the towering wolf and the strange, hooded man behind me. He stood with his hands in his pockets, clearly not a threat.
“Whatever you say,” he said in a casual tone that made me even angrier than I already was.
I focused back on the wolf. If I could get his attention onto the rabbit, I could throw it into the trees and get out of here.
But then I would be empty handed. Tessa would be hungry. All of this would be for nothing.
“It’s you or me,” I said to the hungry beast, “and I’m afraid I have a family to feed.” I tucked the rabbit into my satchel and backed away slowly.
Which only made the wolf let out a deep, blood-curdling howl toward the sky.
A low laughter filled the air behind me. “I think you’ve angered him,” the man said. I kept stepping backward away from the wolf and in the direction of the man.
I didn’t care. I had dealt with many men in my life. Men were nothing compared to a hungry pack of wolves.
Although they often liked to think otherwise.
“Shut up,” I mumbled in his direction. The wolf stepped forward, following my every move.
And then another wolf followed behind it.
Shit.
There had to be more hiding in the bushes, and they were no longer interested in the rabbit.
They were interested in me.
The man behind me knew it too. He gave a quiet noise of satisfaction.
I unsheathed the knife, holding it out in front of me.
“Come on then,” I said to the wolf, loud enough for my audience to hear. “If you’re going to kill me, do it already!”
I didn’t care that I sounded crazy. This was my last night alive, anyway. If the wolf decided to attack, I at least had a chance at killing one of them before they killed me.
At least my death wouldn’t be for nothing.
“You should probably get behind me,” the man said. “Unless you want to be dinner for about five wolves.”
“Get away from me,” I said, continuing to step backward. I knew I was just a few feet from him. The wolves were pushing me closer and closer.
I took another step backward. Then another.
When I took one more step, I found myself pressed against the man’s chest.
He didn’t touch me, though. Just laughed silently. I could tell by the way his body shook against my back.
The wolves didn’t seem to pay him any attention. He wasn’t the one that had stolen their dinner.
A third wolf came into view, snapping its jaw just inches from my legs. I jumped back on instinct, further into the stranger’s body.
Coward, I thought to myself. I twisted the knife in my hand, gripping tightly. Would it be enough? If these wolves lunged, would my knife protect me? By the looks of it, it would take much more than a knife to take one of them down.
Seconds later, I had no choice.
The wolf in front of me lunged, and my body reacted without my permission. I didn’t cower this time. I lunged myself forward, knife out, aiming for the wolf’s throat.
A mixture of limbs, fur, and claws hit the forest floor. I was waiting for the piercing pain of teeth to impale me, but it never came.
And my knife never made contact, either.
An aggressive, alpha growl rumbled through the still air right before strong hands pulled me from the floor, dragging me backward. My knife slipped from my grip, but the hands kept dragging me away.
And the wolves didn’t follow.
“Are you out of your damn mind?” The stranger hissed into my ear, dropping me to the floor. “You’re going to get yourself killed!”
I scrambled to my feet, ready to fight with my bare hands if I needed to. That knife wouldn’t have helped much, anyway.
“They’re going to–” I started, but froze.
The wolves, who were just seconds away from ripping me apart, were now backing away. Each of their heads bowed and their tails were now tucked between their legs.
Not because of me, though. No– they were all focused on the man to my left.
I had never seen anything like it.
As soon as the animals turned their attention onto him, the energy in the forest changed.
What was he doing?
He stepped forward once, and the wolves scattered completely. He must have known some secret to deter the wolves that I didn’t know. That was the only explanation.
That, or the fact that the man was an absolute giant.
I was of average height, but this man towered over me. And his wide shoulders told me that he was certainly strong enough to fight one of the beasts if given the opportunity.