STORY EXCERPT

Red slipped out the door and shook his head. It wasn’t like he hadn’t heard any of that lot before. Werewolves, witches, vampires, and the other evils were real. He knew that. Everyone in the whole village knew it, but there hadn’t been an attack in over five years.

“What’s wrong with you?” A hand shot out of nowhere and shoved him hard from the back.

Red turned to see who had come upon him. It was Jeremy, his best friend. “It’s nothing,” he replied, dismissing the conversation he’d had with his mother. It wasn’t worth rehashing since it only served to annoy him.

“Did you hear the latest news?” Jeremy asked. He raised his cap a little off his head before removing it. “Judge Lawler’s youngest has gone missing since last night. One of their servants went to fetch her for breakfast and she wasn’t in her bed. They’re searching for her now. They say her bed hadn’t been slept in.

He hadn’t heard one word about it. “Who do they think took her?”

Jeremy shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, but the wolf’s been around. It’s rumoured that he’s been sighted just outside the village in the forest.”

“A wolf wouldn’t venture into a house. If it did, surely someone would have heard something.”

“If it was hungry enough it might. You know how much they love feasting on human flesh.” Jeremy opened his eyes wide. “That thing is dead. The judge and his men will string that bastard up, and that will be the end of it.”

* * * *

They never did find the judge’s little girl. All they found was pieces of her and they were lucky enough to find that much to bury. They didn’t kill the wolf either. Maybe the beast knew they were coming for it? Maybe it sensed them before it came and went into hiding? But for whatever reason at that time, it was nowhere to be found.

Red stood at the edge of the field. He hesitated to go into the forest, especially alone. It was a whole other world in there at night. Now wasn’t the time to be a coward, however. He had to muster up the courage to see this through. He was a masterful huntsman. He was known as a superb marksman. This was a hunt like any other or so he told himself over and over. But he wasn’t convinced, and he jumped when another high-pitched howl pierced through the night. He knew this part of the forest well so that much was in his favor. With another silver-tipped arrow ready to go, he stepped forward and forced his legs to keep moving.

* * * *

It hurt damn it! It hurt much more than anything in the blasted world. Jack felt his body shift as he ran through the forest with his vision blurring and his sense of balance screwed to hell. He stopped briefly and looked to his left and to his right. He needed a place to rest to collect his thoughts. The arrow had to be silver. He’d been hit before and shot at by various devices, but only silver really affected him. It was pure poison to creatures like him. He couldn’t even touch the bastardly stuff in human form. There was an old cabin around this area. He knew the forest well enough and had been there before in the not too distant past.

The man that had shot him was getting close. The silver had weakened him, otherwise he would have snapped his pursuer’s neck and been done with it. He stumbled forward and braced himself against the thick trunk of a tree. He couldn’t stop here and risk being found. He had to keep moving. The cabin was this way. He could hear the trickling of a stream. The cabin was near a stream. This had to be the way.

The cabin had been abandoned long ago. Jack was thankful for that. He trudged as quick as he could up the crooked stairs out of sight of any eyes that possibly were watching him. He was almost completely back to his human form, and with the arrow still jutting out of his side, he stopped and grabbed it before pulling it out hard and fast, feeling the tissue around it give way. It took everything in his being not to yell out. With the offending object in his hand, he was thankful to see it still intact. He threw the arrow to his side and dropped to the floor. There was blood…a lot of blood. He’d heal quickly, but it would still take a day or so for him to get back to normal. Not that normal would ever apply to him fully. The normality of life had long been a thing of the past for him.

Once upon a time, he had a life that was like any other in the nearby village. He had a mother, father, sister, and two brothers. But all that had to be left behind. Involving them in what had become a nightmare for him would have put their lives in peril. So he left. He disappeared and took to the forest, leaving everything that had mattered to him behind. That was two years ago, yet it felt like a lifetime.

* * * *

Red noted the blood on the bark of the tree, and the scuff marks through the leaves on the ground in front of him. Picking up the trail of the wolf had been much easier than he’d anticipated earlier. The trail led to an old cabin that had once been home to a trapper who preferred to live outside the village. The old man had died some years ago and no one had lived in it since. Red remembered coming out here as a kid with his father to occasionally visit. The place was falling apart, and he tread carefully as he walked up the steps, brandishing his bow and arrow in front of him. On guard, he stepped slowly inside, hoping the floor beneath him wouldn’t give way.

He had to blink twice to make sure what he was seeing was real and not some figment of his imagination. It was a man. It was a naked man to be exact, lying on the floor in a somewhat fetal-like position. He averted his gaze quickly. He’d never seen another man naked before. His cheeks grew hot as he lowered his bow a little. When he mustered up the courage to look again, that was when he noticed the open wound in the man’s side. It was rumored that the wolf was a man, and that it could switch forms. This had to be him, but lying there, the man-wolf creature didn’t look at all menacing or harmful. He felt conflicted inside. One part of him told him to be done with it while another told him to step back and take in the whole picture before making a final decision that would ultimately end the man’s life.

ADULT EXCERPT

Jack was naked under the blankets. With only the glow of one candle lighting the small room, he watched as Red undressed slowly. He could tell that Red was extremely nervous, and he shared those same feelings. Red’s skin was quite pale underneath his clothes, and slightly freckled. Jack wanted to touch him all over. He wanted to run his hand down across Red’s chest, and so much more. “Come to bed,” he demanded, sensing Red’s hesitation.

Red slipped out of the rest of his clothes, and for the first time Jack saw him naked in his entirety. His eyes moved up and down over Red’s form as he drank him in. He pulled back the blankets and Red slid in bed next to him. “This isn’t something I’ve done before,” Red explained.

“Neither have I. I’ve kissed women before and done much more, but never with a man. I want to touch you all over, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that even with the complications that are between us. We live in different worlds, but I’m glad to now be in yours.”

He turned on his side to face Red. “Have you ever done anything like this before or are you a—”

“Virgin? Yes, I am.”

“I crave you.” Those three words said a lot. That was how he felt now. He craved the intimacy that could only come from Red. “I want us to make each other feel good.” He pushed back the blankets so they could see each another. “Looking at you turns me on.” He guided Red’s hand down to his erect cock. “Touch it and feel how much you turn me on.”

“If anyone walks in, they’ll kill us,” Red said. His eyes met Jack’s.

“It’s okay. You want this. I know you want this.”

Red nodded. He squeezed Jack’s cock and started to jack it. “How’s that?”

“Good,” he replied, but the truth was it was beyond good. Ever since his transformation, his sex drive had increased a lot. Without a partner, he spent many a night pleasing himself, which wasn’t the same. His balls pulled up and tensed as he fought not to come. He wanted this to last and it had to be a night that both of them would remember. His connection to Red was growing stronger. “Put it in your mouth.”

Red moved down as Jack spread his legs wide to allow his new lover access. “That’s it, lick the tip. Now take it in your mouth and suck on it.” A little moan escaped from Red’s eager mouth as Jack pressed into him. “You’re doing a good job. Keep sucking it just like that.” He was careful not to speak too loud. The last thing they needed was someone walking in on them. The walls were thin and most likely had ears.

* * * *

It felt exhilarating to be this close to Jack. This man—yes, he felt that Jack was still very much a man—intrigued him like no other person had before. In the beginning he’d thought that the only reason he’d saved Jack was because he felt guilty for shooting him in the first place, but perhaps there was more to his feelings. His attraction to Jack was stronger than ever. It was like they were meant to meet and fate had brought them together.

With Jack’s cock in his mouth, Red felt a connection that held them together. They shared a common bond between them. Each man had his own secrets. This secured them together.

“Any more and I’ll lose control,” Jack said.

Red moved up to Jack’s side. It felt so good to feel Jack’s body heat warming him. Everything about this was new and a little exciting. Okay… It was extremely exciting. “You’re relaxed.” He had to ask. He still knew very little about Jack and what made up his person.

“I’m at ease around you,” Jack admitted. “But soon I have to go back to the forest.”

Red felt under the bedclothes for Jack’s cock. He wrapped his fingers around it and leaned in closer to whisper in Jack’s ear. But when he went to speak, he couldn’t find the proper words to express how he felt. In the pit of his stomach, he already felt empty at the thought of Jack going away. It was true that Jack wouldn’t be able to stay in the village and his time was limited.

He moved under the bedclothes again. At least they had tonight. That counted for something.