Being stolen from your home in the middle of one balmy summer night was definitely a way to spice things up in life. Granted, you probably could have done without it in the first place, but you are finding that you have less and less say in your daily happenings now.
The night started out normal enough. You were taking a late night stroll in the woods on your property and everything was peaceful. The full moon lit your path well and the air was full of the sounds of crickets and the occasional rustle of leaves by the slight breeze. You knew this forest well and did not feel like there was much to worry about while being alone. You were approaching the small creek that ran through the property to take a quick rest.
While sitting down on a rock close to the water’s edge, you look down into the stream. The full moon’s light reflected in ribbons across the surface and the bubbling of the water was soothing. You stayed in a tranquil state for who knows how long before something strange was suddenly being reflected. You finally look up from the water to spot a giant golden wolf with burning red eyes staring directly at you from the other water bank.
You feel yourself stiffen at the sight. You haven’t heard of wolves being active in the area before so you were wholly unprepared. The beast was massive; a lot bigger than you've ever thought possible for a wolf. Its hair looked well maintained and glowed in the moonlight. Its eyes were focused and looked intelligent, with their deep rich reds that seem to be lit from behind.
You and the beast stared at each other, only separated by the gently flowing water, before the giant animal bared its teeth at you. With its head raised and cocked to the side, it looked as if the animal was sneering at you instead of snarling.
You feel a little affronted.
With that, the giant wolf turns away from you and starts walking back from which it came. You don’t understand why, but you feel like the very trees and the moss and the rocks and the dirt were bidding you to follow the wolf.
So you do.
You don’t even bother to try to find a few rocks to help you cross the stream, you are so desperate to follow. Your shoes and socks instantly get wet and slow you down as you wade through the shallow water to reach the other bank before the wolf could disappear from your sight.
Not once does the wolf turn around at the sound of your splashing, but you can tell that it hears you, if the turning of its ears were any indication. It continued walking farther into the woods at the same pace; it was not bothered by the human following behind it.
Soon enough, the forest seems to change. You couldn’t put your finger on it, but it feels still, as if holding its breath. The giant wolf stops in front of a clear where two trees have twisted together to make an intricate archway and a ring of mushrooms surround the area.
The beast finally starts to turn towards you when you enter the ring on the ground and you can see the creature shift before your eyes. Golden fur transforms to tanned skin covered in clothes made of the finest leaves. Hands and feet replace paws and the wolf’s head changes to the sharp features of a handsome man. He does not look completely human though, as if something was off. Maybe it was how his ears pointed at the tips or how he seemed to take up more space than he visually should have. His red eyes stayed just as sharp and his teeth all seemed harmless in comparison if not for the stubborn canines still keeping their points.
His expression seems rather bored while he looks at you and you can’t help the deep seated urge to huff out a little in frustration at his attitude. One of his eyebrows twitch, the only indication that he was affected by your reaction, before he slowly extends his hand out to you.
At this point, you are still a good distance away. There was still plenty of time for you to run; there was plenty of time to return to your bed and chalk everything up as a dream.
But you don’t.
Instead, you find yourself reaching your hand out as well. You make no move to close the distance though but it seems the woods themselves had already decided your fate. The wind picks up and it feels as if tiny invisible hands were pushing you towards the mysterious man in the clearing. You were so disoriented that fighting didn’t even appear to be an option; you were going to the man regardless of if you wanted to or not.
When you are within arms reach, the man doesn’t bother with taking your hand and instead just wraps a muscular arm around your middle and pulls you towards his warm chest. He was taller than you and when you looked up, you came face to face with those burning red eyes and a smirk that simultaneously made your heart pound harder in your chest and for a shiver to travel down your spine.
“I wasn’t expecting to take a guest back with me, but if you are so eager to follow, I have no choice but to take you,” the man said with his raspy voice. It sounded like late night campfires and the haziness that comes with staring at the night sky for so long. He does not wait for a response before hoisting you up and slinging you over one of his shoulders, as if you were nothing more than a fresh hunt. You let out an undignified noise in protest but freeze rather quickly when you feel him start walking through the tree archway.
The world seems to warp and twist from your view over the stranger’s back. At this point, you feel like whatever haze that had settled over your mind up to this point finally dissipated and you regained control over your thoughts. The panic sets in while it seemed like reality itself was tearing and piercing itself back together around you before creating a new world. You recalled all the old fairytales and myths and can’t deny that your fate had been drastically changed that night.
