Filed to story: Wolf Crying Mate of the Alpha by Jazz Ford
‘Come with me, my love. I will protect you and keep you safe from the wolves,’ the blonde-haired man says, reaching his hand out to me and smiling.
‘No!’ Alpha King Damon shouts, offering his hand to me.
‘You’re my mate. We’re destined to be together. Please take my hand,’ he says desperately. I rescind from them both.
‘I don’t understand. Who are you, and why do I have to choose? What if I don’t want to choose? What if I choose wrong?’ I ask.
Both men evaporate into thin air, and I wake up drenched in sweat. Ember is sitting on my chest, staring at me.
Realising it was just a dream, I compose myself and shake it off. I decide to go to Vivian’s house, where I can ask her some questions and hopefully get the answers I need.
Arriving on her doorstep, I knock and wait for her to answer. She swings the door open, and I am greeted with a great big smile. She wears a longsleeved, floor-length green dress. She has been baking.
‘Maia! You’re back. How lovely to see you. Come in, come in. You’re just in time for some bread,’ she says, closing the door behind us.
‘The Forest Princess! The Forest Princess is here!’ The twins chorus together, hugging my arms and giving me a greeting fit for a queen.
‘Hello, Grace and Ella,’ I smile.
I sit down in my usual kitchen chair and drape my cloak over the back of it. Unfortunately, since washing up in the river, my dress and cloak are torn in places and look worse for wear. Vivian notices this and frowns.
‘Maia, do you only have one set of clothes?’ She asks, surprised.
‘Yes,’ I say, accepting the cup she hands me. ‘Thank you,’ I smile.
‘You need more than one set of clothes, darling. How do you manage?’ Vivian asks, concerned.
‘I manage just fine,’ I say, smiling.
‘How are you otherwise?’ She asks.
‘I’m good,’ I tell her about the dream I have just woken up from.
‘That’s not a very nice dream, is it?’ She asks.
‘Girls. Lunch,’ she says, breaking the loaf of bread into parts.
‘I want to know a few things,’ I say, readying myself to ask Vivian all sorts of questions.
‘Go on,’ she says, smiling.
‘What do men look like under their breeches?’ I ask innocently, and Grace and Ella laugh and giggle animatedly.
Vivian wasn’t expecting my question.
‘Well, men are different to women. Women have breasts and lady gardens, and men have no breasts, and appendages girls, if you’re finished with your food, run along and play in your room,’ Vivian says, not wanting them to hear what she says. Grace and Ella get down from their chairs and run into their bedroom.
‘As I was saying, men have appendages that we don’t have,’ she goes on.
‘What do they do with it?’ I ask, needing more details.
‘Well, there is a thing that exists between man and wife called s*x. Have you heard of this before?’
‘No, I haven’t,’ I say, feeling rather foolish that I don’t know what an appendage is.
‘s*x is what man and wife do to create babies. It is what I did with my husband Derrick so that we could create Ella and Grace,’ she says, smiling. I feel myself frowning and pulling a very odd expression.
‘During s*x, men’s appendages are pushed into our lady garden, releasing their seed inside.’
‘When do people have s*x?’ I ask.
‘People have s*x when they feel a desire towards one another,’ Vivian explains.
‘Desire?’ I ask, surprised.
‘Yes, it’s a sense of wanting to be close to someone, to want to touch them and wanting them to touch you,’ Vivian explains.
‘s*x is lovely if you do it with someone who gives you butterflies,’ Vivian says, smiling.
‘Is it always lovely? Can it ever be dangerous or scary?’ I ask, not sure.
‘Between a man and a wife, or two people who love each other, it will mostly always be lovely. Have you got someone in mind, love?’ She asks.
‘No. I don’t,’ I say with blushing cheeks.
She smiles.
Vivian fills a large basket with two dresses, a shawl, a wool blanket, and a pillow stuffed with straw and hands the basket to me before I leave. I thank her and say goodbye.
Returning to the cave with the basket, I empty it. I put the straw-filled pillow and the wool blanket on my makeshift bed. The dresses and shawl are placed on a tree stump stool.
I go for a walk to think about Damon and everything Vivian said. I spot a fairy ring of tiny mushrooms, plant my hands into the soil on either side of the fairy ring, and focus. They instantly grow to their full size.
‘Yay!’ I yell excitedly. I pluck them out of the soil and put them in the wicker basket Vivian gave to me and decide to pick some fruit if any has grown.
Coming across a plum tree, I place my hands on the tree trunk and stare up into the branches. Plums sprout and grow to their full size. I swipe the air, making the plums fall to the ground. I fill the basket with fallen plums and return to the cave and Ember. I tell Ember about my latest abilities.
I leave the fruit basket on the tree stump table, go back outside, sit on a rock, and daydream.
Suddenly I’m yanked back by grimy, rough hands that pull me onto the ground. The man they belong to hovers over me. It’s the soldier from last time who touched me in a way I didn’t like.
This man is suddenly knocked off me by a werewolf, who bites into the man’s throat and kills him instantly-blood splatters over me, the rock beside me, the grass, and forest detritus.
The wolf shifts. It’s Damon, who covers his anatomy with two hands, not being dressed.
Alpha King Damon
Following Maia’s scent, I come across a beautiful plum tree with many fresh, ripe plums on the ground deep in the forest.
I pick one up and bite into it. Its wine-coloured juice runs down my chin messily. I suddenly hear a scream and know it’s Maia. I quickly undress, shift into my wolf, and run towards Maia, which leads me to a spot with a cave. A soldier I do not know hovers over my mate. I pierce the flesh of his neck with my fangs and rip a large chunk out, killing him instantly.
Maia sits up and looks at me in fear. I shift back into human form and cover myself with my hands. I slowly approach her. ‘Your safe now.’ I say gently. ‘I won’t hurt you.’ I assure her. Her shaking subsides. I gently pick her up sparks form where our skin touches. I walk over to the waterfall and step in until I am chest-deep in the water.
She stares at my chest, and my body hardens. Thank goodness she can’t see her effect on me under the water. The water washes away the blood while I caress her face and stroke her hair.
‘Are you okay? Did he hurt you?’ I ask her, concerned.