werewolvesversus:

werewolvesversus:

An excerpt from Stephanie Gallon’s story, as seen in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE.

More of Stephanie Gallon’s work can be found here.

A wolf stood in the path.

Red shrieked and scurried back until she was pressed against a tree, her eyes never leaving the beast. She tried to run to safety, but her foot got caught under the tree root. She tumbled to the floor, her basket spilling the flowers. The wolf advanced towards her, slowly padding over the petal path. It stopped at her feet, teeth bared. It growled.

Red lay still, frozen in fear, heart racing and tears streaming. She screwed her eyes shut, waiting for the wolf to attack. She whispered a fevered prayer.

‘Blessed are thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.’

The wolf howled and licked her cheek. Red let out a single shocked laugh and flinched away. The wolf whimpered and nuzzled Red’s hand. Tentatively, she stroked its black fur and it bowed its head to her.

Once her heart had calmed and she had the strength to stand, Red gathered her flowers and walked the path home, mindful that the wolf followed her steps. Sometimes it would brush against her legs, its tail flicking her hands in playful teasing. She entertained thoughts of throwing it a stick as she had seen other children do with their pets. In the end though, she decided against it. She worried what she would do when the creature followed her into the village, but the moment she stepped out of the woods, the wolf lay down and whined.

‘I’m sorry, girl… but I can’t stay here. People can’t live in the woods,’ she said.

The wolf only snorted in the ground and looked up at her with pitiful amber eyes. Red was moved by the sight, and reached out to stroke the beast one more time.

Read the rest in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE. Download the entire issue for any price from Gumroad or Itch.io, and explore the entire WEREWOLVES VERSUS catalogue here.

Would you have thrown the stick?