She awoke from yet another nightmare

Dreams ©

by Lupa8

She awoke from yet another nightmare, sat up in bed, held the covers to her chest and looked about wildly. Once she was reassured that she was safe in her own room, alone, she calmed down a bit. She lay back in her soft bed and thought about her disturbing dream and what it might mean. For the past five nights she has been plagued by the same nightmare, she is running thru the woods with a howling pack of maddened wolves after her. She always managed to wake up right before the wolves got to her but it didn’t make her feel any better about it.

‘I shall have to tell grandmother about this.’ she thought to herself. She was a gypsy and her grandmother was the head matron of her clan, she would know what the dreams meant. She snuggled down into her bed and tried to go back to sleep, but she would get no more sleep this night. Off in the distance she heard the long, lonely howl of the lone wolf that had been prowling around the camp and worrying the sheep for the past week. The men said that is was a male, and although it had yet to attack any of their livestock, the men were determined to kill it, if they could. It had only been seen once but it was heard nightly, howling out his loneliness for all to hear.

As she listened she felt a pang of sorrow for it, ‘poor thing, I wonder where its pack is?’ she shook off the thought as soon as she had it. If the clan knew she was feeling sorry for a wolf, she would be looked on with suspicion and might even be accused of causing it to be here. It was bad enough that she was having these dreams. She had held off telling anyone about them because of the superstition about such dreams, but she needed sleep and if anyone could make them go away, it was her grandmother.

She got up early the next day and hurried thru her chores, made breakfast for her father, then went to see her grandmother. She got to the wagon that her grandmother lived in and knocked softly at the door.

“Come in Kathryn.” said and old voice. Kathryn entered, wondering, not for the first time, how she knew it was she.

She opened the door, went in, and took in a deep breath thru her nose. It smelled like willow bark and honey today, ‘Her hands must be hurting again’, she thought, grandmother always drank a tea of willow bark and honey when her hands hurt. She sat at the edge of the small, neatly made bed and waited for her grandmother to notice her. She finally came out from behind the curtain at the end of the little room. Although Kathryn had been in her grandmother’s wagon hundreds of times in her 17 years, she had never seen what was on the other side of the curtains, to her knowledge, no one had.

She came over and sat down next to Kathryn and took her hands. “So, what brings you to see me today?”

Kathryn looked down at their interlacing hands, “I have been having a dream, a bad one, for five nights now. It is always the same and it frightens me so, I am afraid to go to sleep.” She looked up, grandmother was looking hard at her.

“Why did you wait to come to me with this?”

“Well I was hoping it would go away, or that...”

“You know better!” grandmother snapped. She went to get her cards, sat down, and motioned Kathryn to sit at the table.

She sat across from her with her head bowed, ashamed that she had not come earlier.
As her grandmother shuffled the reading cards, she asked, “So what has been troubling your sleep this time?” she started laying the cards out in a fan shape.

“I dream that I am being chased by hungry wolves, and that they would eat me if I did not awake right before they reach me.”

Her grandmother studied the spread and nodded. “Well I see that you are troubled, but I see nothing but a new beginning for you here.” she indicated the cards. “And we both know what this new beginning is, you will be wed to Derrick at the next new moon.”

Kathryn sighed and nodded, causing her grandmother to look at her sharply. “He will make you a good husband, you will have many strong children with him Kathryn, it is a good match.”

Kathryn only nodded, there was no use arguing with her, everyone was thrilled that her father had arranged the marriage between the son of the clan leader and herself. Everyone but her. She found him rude, smelly, and boorish. She shuddered to think of her life beneath him. But she had no say in the matter, and he had readily agreed to be married to her, she had had a lot of suitors but they had all backed off when Derrick had entered the ring.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by her grandmother’s voice, “You are probably just disturbed about the lone wolf that has been coming near the camp and you are nervous about your marriage, I see no problem here.” she put her cards away. Kathryn nodded and thanked her, then left as quickly as she could, she needed a walk.

Half an hour later, she was deep in the woods, it was midday and the forest offered her a cool place to think. Unlike most of her clan, she enjoyed walking in the deep woods alone. It caused others to look at her strangely and whisper behind her back, but she did not care. It was her last place of peace, and she would not give it up. As she walked, she remembered her last encounter with Derrick.

She had just come from a walk in the wood and he had met her, grabbing her arm as she walked into camp and pulling her behind a wagon.

“I do not like you walking thru the wood by yourself, you will stop this foolishness.” He had snapped, “the others talk about you, they say that you might be seeing another lover, or talking to trees.”

She yanked her arm away. “That is none of your concern yet,” she snapped back. “I will do as I please for now.”

He had responded by slapping her hard across the face, she had stumbled with the force if the blow, but had managed to stay on her feet.

“You had better bleed our first night.” he growled, “One way or another, you will.” with that, he stomped away, leaving her bruised and distraught.

‘I am to marry a beast.’ she thought to herself. She wept bitterly that night.

She wiped a tear away as she walked, it would do her no good to cry about it, her fate was sealed, she only hopped that she would outlive him in the end, so that at least her final years would be in peace. She stopped and sat down on a stump, breathing in a deep breath of air, she slowly let it out and looked around her. It was spring and the trees were showing their best leaves, she couldn’t decide what season she liked better, early spring when everything was coming alive, or late fall, when the colors were so bright and beautiful that she thought she would never be able to really see them all. She got up and lay down on her back on the forest floor, stretching her legs out and crossing them at the ankle. Folding her hands behind her head in a makeshift pillow, she lay and looked up at the trees, soon falling asleep.

She woke up suddenly, it was dusk and she went to rub at her eyes but froze still at the sight at her feet. Standing only a step away from her was a huge, gray wolf. He stood quietly, watching her lay before him. She was terrified, she hardly dared breathe. It had been foolish to fall asleep in the wood, knowing that a wolf roamed so near the camp. He regarded her for a few terrifying moments then bent his great head down and sniffed at her feet, much as a dog would.

She kept still, ‘go away go away go away go away go away.’ the thought repeated over and over again in her head. He moved a step to her, sniffing carefully as he moved. Another step, then another and then he was over her legs. He sniffed briefly at her crotch, and when she tensed, he looked up at her a moment, then moved on. Only to stop at her face, with his great paws on either side of her. She thought she would die from fright, her heart pounded so loudly that she was sure it would burst from her chest. She closed her eyes tight and held her breath, waiting for the deathblow that she was certain would come.

She jumped and almost shrieked when his tongue flicked out and caressed her cheek. He paused a moment, then continued to slowly lick her face. She finally let out her breath and dared to open her eyes. He was standing above her and licking her face like a friendly dog. From her position, she couldn’t tell if he was wagging his tail or not. She lay there, stunned for a moment. Then, daring to move, she slid her hands down from where they were on her chest and placed them on the ground, very near his forepaws.

He stopped licking her face and looked down at her, she decided to try something, ‘perhaps he is more like a dog than I think, I hope so.’ she thought, and started making a small, whining sound in her throat, much like that of a young puppy. In her experience, dogs responded in a friendly manner to this sound, she hopped it would be the same for the wolf. He cocked his head to the side as he looked down at her, then, incredibly, he laid back his ears and made a small whining sound of his own, not that of a puppy, but the meaning was obviously meant to be friendly. She breathed a gasp of relief, smiling in spite of herself. Slowly, she reached up and lightly brushed the tips of her fingers across the fur on his chest. He moved to the side and licked her hand. She stretched out her shaky fingers and laughed in relief. She would live to see the day, she was sure of it now. He stopped licking her fingers and moved more to the side, now that he was no longer above her, she could sit up.

She sat up slowly, carefully, not wanting his mood to change. The old stories were full of tales of wolves gobbling up children and lone travelers, but in her lifetime, now that she thought of it, no one from her clan, nor from the surrounding clans had ever lost anyone to a wolf attack, and since the plague, there were more wolves than men.

She reached up to touch his face and he bowed his head, so she patted him on top of his massif skull.

“You aren’t so bad, are you?” she whispered and he responded by wagging his tail even faster, and licking her hand. She sat back and really looked at him, he was beyond beautiful. At closer look she decided that he was not in fact a solid gray color. He had a black under coat that was tipped in white, giving him a dark, glowing, silver look. Especially in the brightness of the full moon.

The moon! She gasped and looked up, it was already high in the sky! Her father would be furious with her for staying out so far past sunset. She scrambled to her feet, brushing off bits of dirt and leaves as she did. The wolf jumped back at her sudden movement, then sat down and watched her.

“He’ll beat me for sure.” she said aloud, shaking the last of the dirt from her skirts. She turned to go but stopped cold as she felt teeth wrap around her wrist. She looked down, the wolf held her hand gently in his huge jaws. Her heart pounded anew, had her sudden movements changed his mood? In that brief moment she couldn’t decide who she feared most, her father, or the wolf. Taking a chance, she carefully pulled her hand free and started to move away again, the wolf released her hand and grabbed her skirt.

“Please,” she implored him, “I have to go, the longer I wait, the worse it will be for me.” she tugged at the cloth and he finally let go. She turned and hurried back to camp, glancing back once to see if the wolf followed. If he did, she didn’t see him. She then decided that her father was much more fierce than the wolf, for at least the animal didn’t seem to anger as quickly as her father did.

She got back to the camp and went to the wagon that she shared with her father. She opened the door carefully, hoping that he would be asleep and she could just slip into bed without him noticing. No such luck, as soon as she stepped in she was met with an angry torrent of questions about where she had been all this time. She explained that she had just been out and had fallen asleep, being careful to leave out the part about the wolf, and as soon as she had realized the time, she had hurried home. Of course he didn’t believe her, and took a strap off the wall. She fell to her knees and covered her head, begging him not to beat her. Suddenly a loud, long howl rang out from outside. It sounded like it was just outside the wagon! Her father stopped just as he was going to swing and stared at the door.

There was a shout from outside and her father pushed past Kathryn, “Get out of the way girl! And stay inside!” he grabbed a large stick as he rushed out the door. She went to her bed and sat down, hoping that her new friend would get away, and sorry that he had followed her home. If her clan found out about what had happened, they would burn her, for surely only a witch could pet a wild wolf. She got up and went to clean up for bed, hopefully her father would forget about giving her a beating for now and she would be able to sleep on her backside for tonight at least.

She had just dozed off when her father came back, waking her.

“That damned wolf!” he grumbled, putting the club-like stick back by the door. “It was like he was mocking us! Dancing just within reach, then jumping out of they way as someone would swing at it. It has the devil in him, I just know it! No animal is that smart on its own.” He grumbled some more as he washed up, after a few moments, she heard him climb into his own bed and she breathed a sigh of relief, silently thanking her friend for saving her from a beating, and happy that he had gotten away.

The next day, she went about her chores as usual, then gathered up her basket and asked her father if she could go in search of blackberries, she knew he would say yes to this, since no one loved her blackberry pie more the her father. He had totally forgotten about beating her. As soon as he had gotten up and finished breakfast he had been out the door to have a meeting with the other men about what to do about the wolf. And making his favorite pie tonight would insure that he would forgive and forget.

It was early afternoon and she hurried down the path to the blackberry patch, they had been ripe for some time and she hopped to be able to gather enough to make a decent pie. She got to the patch and started picking the fat; blackish berried off the bush, being careful not to prick her fingers on the sharp little thorns that grew off the stems. Many were over ripe, and she had a hard time finding enough berries that would be edible.

As she concentrated on the bushes, she suddenly felt a prickling on the back of her neck. She spun around, expecting to see her wolf, but instead, she stood face to face with Derrick. She gasped and jumped, how was he able to come up on her like that? She should have heard, or at least smelled him, he stank of a man that worked hard, and bathed little.

She put her hands on her hips, “What are you doing? Trying to frighten me out of my wits?” she snapped at him.

He just smiled his cold, cruel smile. “Your father said that you had come out here.” he said, “I came to protect you from the wolf.” he looked right at her, into her eyes and she felt a sudden cold seep into her belly. She knew that she had more to fear from Derrick than from even a pack of wolves. At least the most a wolf would do is kill her; Derrick would hurt her, and enjoy doing it.

She glanced down at her basket, it was half full, ‘it’s enough to make a small pie.’ she thought. Then she looked up to his smirking face again. “Well I have enough berries here for a pie, so I do not need your protection anymore, Derrick, I am going back.”

She turned to leave and he grabbed her arm and spun her around. She barely managed to keep from spilling the berries all over. He grabbed the basket from her and dropped it to the ground, then tried to kiss her. She pushed at him, struggling. He pushed her hard, causing her to stumble backwards and fall, landing on her rear end, she quickly tried to get back on her feet, but she was not quick enough. Derrick jumped on top of her, pinning her hands and sitting one her legs. She screamed and struggled, desperately trying to break free of him, he slapped her hard across the face and she fell silent for a moment, stunned by the blow.

“Now, I will have you.” he growled, and grabbing the top of her shirt, he ripped the front, exposing her left breast. He laid his full weight on her and tried to lick her exposed breast. Just as he bent his head down she bit him hard on the ear. He yelped and jerked back.

“You’ll not be doing that again!” he shouted. He then shifted his hold on her hands, pinning both her hands with one of his he raised his free hand over her head and balled it into a fist.

She spit into his face and he blinked, shook his head and raised his fist high over her head. She shut her eyes and prepared herself for the blow.

Her eyes flew open at the sound of his screams. She looked up and saw that the wolf, her wolf, had Derrick’s raised arm held firmly in his massive jaws. Derrick tried to pull away and the wolf bit down hard, Kathryn heard the bones in his arm snap as the wolf crushed his arm. Derrick screamed again and grabbed at the wolf’s face. The wolf responded by shaking him.

He shook him and shook him, tossing Derrick; who was not a small man, like a rag doll. Kathryn rolled away and got to her feet. Derrick had stopped screaming and flopped around loosely. There was blood all over the place, it was splashed all over her, and the surrounding trees and bushes. She covered her mouth and watched in horror as the wolf continued to shake Derrick. At last the wolf stopped and Derrick fell from his jaws, hitting the ground with a wet thud. She blinked and looked at the wolf, he had not dropped him after all, for Derrick’s arm still hung in his mouth, bleeding with the end of a bone sticking out of the stump. She turned away from the sight, taking deep breaths; she barely managed to keep from throwing up what little she had eaten this morning.

She jumped when she felt a soft nudge at her hip. Kathryn looked down into the yellow eyes of her savior; his face was covered in blood and it dripped down from his muzzle in long, slow drips. She swallowed hard, willing herself not to throw up. He rubbed against her like a large cat, then stopped and stiffened, swinging his head around to look behind them, to the path that led to the camp. She looked where he was looking and caught the faint sounds of men running toward them. They had probably heard Derrick’s screaming and were coming to investigate. Her heart jumped, they would surely kill the wolf if they caught him, and he had only killed Derrick to save her. But she knew that the men would not listen to her, in fact, they would most likely blame her for his death, saying that she had somehow put the wolf under her spell. Especially after seeing the blood all over her without so much as a scratch on herself. Panicked, she turned and ran into the thick woods, the wolf hot on her heals. She ran as fast as she was able, away from the camp, away from her people, away from the life she had grown up in, away from the people she loved. She ran until her legs buckled from exhaustion and she could go no further.

She lay down and covered her head, sobbing and gasping. The wolf nuzzled up to her and she threw her arms around his neck and sobbed into his warm fur. After awhile, she had caught her breath, and pulled away from the wolf and wiped her eyes. He had his eyes closed and, she noted with some relief, that his face was clean of any blood. She stroked his head and he opened his eyes. To her shock, they were a deep blue and not the yellow that she had seen before. She blinked and shook her head, then looked again. His blue eyes looked back at her. Just as she was starting to think that she was more exhausted than she felt, the wolf stood up and walked a few steps away and seemed to blur out of focus.

She sat up and rubbed at her eyes, “I am asleep, this is all just another bad dream.”

“I’m afraid not my lady.” said a deep, male voice.

Kathryn jumped and opened her eyes, squatting before her was a man. He was powerfully built, with shoulder length black hair that was tipped in silver, and blue eyes. After a moment of shock she realized that he was completely nude, and that she was staring. She blushed and turned her head away, causing him to chuckle.

“You do not need to look away my lady” he said, “It is only skin and flesh that sits before you.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but the most she could issue out was a small squeak, so she shut her mouth and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and felt a light touch on her hand. She opened her eyes again and turned to face him. She found herself looking into his beautiful eyes.

He smiled, “My named is Alexander and I have been watching you for some time my lady.”

“M..me?” she managed, “why me?”

“Because, out of all the silly little girls in yours and surrounding camps, you are the only one to enter the woods with no fear, to relish in its beauty and quiet. And finally, you did not scream and carry on when you first laid eyes on me.” he smiled and took her hand in his, bringing it to his soft lips. He kissed the back of her hand softly, causing her blush again. He laughed and stood up, bringing her with him. Standing before him she found that she was only a few inches shorter than he was.

“My name is Kathryn.” she said, her voice more steady now as her fear and embarrassment lessened.

“Yes, I know.” he said quietly, still smiling.

She frowned, wondering how she should ask her next question, finally she decided on the direct approach. Diplomacy was never her strong point. “What are you?” she asked.

“I thought that would be apparent,” he said. “I am a werewolf, of course. But I live more often as a wolf, than that of a man. Over the years I have changed into my man form less and less. I do not crave the complex world of men any longer, instead I am content to live as a wolf.” he looked into her eyes. “The only thing that I miss is a warm body to lie against in the night, and someone to share in all the wonders that I see.” He put his hands on her waist and drew her close to him. “I would have you, if you would have me.” he whispered. She shivered and put her hands on his chest. He took them and tenderly kissed her fingertips. “You are trembling my lady, would you like to sit? I can fetch you some water.”

“No,” she said quietly, then a bit louder, “no, no I am f-fine.” she felt cold and warm all at the same time. Join him? Should she? Could she? She thought about her grandmother and her friends back at the camp, she would miss them, but she knew deep down that she could not go back. By now they had found Derrick and her half full basket, if she walked into camp, her dress torn and blood all over her, with only the bruise on her face, they would question her. And she knew what the questions would lead to. She shivered and he drew her closer to him, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and hugging her tight to him. She leaned her head on his bare shoulder and closed her eyes, thinking.

After a moment she calmed down and took in a deep breath, she noticed that he smelled of the forest after a rain. She smiled a bit and cuddled into his arms, she had never had a man hold her like this, in such a kind way. In her experience men were cold and unfeeling at best, and would never think to comfort a woman. She wondered if he was as kind as he seemed, surly he could have forced himself on her, he looked to be very powerful, she doubted that she would have been able to fight him off for long. She felt something hard on her lower belly, blushing as she realized what it must be, she started to pull away, but he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. She leaned back to look at his face.

He smiled guiltily, “I am sorry my lady, it has a mind of its own about such things.” he laughed and she could not help but to laugh with him.

She felt so relaxed, she knew now that he would never hurt her. He pulled her to him and kissed her gently on the lips, she kissed him back.

After to brief a moment they parted and he looked at her seriously, “I must know now what you want my lady, I am asking you to join me, to be like me, but I will not turn you without your consent. Will you run with me? I promise to always be there, I will never forsake you, nor harm you in any way. This I swear.” she smiled and hugged him around the neck, hard.

“Oh yes!” she cried, “I would love to be as you are, to be free, to see the world thru your eyes.” He kissed her hard, drawing her to the ground with him.

They made gentle love, there on the forest floor, and only the trees witnessed the joining.

* * * * * *

She was dreaming again, the same one she had, had for many nights, she was running, being chased by wolves. She trips and falls, the wolves close in, but instead of eating her up, they milled around her, licking at her face and hands. She woke up and looked around, she was in the forest, naked, and lying beside her was the wolf. She lay back down and cuddled into his warm fur. It was almost full dark and she was starting to get a little chilled. She looked across the clearing at her dress and considered getting up to put it on. Just then the wolf lifted his head and looked at her, wagging his tail and laying his ears back as she ruffled the fur on his head.

“I’m getting a bit cold.” she said, he nodded, got up and trotted over to her dress.

He brought it back to her and she started to lift it over her head, wondering when she would have a nice warm, fur coat of her own. She got up on her knees and was about to lift the dress over her head when the wolf came up behind her and licked the small of her back.

She jumped and laughed, “What are you doing you silly thing.” she looked over her shoulder at him, he was grinning and wagging his tail playfully. She shook her head and turned back to her dress, smiling, happy. He licked her again and she laughed and brought her hand around behind her in a shooing motion.

“Stop that now, I am cold and can’t dress properly with your nose in my back.” he rubbed up against her and she shuddered at the feeling of his fur on her bare skin. He nudged at her back, and licked her again.

She laughed and managed to slip her dress on, the front was torn and she struggled to arrange it so that she wasn’t showing. Finally giving up on the dress, she turned and snuggled her face into the wolf’s fur. she was still tired and felt sleep weighing down on her. She lay down again, the wolf laying with her, and with her arms wrapped around him, she fell asleep.

Suddenly she was awake. The wolf was pawing at her desperately, whining. She sat up and he grabbed at her wrist, pulling her up. Before she could ask what was wrong she heard the sound of many men nearby, she could see the glow of their torches and smell the greasy, black smoke that poured from them. She scrambled to her feet and followed the wolf into the woods, but she was not as fleet of foot as he and he was soon out of sight.

“Wait!” she called, and regretted it as soon as the sound tore from her lips. The men had heard her and were now coming in her direction. She stopped and looked around for a place to hide, realizing that she was filthy, blood splattered, and not totally covered. ‘They mustn’t see me like this.’ she thought, but just as she did, she was surrounded.

They dragged her back to camp by her hair, locked her in a small box, and had a meeting on what to do about her. She could hear them shouting.

“She is a witch! She killed poor Derrick!” cried one.

“No! She called forth a demon and had him do it!” cried another.

There was much shouting as they argued about what had happened, never once thinking to simply ask her. Not that it would matter anyway; a woman was only property and had no real rights, not like the men did. She cried silently. ‘At least Alexander got away.’ she thought, ‘as long as he lives, a small part of me will too.’ She curled into a ball and tried to get comfortable. She hurt all over, she felt sore all over her body, right down to her bones. She found this odd since she hadn’t really been beaten yet. No, they would not lay a hand on her until they strapped her to the stake to burn her. It was bad luck to beat a witch, best to kill them right away. She shifted again, trying to get comfortable but her aching body would not allow her to be at peace. She sighed and lay there, awaiting her fate.

An hour later the men had stopped arguing, it had been decided that they would cut off her head, then burn her body.

‘Well at least I will die quickly rather than be eaten alive by the flames.’ she thought. She shifted and placed her head on her paws. ‘Paws?’ she looked down at herself, by what little light leaked in thru the slates she could see that yes, she no longer had hands, but paws where her hands had once been. She sat up and found that she had turned onto a wolf while she lay there, she wondered how she could have done so without noticing the change, but before she could think much on it, the box she was in moved.

She tensed. ‘I must move quickly, they will not expect a wolf to jump out, I might still get away.’ just then a howl sounded nearby, the men dropped the box and started shouting again.

“Quickly! We must finish this! Once she is dead the demon wolf will go away.” They pried the lid off the wooden box and she burst out.

* * * * * * *

She joyed in her new body. It was so powerful and fast! One man tried to grab her

and she tore his flesh like it was paper, enjoying the blood as it filled her mouth.

* * * * * *

Everyone screamed and jumped back as the huge, black she-wolf tore her way out of the box that they had put the girl in. One brave man had tried to grab her and had his throat ripped out for his trouble.

* * * * * * * *

Then Alexander burst from the forest and was tearing into the men. He grabbed one that didn’t get out of the way fast enough and tore him to pieces in a flash of fang. He looked up at her and she nodded and they both ran into the wood.

* * * * * * * *

Suddenly there was an even bigger, gray wolf in the firelight, and another man went down screaming as fangs tore into flesh. Then, just as fast as one could blink, they were gone.

* * * * * * * *

They ran together and her heart filled with happiness. She was glad to run and kill at his side and he looked over at her as they ran, grinning. She had no desire to ever be in her human skin again and as long as he lived she would stay beside him, as he had promised her the same from himself. Together forever, so long as there was Earth beneath their feet and a forest to play in.

* * * * * * * *

For years to come they told the story of the witch that turned into a wolf. And for generations to come, there were often sightings of two wolves, one black as the night, and one silver, running together through the forest.

And they lived happily ever after.