Excerpt: Little Red

He decided to make his presence known, stepping out from the shadows and gnarled brush, he watched her tense and twirl around to face him.

Little Red.

“Wolf.” She greeted, her words stiff and cautious in return.

You received my message?

“How could I not?” The girl responded bitterly, tugging at the hem of her beloved cloak and frowning at the memory of how long it took her to remove his prints from it. The fabric was still a little damp even and didn’t bar her from the cold of the evening as it usually did.

You don’t belong there. Wolf made a motion with his head, showing his disapproval for the village, her birthplace, and the fact that she had so suddenly returned to it.

“Don’t I?”

You left them, you hate them.

“I hate you.”

Do you?

A glaring contest ensued between him and his prey. He would use no ‘former’ before her title because as far as the lupine was concerned, her body and flesh still belonged to him, his pack, and his empty belly.

They killed your wood cutter.

“So?” Red returned, petulant now. Wolf could see her falter at his words and began to circle her, far enough as to not frighten her away but close enough to make her uneasy and remind her of how vulnerable she was. How very human she was.

They shun you, fear you, gossip about you. These humans feel your taint, your hatred. You scare them as much as I.

“Quiet!” Wolf ignored her.

They do not consider you safe, or familiar. They want you gone. Out of sight, out of mind. Isn’t that what you humans always say? They know you are no longer one of them.

“Wolf-“

No longer ‘human.’

It was then that Scarlet began to scream. She screamed and tears of frustration, hurt, and rage spilled from her eyes. She turned on him, her hands forming into claws, her scraggled nails dirty and torn. The girl launched herself at the creature who caused her so much physical, emotional, and mental torture. Wolf dodged her weak attempt at attacking him easily.

They killed your wood cutter. He would have smiled, had he been able, at the pathetic whimper that escaped her rosy lips. The anniversary of his death is approaching is it not? A whole year has passed.

She continued to sob.

They hate you and fear you. But we do not. You are welcome back Lady Red.

Red started at her new title as it resounded in her head. “What?” She whispered, her voice thick with tears yet unshed.

You are no longer a child. We welcome your return.

“Because I feed you.” She spat, irritation returning in place of her despair. “You need me.”

And you do not need us? Wolf returned, his voice seeming to give the mood that had he been able, he would have been raising his brow at her.

Wolf, seeing her beginning to ponder, turned around and left her to her gnarled thoughts.