paused. “Meal you say?”
“Oh yes.” And then there was a long silence. They were looking at Wolf intently, but I could only see his back. Whatever he did, it convinced them that he spoke the truth.
“Get yourself in trouble with that lot,” the giant across from the fire said. “Don’t let the parents find out, or they’ll have your hide on their wall.”
The giants roared with laughter, and I winced. Even Wolf flinched at the sound.
“Yes, well, if I could just have my snack, I’ll be on my way, if you please,” he said once they finished.
“Aye, we’d like to help out a hungry creature such as yourself.” The giant swung his club around casually. “But we’d already done sold her off to a lot of slave drivers looking for some fresh blood.”
My breath caught in my throat. I hoped to God he didn’t mean that literally. Wolf deflated a little.
“Is that so? Pity, pity.”
“We got six cows for the little thing. Would you like a nibble?”
Suddenly I realized what was on the spit—a whole cow.
Wolf glanced to the side where the other cows were being kept. I thought I saw his eyes change color for a second.
“No, no. As much as I would love to take a taste, I have big things to return to. And cow has never been on my preferred table.”
“Mind you don’t eat too many young ‘uns—farmers with pitchforks will be after ya.”
The giants rocked with laughter again, and Wolf shuffled out of the cave.
“Pass up a lovely meal like that, the things I do just to please,” he mumbled as he emerged.
“Slave drivers?” I hissed. “What the hell kind of place is this?”
“What sort of question is that? You’re here, now let’s go.” He grabbed at my arm.
“I am not going anywhere with you.” I jerked out of his grasp. “You are crazy. This isn’t normal. Any of it.”
“Look, I am the only one that can find that girl and if you want to find her too, then you’ll have to stick with me, do you understand that?”
“Oy! Who are you talking to out there?”
We froze. A few of the giants climbed to their feet while the others leaned over to look outside the cave.
“No one,” Wolf called. “Just, ah, my mate. We were both looking for the morsel, but we’re going now.”
“I think not. She sounds an awful lot like that scrap we caught earlier. Let’s see her.”
I stared at Wolf, petrified.
“No, no,” he yelled back, his hands on my shoulders. “She’s got this silly fear of giants, says they’re too big for her taste.”
“We insist.”
The command was low, dangerous. Wolf gave me a tiny nod and gently pulled me forward so the giants could see me. The one with the club grunted.
“Thought so. Why didn’t you tell us you was a she-wolf?”
I opened my mouth but nothing came out. Wolf pinched me in my side.
“Ah,” I half-shouted. “I, um, was too scared.” I laughed weakly. “Concerned about my…food. At the time. Sorry.”
Their stony faces remained unconvinced.
“Show us your side then,” said one of the standing giants.
I gaped again. My side? What did that mean? My wolf side?
“You can’t,” Wolf said, his voice barely audible. “Run.”
They’ll just follow us. I racked my brain for an idea. I had no idea what they were looking for, but so far it didn’t sound much like humans were fond of wolves. Maybe…
“Well,” I spoke haltingly, “would a human woman do this?”
I looked up at Wolf and braced myself. Oh Caroline, you’ve gone off the deep end.
I grabbed his face and brought his mouth down on mine. He was surprised, but quickly recovered and put his arms around me, kissing me back and milking it for all it was worth.
This is so nuts. I’m kissing a possible serial killer. God, where did I go wrong? This is so beyond screwed up…he tastes like berries and mint…
Finally I pulled away, collecting my bearings again. The rational part of me wanted to move farther away, much farther away, but Wolf held me where I was, his forehead resting against mine looking for all the world like he’d just had the best day of his life.
“Now then,” a giant said, “that’s certainly something.”
I tried not to look at Wolf’s eyes. That kiss had been…quite…. I wished my heart would quit pounding and hoped that he couldn’t feel it. My head started throbbing again.
“Still, in the days of old humans did that all the time,” said another. “And besides, you said