Red and the Wolves Read online

  Using his free hand, he released the furs around his hips. As the pelts fell to the ground, his cock sprang free. His massive rod was thick and long, nestled in black curling hair.

  “Please, I’m sorry.”

  “You will be. On your knees.”

  Choking back a sob, I hesitated.

  He cracked the birch rod against his palm and barked, “On your knees.”

  I fell to the ground.

  “Now, I want you to crawl to me.”

  Swallowing my humiliation, I placed one hand forward then slid my knee over the cool damp moss. Keeping my head low, I crawled on the forest floor till I was at Beo’s feet. Pushing my hair from my eyes, I looked up. All I could see was his large shaft as it bobbed between his legs.

  Beo leaned down and ruthlessly grabbed my hair. Ignoring my cries, he pulled me forward till my head was between his calves. His legs tightened around my neck.

  Terrified, I tried to pull back, but his legs squeezed my throat, cutting off my air. I was forced to relent and stay prone on my knees with my head locked between his legs.

  There was no warning.

  Only a soft swishing sound.

  Then the painful crack of the branch across my bare bottom.

  I screamed in shock and pain. Another crack landed across my vulnerable skin.

  “Stop! Stop!” I screeched as I clawed at his calves, trying to free my head.

  His only response was to apply several more swipes of the switch. Each one exploded like fire across my skin. My knees slipped in the moss and mud as I twisted my hips and kicked my legs. Each time I struggled, he would tighten his legs, cutting off my breath.

  Still the punishment did not stop.

  My own cries drowned out the warning swoosh of the switch so I had no way of knowing when it would strike my flesh. The moment it did, a thousand hot pin pricks would radiate across my bottom. In my agony, I would clench my cheeks together which only heightened the pain.

  “Why are you being punished, Red?”

  I could only keen and wail.

  Beo struck me several more times, the tip of the branch flicking at the sensitive skin on the backs of my thighs.

  “Why are you being punished?” he repeated.

  “I was bad. I was bad,” I cried.

  My hair was a tangled mess over my eyes and down my shoulders. Locks stuck to my cheeks as they grew wet from my tears. My hands and Beo’s legs were covered in mud from my struggles. I’m sure if I looked, I would see most of my body covered in dirt.

  Everything throbbed and burned. The cool air of the early morning only emphasized the heat radiating off my punished bottom.

  After a torturous eternity, his legs opened. I fell to the ground. My tear-streaked cheek rested on the soft moss.

  “Get up and crawl over to that log and bend your body over your cloak.”

  Each movement of my knees forward stretched the skin of my bottom, bringing a fresh wave of heated pain. Unable to stifle my groans, I moved slowly to do his bidding. When I reached the log, I flung my body over the soft, heavy fabric of my cloak, seeking the warmth and comfort it could provide if only by cushioning me from the harsh bark of the tree.

  Through my heavy breathing, I could hear Beo’s heavy footfall behind me. Still, I kept my eyes closed. There was a harsh thud. Looking over my shoulder, I could see his large powerful form kneeling behind me.

  “Your punishment is not over, lass.”

  “Please. I’ve learned my lesson,” I whimpered.

  “No. I don’t believe you have. But when I’m done with you, I know you will think twice before disobeying one of us again.”

  A harsh hiss escaped my lips the moment his rough hands clasped my bottom cheeks. I reached back weakly to try and swat his hands away.

  “Arms up front. Don’t make me tie you up.”

  With no other choice before me, I obeyed.

  His hands pried open my bottom cheeks. Memories of Helm doing the same at the hot springs flooded my mind.

  Oh god. I knew what was coming.

  “Stop! Not there. I couldn’t bear it.”

  I cringed when I felt a glob of spit land on my bare skin above the cleft of my bottom. I could feel it slide to cover my quivering puckered hole. Then felt the pressure of his cock as he tried to force his way into my resisting opening.

  “Don’t! It hurts!”

  Beo grunted over me as he placed his hands on my lower back. Pushing down, he forced my hips back, my bottom up. The small movement gave him the access he needed. He thrust harder, breaking through my tight muscled ring to plunge deep inside my bottom. Screaming in pain, I bit down on a mouthful of fabric as my insides felt torn and scraped. He was not sliding in as Helm did, but pushing in. Inch by forced inch. My stomach clenched as his large shaft thrust inside. The pressure and discomfort increased.

  “Bad girls get their ass fucked dry,” he ground out near my ear as he increased the pace of his thrusts.

  “You’re tearing me apart,” I cried. The pain of his birch switching was nothing compared to the feel of his cock deep up my bottom.

  “Have you learned your lesson?”

  “Yes! Yes! Please!”

  His thrusts slowed. Reaching under me, he grasped both of my breasts. Pulling me upright till my back was flush with his front, he caressed my breasts, teasing and pinching my nipples.

  “Then I will let my little Red snatch some pleasure from the jaws of pain,” he whispered against my neck before scraping his teeth along the sensitive skin below my ear.

  His right hand shifted down my body to between my legs. Moving his middle finger in soft swirls around my nub, I could feel a building sensation. Still there was the agonizing pressure in my bottom, but now my body seemed to hum and writhe from the duality of pain and pleasure warring inside of me.

  “Soon you will know what it feels like to take our cocks in each of your holes at once. Shall I give you a taste of that now?”

  Lost in my own body, my head fell back on his shoulder as I moaned my assent.

  Beo thrust one thick finger inside my pussy as he pulled his cock almost free of my bottom before ruthlessly shoving it back inside.

  Reaching my arms back, my fingers dug into his dark waves. Fisting my hands in his hair, I pulled his head closer to my neck, wanting to feel the threat of his warm breath as he violently fucked me.

  His finger moved inside my pussy as his cock pounded into me from behind. The wetness between my legs dripped lower and coated the base of his cock, easing his way.

  “Cum, Red. Cum now.”

  In this, I obeyed him willingly. The scream of my release echoed across the forest grotto.

  Beo forced my body forward over the log. Pressing his hands onto my back, he growled as he thrust into my bottom several more times before finding his own release.

  Afterward, he lifted me to my feet by my shoulders. Looking down, I could see muddied hand prints over my breasts and stomach. My pale skin was covered in red scrapes and mud from his fierce claiming. Carrying me in his arms, he walked over to the small spring. Lowering to his knees, he held me aloft and allowed the cool water to flow over my heated and bruised skin.

  It was not until sometime later that he carried me back to the den to face the rest of the pack.

  7

  I stood on shaky legs before the pack. I was terrified of more discipline, but even more so of upsetting them. That had not been my intention when I had left for the village. I’d simply wanted to help. These men deserved so much more than to live as castouts in the forest to fight the dark force forever. No one should endure a curse for the sake of others, but especially not men as good as these men. Through all their brute strength, aggressive behavior, and their stern and unyielding hand, I had seen the decency. Far more than I had ever had among the villagers.

  “I had to fight off the dark force,” Beo added as he finished telling the story. “Red would have been killed had I not arrived when I did. Luckily, the dark force was
still weak from yesterday’s battle, or I wouldn’t have been able to fight it off on my own.”

  “Do you have any idea the risk you put yourself in?” Grimm asked with crossed arms.

  I nodded. “I’m sorry,” I said as all angry eyes settled on me.

  “She’s been punished,” Beo said. “I made sure she will think twice before wandering off into the woods without us.”

  “Maybe she needs to be punished by each one of us to make sure of it,” Rood said as he glared at me. “Have you no idea how dangerous this forest is? We can’t protect you if you leave us as we sleep! Have you any idea what we thought when we awoke to find you gone?”

  “And we had to separate as a pack to search for you. That put each one of us at risk. If the dark force hadn’t been weak, Beo…” Canis said as he swallowed back his anger. “We don’t separate as a pack, and never have before you.”

  “I just…well, after the story you told me, I felt the villagers needed to know the truth. You all deserve so much more. I wanted to help.” I looked down at my feet in shame. “If you all want to punish me individually, I would understand.”

  I was prepared to take more punishment if it would mean having them all stop looking at me with anger and disappointment in their eyes. Anything but the looks. I hadn’t meant to frighten them, and I most certainly hadn’t intended to put Beo or anyone else at risk by my idea.

  “Your penance has been paid with Beo,” Grimm announced as he approached me and took hold of both of my arms. He stared into my eyes, inches from my face. “Your life is at risk as long as you are in this forest. Don’t think we don’t know this. We don’t take that fact lightly. But allow us to protect you while you are here. Do you understand? No more running off. Are we clear?”

  I nodded, feeling the tight ball of anticipation in my stomach release. “Yes. I won’t do it again.” I looked around Grimm’s broad frame at the other men, and added, “Please forgive me. Believe me when I say that I meant no harm to any of you. I just didn’t think it all the way through before I acted.”

  Grimm gave a small smile. “Good.” He pulled away and looked at all the men and then back at me. “We have the smoked deer that we have been working on almost ready. Our friends, the huntsmen, left us some rabbit stew that Snow made for us. Let us go about our chores today, and then we can all have an early feast in celebration of yesterday’s victory and Beo’s successful fight today.”

  I wouldn’t exactly say that I was a good cook, but I knew the basics around a kitchen. My baking skills were in need of improving, and I struggled sometimes at being creative with what meager food items I often had. But I knew enough about cooking to know that something was off about the stew the minute Helm removed the lid of the pot.

  The slight pungent odor had all the men sniffing at the pot in disgust.

  “What is it?” Rood asked.

  “I told you,” Grimm said, sniffing it again. “The huntsmen left it while we were all out searching for Red. There was a note that said Snow made her famous rabbit stew and to enjoy.” Grimm reached for a spoon and began dishing up the thick and slimy-looking matter into the bowls stacked up beside the boiling stew.

  As the clumpy globs of meat fell into the bowl, Canis said, “It’s gray. The stew is gray.”

  “It smells like death,” Beo added.

  Feeling as if I needed to defend Snow for her kind gift, I spoke up. “I’m sure it tastes much better than it looks and smells.” I tried to soften my face and not appear as if the smell bothered me in the slightest. “You all have a heightened sense of smell anyway. I’m sure it’s just a delicious spice that was used that isn’t agreeing with you all.”

  Grimm dished up the rest of the stew, and as we all sat with our bowls in our hands, I noticed all the men looking at me to take the first bite. Hoping that Snow knew what she was doing, and that my defense of her was all true, I took a heaping spoonful and shoved it into my mouth.

  I was wrong. Snow did not know what she was doing.

  Not only did the stew smell like death, it tasted like it.

  But trying not to be rude, and frankly not wanting to suffer in this misery alone, I faked a smile and spoke with a mouthful of hell. “Tastes like rabbit stew.”

  Having my approval, the men all dove into their stew and hungrily shoved in just as equally large, if not larger, mouthfuls as I did. The looks of utter disgust on their faces was enough for me to laugh out loud and spew the remaining stew in my mouth all over the fire blazing before me.

  “Are the huntsmen trying to kill us?” Helm asked. He spit his mouthful back into his bowl.

  “If this is how Snow cooks, I pity the seven men,” Rood added as he too spit what was in his mouth back where it had come from.

  No one swallowed the food, and all tossed the contents of their full bowls back into the pot it had boiled in. Feeling as if I couldn’t defend Snow any longer, I did the same.

  “Well, at least we have the deer,” Canis said. “We have a full jug of ale as well.” He moved to the cave to fetch the alternate meal for the evening.

  “We are going to need every drop of that ale to wash away this taste,” Grimm said. “I don’t know if I want to kick the huntsmens’ arses for this or pity them.”

  “I say we do both,” Rood said with a small chuckle.

  Deer and ale sounded perfect, but anything besides the stew would be. Thanks to Snow, I now felt a whole new respect for my level of cooking. And I was fairly certain that nothing I could ever make for these men would ever be worse than this awful rabbit stew. I made a mental note to thank Snow if I were to ever meet her in person. She’d just made my job in pleasing the men with my cooking all the easier. If any of them ever complained or disliked a meal of mine, I would simply remind them of Snow’s famous rabbit stew.

  8

  My mind was hazy, but my body hummed. I felt alive and free, and maybe for the first time in my life, truly happy. Laughter, jokes, tales of a better time, and overall joy filled the camp as we finished our deer and drank the last of the ale. It was hard for me to imagine that I once feared for my life around these men. That I had once believed my life to be cast in the worst type of darkness imaginable being their sacrifice. So hard to believe in such a short time that all had changed. I almost felt…I almost felt as if I were somehow becoming part of the pack. Even if it was in feeling alone.

  “You appear lost in thought, Red,” Grimm said as he ran his hand down the back of my head.

  I turned my head to look at him and smiled, realizing I’d been staring into the fire while my mind churned. “I guess I was.”

  “What’s on your mind?” Beo asked.

  I shrugged, but my smile grew. “I feel like I’m becoming one of you. Like I belong. For the first time in my life, I truly feel as if I belong.”

  “We’re wolves,” Helm said with a chuckle.

  “I know. But I still feel it,” I said as I stood on unsteady legs.

  With the help of the ale giving me courage, and my overwhelming sense of freedom, I shed my clothes as I stood before the fire. I didn’t care that the men looked on as I did so. I didn’t care that I was drunk again and clearly acting as a lady shouldn’t. I wanted to be wild and have full abandon. I wanted to be animalistic like these men I sat with. I wanted to feel alive as the blood pulsed through my veins.

  Fully naked, tilting my head back and staring up at the sky, I howled. I howled as loud as I could and ignored the laughter it caused from the men. In fact, I didn’t care that the men were all finding me amusing. Good. Let me amuse them. Let me give some joy to these men who were so deserving of more than simply being cursed, betrayed, outcasts, and constant warriors forever cast in a dark world.

  “I think the girl has had too much ale,” Rood said between bouts of laughter.

  I ignored his comment and began swaying my body to a beat of music only I could hear. Lifting my arms and gracefully moving them through the smoke in the air, I began to dance. I danced without a care in
the world around the fire as I knew the five men—the wolves—watched. I allowed my spirit to take over. I allowed everything bad in my life to escape freely from my fingertips and my toes as I danced under the moonlight. I danced away the hatred of my grandmother, the hatred of the village. I danced away my fear of the unknown, having faith that all would be fine. I simply danced.

  None of the men tried to stop me, and allowed me to act as wild and foolish as I desired. They laughed, watched, and chatted lightly in the background, but not one tried to make me stop or shame me into feeling I should. I was naked, moving about without a care in the world, and it was the best feeling I could remember ever having. I danced until my legs decided they had had enough, and I collapsed back where I had been sitting, breathless and happy.

  Grimm pulled me close to him and wrapped his arms around me. “You give us such pleasure, Red.”

  “Good,” I said, winded. “I want that for all of you. Pleasure.”

  “We want that for you as well,” Canis said, nodding at all the men as if that was a cue of some sort. “And we came up with the best way to give that pleasure to you as you were dancing about.”

  I must have been sitting there in shock because Helm approached and said, “What big eyes you have, Red. Are you afraid?” His wicked smile should have been a warning that maybe I shouldn’t have been sitting before them all completely nude. The temptation would be too great. They were still cursed as savage beasts and would still act on their primal need.

  “There is nothing to be scared of,” Beo said as he too approached and took me by the hand.

  Grimm’s arm around me shifted, and he assisted me up to standing as he did so. All the men then led me toward the depths of the cave. My body instantly responded to the flurry of all the wicked thoughts of what these men would do to me. A small droplet of arousal dripped down my thigh as we walked. There would be no denying the power these men had over me.