Flash Fiction - Howl

Nicolae’s paws pounded the rough earth, his speed picking up as the plateau ended and the ground dropped away, sloping down towards the valley. Low level branches of the smaller pine trees whipped at him, snagging his black fur as he raced onwards. The sound of his own measured pants filled his ears but didn’t obscure the noises of the forest around him. Day birds moved in the dark trees towering above him, settling in their nests for the night while their nocturnal brethren left theirs. An owl hooted as it passed overhead and a wolf howled in the distance.

The pack.

Nicolae skidded to a halt in the leaf litter, threw his head back and howled a reply to the timber wolves. Their dialect was different but the alpha of the pack would understand, as would a few of the older wolves.

Tonight he hunted alone.

A low melancholy howl echoed around the snow-capped mountains in response to his and inside he smiled to himself. Message received and understood. The timber wolves would hunt on the other side of the valley.

He tipped his head down and then up again when the thick blanket of cloud that had swathed the sky all day finally began to break apart. Inky patches began to show through the heavy grey, some containing the first stars he had seen since the weather had closed in last week. His amber gaze sought the moon, eager to see it again. A brighter area of cloud told him that it was hidden there, waiting to make its presence known to the world, as eager to reveal itself as he was to see it. The cloud was still thick around it. They would both have to wait a while longer.

Nicolae huffed and then dragged in a breath. He caught the scent of his prey again, strong against the subtler undertones of the forest, standing out amongst the pine, earth, and decaying leaves, and other smaller creatures.

He lowered his nose to the ground and sniffed, following the trail, taking pleasure in smelling his prey in his territory. A ripe curse broke the quiet night. Nicolae lifted his head and sprinted towards it, his heart pounding, blood telling him to hurry now in case this was no longer a game. After what had happened to Tatyana when they had first met, he wasn’t taking any chances. She was too precious to him for that.

Nicolae twisted and ducked through the trees and leapt over fallen logs and rocks to reach her, his pace increasing with each stride, pushing himself to make it there as quickly as he could in case she was under attack.

He closed his eyes as he burst through the scrub surrounding one of the small glades, running blind for a moment, and hit something head on that shouldn’t have been there. There was a snarl as he barrelled into her and then a short grunt of pain as he landed on top of her on the patchy grass floor of the glade.

Nicolae looked down at her where she lay beneath him, her beautiful long wavy fair hair strewn across the ground and her amber eyes full of surprise.

The moon slowly peeked out from behind the clouds and shone down on her, bathing her in pale white light that only added to her beauty.

“You are drooling on me,” she said with a hint of amusement in her fiery eyes and Nicolae realised that he was still in his animal form.

He focused and shifted back, growling and snarling as his bones popped out of their sockets and shifted, elongating into their human forms. His black fur swept backwards over his body and his face distorted, his muzzle compressing and ears moving back down into place. His tail shrank and disappeared. He shook his head as his change ended, sending his unruly black hair falling down over his face, and then smiled down at Tatyana.

“Don’t think this counts as you catching me,” she said, deadly serious.

“What happened?” Nicolae glanced at what he could see of her. There were no cuts on her black shirt to indicate that she had encountered hunters or had been wounded and he couldn’t smell any blood on her. He on the other hand was sporting a few scratches from the trees on his bare thighs and back.

She gave him a look that said she didn’t want to talk about it.

“Tatyana,” he murmured and stroked her cheek, resting his weight on one elbow. She felt so soft beneath him and now that he knew she was safe, his body was beginning to get some very wicked ideas. It was hard not to when he was naked and she was lying beneath him. “You can tell me.”

She still hesitated, and then she turned her head away from him and said, “I heard you howl and I panicked. I sprinted back up the hill to make sure you were alright and I wasn’t looking where I was going and I tripped.”

Tatyana held her hands up to reveal her muddied palms.

Nicolae fought to contain his smile so she didn’t grow angry with him. She prided herself on her abilities as a vampire and tripping in a dark wood was clearly something she felt shouldn’t have happened.

“I’m glad you are alright,” he whispered and stroked the hair from her face, smoothing it into the rest.

“What about you?” she said with a small frown and turned her face towards him again. “You came through those bushes like your tail was on fire.”

He smiled now and looked down into her eyes, absorbing the fact that she was safe and her only wound was to her pride. It warmed him, eased away his fears, and made him feel light inside.

“I heard you curse and was afraid someone had attacked you.”

“Oh.” Her eyebrows rose and then she smiled and it was beautiful. “I guess we’re both as bad as each other.”

If by that she meant that she loved him with all of her heart and couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to him, then she was right.

“Shall we continue our hunt?” she whispered and the look in her eyes said that she wasn’t thinking about hunting anymore.

Nicolae smiled wickedly, shifted his hands to her wrists and pinned her to the forest floor. “I have a better idea.”

She grinned and he swooped on her lips and captured them with his own. She responded in an instant, her soft moan driving him on, and he deepened the kiss, running his tongue over hers and then her fangs. He groaned when she fought him and then shivered when she brushed the tip of her tongue over his slightly extended canines. It brought back memories of all the times they had hunted each other and all the times those hunts had ended like this, with them making love in the glade where he had first met her.

Tonight had frightened him though. He couldn’t bear the thought of her in danger, at the mercy of hunters. He would never allow it.

This territory belonged to him.

Tatyana belonged to him.

And he would protect her with his life.

Because she meant everything to him.

He lowered his mouth to her neck and kissed the scars there.

Because she was his mate.